“I had to say ‘c*ck’ at The Royal Albert Hall!” Fearne’s talking about sex and being more creative

What’s going on for you? What are you happy about, and what’s making you not so happy? Fearne’s here with more chatter about what’s putting her and the Happy Place team in a good mood this week, and what can bugger off. This is the space for all of us to explore what’s been on our minds. Want to join the chat? Send us a voicenote, DM, or comment on Instagram @happyplaceofficial! In this chat, Fearne covers: -Whether she looks more intelligent now she wears glasses -Reading a sexual fantasy out at The Royal Albert Hall -Why having a creative hobby can be game changing -The transitional weather where your jacket is never right -Books with great premises but rubbish execution -Being aggy on social media just for the sake of it -Whether it’s worth writing sh*tty texts and emails Listen to the Happy Place episodes mentioned in this chat: Gillian Anderson https://pod.fo/e/26738b Tom Daly https://pod.fo/e/1027e9 Child on the line is a three-part documentary podcast series celebrating the Volunteer Counsellors of Childline, and the brave children & young people who contact the helpline service. Listen here: https://www.childonthelinepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hi, I'm Natalie Dormer and I'm proud to be an ambassador for Childline. This year, Childline turns 40. To mark it, I've made Child on the Line, a three-part documentary podcast. We hear why children needed a helpline in 1986, how it was built against the odds and the challenges children face today, from abuse and mental health to social media and AI. Search Child on the Line and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  I've got big news. I switched to Verizon and got the new iPhone 18 Pro. Shh. I can keep my old phone and I also get the latest iPhone every year. Shh, anything else? Verizon let me choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on them. Everybody, listen up! Switch to Verizon and get the new iPhone 18 Pro now. No trade-in needed. And the latest iPhone every year with Simplicity Plan. Plus, choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on us. Simplicity Plan with Simplicity Pro required. Plan and device payment purchase are separate agreements with separate terms. Service plan for watch or iPad required. Additional terms apply for all offers.

• 1:00Speaker 02

  Then I thought, what if, I've scaled businesses. What if I scaled my philanthropy? What if I did as much in one year as I've done in my whole life?

• 1:07Speaker 03

  See how your wealth could have even greater meaning at creativeplanning.com/impact.

• 1:12Speaker 04

  Hello, this is Suzy Ruffel. And Maisie Adam. And together we host Big Kick Energy. Hey Mais, what is it? Only the best podcast ever. Yes! A comedy entertainment podcast with a focus on all things women's football, all things hilarious, all things friendship. It's a laugh is what it is, Ruffel. Yeah, and a fair bit of gossiping too. Oh, and a lovely bit of gossip. Chow down on the gossip. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. You just need to search Big Kick Energy. Grab a knife and fork and tuck in, baby!

• 1:45Fearne Cotton?

  I'm so excited about this. Guys, do I look more intelligent? Somebody slid in to my DMs that it just blew my mind. Are you instantly taking me more seriously? Now, she asked me the day before the event, which suggests somebody had pulled out. I had to say the word cock on stage at the airport hall. We don't know what to wear. Can it ju- can the UK just commit to spring? We don't all like the same things. And if we did, the world would be bloody boring. I'm gonna fire off this shitty text messaging and that person's gonna get it. And it's like, do you want to commit that to paper? Oh, this one really gets my goat. Hello and welcome to Happy Place with me, Fern Cotton. I hope that you're well and you're doing alright.

• 2:30Fearne Cotton?

  And if you're not, maybe this little episode will give you a bit of company, a little bit of escapism, things to chat about, things to moan about, things to feel really happy and excited about. I'm gonna kick off with, I've got quite a lot of things that have brought me a lot of joy this week. One of them is, I'm so excited about this. Guys, I now wear glasses.

• 2:52Fearne Cotton?

  Do I look more intelligent? Are you instantly taking me more seriously? I really hope so because I feel super intelligent in them. And more importantly, I can see, which is so great. I was watching TV at the weekend and I was like, oh my God, it's like HD quality, which I think is how it was meant to look in the first place. So I'm absolutely over the moon. I hadn't had an eye test, embarrassingly, in 20 years. So of course I had a bit of eye decline, but now I'm just very happily wearing my little specs. And also they've got like a reading bit at the bottom. It's what I'm reading off my phone. I can see. Genius.

• 3:34Fearne Cotton?

  Now, as awesome as I look in my specs, Basil has just come in and said, I have to take these glasses off because the light's reflecting in them, blah, blah, blah. But I don't actually need to see anything. I can't see you lovely people, which is a massive shame. So, oh, little glasses, you just sit there. Love you. So I had the most joyful evening the other day, which brought me so much happiness. I can't stop thinking about it. I have one of those moments that was surreal and I'm so grateful for. Somebody slid in to my DMs that it just blew my mind. She's been on the podcast before. It's the one and only Gillian Anderson, who I am such a fan of for so many reasons.

• 4:18Fearne Cotton?

  And she was putting on this night at the Albert Hall where different people came along and read out sexual fantasies from her brilliant book Want, which if you haven't listened to that episode of Happy Place, go back and listen to it because it was utterly fascinating. Now, she asked me the day before the event, which suggests somebody had pulled out. But we'll forget that minor detail and I will just take all of the joy that came from that moment of Gillian asking me. I said yes immediately. There was no doubt in my mind that I wasn't going to go and be a part of this. Yes, I was shitting myself. It's the Albert Hall, it's a huge venue. And also there were people on the line up like Helen Mirren and Olivia Cook and Joy

• 5:02Fearne Cotton?

  Crooks and who else was there Mills?

• 5:08Fearne Cotton?

  Belle Priestley. It was just an amazing, amazing line up. And before I went on stage, I was sharing a dressing room with Olivia Cook. Have you seen The Girlfriend? It's the most bingeable brilliant TV show. I was a massive fan of it, so I was thrilled to meet her. And she was there with her mate Sam and we were laughing our tits off before we went on stage. We just clicked and got on so well. So that was brilliant in itself. And then came the moment to go and read the sexual fantasy that I'd chosen from Gillian's book to a room full of people. And you never quite know when you do any event, what the audience is going to be like. And I've been out and done some talks and some events where the audience is quiet or they're a bit flat and nothing's landing, you're not getting a laugh and it can feel

• 5:50Fearne Cotton?

  a bit soul destroying or you can just walk off stage going, oh, wow. You know, the world hasn't stopped turning, but that was a bit mortifying. This was the absolute opposite. It was like being in one giant hen party, quite frankly. The vibes were amazing. The crowd was so up for it. It was just loads of brilliant women and a few men who were up for a massive laugh. So I just loved every minute of it. You know, I read out this sexual fantasy and everyone was kind of like giggling and whooping and cheering and the sexual fantasy was a really good one. It was, they're all written anonymously, but the, the sort of crux of it was a lady is at a party in a big manor house.

• 6:35Fearne Cotton?

  There's a storm, therefore a power cut. She's walking down this hallway, bumps into something large and hard. It's a man, don't be filthy. And, I mean, we're about to get filthy. And then she ends up having sex with him, but she can't see him. Um, and the whole thing is this kind of fantasy of having sex with someone that you don't see at all. And then you both leave the room and you still don't know what they look like. And that is that woman's sexual fantasy. Obviously I got the giggles a hundred times whilst reading it because I had to say,

• 7:11Fearne Cotton?

  I had to say the word cock on stage at the Alphatall. There's something that feels inherently wrong about using blasphemous language in a venue like that. This regal, ornate building, very proper, very traditional. And I'm going, he put his cock inside me. I'm going, oh my God, what am I saying? I mean, there was something massively jarring about it, but it was so funny. And the whole room, do you know what it was? The, the bit that brought the joy for me was that it felt like a non-judgmental, safe space to sensibly and with humour, talk about sex for women. And we need that. I don't think there's enough spaces like that

• 7:53Fearne Cotton?

  without judgment and without it being, you know, something that's full of shame or secrecy. It was so liberating. It was so liberating. So that brought me all the joy. And actually Amelia from Team Happy Place came along and had a jolly good night. It's got us thinking actually. It's got us getting buzzed up about Happy Place projects that we're, we're dreaming up currently. Let's have a look at the Happy Place list of things that my team have suggested and making them feel good at the moment.

• 8:25Fearne Cotton?

  Archie says knitting, I'm trying to pick up more hobbies this year and knitting is the first I have chosen to little successes so far. I think knitting is one of those things that you need a bit of practice, don't you, to get to Tom Daly levels, but I love that. I'm very big on anything that involves creativity and our hands, whether it's making models out of clay, like doing pottery, or knitting, or cross stitch, or painting. Painting has brought me so much joy this year. I'd really let it slide over the last few years. I've always put an excuse in place, like, "Oh no, I haven't got time for painting, I've got to, you know, I'm at work", or "I've got to clear out the shed",

• 9:08Fearne Cotton?

  or, you know, I've just thought of a thing. And I know that part of that is because I was scared I couldn't do it anymore, because the longer I left it, the more that creative fear built up. Like, what if I just can't paint? And now I'm on a bit of a roll again, where I'm like, "Oh, I can paint and I love paint and I want to paint every day if I could". And I'm trying to paint every other week at the moment. But I love that Archie's taken up knitting. I think all of us could get so much more joy out of life by just inserting a little creative hour at the end of our day, or have a whole creative day if you've got the time or the opportunity. There is nothing better. And especially with knitting, you get this product at the end that you get to wear or gift to someone. I love it.

• 9:52Fearne Cotton?

  Right, let's move on to things that are pissing us right off. Dislikes from Team Happy Place. Sarah, who is on maternity leave at the moment, but can you keep her away from our WhatsApp groups or what we're doing at Happy Place? No, no, no, because she loves it and she's also the best. She's got a gorgeous little baby called Posey, but she just loves Happy Place. So she listens to all the episodes, she's still throwing in ideas and emailing us. And she said at the moment, what's pissing her right off... Is the transitional weather where I'm just not getting the jacket right. Oh my God.

• 10:30Fearne Cotton?

  I had this the other day. It looked outside to be quite chilly. So I thought I'm wearing my heaviest. It's sort of a trench coat, like a long jacket, but it's woolen. So it's really warm and I worn a T-shirt. I think I had a vest on underneath, like a right old granny, a vest, a T-shirt and a jumper. And I was going to an art exhibition. I went to the amazing Turner Constable exhibition, which is at the Tate. I don't know how much longer it's on for, but if you've got the opportunity to go, my God, is it beautiful to see these incredible paintings that are 150 years old. I think I've talked about this on here before, but oh, it was just the most inspiring, beautiful thing to see. But fuck me, it was hot in there.

• 11:15Fearne Cotton?

  I was absolutely sweating. It was cold outside, but then it was boiling in there. So I was then carrying a jumper and my coat and another top that I had on and lugging that around. And then when I went outside, it had warmed up. So I then only put one layer back on. So it's like, we don't know what to wear. Can it ju- can the UK just commit to spring? Because we have been now titillated with a couple of warm days, a couple of evenings where birdsong is still present and the sun is in the sky, the blossoms out, the magnolia trees are blooming. And then you get like December for two days. What are we, what are we wearing?

• 11:52Fearne Cotton?

  What are we wearing? Also, like I was, I got the tube into town on Saturday. I was sweating on the tube, then freezing when I got off. It's impossible. Sarah, I'm with you. What else are people not liking here? Oh, this is good. Anushka says, books with brilliant premises that just aren't executed well. I mean, who am I to judge? Because I've probably written books where you might think the premise is great, but you didn't like the book itself. But I get it because reading a book is such a commitment and I am a bookworm and I get a lot of happiness from reading. But sometimes you love the idea of a book or it's been so hyped by everybody, but you start it and you know your heart's not in it.

• 12:34Fearne Cotton?

  And I'm always so confused as to whether I'm meant to stick with it so I can then talk about it to everybody or just ditch it. My friend Claire always says ditch it. Her theory is you don't like everybody you meet, so why should you like every book that you pick up, which is a pretty solid basis to work from. So I've started occasionally ditching books, which feels a bit wasteful, but I always try and pass them on if I've not enjoyed them, or if they've got a nice book cover, put them on my shelf. But I get it, when there's a great idea and you're like, I'm all in, this sounds cool, but then it's just, it's lagging. Or, and also, like, you know, like I said, we've all got preferences

• 13:14Fearne Cotton?

  of style, you know, I love a fast paced book that keeps me on the tip of my toes at all times. But then like my bestie Claire, she loves a very slow, gentle book, where it's more about the emotional meaning behind it. We don't all like the same things. And if we did, the world would be bloody boring. That's the whole point of talking about this stuff here. A safe place to talk about what's making us feel brilliant, and what is making us feel shit. And you certainly won't agree with me and team happy place on all of it. You know, you might like bad books. Um, oh, this one really gets my go. Archie from team happy place says people who express or jump on opinions just for a reaction on social

• 13:58Fearne Cotton?

  media. I think social media is full of that constantly. And my way of finding a bit of calm when that's happening a lot, is to understand that yes, you know, I'm sure some of the time, or maybe even a lot of the time, people are putting opinions out there because they vehemently feel like there's injustice, or there's a problem with something going on in the world. I mean, there's a lot to be moaning about at the moment and outraged about. But sometimes people aren't. And they're actually angry about something going on in their lives, whether it's their own injustice, which is totally valid, or something that's just really riled them in their own lives. And social media is seemingly this great benign

• 14:43Fearne Cotton?

  way of releasing that and not having to deal with the actual thing going on in your life. So if we look at a situation which isn't world changing, globally, full of injustice, it's just like, I don't know, one of the Kardashians has done something, or somebody's worn very little on the red carpet. Do you need to put your full anger behind that moment? Do you need to say anything at all? I don't think so, but it is an easy way of releasing some of that tension and that rage. And that is the only, the only way I can calm myself in those moments is remembering that I, my life like yours is full of those moments.

• 15:23Fearne Cotton?

  You know, tiny little injustices or bigger ones or things from the past that piss you off so massively. And of course you feel tempted in that moment to then put a shitty message out there or say something. Never do it. And I think also something I'm trying to teach my 13 year old at the moment, not that he's got social media, but we've, we talk about it a hell of a lot. Is not committing negative things to the digital world because it's out there for good in writing. That also goes for texts and emails. I have so often thought, I'm going to fire off this shitty text message. And that person's going to get it. And it's like, do you want to commit that to paper? Do you want to commit those words out there in print forever?

• 16:08Fearne Cotton?

  You, we've really all got to think about it. And I have done it in the past. I've sent shitty emails and massively regretted it after. The thing I do now is write the shitty email, write the text, really go for it with, you know, no filtering and then delete it. You've got it out of you, but you've not sent it and you've not committed that to the digital world. So is any of that helpful or useful? Probably not. But anyway, I've got a few things off my chest. If you would like to do that as well, head to our Instagram at happy place official, slide into our DMs. We are so here for your moans about what is pissing you off in your life, in the world, big, small, irrelevant, relevant.

• 16:49Fearne Cotton?

  And also we really want to hear what's making you feel joyful, not only because it's lovely to share those stories, but also I think it really helps us inform where happy place goes. You know, what's making you feel good? What more good stuff can we deliver you? So let us know. And once again, thank you so much for listening and sending you all the love.

• 17:36Speaker 06

  Help, I Sexed It My Boss is the podcast where manners... meets mayhem. I'm William Hanson. I'm Jordan North. And together we take on the hilarious challenges of modern life. William's the arbiter of etiquette. And Jordan's the chaotic yin to my perfectly polished yang. So if you want laugh-out-loud stories and brutally honest moments, then you'll love Help, I Sexed It My Boss. Watch and listen every Tuesday and Friday. On YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Just search Sexed It. Be warned, it's a bit rude.