Happy Place Fearne Cotton

Is the world ready for free women? Paloma Faith feels society grooms girls and women to make themselves smaller, to take up less space, and to dismiss their own needs... and she’s calling bullshit on it.
 
In this chat Fearne and Paloma discuss the exhaustion that can come with being a nurturer – whether you’ve got children or not. They also talk about how over-achievers are often preoccupied with being seen as everything – smart, funny, caring, sexy, independent – and why it’s too much for one person to take on. How can we learn to ask for and accept help from others?
 
Paloma opens up about why she chose to carry on working while miscarrying, and the pressure that miscarriage put on her relationship.
 
Plus, why does Paloma really hate the expression “you’ve got this”?
 
Paloma’s book – MILF: Motherhood, Identity, Love, and F*ckery – is published by Happy Place Books, and is out now.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains frank chat about miscarriage, so do take care while listening.

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Fearne’s written a novel! It’s called Scripted, and it tells the story of Jade – a thirty-something who, out on a run, stumbles upon a script that seems to predict likely scenarios and relationship dynamics in her life. Having been given a sneak peek at her future, can Jade now speak up, and rewrite her own destiny?
 
You’ve been DMing and voicenoting Fearne, asking her questions about the writing process, who inspired her characters, and whether she’s included her wealth of mental health knowledge in the novel...
 
Plus, there’s an exclusive listen to the entire first chapter of the Scripted audiobook!
 
Scripted is out now.
 
The audiobook, read by Erin Doherty, and brought to you by Penguin is also available: https://adbl.co/3U7EP1P
 

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How big do you let yourself dream? BBC broadcaster Ashley John-Baptise grew up in care, and knows all too well that love can help cultivate aspiration.
 
In this chat with Fearne, Ashley talks through his childhood, from being bounced between foster parents and care homes, to ending up with a history degree from Cambridge University.
 
He explains how he became a colder and more detached child as protection against constant rejection. Ashley also talks about the very real impact not having access to touch and attachment to a primary care giver can have on a person’s future outcomes.
 
Fearne and Ashley chat about the huge influence kind and persistent adults can have over a child’s life. You don’t have to be a parent to positively impact a child; teaching, mentoring, and community work will make a huge difference to an individual, and as a result, society too...
 
Ashley’s memoir, Looked After, is out on June 13th.


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Being deep in the middle of therapy can be draining. Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete Molly McCann has been working hard to understand her more toxic traits and behaviours, and her vulnerability has made her a stronger fighter.
 
In this chat with Fearne, Molly talks about how she’s learnt not to fear failure, and how to overcome self-sabotage, as well as the very physical way her trauma has been released. She explains how she knew she wanted to break her family’s pattern of addiction too.
 
Fearne and Molly also chat about the movement towards female athletes taking their menstrual cycle into consideration during training, and the fickleness of fandom – how we put people on a pedestal only to tear them down again. How can we learn to seek internal rather than external validation?
 
Molly McCann returns to the Octagon for UFC® 304: Edwards vs Muhammad 2. Tickets for UFC® 304 go on sale at 10am BST on Friday, 7th June via Ticketmaster.
 

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Sociopathy should be understood as a spectrum disorder. It’s a disorder that affects roughly 5% of the population – similar to the number of people who have depression or anxiety. Patric Gagne is a sociopath.
 
In this chat with Fearne, Patric explains the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath. Sociopaths have access to inherent emotions like sadness and happiness, but struggle with learned social emotions like remorse, guilt, empathy, and love. There’s also a huge feeling of apathy for Patric, which in the past led her to anti-social behaviours like stealing cars and breaking into houses.
 
Fearne also points out the benefits of not caring what others think of you; while she people pleases a lot, she can see the freedom in having a lack of a filter. They chat about how to function in a relationship when you have to communicate any kind of mental disorder or illness too.
 
Patric’s memoir, Sociopath, is this month’s Happy Place Book Club read. Come and be part of the Book Club discussions on Instagram @happyplacebookclub.
 
Sociopath is out now.
 
Listen to Book Club Meets: Jo Cheetham
 
Listen to Book Club Meets: Jennie Godfrey

Thanks to Bluebird (an imprint of Pan Macmillan) for the Sociopath audiobook extract.
 

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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 tics and a stammer, isolating her personally and professionally. They talk about how to cope when those around you don’t understand what you’re going through, plus, how the Prince’s Trust have given her game-changing support to start her own business helping others with mental health struggles.
 
Fearne is a Goodwill Ambassador for Mental Health and Wellbeing for The Prince’s Trust. They help support young people aged 11-30, and believe that every single young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter their background, or their personal challenges. They offer support into education, training, and jobs; that’s exactly what they did for Ashleigh.
 
As well as catching up on Ashleigh’s progress, Fearne has a very special surprise for her at the end of the episode...

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