63: Coz You’re Gorgeous

Who said gorgeousness was frivolous? And who decided that a bit of lipstick couldn’t be a lifeline?Diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at just 16, Sarah Dora discovered rather early in life that the world doesn’t always play fair. But there’s more to this woman than a cancer diagnosis, and certainly more to beauty than a pretty face.With all the verve of a teenager who had far better things to be doing, Sarah declined chemotherapy and underwent radiotherapy instead. She was eager to get back to the rather important business of being young and gloriously frivolous. The treatment left its mark, with consequences she still lives with today, but Sarah considers it a small price to pay.A fellow Soroptimist, now based in Aberdovey, where this episode was recorded, Sarah has enjoyed a wonderfully varied career, with beauty, skincare and make-up weaving their way through her story.And then there’s her glorious 365 Days of Gorgeousness. An entire year dedicated to finding a moment of gorgeousness in every single day. Some obvious, some ridiculous, some hiding in plain sight. Because who says gorgeousness has to come with a price tag, a perfect figure or a fabulous frock?But this conversation gets beneath the foundation.When illness is playing havoc with your body and the face staring back from the mirror feels like a stranger, is wanting to look lovely really an indulgence?Or is it an act of defiance?Sarah’s story opens up a fascinating conversation about beauty, identity and the extraordinary power of being nurtured when life is at its most brutal. About the difference between looking good for someone else and wanting, just for a moment, to feel like yourself again.The charity Look Good Feel Better understands that distinction, helping people undergoing cancer treatment rediscover confidence through skincare, make-up and wellbeing.There’s plenty of laughter, a little irreverence and some wonderfully unexpected turns in this conversation.Because gorgeousness isn’t reserved for the young, the healthy, the wealthy or those blessed with good genes.And sometimes a little lipstick is about a whole lot more than looking pretty.https://lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine being moved more than 100 times as a child. Seriously, just think about that.Those moves weren’t simply between foster homes or children’s homes. They included squats, hospitals, refuges and other places that, for a time, had to serve as somewhere to be.This episode features Terry Galloway, and Terry came to Gobsmacked through Diane Bialek, who basically said, “You need to talk to this man.” She was right.Diane and our host, Catherine Williamson, were school friends in Nottingham. They hadn’t seen each other for more than 45 years, so yes, there’s some reminiscing. Names, memories and the ridiculous things you remember decades later. Back then they were singing along to Billy Don’t Be a Hero, willing Nottingham Forest on to win the European Cup and staying up crazy late to watch Torvill and Dean perform Boléro. Those were some of the things occupying their young worlds.Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, Terry was growing up, and his childhood looked nothing like theirs. Home wasn’t necessarily home, safe wasn’t necessarily safe, and the adults weren’t necessarily staying.Terry is care experienced. There has been loss in his life. Real loss. The sort that could quite reasonably have silenced somebody. It hasn’t.He has become a formidable campaigner for people with care experience and is fighting for care experience to be recognised as a protected characteristic. Not because it sounds good on a policy document, but because where life sets you down matters.And if somebody starts the race carrying what Terry was carrying, perhaps the very least the rest of us can do is stop pretending everybody started at the same line.This one matters. Have a listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part Two)How do you finally find your purpose after 23 years of searching?In the second and final part of this Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson takes us to the breaking point of his endurance race, and more importantly, what happened next. How the extraordinary hospitality he experienced on the hardest days of his ride helped him discover exactly what he wants to give back to the world.The result is Billy's Farm of Hopes and Dreams - a deeply personal, driven mission to build a sanctuary designed to give caregivers back their heart.Join me to hear the conclusion of Simon's incredible journey - his profound reconnection with the late Matt Gallagher, his pinpoint Gobsmacked! moment and where he found his Gold in the Dark. Ultimately? How a lad from Coventry finally found exactly where he was meant to be.Simon's book "You've Already Won" is out today too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part One)How does a lad from Coventry end up building a life in Detroit… and why would he choose to ride one of the toughest endurance races on the planet?In this compelling first part of a two-part Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson tells the story behind a life that could so easily have gone another way.It’s raw. It’s funny. It’s uncomfortable. It’s hopeful.Running quietly through it all is the late Matt Gallagher. Matt and Simon were friends whose paths came back together following Matt’s motor neurone disease diagnosis. That friendship and the extraordinary community that grew around Matt ultimately led Simon to the Gobsmacked! studio for a conversation that neither Simon nor Catherine could ever have imagined.This isn’t a podcast about cycling.It’s about losing your way……and finding something far more valuable than the finish line.Part One releases 4 July. Part Two follows on 10 July. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mia Walker belongs to an exclusive club: the one per cent club. For years, blissfully unaware, she lived with a condition that wasn’t normal – aphantasia. This revelation came as a shock when she discovered she couldn’t visualise pictures. Close your eyes and try to picture your front door, your mother’s face or a sunset. Most of us can. Mia can’t. There are no mental pictures at all.As if that wasn’t enough, Mia’s teens were plagued by chronic anxiety, eventually leading to years of agoraphobia. She certainly faced her fair share of challenges.However, running parallel to these struggles was another gift: poetry.She’s published thirteen anthologies and is now a published author. Her debut novel earned her feted status in America. Now a dystopian writer, she spends much of her life inhabiting post-apocalyptic worlds.It’s quite incredible for a woman who can’t visualise pictures in her head.Yet, I wonder if there’s a utopian element quietly running beneath it all. While Mia writes about worlds that have fallen apart, she’s spent her own life imagining one that could be different.Whatever label Mia has qualified for, it hasn’t defined her. She simply keeps innovating.The moment she surrendered to fear and literally walked out of the house wasn’t just the day she went outside. It was the day she decided fear wouldn’t dictate the rest of her story.This conversation explores imagination without pictures, fear, poetry, dystopia, utopia and what happens when you refuse to let a diagnosis become your identity.Welcome to Gobsmacked! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Gobsmacked! features Ruth Mary Chipperfield, an award-winning jeweller whose gold jewellery has sat alongside some of the most celebrated names in history.Diagnosed with narcolepsy in her early twenties whilst studying chemistry at university, Ruth found herself facing a future very different from the one she had imagined. Powerful drug regimes solved one problem whilst creating others, and as a newlywed she was confronted with a stark reality, mainstream working life simply was not going to fit.But Ruth has done something remarkable.Instead of allowing narcolepsy to define the boundaries of her life, she transformed her scientific mind, her fascination with gemstones and her artistry into something beautiful. Today, she creates and repurposes exquisite jewellery, breathing new life into old treasures whilst building a life that works with her condition rather than endlessly battling against it.Like the facets of a beautifully cut diamond, this conversation refracts in so many fascinating directions. Chemistry. Gemstones. Ketogenic living. Punishing medication. Endurance. Reinvention. Identity. Survival.At one point Ruth says:“I’ve chosen my hard.”Blimey, she is articulate.And this really is an absolute must-listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Gobsmacked features Tony Deas, a very popular fellow indeed and a proper Leamington Spa legend, known for his big personality, big energy and big presence. So much so, a snap of the dear chap himself in a pink hoodie went viral. That’s Tony.But what happens in the quieter moments? This conversation gets into loneliness and vulnerability when you’re the strong one for everyone else, the cheer-maker, the entertainer, whether that’s hospitality, personal training or just everyday life. And then it shifts. Tony talks openly about being floored by a cancer diagnosis, what that does to your head, the fear, the recalibration when life suddenly isn’t playing by the same rules. We also get into love, and the courage it takes to stay open to it, to choose vulnerability over safety, which sounds lovely until you actually have to do it.It’s a pacey, romping listen that moves between laughter, wisdom and real life, much like the man himself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are nights in life that divide everything into two halves.Who you were before. And who you become afterwards.Greg Weston knows that feeling better than most.One evening out with friends ended in a moment that changed everything. His head struck a kerbstone. What followed was catastrophic. Greg was taken to hospital and very quickly slipped into a coma. At one point he was not expected to wake up.This episode tells the story of what happened next.Greg’s long and stubborn climb back from the brink. From the frightening prospect of a vegetative state to the slow work of learning again. Moving again. Speaking again.And along the way, life had another surprise in store.Greg found love.The woman he now shares his life with carries her own story of a life altered in a single moment, giving them a rare understanding of just how suddenly everything can change.And at the centre of this story sits one mighty man who connects our paths. The late Matt Gallagher.Matt faced Motor Neurone Disease with a warrior spirit that left a mark on everyone who knew him. His courage and humour brought Greg and I into each other’s orbit.This conversation reflects on friendship, love, and the strange truth that sometimes the worst night of your life becomes the moment that reshapes everything.Greg Weston is a man who will not stay down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When an interview begins with a gobsmacked moment, about needing to retreat to a “breakout room” to absorb the shocking news that your best friend is missing and her estranged husband is being arrested for murder, you know you are in for a gripping listen.As Gobsmacked!, the podcast, celebrates its fourth year, nearly 60 episodes, and listeners in 128 countries, we bring you an episode that sits right at the heart of what this podcast is here to do.We are proud to welcome Hetti Barkworth-Nanton.Hetti is Co-Founder of the Joanna Simpson Foundation, Chair of Trustees at Refuge, a Pride of Britain Awards winner, and a CBE recipient for her work supporting people affected by domestic abuse and homicide. It is a formidable public record, earned in the hardest way imaginable.She walked into the podcast studio with an extraordinary résumé. What follows is not a polished tour of achievements. It is a real conversation about as real as it gets. About what it takes to fight for justice without being absolutely destroyed in the process.Hetti embodies what Gobsmacked! exists to amplify. She has created platforms for people who are overlooked, underrepresented, or treated unfairly by life, and she does so without platitudes, performance, or looking away. A must listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a saying that into each life some rain must fall. For Larissa Astara Gray, the storm came early. At just thirteen, her life was thrown off course by an experience that no child should have to carry, and what followed was not a straight line but an absolutely wiggly one. There are points in Larissa’s life where she is very lucky to be alive to tell her story, and that truth matters.This is an honest and challenging conversation, not because it is sensational, but because the problems are real. This is not an academic exercise or an intellectual debate for Larissa. This subject is written into her body, her relationships, and her life experience. Drawing on that lived reality, she speaks with clarity and courage about how pornography and online sexual content are shaping young people’s understanding of consent, intimacy, and what becomes normal. Her willingness to talk openly gives us a chance to learn, not to look away. Silence has not protected young people. Avoidance has not helped. This conversation exists because the damage is already happening, and because understanding is part of how we begin to do better. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.