Hello I’m Sophie Ellis-Bextor and this is my podcast: Spinning Plates where I speak to busy working women, who also happen to be mothers, about how they make it work. I am a singer and have released 8 albums in-between having my 5 sons who are aged between 7 and 22 so I spin a few plates myself. Being a mother can be the most amazing thing.. but it can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions. I want to be a little bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Join me while I speak to a...
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Sep 28, 2026 · 1:01:13
Caroline Hirons is a skin care expert, author and founder of Skin Rocks. She has just pulished her 4th book 'Skin Rules: Expert Advice You Can Trust'. She told me that she hates…
Jul 13, 2026 · 1:10:07
Martha Keith has run her stationery business ‘Martha Brook’ for over a decade, and started the Business Secrets Club two years ago, to help small business owners with things she…
Jul 6, 2026 · 1:04:57
Catherine Anne Davies is better known by her stage name The Anchoress. She is a musician, producer and a former academic, which results in her providing a fascinating reading…
Jun 29, 2026 · 1:13:24
Honey Spencer is a wine expert who has two little boys aged 6 and 1. She and her husband Charlie run a neighbourhood restaurant called ‘Sune’ in Hackney in East London, which she…
Jun 22, 2026 · 1:09:50
Lisa Oxenham is a mum to Eliza who’s 10 and to Wolfgang who’s nine and a half months old. She started out as beauty editor at More magazine and then worked for Marie Claire…
Jun 15, 2026 · 1:06:01
Nadine Merabi is a British-Lebanese clothes designer. She is the founder of the brand which shares her name and is based in Manchester. She is mother to two little girls aged 4…
Jun 8, 2026 · 1:15:18
Becky Barnicoat is a cartoonist who has recently published the paperback version of her memoir ‘Cry When The Baby Cries’. It’s a cartoon depiction of new motherhood and it makes…
Jun 2, 2026 · 1:11:42
India de Beaufort @indiadebeaufort is a British actress who lives in Los Angeles. She is also an influencer who shares my passion for vintage and antique clothing. I love her…
May 25, 2026 · 1:10:29
Siobhan Priest - or Shiv - appears as @thefiremum on Instagram and I love seeing her posts about her life as a firefighter in the London Fire Brigade. Shiv started her working…
May 18, 2026 · 1:00:29
Louise Boyce aka @mumastillgotit is a content creator, author and model. She has 3 children aged 13, 10 and 6, and she has developed a huge following for her fun and largely…
May 11, 2026 · 1:23:02
Dr Sian Williams is a journalist and broadcaster and author. She trained as a trauma assessor while working at the BBC and is a registered counselling psychologist. She presents…
Mar 16, 2026 · 1:08:29
Helen Dukes is an entrepreneur and DJ, and mum to 2 daughters, 11 year old Anya and 19 year old Lottie . She is the founder of Disko Kids, a clothes and accessories brand that I…
Mar 9, 2026 · 1:10:10
Anna Lunoe is an Australian DJ, singer, songwriter and producer. She lived and worked in LA for 8 years, performing at festivals such as Coachella. She’s now back in her hometown…
Mar 2, 2026 · 1:06:53
Fran Cutler is famous for organising wild parties attended by A-listers. Things really took off in the 90s when she started organising parties for Oasis albums with Meg Matthews.…
Feb 23, 2026 · 1:18:34
Jamie Genevieve is a Scottish make up artist and entrepreneur. I follow her on Instagram and am so impressed by the brand she’s launched. Some of her products have now become my…
Feb 16, 2026 · 55:49
Nicole Appleton is a singer and a mum to Gene aged 24, and Skipper who is nearly 6. She first came into our lives in the 90s when she and her elder sister Natalie were members of…
Feb 9, 2026 · 1:03:14
Dawn Williams is a mum of three and an Olympic weightlifter. She is also a campaigner for exercising throughout cancer treatment to get the best possible chance of recovery. And…
Feb 2, 2026 · 1:00:57
Kelly Rutherford is an American actress probably best known for her starring role in 7 series of Gossip Girl (2007-2012). Kelly's instagram is the most intentional and curated…
Jan 26, 2026 · 1:17:53
Dr Eliza Filby is a writer, a generational historian and mum to two children aged 8 and 5. I loved her book ‘Inheritocracy. It’s time to Talk about the Bank of Mum and Dad’ which…
Jan 19, 2026 · 1:08:07
Monisha Rajesh is a travel writer who focuses on train travel adventures. She wrote her first book ‘Around India in 80 Trains’ after being made redundant, and she wrote ‘Around…
Jan 12, 2026 · 1:23:50
Welcome to a new series of Spinning Plates! My podcast where I speak to working women who happen to be mothers. We are up to episode 171 now, and fast approaching 6 years since I…
Nov 17, 2025 · 1:15:21
Amanda Ross is a highly influential TV producer who has brought us the likes of Saturday Kitchen which celebrates its 20th anniversary next year, the Richard and Judy show which…
Nov 10, 2025 · 1:11:53
Dame Jacinda Ardern is the former prime minister of New Zealand, who was elected in 2017 and in post for 6 years. In 2018 she became the second elected World leader to ever give…
Nov 3, 2025 · 1:01:57
Fiona Bell is the founder of Their Nibs clothing brand which specialises in night wear. I first came across Fiona’s shop when pushing my eldest son around Ladbroke Grove in his…
Oct 27, 2025 · 1:02:51
Lavina Mehta MBE is a health campaigner, a personal trainer, and an author. She came to my notice during Covid when she started doing weekly exercises on YouTube with her…
Oct 20, 2025 · 1:05:07
Lara Maiklem is an author and a mudlark. She told me there’s nothing she likes more than kneeling on the banks of the River Thames for 5-6 hours at a time, scanning the mud for…
Oct 13, 2025 · 1:04:23
Julia Samuel is a psychotherapist and an author, who is best known as a grief counsellor. She was one of the founders of Child Bereavement UK which has just had its 30th…
Oct 6, 2025 · 1:13:29
Janette Manrara is a dancer and choreographer who we first got to know as one of the professional dancers in the UK on Strictly Come Dancing, and who now presents its sister show…
Sep 29, 2025 · 50:47
Anya Lautenbach is a gardener who I discovered on Instagram as anya_thegarden_fairy. From Poland originally, Anya moved to to the UK 17 years ago and has two boys aged 12 and 14.…
Sep 22, 2025 · 1:03:35
Jo-Ann D’Costa-Manuel is a charity pioneer. She received an OBE for her years of voluntary work raising the profile of hidden disabilities. She persuaded airlines to recognise…
Sep 15, 2025 · 1:18:07
Francesca Amber is a successful entrepreneur, podcaster and author who turned her life around using manifesting after everything went wrong for her in 2020. She has 3 daughters.…
Jun 30, 2025 · 1:04:24
Genevieve Turley is a make up artist who posts funny content online, making light of makeup tutorials and not taking her self seriously at all. We talked about how wearing makeup…
Jun 23, 2025 · 1:08:59
Ro Fielden-Cook is a woman with a heck of a life story. She has 3 sons: twins Alfie and Charlie (aged 15) and Freddie (aged 7). She is the founder of a wellbeing and fitness…
Jun 16, 2025 · 1:05:53
Ranvir Singh is a TV news presenter on Good Morning Britain, who I met on the set of ‘Lorraine’ about a year ago - and I’ve been wanting to talk to her in more depth ever since.…
Jun 9, 2025 · 1:01:50
Laura Hamilton is a TV presenter best known for presenting A Place in the Sun. She’s been renovating properties since the age of 19 and has just taken on her first overseas…
Jun 2, 2025 · 1:18:05
Cathy Dennis is a singer and a songwriter. I have been a huge fan of hers for years both through her solo music career and I’ve been lucky enough to write with her and get to…
May 26, 2025 · 1:17:14
Jill Halfpenny has been an actor since the age of 10, first coming to our screens in Byker Grove in 1989, and most recently appearing in the Channel 5 drama The Feud. She has…
May 19, 2025 · 1:18:57
Rachel Kelly is a writer of many books about mental health and wellbeing and has recently published ‘The Gift of Teenagers: Connect More, Worry Less’. She is a mum of five grown…
May 12, 2025 · 1:19:53
Salima Saxton is a writer, an actor and a coach, and she co-presents the podcast ‘Women are Mad’. She has 3 children aged 9, 12 and 15 and she recently caught my attention with…
May 5, 2025 · 1:11:11
Karni Arieli is a photographer. Her lockdown project Eye Mama @eyemamaproject asked photographer mums all over the world to share honest pictures of their own experiences of…
Apr 28, 2025 · 1:04:49
Olympic athlete and TV commentator Paula Radcliffe lives in Monaco with her husband Gary, and her two children Isla and Raphael. Paula is a 3 time winner of the London Marathon…
Mar 17, 2025 · 1:05:27
Daria Khrystenko fled her home in Kyiv on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine 3 years ago. She, her then 10 year old son, her mum and her 3 cats travelled to Poland where Daria…
Mar 10, 2025 · 1:11:05
Susie Crow runs a small business called Let Us Pretend, in which she ‘makes sparkly things’. I have bought wonderful brightly coloured, fringed capes from her which say ‘Happy…
Mar 3, 2025 · 1:08:46
Actress Tuppence Middleton is perhaps best known for playing Lucy Branson in Downton Abbey. She has a little girl with her Swedish husband and divides her time between England…
Feb 24, 2025 · 1:02:10
Arlene Phillips is a choregrapher who has been at the top of her game for most of her 81 years. She has worked on the choreography for numerous adverts, musicals, film and…
Feb 17, 2025 · 1:08:23
Princess Superstar is an American rapper and DJ. She and I are ‘Saltburn sisters’ as we both had our songs featured in the film, which gave them their exciting resurgence of…
Feb 10, 2025 · 1:04:52
Abbie Ward is a professional rugby union player who plays at international level for England and at club level for Bristol Bears. Abbie grew up in Cumbria in a very active family…
Feb 3, 2025 · 1:11:40
Sarah Megginson (@sarahmegginsonmoney) is an editor and personal finance expert from Australia, who has co-written a book called The Power of Two. She has three children (Lila…
Jan 27, 2025 · 1:07:28
Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh mezzo-soprano classical singer from Neath. She won Welsh Choirgirl of the Year aged 10, and became more widely known when she sang at Westminster…
Jan 20, 2025 · 1:10:49
Cat Sims @notsosmugnow is a content creator, author and influencer, and mum to two daughters aged 8 and 11. On Instagram she takes an honest look (often with a big dose of…
Jan 13, 2025 · 1:03:23
Singer Pixie Lott has had a ’crazy, happy time’ this past year: having a baby, bringing out a new album ‘Encino’, and moving into a family home near her mum, dad and siblings. We…
Nov 25, 2024 · 1:27:47
Anna Williamson is a presenter, podcaster, author, psychotherapist, relationship counsellor and life coach. She told me how she suffered with poor mental health in her 20s and…
Nov 18, 2024 · 1:01:48
Lliana Bird is a writer, broadcaster and co-founder of the charity Choose Love. She describes herself as a butterfly flitting from flower to flower. She was also the longest…
Nov 10, 2024 · 1:11:53
Sara Pascoe is a stand up comedian who I particularly love. She now has two little boys after a long period of trying for a baby, including IVF. She spoke honestly to me about…
Nov 4, 2024 · 1:20:44
Hollie McNish is a poet who tours the country performing her poems. She says the whole of the UK is full of amazing theatres and bookshops. I love Hollie's writing, the way she…
Oct 28, 2024 · 1:09:48
Steph Douglas is a mum of three who founded the gift company Don't Buy Her Flowers ten years ago. I’m a repeat customer of the website when I want to send a friend some TLC if…
Oct 21, 2024 · 1:22:26
Ashley James is a presenter and DJ who first made her name appearing briefly in Made in Chelsea. On instagram @ashleylouisejames has a huge following amongst 25-35 year old women…
Oct 14, 2024 · 1:12:44
Ayalah Bentovim - known as Sister Bliss - is the woman behind Faithless, which she created in 1995 with Rollo Armstrong, Jamie Catto, and the legendary Buddhist rapper Maxi Jazz.…
Oct 7, 2024 · 1:27:40
Reshmin Chowdhury is a sports broadcaster who’s had a love of football since she was a little girl. Growing up in a large and close Bengali community, she told me her childhood…
Sep 30, 2024 · 1:10:42
Nina Tame is a counsellor and a content creator. I started following her on Instagram because I love the way she educates non-disabled people in a light-hearted way. Nina was…
Sep 23, 2024 · 1:08:27
I first came to follow Joanne Hardcastle (@hardcastletowers) when she was a contestant on the fourth series of Interior Design Masters, which is one of my favourite TV shows.…
Jun 3, 2024 · 1:08:56
Kirsten Lane is a freelance music supervisor who negotiates the deals that make it possible to put music into films, TV and adverts. She was the music supervisor for Saltburn and…
May 27, 2024 · 1:09:30
Anne Twist is a first time writer and a long-term philanthropist who has two very succesful grown up children. Her eldest is podcaster and writer Gemma Styles, and her youngest…
May 20, 2024 · 1:01:44
Rachel Jackson is a jewellery designer whose work I particularly love. We even collaborated with on a necklace design once. She discovered her passion for her career while solo…
May 13, 2024 · 1:06:17
Natalie Cassidy is familiar to us all from EastEnders where she's been playing Sonia since the age of 10! When we met she told me about her love of growing up on a TV set, where…
May 6, 2024 · 1:03:06
Bat For Lashes aka Natasha Khan is a singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and a mum to a three year old. She has just brought out her 6th album and this one is…
Apr 29, 2024 · 1:15:42
Vicky Gill is the Wardrobe Lead for Strictly Come Dancing, amongst many other things! We first met when I appeared on the show in 2013. She is passionate about merging fashion…
Apr 22, 2024 · 1:12:37
Michelle Ogundehin is best known as the head judge of Interior Designs Masterclass on BBC 1. It’s a programme I am utterly addicted to, and I was therefore delighted to have been…
Apr 15, 2024 · 1:21:12
Heather James is best known to us all as the mum of Deborah James, the beautiful bowelbabe, who I interviewed for Spinning Plates 3 years ago. That was the year before her…
Apr 8, 2024 · 1:02:53
Natasha Bedingfield is a New Zealand-UK singer and songwriter who started out in the business at a similar time to me. Another shared link is that we are both currently on a new…
Feb 12, 2024 · 1:09:27
Trinny Woodall is the CEO of the beauty brand Trinny London - she's an entrepreneur, businesswoman and author. She became a household name in the late 90s when she teamed up with…
Feb 5, 2024 · 1:14:05
Michelle Kennedy is a tech entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is CEO of Peanut App, and mum to two young children, Finlay and Nuala. Michelle started her working life as a…
Jan 29, 2024 · 52:13
Kelly Hoppen is an interior designer who is renowned for working with big celebrity names and is known for her signature neutral palette. Kelly started her business aged 16 and a…
Jan 22, 2024 · 1:15:20
Sophie Darlington is a wildlife cinematographer for shows such as David Attenborough's 'Planet Earth'. She regularly gets up way before dawn in places such as Sri Lanka or East…
Jan 15, 2024 · 1:00:46
Amy Hart is a social media influencer, former reality TV star and podcast presenter. She appeared in Love Island in 2019 (Richard and I are avid viewers!) and she now has an…
Jan 8, 2024 · 1:23:52
Gabby Logan is best known as a BBC sports presenter but has also turned her hand to stand up comedy for Sports Relief (2012), to writing her memoir called The First Half, and to…
Dec 18, 2023 · 1:04:41
Alex Head is the founder of Social Pantry which runs food events with the wow factor, as well as a restaruant, and a cafe. I first met Alex this Summer where she was rustling up…
Dec 11, 2023 · 1:10:07
Sandra Igwe decided to turn a painful experience into purpose. When we spoke recently she told me about some of her difficult experiences both during childbirth and afterwards.…
Dec 4, 2023 · 1:15:09
Julia Bradbury is a TV presenter and an author with a passion for the outdoors. She has a 12 year old son, and 8 year old twin daughters who she had through IVF. Her motto to…
Nov 27, 2023 · 51:34
Presenter Helen Skelton has been a familiar and much-loved presence on our TV screens since she presented Blue Peter (2008-2013) and then Countryfile. Famous for her can-do…
Oct 16, 2023 · 23:49
This is an extra special bonus episode in partnership with the lovely team at Clarks. Thanks to Clarks, I have brought my mum, Janet Ellis, back for this special shoecentric…
Oct 9, 2023 · 1:17:09
Dilly Carter is an expert in decluttering who presents the TV show 'Sort Your LIfe Out' alongside Stacey Solomon. Born in Sri Lanka, she was adopted and then brought up in the…
Oct 2, 2023 · 1:08:21
Charlotte Hawkins presents Good Morning Britain where she proudly helps set the news agenda for the day and quizzes the people in power on the TV viewer's behalf. She also has a…
Sep 25, 2023 · 1:21:51
Professor Alice Roberts is a TV presenter and biological anthropologist - in her own words, she looks at old bones and tries to construct the person's history from their…
Sep 18, 2023 · 1:10:12
Laura Lee Dockrill is an author of both adult and children's books. She went to Brit School, she's married to the love of her life, musician Hugo White, and her best friend is…
Sep 11, 2023 · 1:02:40
Helen Pankhurst is a writer and a scholar who works for women's rights. Her grandmother Sylvia and her great grandmother Emmeline were both suffragette leaders, and Helen carries…
Sep 4, 2023 · 1:15:10
Suzi Ruffell is a writer and stand up at the top of her game, playing to packed audiences at her comedy gigs and with numerous TV appearances on panel shows. She also has two…
Aug 21, 2023 · 1:12:56
Ruby Hammer MBE is a make up artist and entrepreneur. I first met Ruby when she made me up for a Christmas cover of Red magazine. I love her hardworking ethics as well as her…
Aug 14, 2023 · 56:29
Rachel Riley is the co-host and face of maths on Countdown and a self-confessed 'proper maths geek'. I first met Rachel 10 years ago when we were both on Strictly together. When…
Aug 7, 2023 · 1:10:36
Laura Whitmore is a broadcaster and writer. Born in Bray in Ireland, she started out in live TV after winning an MTV competition in 2008 and moved to London in her early 20s…
Jul 31, 2023 · 50:57
Sam Dabb has loved live music all her life and she has run the Le Pub music venue in Newport for decades. Le Pub is one of the 130 venues being supported by the National Lottery…
Jun 26, 2023 · 53:38
Julia Haart is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur and author of her bestselling autobiography 'Brazen'. She was also the subject and executive director of the Netflix…
Jun 19, 2023 · 52:31
Kate Ferdinand is a TV personality and author who is married to footballer Rio Ferdinand. Kate was best known on TV for appearing on Towie and now has a successful podcast called…
Jun 12, 2023 · 1:22:59
Anne Fish is a mum of two sons... and a pro gamer. When her younger son Benjy won a Fortnite tournament aged 14, he also won thousands of dollars and it became clear it was a…
Jun 5, 2023 · 1:09:54
Gemma Bird @moneymumofficial is a hard working mum of two from Essex who after years of working multiple jobs at the same time, managed to pay off her mortgage, and is now a…
May 29, 2023 · 1:21:07
Emma Dabiri is an Irish writer, academic and broadcaster - and an expert on race. Born to a Nigerian dad and an Irish mum, Emma experienced extremely different environments…
May 22, 2023 · 49:30
Heidi Range is best known as a former member of the girl groups Atomic Kitten and then Sugababes. It feels like she was destined to become part of pop history from an early age.…
May 15, 2023 · 1:08:14
Hannah Fry is a mathematician, author, and radio and television presenter. She applies maths to pretty much everything in her life. She gave a TEDTalk in 2014 on the maths of…
May 8, 2023 · 1:21:11
Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton (or Sab) took my breath away when I met her. She has achieved, and continues to achieve, so much despite her early life being incredibly tough. Sab found…
May 1, 2023 · 57:36
Tess Daly, known nationwide for her role fronting Strictly Come Dancing for the last two decades, is also mum to two teenage daughters, Phoebe and Amber. We spoke over zoom a…
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Your podcast? Get the Podli badge for your site
