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 tiny treasures which are twice daily being given up by the tide!

Lara shares her fascinating finds on Instagram, where I've been following her for a while. Her favourite finds include a Tudor shoe, part of a Roman sword and some tiny gold beads from a necklace which she thinks must have broken as someone was boarding a boat on the river hundreds of years ago.

Lara told me how mudlarking gave her peace and alone time when she moved to London, and how, when their twins were small, her wife used to send her off to mudlark, knowing she’d come back ‘a nicer person’!

Living near the Thames myself, I think I might try mudlarking too, as I’m still hopeful of finding Mickey’s PJ Masks watch that he threw in the river near Richmond a while back!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 anniversary. She has an agony aunt column for Times Luxury, she has a podcast, and she sees about 15 clients a week, describing that as ‘the heart of me’.

She has 4 grown up children and 10 grandchildren aged 18 months to 18 years.

When I met with Julia, we talked about the guilt she felt as a mum to young children, when she felt her work sometimes became her priority.

Julia also talk to me about an area she feels needs more conversation and exploration, which is the parenting of adult children (aged 18-25) during a phase called ‘emerging adulthood’. I was all ears about that!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 ‘It Takes Two’.

Janette is married to fellow dancer Aljaz Skorjanec and together they have a 2 year old Lyra.

Janette and I talked about her start in life as daughter of a young Cuban immigrant couple in Miami, and about her first job in a bank before she took a risk to pursue her dreams as a dancer.

Janette told me that the enforced career break that Covid brought, made her realise she did want to be a mum. She also shared that she believes her time performing on stage and TV makes her a better mum to Lyra because she is fulfilled, and in a 'complete flow state' when she’s performing. I know that feeling well myself!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

We talked about the grief which Anya has experienced because of her sister having two sons with a rare genetic condition which turned out to be terminal.

Anya explained how every time she had bad news from home, she turned that into another garden border and has ended up creating a beautiful garden out of her ocean of grief.

We also talked about her ADHD diagnosis which came soon after her son’s diagnosis, and how gardening helps her to escape the overwhelming busyness of her mind.

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 green lanyards with sunflowers, as a symbol of a family member flying with a hidden disability. She was also behind the ‘quiet hour’ in supermarkets to help children like her own son, who is autistic, and needs a quiet environment to be able to do a food shop.

Jo-Ann now works for philanthropist John Caudwell to help raise money for children and youth projects, and she has just started her own podcast speaking to women over 40, called ‘It’s Your Time.’

Jo-Ann’s son is now 16, and her daughter is 19. And to Jo-Ann’s delight - and her daughter’s horror - they are often mistaken for sisters!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Her eldest is 8 years old, and she has 4 year old twins who are starting school this September.

In lockdown she lost her beauty business and her income and then had her twins as a single mother. She says she had a savage 5 years. But now her new book 'Manifesting Like a Mother' is published the day her twins start school and we mulled over how the timing is on this is so dramatic. We discussed the terminology of 'manifesting' and how Francesca thought I might have manifested the success of Murder on the Dancefloor!

We agreed being a martyr as a mum is not a good thing, and Francesca described how she likes to schedule in quality time for herself, and buy herself lovely presents for her birthday and Mother's Day - and I've decided she should definitely treat herself to one of the tassley outfits I wear on stage!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 makes us both happy. She told me about her career in the RAF, her IVF journey and her life now, doing bridal makeup and creating comedy content online.

Genevieve has two children aged 6 and 7, and after a 3 year renovation project with her husband Richard, they are at last close to moving into their family home.

We also discovered a mutual love of an Urban Decay eye colour called Acid Rain, still in my makeup drawer, decades after I first bought it!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 community ‘The SHE Collective’ which has a holistic approach to giving busy women more life, more confidence and more energy.

She had her twins as a single mother as she left University. One of the twins, Alfie, was diagnosed with a life-limiting condition called SMA when he was still a baby. Her story of fighting for her son’s health and then falling in love is jaw-dropper.

Ro talks about her wonderful rock of a mum, and also about losing her incredible-sounding dad when she was a teenager.

Ro’s positive spirit is inspiring and I guarantee you’ll be using her dad’s motto ‘Onwards and upwards’ when you’ve finished listening.

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.