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Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Episode 116: Gabby Logan
Season 12, Ep. 116
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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 ice baths on Freeze Your Fear (2022). She hosts an excellent podcast called Mid-Life in which she, a guest and an expert explore how to navigate the mysterious territory of middle age.
She has 18 year old twins and is married to retired Scottish rugby union player Kenny Logan. I spoke to Gabby a few months after her son Reuben had left the nest, with her daughter Lois following suit in a year, and she told me how the house is starting to feel too big.
We talked about her brother Daniel's sudden death in 1992 when he was 15, and Gabby was 19 - and how she and her family were - and still are - impacted by this tragedy. But Gabby has a core of positivity and stressed that people can go on to have a good life even when something so terrible happens.
Gabby represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 as a rhythmic gymnast, which Gabby so perfectly described as: where sport meets showbiz. The brightly-coloured leotards she wore were not a million miles from what I wear on stage now - but she wasn't too impressed by my opening bid to buy them as a job lot. I'll keep working on her!
Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones
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139. Episode 139: Lliana Bird
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138. Episode 138: Sara Pascoe
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137. Episode 137: Holly McNish
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136. Episode 136: Steph Douglas
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135. Episode 135: Ashley James
01:22:26||Season 14, Ep. 135Ashley 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 and she frequently posts about being a mum of two little ones, and about other women's issues. Originally from the North East, you would never know that from Ashley's accent. She told me about her extraordinary school days, and very tough adolescence, after she won a scholarship to an all boys boarding school.Ashley is mum to 1 year old Ada and 3 year old Alfie and although she wasn't focused on becoming a mum, she shared with me that it's surprised her that it's something she feels really good at. We also talked about Ashley's difficult first birth and her subsequent prolapse and vaginismus. She continues to use her media presence to talk about such difficult issues as she knows it helps many other women going through similar problems.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.
134. Episode 134: Sister Bliss
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133. Episode 133: Reshmin Chowdhury
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132. Episode 132: Nine Tame
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