Happy Place

Nobody’s worse off than you; everyone just experiences things differently. This is what 27 year old Ashleigh has come to understand about her own trauma. Previously, she minimised her own experiences, thinking it can’t be that bad, but learnt that until she acknowledged her own pain she couldn’t move forward.   In this chat with Fearne, Ashleigh explains how PTSD led her to develop facial tic...

How’s your mental health doing today? Do you ever wish people understood what was actually going on in your mind?   As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Fearne looks back at some of the conversations she’s had on Happy Place that shine a light on particular mental health conditions.   There’s OCD with Tuppence Middleton, cyclothymia with Matt Edmondson, and psychosis with David Harew...

It can be tiring being anything but yourself. Musician Zayn has learnt to lean into what really makes him content.   In this chat with Fearne, Zayn talks through the quiet lifestyle he loves in Pennsylvania: painting, being outdoors, spending time with his daughter, and staying off his phone. He also explains how fatherhood has changed him, whether he's the parent he thought he would be, and...

Do you turn to food for comfort? Actor Rebel Wilson spent a lifetime using food to numb herself from difficult emotions.   In this chat with Fearne, Rebel shares why she felt safe using her body as a barrier to true intimacy, not having sex until she was 35. Knowing that she was medically obese, Rebel made 2020 her ‘year of health’, but it was working through her trauma that made the most dif...

Would you choose uncertainty over unhappiness? Happy Place Book Club novel, The List of Suspicious Things, is the first book Jennie Godfrey has written. She was working in a corporate job before she had a moment of clarity and quit her job with no plan B to become a writer.   In this chat with Fearne, Jennie explains why, having suffered with anxiety, she took control and chose an uncertain f...

What are you dreams trying to tell you about yourself? Neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial feels dreaming is a vital part of being human.   In this chat with Fearne, Rahul explains that while our waking brain is generally ruled by the logical executive network... the dreaming brain liberates creative and divergent thinking. We dream, he says, to keep our minds open so they’re able to adapt if our worl...

‘If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry’, as the saying goes. These heightened emotions often sit very close to each other, and there’s a split second where we can decide whether to despair, or to see the funny side of a situation.    Today, Fearne revisits Happy Place conversations that highlight the crossroads where people have decided to cope with shitty incidents by laughing at them, or at t...

When was the last time you enjoyed some silence? Musician Norah Jones appreciates the importance of silence – it allows us to tune into what our minds are trying to tell us.   In this chat with Fearne, Norah explains that the rare moments of quiet are when creativity flows most freely. They talk about the feeling of being embarrassed by your work when you’re young, but that it’s important to...

How often do you connect with strangers? There’s something magical about those fleeting moments of intimacy and connection.   Today, Fearne introduces an episode of Where Are You Going, a podcast that sees host Catherine Carr chatting to strangers and asking a simple question: “where are you going?” The stories people end up sharing with her go to all sorts of unexpected places – some are fun...

Perfection has taken on a life of its own in recent years. Dawn French worries that the pursuit of perfection is stopping us from being who we are, and from making mistakes we can grow from.   In this chat, Fearne and Dawn explore why when we have low tolerance for others making mistakes, we’re likely judging ourselves for our mistakes too. So, in order to have more self-compassion, we have t...

Cancer, and having a stoma, has changed DJ and broadcaster Adele Roberts’ perception of her own body for the better. It’s shown her it’s ok to cry, and it’s ok to ask for help.   In this chat with Fearne, Adele talks through the symptoms of bowel cancer, what the experience has taught her about positive mindset, as well as the realities of going through chemo.   They also chat about why...

Don’t underestimate the power your voice has. This is the key message to come from Happy Place Book Club read, Killjoy, which tells the incredible true story of the No More Page 3 campaign, and the unlikely everyday women who made a generational change possible.   Fearne chats to author Jo Cheetham about their early memories of Page 3, street harassment, and how cultural messages can affect t...

“Am I mad, or did it happen?” This is a question that poet Lemn Sissay regularly finds himself asking. Having grown up in care, he has no family members to bear witness to his life experiences; is his understanding of his own identity correct?   In this chat with Fearne, Lemn talks through why it’s important for us not to compare trauma, that everything’s relative, and no one deserves more or...

A disciplined lifestyle isn’t restrictive, it’s freeing. That’s how dietician, nutritionist, and plant-based cook Radhi Devlukia-Shetty feels about the habits, boundaries, and guidelines she's implemented. They allow her to be in control, rather than outside factors controlling how she lives.   In this chat with Fearne, Radhi explains why committing to something – and following through – incr...

How can you support your child’s healthy brain development? How can you strengthen your connection with your children? And have you already messed them up too badly to make a change? These are all questions broadcaster-turned-child therapist Kate Silverton answers in her new book, There’s Still No Such Thing As Naughty.   Kate joined Fearne on the podcast earlier this week to discuss how to h...

Did you learn to regulate your emotions as a child? Broadcaster turned child therapist Kate Silverton says our ability to regulate our emotions has been found to be the best indicator of future happiness.   In this chat with Fearne, Kate definitively explains why it’s never too late to change your relationship with your kids regardless of how much you think you’v...

How often do you honour your emotions, and ask yourself “how are you, in this moment?” Spiritual coach and meditation teacher Kirsty Gallagher guides you through a meditation that helps you connect with your inner wisdom, and to get beneath the noise and chaos of the outside world.   So, find yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable for this gorgeous 10 minute meditation. While you’re doing t...

Some people are born driven; Zara Larsson is one of them. Sixteen years into her career, she’s still got huge ambitions for what she wants to achieve and what she expects of herself.   In this chat, Fearne and Zara talk about how to make sure we’re content and satisfied in the moment, while acknowledging that we continuously want to evolve and grow. We have to be curious about our human poten...

Change is scary but liberating. Grief has galvanised musician Jess Glynne, changing her outlook on life and making her more fearless.   In this chat with Fearne, Jess explains why learning that life is short has helped her trust her gut and make decisions that really serve her personally and professionally, rather than internalising other people’s feedback.   Fearne and Jess also talk th...

Distress can be transformed into growth. Having had breast cancer, a double mastectomy, and Crohn’s, music icon Anastacia knows all too well how to be resilient through health scares.   In this chat, Fearne and Anastacia discuss how mindset and perspective can make a huge difference to our reality, especially for someone like Anastacia, who says she’s both an anxious and an optimistic person....

What do you want to say that you’re not saying? After decades in the music industry Natasha Bedingfield has learnt from experience that being true to ourselves has to be more important than being liked.   In this chat, Fearne and Natasha explore practical ways to speak up and assert yourself, with Natasha drawing inspiration from the way legends like Tina Turner physically take control of the...

The Playboy mansion was supposed to be a place of freedom, expression and empowerment for Crystal Hefner, but it turned out to be the total opposite. As one of the girlfriends – and then wife – of Hugh Hefner, she had to be seen and not heard.   In this chat with Fearne, Crystal explains how living in the Playboy mansion saw her pitted against other women and picked apart for her appearance....

A good life isn’t necessarily a comfortable, easy life. Neuroscientist Tj Power knows that an element of effort and challenge is vital in keeping our minds happy.   In this chat with Fearne, Tj explains why it’s an issue for our mental health that the modern world enables us to get dopamine hits with zero effort. Similarly, he reckons being bored is a really solid antidote to being overstimul...

Are we making ourselves unhappy by setting unrealistic expectations for our relationships? Matchmaker Paul C Brunson thinks we might just be.   In this chat, Fearne and Paul explore attachment theory, communication styles, and the idea that instead of looking for ‘the one’ we should prioritise doing more of the things that light us up. Plus, Paul explains why the biggest rule of dating is to...

When judge ourselves less, we judge each other less too, and vice versa. Activist and broadcaster Emma Dabiri’s academic work critiques the image-conscious society we live in.   In this chat, Fearne and Emma explore attitudes to everything from ageing, to weight, to race. Plus, Emma explains how much of our beauty culture is specific to the West, by comparing it to other cultures around the w...