“I skied and got trashed with James Blunt!” How to not care what people think

There’s probably a bit too much pressure on reaching a definitive state of happiness isn’t there? It’s just not realistic. So Fearne’s dropping into your feed every week for some honest chat about what’s making her feel great, and what’s making her feel completely rubbish. This is a cosy little corner for all of us to explore what’s been on our minds, what’s been getting us down, inspiring us, and making us laugh. Want to join the chat? Send us a voicenote, DM, or comment on Instagram @happyplaceofficial! In this chat, Fearne covers: -The delights (or not) of the sauna / ice plunge combo -Rewatching old episodes of 90s TV shows -Why she’ll not be going skiing any time soon -(And what happened last time she went skiing with James Blunt) -Being in your era of not caring what people think of you -What happens when you’re solo parenting at Centre Parcs - How to look for the silver linings but also admit when life’s crap Watch Fearne’s TV show with James Blunt here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ThGVgVVsM 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

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• 1:00Speaker 02

  Hello, this is Susie 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, just need to search Big Kick Energy. Grab a knife and fork and tuck in, baby.

• 1:33Fearne Cotton?

  You might not expect me to say this, but it was absolutely excruciating. I was swearing throughout the whole experience. I am not a skier, and that is because I am common as muck. Spend that money and go to a beach and do jack shit and sit on your arse and read a book. And James Blunt is not common as muck, and he is an exceptional skier. And then I started having a bit of a tantrum. When I'm not good at things, I'm not that happy. Us getting shitfaced and him trying to force me to get into a tumble dryer. It made me feel so happy in a week that was fucking stressful. If I don't get a verruca, it will be a fucking miracle. Remember, I'm in my era where I don't give a shit if you like what I'm saying or not.

• 2:16Fearne Cotton?

  I don't know how I'm starting these things. Hello? Hi! Why is it so awkward saying hello? It's the worst awkward thing. Hello everyone, I hope you're good. It's Fern here and this is a little Happy Place episode for you where we're once again going to talk about stuff. We're going to talk about what's making us feel happy, what's putting us in our happy place and what is taking us right out of it. And my God, we need to be put in our happy place at the moment because life slash the world is bonkers. So should we start with the happy stuff? This is just a nice, safe space where we can talk about all manner of things. You can also get involved if you

• 2:58Fearne Cotton?

  want to in the chat. But I'm going to start off with team Happy Place. We've got a gorgeous team who work at Happy Place who do all manner of things from production for the podcast, to the festivals, to the marketplace, to the book imprint, to the book club. So lots of different ideas and thoughts floating around. But I'm going to start with this one from Anushka Tate, who heads up Happy Place Studios for our audio for the podcast. And this is very much putting her in her happy place. She said sauna and ice plunge repeat three or four times. Now, Anushka, I may add, has a leg situation which has been ongoing for like years now, poor Anushka. And she has been an absolute warrior in terms

• 3:43Fearne Cotton?

  of continuing working and getting on with it, doing her thing. She's working remotely at the moment while she's healing and before she has another surgery. But obviously, this is going to be helping her leg massively. I love a sauna. There is, I love being hot. I absolutely love it. I'm always cold. I'm like a little ice queen. And the ice plunge thing, I just can't get on board with. I've done it a couple of times. I do like, weirdly, swimming in the sea when it's cold, but because you can move and that feels quite exhilarating. I think just sitting in a tub. Is, that's not putting me in my happy place. I once did it with Sarah, who is also another

• 4:25Fearne Cotton?

  happy place team member. And it was absolutely excruciating. I was swearing throughout the whole experience. It is, it's not for me. But I understand that that is a very good combination and there's lots of health benefits in there. I'm not going to pretend I know what I'm talking about, pretend to be a doctor right now, but it's good for your health. Let's put, let's put that out there. But it's making Anushka very, very happy. Do you want to hear what's been putting me in my happy place this week? You might not expect me to say this, but it's watching very old episodes of Mr. Bean. Like proper old school Mr. Bean, which was, was it like late 80s,

• 5:09Fearne Cotton?

  early 90s? 90s. Amelia's saying 90s. So the other day, me and my kids were trying to find something to watch and we were arguing over watching Back to the Future, which Rex wanted, Honey didn't. And then Mr. Bean came up and I was like, and they'd seen like the newer version, like Man vs. Bee and all of those like newer Mr. Bean ones, but not the old ones. And I'd forgotten how funny they are. His physical, Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy is unrivalled. And we were howling. There was an episode where he's sitting in an exam. You might remember watching this back in the day, because I did remember watching it. He's sitting in an exam and he's trying to copy the answers of the person next to him. And it's so silly, but it goes on

• 5:54Fearne Cotton?

  for like 15 minutes. And we were crying with laughter. And also, the thing that was so brilliant is a lot of TV from back in that era, or movies, if I show my kids a film from that era, when I was a kid, they're like, oh my God, this special effects is so bad. This is so lame. Oh my God, how, this is so slow. Like, everything is moaned about. Honey and Rex absolutely loved it. They're 10 and 13, so at an age where they've definitely got an opinion on things. And then Rex was just like, I want to watch Mr. Bean all evening. Like, he absolutely loved it. So if you've got kids and you're looking for something that you'll all enjoy, it's Mr. Bean for the win. It made me feel so happy in a week that was fucking stressful. I can't tell you, it was a fucking stressful week. Mr. Bean brought

• 6:39Fearne Cotton?

  me all the joy. Simple pleasures, very simple pleasures. So you choose, is it ice baths and saunas, or is it watching Mr. Bean? It's Mr. Bean for me. Shall we move into our dislikes at the moment? So Lana, who is on Team Happy Place, says skiing, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I am not a skier, and that is because I am common as muck. And I think when, I'm not making general assumptions here, big generalisations, but I grew up in a working class household. You didn't go skiing, you went camping. You went to bloody Euro camp, do you know what I mean? Skiing was not on our radar. And I think there was one ski trip

• 7:21Fearne Cotton?

  in my school, and a bunch of kids went, and then there was a few of us left behind who didn't go, because obviously I had no clue how to ski. The first time I went skiing, I was 29, I might have even been 30, I might have been 30. That feels quite old to learn to ski. And it was because I was filming a documentary about James Blunt. And James Blunt is not common as muck, and he is an exceptional skier. He's one of those guys that's like, guys or gals, that's off on the, I don't know all the terminology, like the snow when it's all fluffy? Like off-piste, like skiing off-piste. He's skiing off-piste, guys. He's like not on a run. And it's fresh snow, and it's really hard, apparently. So

• 8:06Fearne Cotton?

  he was doing all of that jazz, and I was on the baby slopes with, I'm not even joking, four-year-olds. And I was just about getting the hang of it. And then he went, right. We're gonna do a red run or whatever one of the harder ones is. And I was panicking, panicking. We went all the way to the top of this mountain. I think we were, again, we were somewhere posh like Verbier or somewhere. And we started going down this zigzag and I felt wildly out of control. My legs were like a baby deer. I just felt chaotic, like every bit of me. I hated it. And I did about three little zigzags, kept falling over. And then I started having a bit of a tantrum. When I'm not good at things, I'm not that happy.

• 8:51Fearne Cotton?

  So I was having a bit of a tantrum and I was like, fuck this. I wanna get down from this mountain. And I jumped on his back and he skied me to the bottom of the mountain. And then we sat in the bar all afternoon. And the bar bit, like the après ski, I get that. Like the surroundings, heaven. Beautiful scenery, fresh crisp air. The skiing bit, I didn't enjoy. And also, it's such a palaver. You have to go and get like a whole outfit. Then you have to go and get your skis and you have to get on a bus. Then you have to get on one of those, I don't know all the words. What are those little things called? Like a cart you sit in that, what's that called? A chair, ski lift.

• 9:31Speaker 04

  We need a visual of you on James Blunt.

• 9:34Fearne Cotton?

  I'll get you one. I'll get, cause it's all on bloody YouTube, mate. You can see the whole thing. You can see the whole documentary where we did two seconds of skiing. And the rest of that trip was us getting shitfaced. Us trying to push a broken down car out of the snow. And him trying to force me to get into a tumble dryer in the back of a nightclub. Which I vehemently refused to do. And then he got in and turned it on. He's a lunatic. I love James Blunt. He is such a laugh and massively funny and clever. And we had such a blast together. But I'm with Lana, skiing is not for me. And also it's so bloody expensive. Spend that money and go to a beach and do jack shit and sit on your arse and read a book. That's a holiday, you know?

• 10:17Fearne Cotton?

  And I know I'm gonna be offending deeply the skiers out there. But remember, I'm in my era where I don't give a shit if you like what I'm saying or not. Which sounds harsh. But I don't, I don't, I don't want people to deeply dislike me and I certainly don't want to upset anyone. I don't think me saying I hate skiing is like personally offensive. You might, it might just get your back up, like skiing's great. You can think skiing's great. I, I absolutely think skiing is great. I just think it's shit. I just think it's shit. And Lana thinks it's shit. Um, caveat, quite enjoying the Winter Olympics, okay? So quite enjoying watching skiing because when they go off the end of that little loopity loop, that's quite exciting.

• 11:02Fearne Cotton?

  Me doing it, big fat no. Um, so yeah, I guess also that's put, going back to happy place, that's put me in my happy place. Just saying stuff and if you don't agree with me, that's fine. And equally, you can say stuff, I don't have to agree and that's also fine. Oh, something I'm not enjoying. Uh, I am not enjoying being damp anymore because it has rained every day. From the first of January to now and I'm done with it. I'm over it. I don't want to be wet anymore. I'm absolutely over it. And the other day I took my kids to Centre Parks and this is not a freebie. I paid for the bunny trip. I have to say these stupid things.

• 11:44Fearne Cotton?

  But I took my kids to Centre Parks and first of all, it's definitely a two parent job. A single parenting at Centre Parks is wild, but I did it. I'm actually quite proud of myself. The kids loved every minute. It was so joyful to watch their little faces. It honestly, it brought me the most happy happiness ever. It was just delightful. Going down the rapids and on the cyclone ride, which is so scary. But I spent the whole time wet because obviously I'm in the pool for hours. We did three hours on the last day in the pool. I was a wrinkly old prune. If I don't get a verruca, it will be a fucking miracle, quite frankly. I mean, I was in that pool.

• 12:27Fearne Cotton?

  For years, like seasons changed, okay, whilst I was in this pool. And then you get out of the pool and it's torrential rain and I'm cycling in the rain to get back to the little cabin. Where I get dry for four seconds to have some food and then we go back in the pool and then I'm wet again. So I've been not even damp, I've been drenched for days on end. And I think all of us can conclude that rain on rain on rain is tiresome and we're over it. And we just want spring. Please can spring arrive? I am so bored of putting wet socks on the radiator, of having to tumble dry everything that I've worn and wash my hair every day. It is boring.

• 13:11Fearne Cotton?

  So putting me in my not very happy place, being damp, we can be in that one. Thank you very much. So let us know what's putting you in your happy place and what's putting you in your not very happy place. This is also a great place to vent because, look, I am all for looking for the silver linings. And I've had to do that a hell of a lot recently, like look for the silver linings in things. Or just in my life in general in certain eras. Look for the positives where you can to just stay sane. But not to the point where it becomes this sort of dangerously bypassing true feelings happiness. I think that is not a good thing to do, to just be like, everything's gonna be fine. It's great.

• 13:54Fearne Cotton?

  When like you're clinging on for dear life. I think it's absolutely okay to go, I'm struggling. Or this is shit. This is making me feel like crap. I think that is equally as important. Bear in mind that like, none of us want to get stuck in that mindset. We don't want to just be here moaning the whole time and saying, I feel like shit. And like, I can get into that cycle so easily of repeating myself, probably to Amelia actually. Constantly about, this is stressing me out. I'm pissed off, whatever. You know, we all do it, but we've got to also, we've got to get the balance. So I think this is what we're trying to do here is get the balance of being able to talk about things that are making us really feel full of joy, simple pleasures like Mr Bean. But equally, talk about things that are absolutely riling us and pissing us off.

• 14:37Fearne Cotton?

  I think it is absolutely fine to do both. So that is what we're doing in these episodes. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to subscribe if you're watching this or if you listen, wherever you listen to your podcasts, so that you get these extra podcast episodes, as well as the usual Monday drops. We have our big, meaty, juicy interviews with amazing guests. We've had some really good ones recently. Go back into the archives. We've had so many wonderful chats that I've taken so much from. And enjoy whatever you do the rest of today. You've got this.

• 15:38Speaker 05

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• 16:01Fearne Cotton?

  Hello, this is Suzy Ruffel.

• 16:02Speaker 02

  And Maisy Adam.

• 16:03Fearne Cotton?

  And together we host Big Kick Energy. Hey Mais, what is it?

• 16:06Speaker 02

  Only the best podcast ever.

• 16:07Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 16:08Speaker 02

  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.

• 16:18Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, and a fair bit of gossiping too.

• 16:19Speaker 02

  Oh, and a lovely bit of gossip. Chow down on the gossip.

• 16:22Fearne Cotton?

  Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Just need to search Big Kick Energy.

• 16:28Speaker 02

  Grab a knife and fork and tuck in, baby.