Pod Insights Happy Place “Outrageous, saucy behaviour!” What’s going down in Fearne’s WhatsApp groups? About this episode What’s been going on for you this week? What are you happy about, and what’s making you not so happy? Fearne’s here with more chat about what’s putting her, Team Happy Place team, and you lot in a good mood, and what’s feeling a bit heavier.
This is our space 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 explores:
-The joyful chaos of the girls’ WhatsApp group
-Taking time to chill before a big life change
-Why it feels so good putting the washing out in the garden
-The time she unfortunately became a bit of a kn*b after red wine
-Tiredness messing with your day
-Worrying about things you can’t control
-How to speak more kindly to your body
-The rage she feels at the Instagram algorithm
Happy Place episodes mentioned in this chat:
Take That https://pod.fo/e/1f8394
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Speaker 00 Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance and IT. With AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new workday.
0:15 Speaker 01 Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets and our shared Google Doc, the headline hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work.
0:33 Speaker 02 That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about.
0:38 Speaker 01 Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewithGemini.
0:45 Speaker 02 That's goo.gle/workspacewithGemini.
0:49 Speaker 03 Hello, I'm Joanna Fletcher.
0:51 Speaker 04 And I'm Marco Bortella.
0:52 Speaker 03 And this is Boots Off.
0:55 Speaker 04 We are friends who have spent a decade together, walking up mountains, across deserts and along coastlines with some seriously awesome groups of humans.
1:03 Speaker 03 And something happens when you're out there, feet on the ground, surrounded by nature. The conversations just spill out of you.
1:10 Speaker 04 This series is about the adversities that lead to adventure.
1:13 Speaker 03 The adventures that lead to adversity.
1:15 Speaker 04 And how life can be one big adventure in itself.
1:18 Speaker 03 Listen every Thursday, just search for Boots Off.
1:25 Fearne Cotton? Well, hello there. I'm Fern Cotton and this is Happy Place. And in these episodes, what we like to do is look at the things that are making all of us feel great, putting us in our happy place, and the things that are, quite frankly, not, that are making us feel terrible. That's what we are chatting about again today.
1:48 Fearne Cotton? I'm going to start with one of my likes, and it is WhatsApp groups, but only the good ones. The school WhatsApp group, that's in the bin. There's too many. I'm on about eight school WhatsApp groups, but the fun one, my favorite WhatsApp group. Is me and my girlfriends from school who are still the best of mates. There's seven of us. You've heard me more than likely talk about them previously. That WhatsApp group alone has the propensity to shift a whole day in the right direction. So last night I had very flippantly mentioned that everybody, because we were all having a shit time. And I just said, if you want cheering up, watch the Kylie Minogue documentary because it is pure 80s nostalgia. We were all little kids in the 80s. So for instance, Scott and Charlene's
2:33 Fearne Cotton? wedding in Neighbours was probably the biggest event of our childhoods. Nobody missed it. Everybody watched Neighbours. Millions of people in the 80s were watching Neighbours because we had like four channels. And it was such a cultural moment. And then we were all members of the Kylie fan club. We used to get like pin badges in the post. But this documentary is so good if you haven't seen it. That's another of my likes this week. You've got Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan talking about that whole era and their romance. I mean, it is mind blowing. But that one comment led to almost a 12 hour chat on this WhatsApp group that ended in a conversation that I dare
3:13 Fearne Cotton? not repeat on this podcast. Outrageous saucy behaviours going on and things being discussed. But it's just the level of tomfoolery and larceny that I can have with those ladies. Judgment free, we could say anything to each other. There's no rules. We all love each other. And there's a brilliant sisterhood there. But mainly, it makes me howl with laughter. The chat's still going on now. And Fran, who is an air steward, is literally going through security about to get on a flight. And we're still all like having this chat. It's ridiculous. But I love it. That is one of my big likes for this week. Let's check out some of yours.
3:54 Fearne Cotton? Go floral or go home, says our new Lido in Portsmouth. I love swimming. Amelia from Team Happy Place. You like going swimming, don't you? Do you go to a Lido? Yes, I feel like Lido's are so retro, so cool. I don't think I've got a Lido anywhere near me, but if I did, I would be in it. I think swimming outdoors, absolutely divine. I love that for you. Jo says seeing Take That with my bestie and booking to come to the Happy Place Festival. Oh, see you there darling. And yeah, Take That live, I've seen them many times live in their various iterations and they know how to put on a show. And also, if you love Take That, we had Take That, as in the trio they now are, on Happy Place,
4:39 Fearne Cotton? I want to say three years ago, around that marker, if you want to spool back into the archives. Darcy says, a few weeks to chill before I start my new job. Yeah, lean into that chill. We all need more chill out time in our lives. What are we doing? Why are we rushing around so much? It doesn't make sense. Let's have a look to team Happy Place now. Oh, this is a simple pleasure. Tia says putting out the washing in the garden. I've got to fix my washing line. I've got one of those ones that is just a big, long wire you pull out and attach to the other end of the garden, but the hook's broken. So it's just a bit of string. So that has reminded me, Tia, that I need to do that. But there is something quite nostalgic for me certainly about seeing washing flapping around in the
5:23 Fearne Cotton? garden. Something lovely about that, flapping around in the breeze. Yet, we have been quite thunderstorm heavy recently. So it's probably less of a good idea at the moment, but I love that one. Gorgeous. Shall we get on to our dislikes? My dislike this week, I mean, it's actually something that I really like, but I'm disliking it this week. And that is red wine. Oh, I love red wine. I really like everything about it. I think it's great. Yeah, the other day, I was at dinner with a friend. And I drank too much red wine and I turned into a twat.
6:06 Fearne Cotton? Uh, I brought out all of my worst qualities in one failed swoop. I just turned into like a mega knob. Um, and the sad thing is I was like really enjoying it. Like whilst I was swirling my glass around and saying lots and lots about the world. Um, I was sort of really getting a kick out of it, not okay. Um, of course I apologised profusely the next day. Um, and there was no offence taken whatsoever and it ended in laughter. But I learned a valuable lesson there. Certainly with that type of red wine, which is a very strong, heady, punchy red wine.
6:49 Fearne Cotton? Just stop after two glasses, like anything after two is probably going to turn you into a knob. Me, not you, talking about myself here. Um, so a valuable lesson learned from this week's dislike from me. Let's have a look at some of yours. Elaine, tiredness. Oh, I hate it. I'm really tired at the moment. My sleep is real bad, Elaine. I hear you, but even sometimes when you've had a really good night's sleep, you still feel knackered the next day. It's so annoying. Is it just because we're getting old? That's really disappointing if it is annoying. Penny says, little things I'm not in control of, but I'm worrying about regardless. That's why I can't sleep, Penny.
7:33 Fearne Cotton? That's exactly, I lie there, running everything that's ever happened in the world through my brain. And of course I can't sleep and none of it's in my control. Pointless. Um, Nicola, don't say that Nicola, Nicola says my thighs. No, that can't be your dislike. Love those thighs, those gorgeous thighs, Nicola. Demand that you, okay, demand is a strong word. I highly encourage that you grab those thighs and you go, I love you thighs. They're amazing, those thighs. They're keeping you strong. Let's have a look at Team Happy Place. Okay, Lana from Team Happy Place.
8:15 Fearne Cotton? Is Lana's, I mean, I should know this, is Lana's official title Brand Manager? I feel like it is. She just does like everything Happy Place, like ties all the loose ends together and she's amazing. And she says, "The Instagram algorithm, all I want to see are my friends' holiday pictures, but my feed is full of creators and strangers I don't even follow." This is so true. I would say like 90% of my algorithm is like stuff and people that I'm like, who are these? Who are these people? What is this? Do you remember back when Instagram started? You would only see people you knew, which seems mad to us now. And it was chronological. It was on a timeline. Do you remember that?
8:55 Fearne Cotton? So you would see the most recent posts would be the things that you would see when you opened your Instagram. And I remember when it changed and it was like, oh, this is just going to be all out of order now. You're just going to get served different things from like, it could be a month ago, it could be a week ago. And I was like, what? What, you're just going to like, time travel? Like, what? This doesn't make sense. Now it's so normal to us and it's probably not good for our brains, is it? That we're just seeing this bombardment of stuff that we don't even want to see. Yet we look at it because we can't help it. But back in the day, it was so easy. It was so simple. Oh, there's my friend who five minutes ago ate a sandwich. Oh, there's another of my friends who's just at her desk right now. That's right now. Like it was what you wanted to see at the time it was happening.
9:41 Fearne Cotton? The world's gone mad, Lana. I totally agree with you, babe. I hope this has been a catharsis for you as much as it has for me. We love doing these episodes and we highly encourage that you send us on Instagram, things that you really like at the moment, things that are putting you in your happy place and things that are not your big dislikes. What are they? Let us know. We'll read them out, we'll get into it, we'll chew the fat. Thank you so much for listening to Happy Place. I love you.
10:15 Speaker 01 Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet.
10:17 Speaker 02 Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the headline hammer.
10:22 Speaker 01 With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work.
10:34 Speaker 02 That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about.
10:38 Speaker 01 Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at go.o.gle/workspacewithGemini.
10:45 Speaker 02 That's go.o.gle/workspacewithGemini.
10:49 Speaker 03 Hello, I'm Joanna Fletcher.
10:51 Speaker 04 And I'm Marco Bortella.
10:52 Speaker 03 And this is Boots Off.
10:56 Speaker 04 We are friends who have spent a decade together walking up mountains, across deserts, and along coastlines with some seriously awesome groups of humans.
11:04 Speaker 03 And something happens when you're out there, feet on the ground, surrounded by nature. The conversations just spill out of you.
11:10 Speaker 04 This series is about the adversities that lead to adventure.
11:13 Speaker 03 The adventures that lead to adversity.
11:15 Speaker 04 And how life can be one big adventure in itself.
11:18 Speaker 03 Listen every Thursday. Just search for Boots Off.
Previous "Life's too short for bad sex!" Grace Campbell is speaking up about pleasure and shame Next Are you a witch? Believe in your magic and the power of ritual, with Poppy Jamie Page updated October 30, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated