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Fearne Cotton: Nine things we learned when she spoke to Joe Wicks

In The Joe Wicks Podcast, author and fitness coach Joe talks to inspirational people from all walks of life to find out what keeps them physically and mentally strong.

In the second episode, Joe’s guest is presenter and author Fearne Cotton. Though still only 38, Fearne has been a fixture on British TV for nearly 25 years. She tells Joe about the effects of a life in the public eye, the joys of running, and the benefits of a cold shower. Here are nine things we learned…

Listen to the full interview

1. She left Radio 1 without a plan

Fearne was a presenter on Radio 1 for a decade. In 2015, she announced she would be leaving her mid-morning show. When she left, she had no idea what she’d do next. “I had some amazing moments there,” she says. “I'm always so grateful for having had that experience, but I definitely needed a switch up of energy and to be challenged again. So, I decided to jump into the void, and it really was a void. I had zero plans. I had no work in front of me.” After giving birth to her daughter, Honey, later that year, she says she found her passion for writing. “It’s always something I’d done privately and very much enjoyed.” She’s now written eight books, with two more on the way.

I’ll listen to really melancholic, emotive music to make me cry... To have a good cry is one of the most therapeutic things you can do.
Fearne Cotton on the healing power of music

2. She loves 70s music and a good cry

When she’s feeling down, Fearne says she immediately puts on music. If she wants to lift her mood, she’ll put on 70s tunes. “I wasn’t born in the 70s but for me it evokes a time of freedom, before technology and social media and all that stuff.” Sometimes, though, she prefers to lean into the sadness and listen to something weepy. “I’ll listen to really melancholic, emotive music to make me cry,” she says. “To have a good cry is one of the most therapeutic things you can do.”

3. She was bulimic for many years

Fearne started her presenting career when she was 15. She says being in the public eye at such a young age gave her a dysmorphic view of her body. “I was a normal kid going to state school… and the next minute I was sat next to these tiny, tiny pop stars on an inflatable sofa.” She began to dislike how she looked and developed bulimia at the age of 19. “Looking back, I disregarded bulimia as a mental health illness. I just saw it as this weird thing for me to be doing. Now I really honour that it was me looking for coping mechanisms because I didn’t feel mentally strong enough to deal with what I was dealing with in my career.”

4. She’s suffered from night-time panic attacks

In times of stress, Fearne says her sleep suffers and she’s sometimes hit by night-time panic attacks. “They’re horrendous… It would often be that I’d be panicking about something in my past or something coming up the next day. I would get into bed and get these huge surges of adrenaline and my heart would be racing.” She would sometimes not sleep for two days because the panic was so severe.

5. She no longer cares what people think

Being in the public eye for so much of her life, Fearne has been sensitive to other people’s opinions of her. “People are commenting on what you’re wearing and physically what you look like and what your personality is like. That’s not normal for anyone.” Growing older has helped her better ignore criticism. “What I’ve realised at this age is that it’s not any of my business what other people think of me… People are going to say things in newspapers. It doesn’t mean they’re true. I know what’s real about me.”

6. She’s learned to calm down

Fearne says she’s always been a hard worker and felt like she should be productive at all times. Lately, she’s learning to heed wisdom given to her by a friend. “She said to me, ‘Nothing in nature blooms all year round.’ I thought, ‘God, how amazing. I’ve been trying to be a flower blooming all year round without a break… I’m just like bloom bloom bloom.”

7. She wanted to be a dancer

Becoming a TV presenter was not in Fearne’s plan. As a child she had her sights set on becoming a dancer. “I was dancing almost every day in my teens,” she says. “I got such a kick out of the endorphins released and the adrenaline and the fluidity of dance… That was my whole goal in life, really, until I accidentally slipped into TV presenting.”

Nothing in nature blooms all year round... I’ve been trying to be a flower blooming all year round without a break… I’m just like bloom bloom bloom.
Fearne Cotton

8. Running helps her relax

Fearne says daily exercise has been a vital part of learning to clear her mind and not worry about things so much. She does yoga and runs several times a week. “I usually run about four miles on average,” she says. “I hate running any more than that… I’m not going to be Dame Kelly Holmes one day or anything.”

9. She believes in a daily cold shower

Fearne and her husband Jesse have recently become fans of the Wim Hof Method, which in part extols the health virtues of “cold therapy”. Fearne says this is one of Jesse’s “coping mechanisms” in his recovery from alcoholism (he has been sober for almost eight years). “We really like to talk to the kids about [his coping mechanisms] and we've been doing the Wim Hof freezing cold shower every day this year… I’ll put it on the coldest setting and can stay in there for up to three minutes.” Her son, Rex, she says, can do five minutes.

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