Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Singer-songwriter who released demos on social media, became a Glastonbury headline act, and won multiple music awards including Brit and Ivor Novello.
On the island
Eight records
I've chosen this because it's an amazing song for a start. It takes me back to an era of Britpop and my dad being at his most anarchic.
It's just a fun sort of jump-up, anarchic, ridiculous song that's about losing your jumper.
I Am the ResurrectionFavourite
This is one of my favourite songs of all time.
It takes me back to a really fun, happy, positive time, but also there's something quite terrifying about it in the sense that the night could take you anywhere.
There's a sort of weepy guitar in it that I really identify with and just watch out for how he says woman.
I lost a child three years ago now, and I just remember leaving the hospital empty handed and this song being on a CD that Sam was playing.
I get very, very excited when people start playing ragga or jungle music at parties and I don't want to talk to anyone, I just want to dance.
This song was the first dance of mine and my husband's. Sam gave me a mix CD and this was the first song on it.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:21Is that a policy of yours not to hold back, or can you just not help it?
I don't think it's a case of not wanting to hold back, I think I just sit down and start writing. I don't censor myself … There's no point in doing it unless it's real.
Presenter asks
2:29How satisfying do you personally find success? Does it quench you?
Yes, I think it does, but at the same time I think it brings a lot of pressure … it's difficult and especially with today's tabloid culture … you put something out and it doesn't do quite as well … and that's annoying and something that I'm quite fearful of.
Presenter asks
5:36What do you think about the criticism of having your cake and eat it? [regarding the Hard Out Here video]
Well listen, you know, I try and be as sort of provocative as possible and that was the way that I wanted to make my point and I feel like we executed it well. But, you know, I've always said that I'm a mass of contradictions and a massive hypocrite … I feel like I reserve the right to change my mind and have a different opinion from one day to the next.
The keepsakes
The book
Patrick Dennis
Well, I I found this really tricky, but I actually settled on Auntie Mame, which is a book by Patrick Dennis, which is set in Prohibition, Manhattan. You know, the Prohibition era and New York. Fascinating. That era, that that glam, those clothes, the smoking with the long cigarette holders and the fancy hats, sequined flappery dresses. Just yeah, dreamy. Lovely.
The luxury
Sam's England cricket shirt with daughter's bunny sewn onto it
Now, I connect very well to not only just pictures but smells. And when I first got together with Sam, we loved going to the cricket all summer, and the England cricket team gave me a cricket shirt, which Sam then wore. And when I had to say goodbye to him and go off on the road, I would take this shirt. So I'm not only taking that shirt, but I'm sewing my youngest daughter's bunny that she goes to bed with every night to Sam's shirt, so I've got both the smells, and I can smell them.
Presenter asks
14:02Were you a bullied child and very shy?
I think it really depends what was going on in my home life at the time … when I was at a Catholic school in Camden for a few years when I lived with Harry, and that was like one of the most positive school experiences that I had … I had a singing teacher called Rachel Santeso who heard me singing along to an Oasis song …
Presenter asks
17:55How will you approach the subject of drugs with your own kids when they are old enough?
Well, I think because my own drug taking has been so well documented, I think that I can't really do anything, except for be there for them. I'm not going to push them into drug taking … people are going to do what they want to do … I'll advise them of the downfalls and the risks, but I don't really like judging or implementing rules on people.
Presenter asks
28:18Did you need to write during the difficult time when your daughter was unwell?
I think no, I at the time I was just really consumed with just making sure that she was gonna be okay … it wasn't until she was out the other side … that I kind of felt like, okay, now I need to do something for myself … and that's when I started writing again. And when I first went back, the songs were predominantly about loss. But I find it a very cathartic process.
“I don't censor myself, you know, I just can't. There's no point in doing it unless unless it's real.”
“I've always said that I'm a mass of contradictions and a massive hypocrite.”
“So, does that mean you're not my dad any more?”
“I do worry about leaving my kids for too long.”