122 episodes

Hello I’m Sophie Ellis-Bextor and this is my new series Spinning Plates where I speak to busy working women, who also happen to be mothers, about how they make it work. I am a singer and have released 7 albums in-between having my 5 sons who are aged between 1 and 16 so I spin a few plates myself. Being a mother can be the most amazing thing.. but it can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions. I want to be a bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Join me while I speak to a host of interesting and inspirational women who’ve really made me think - and laugh, and sometimes cry.
Welcome to Spinning Plates.


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Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Ellis-Bextor

    • Kids & Family
    • 4.8 • 473 Ratings

Hello I’m Sophie Ellis-Bextor and this is my new series Spinning Plates where I speak to busy working women, who also happen to be mothers, about how they make it work. I am a singer and have released 7 albums in-between having my 5 sons who are aged between 1 and 16 so I spin a few plates myself. Being a mother can be the most amazing thing.. but it can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions. I want to be a bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Join me while I speak to a host of interesting and inspirational women who’ve really made me think - and laugh, and sometimes cry.
Welcome to Spinning Plates.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Episode 121: Trinny Woodall

    Episode 121: Trinny Woodall

    Trinny Woodall is the CEO of the beauty brand Trinny London - she's an entrepreneur, businesswoman and author.
     
    She became a household name in the late 90s when she teamed up with Susannah Constantine to present the TV makeover show What Not to Wear.
     
    Last year she published her book Fearless about how to find your style and boost your confidence.
     
    She has a 20 year old daughter Lyla, who she describes as joyful, and she told me how, without her own roadmap to motherhood, she found a way to bring Lyla up, with the help of a wonderful woman called Jenny,
    We had an honest and fascinating talk in the attic room of her home in West London, which doubles as an office and a dressing room, full of colourful clothes.
     
    Trinny has just celebrated her 60th birthday and is as vibrant and fun as you could hope for. We sat there together, in our pyjamas, just after she'd shown me her microneedling tool, and I really understand why people open up to her and tell her their innermost secrets!
     
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 9 min
    Episode 120: Michelle Kennedy

    Episode 120: Michelle Kennedy

    Michelle Kennedy is a tech entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is CEO of Peanut App, and mum to two young children, Finlay and Nuala.
    Michelle started her working life as a corporate lawyer and became interested in tech when she worked for Badoo and then Bumble. 
    She set up Peanut after she gave birth to her first child and felt lonely and isolated. 
    Peanut is an online community for women, as Michelle says, at 'seismic stages' of their life including fertility, pregnancy, motherhood and menopause. It's a place where women can come and speak honestly with other women going through the same stage of life as them, and she feels it acts as a social barometer of which issues are important to women.
    I certainly wish it had been around when I had my first baby. And I look forward to watching Michelle's plans unfold for creating a space for young girls to talk about their challenges in their teen years... Little me could have done with that too!
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Episode 119: Kelly Hoppen

    Episode 119: Kelly Hoppen

    Kelly Hoppen is an interior designer who is renowned for working with big celebrity names and is known for her signature neutral palette.
    Kelly started her business aged 16 and a half, just afer her father died unexpectedly, and she told me that the feeling she wants to create for her clients is the one she had from her grandmother's home where she remembers learning to crochet and having tea.
    Kelly has spoken openly about being dyslexic. When we met at her office, just before Christmas, she described how music is a massive component in her design process, and that she will often ask a client which song would sum up the look of the room they want her to create for them.
    Kelly had her daughter Natasha when she was 23, and became stepmother to Sienna and Savannah Miller when they were teenagers, and the three girls ended up going to boarding school together. She says being a stepmum to Sienna and Savannah is one of the greatest achievements of her life.
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 52 min
    Episode 118: Sophie Darlington

    Episode 118: Sophie Darlington

    Sophie Darlington is a wildlife cinematographer for shows such as David Attenborough's 'Planet Earth'. She regularly gets up way before dawn in places such as Sri Lanka or East Africa, and sits for over 12 hours a day watching the animal she’s filming, often for weeks at a time. She says it’s the best job in the world but you come back 'rinsed'.
    When her son Louis came along 23 years ago, Sophie had to take a break from her cinematography work for several years, but she returned when Louis was 4 and a half and even took him to live with her in the Serengeti for a year, while she worked. She also has an 11 year old step daughter now, who she says is 'so cool'.
    She is passionate about nature, and she is worried about the effect of climate change on the natural world, having observed worrying trends over the past decades during her cinematography projects.
    Sophie says it takes a certain mindset to want to sit for 10 hours in 36 degree heat in a metre by metre hide, or 30 metres up a tree. She also says that when she comes back from filming she can't cross a road for a while as she's so unused to city life.  
    Sophie says her purpose is to 'make people give a damn'. And it's definitely worked on me.
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 15 min
    Episode 117: Amy Hart

    Episode 117: Amy Hart

    Amy Hart is a social media influencer, former reality TV star and podcast presenter. She appeared in Love Island in 2019 (Richard and I are avid viewers!) and she now has an adorable little baby called Stanley.
    Amy is the only Love Island contestant to have appeared on Question Time and she is a big food bank supporter.
    Amy worked as cabin crew before she joined Love Island, which I imagined would prepare her for sleep-deprived motherhood...except Stanley is a very good baby and sleeps through the night!
    We talked about how supportive her parents are as grandparents to Stanley. We also discussed how Amy had frozen her eggs prior to meeting her partner, and how she plans to donate those eggs to people stuggling to conceive.
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr
    Episode 116: Gabby Logan

    Episode 116: Gabby Logan

    Gabby Logan is best known as a BBC sports presenter but has also turned her hand to stand up comedy for Sports Relief (2012), to writing her memoir called The First Half, and to ice baths on Freeze Your Fear (2022). She hosts an excellent podcast called Mid-Life in which she, a guest and an expert explore how to navigate the mysterious territory of middle age.
    She has 18 year old twins and is married to retired Scottish rugby union player Kenny Logan.  I spoke to Gabby a few months after her son Reuben had left the nest, with her daughter Lois following suit in a year, and she told me how the house is starting to feel too big.
    We talked about her brother Daniel's sudden death in 1992 when he was 15, and Gabby was 19 - and how she and her family were - and still are - impacted by this tragedy. But Gabby has a core of positivity and stressed that people can go on to have a good life even when something so terrible happens.
    Gabby represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 as a rhythmic gymnast, which Gabby so perfectly described as: where sport meets showbiz. The brightly-coloured leotards she wore were not a million miles from what I wear on stage now - but she wasn't too impressed by my opening bid to buy them as a job lot. I'll keep working on her!
    Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 23 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
473 Ratings

473 Ratings

SaorMuse7 ,

Fantastic!

Wonderful Podcast! Thanks! ⭐️🌟Great companion for Parents, really appreciate the podcast. So empowering!

pnyclubmum ,

Makes you think - but in a very easy to listen way.

Like a chat with a friend - nuggets of wisdom.

TW6975 ,

Excellent

Love this podcast, it’s one of my faves and love how Sophie is so natural and chats to us at the beginning. All very interesting to listen to on my long my school run.
Sophie - if you read this, trying to get in touch through insta. Hoping I can quickly meet you when you are at the Solihull festival to do a quick video message for my good friends who adore you as a surprise gift for their wedding in September -Jamie has met you several times and is literally obsessed 🤞🏻🤭

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