Olivia Bowen on body image struggles, birth challenges, and life after Love Island

Gi’s guest this week is the hilarious actress, comedian, and content creator, Jane Dowden, aka Mum and a Mic! Jane shares her journey of conceiving her twin boys through IVF. She also reflects on the emotional turmoil she faced when she went into early labour at just 21 weeks, being forced to confront the possibility that she could lose her babies. Plus, finding a work-life balance with acting jobs, and why being a parent can often feel like being a referee! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giovanna is joined this week by the writer Kerry Hudson. Kerry had a turbulent upbringing marred by poverty. She tells Gi how homelessness and time spent in and out of foster care made her all the more determined to create a sense of stability and comfort for her own son. Kerry also shares her experience of giving birth in Prague, living life to the full with a chronic illness, plus how parenthood has affected her marriage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this very special episode we’ve been working with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, which is currently in the middle of its biggest-ever fundraising appeal to build a world-leading cancer centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital. And no-one understands the significance of this appeal more than this week’s amazing guest Shaima, whose daughter Tia was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer when she was just 4 years old. Tia is now 12 and doing well at home, but has spent over half of her life in hospital. Shaima sits down with Gi for a very candid conversation about her journey with Tia’s cancer treatment and why places like Great Ormond Street Hospital need our support. Trigger warning: this episode contains discussions about cancer. If you feel this may be a difficult listen, please choose another episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love is in the air in the studio this week! Everyone’s favourite maître d', Fred Sirieix, perhaps best known for appearing on Channel 4's First Dates, joins Giovanna to talk all things fatherhood, food, and falling in love with the UK. Fred also opens up about dad guilt, his upbringing in France, and the pride he felt when his daughter Andrea won a bronze medal for diving in this year’s olympics! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have journalist and broadcasting legend Victoria Derbyshire in the studio!  Victoria tells Gi all about life as a mum of two teenage boys, blending motherhood with a hugely successful career, and how her 2015 breast cancer diagnosis inspired her to marry her partner of 17 years. Plus Victoria speaks about the domestic abuse she faced in her childhood growing up with a violent father. Trigger warning: this episode contains discussions about domestic abuse. If you feel this may be a difficult listen, please choose another episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.