Vogue Williams reflects on 'painfully embarrassing' divorce from Brian McFadden

Vogue recently launched Never Live It Down, in which she interviews celebrities about times they’ve wished the ground would open up and swallow them.

TV and radio star Vogue Williams said she found it “painfully embarrassing” divorcing from former Westlife star Brian McFadden. The 39-year-old recently launched Never Live It Down, in which she interviews celebrities about times they’ve wished the ground would open up and swallow them.

And the Howth native opened up about her own embarrassments in her life. She said: “A lot of things would embarrass me [growing up], and I felt quite uncomfortable within my body until I got a little bit older – I’m so tall, and I used to hate being the tall girl (Williams is 5ft 11).

“I got married and divorced really young, and I found that painfully embarrassing, because it was just like such an epic failure, and it was so public,” adds Williams, who was married to Westlife singer Brian McFadden for three years in her 20s before they divorced in 2015.

“I thought, ‘Oh god, this is painfully embarrassing’ – and now I look back, and I’m like, do you know what, no it’s not! It was a learning curve, but again, no one died, who cares? It’s nice to be able to look back and have that feeling about even that situation, and I just can’t imagine anything would embarrass me so much now.”

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Going easier on herself and not caring so much about what others think is something that’s grown with age for Williams.

“My son Theodore said to me the other day, ‘I don’t want to grow up, I don’t want to be your age’. And I was like: ‘You know what, Theodore, I never thought I’d want to be this age either, but it is the best age to be – because you know exactly what you want to do, you’re going to feel really comfortable, you’re going to be so happy’.

“I was just trying to explain to him how it’s a great thing to grow up and to just be comfortable with yourself.”

But the mum-of-three said she has no intention to stop doing “embarrassing stuff”. “There’s no way I’m finished doing all the embarrassing stuff,” says the Irish model, podcaster and media personality. “I’ve just turned 39 and I have so much more embarrassing s*** to give!

“You just continue on and it’s about being able to look back and laugh at it – and share it with other people, so others aren’t as embarrassed of their embarrassing moments.”

Vogue – who shares daughter Gigi, four, and sons Theodore, six, and two-year-old Otto with her husband, former Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews – has become known for her humour-filled podcasts, built around finding the funny side of life.

There’s Spencer & Vogue, in which she and Matthews bicker about marital life, and My Therapist Ghosted Me which she co-hosts with comedian and writer Joanne McNally – winner of the ‘champion’ gong at the 2023 British Podcast Awards and the Spotlight Award at the 2023 Irish Podcast Awards.

Speaking about her new podcast, she said: “I really wanted people to have something to listen to that’s going to cheer them up with people who are really funny, and conversations where they’re getting asked questions they don’t always get asked.”

And she believes there’s something quite powerful about sharing our embarrassing stories, as it takes the edge off the angst and shame we often carry.

“I’ve done loads of embarrassing things in my life, we all have. And do you know what – who cares? It doesn’t matter, no one got hurt, and we all do it,” she said, who also presents fashion and entertainment slots on ITV’s Lorraine.

She’s thrilled conversations around ageing have started to change, especially for women working in the media and entertainment industries.

“Like having a career within this industry until you’re much older – of course, it shouldn’t be any different for women than it is for men,” Williams says, drawing a comparison to previous years when women’s careers would hit a sudden dead-end at a certain age.

“I think women are just seen differently now, and I feel like women are really empowered, we’re having our moment, we’re owning it. I love all the chatter around menopause and things we would have never really discussed before – Davina McCall has been amazing for that.

“I love the openness and the honesty of women [I’m hearing] all the time, there’s so many people I look up to and admire, who I think are doing a great job.”

Aside from looking on the funny side, Vogue cherishes her self-care and wellbeing regimes. As she often mentions in her podcasts, she’s not a big drinker.

“I drink probably once every two weeks, but every time I drink, I’m like, ‘I’m not drinking for ages!’ I just hate the way it makes me feel.

“I think that’s always my approach to wellness, because I know when I’m not having any alcohol at all, I feel amazing – my training is really good, I sleep really well, and I’m firing off all cylinders.

“And I think if you’re really focused on your health and fitness and sleep and all those things, the difference you feel in yourself and your mental health and your happiness, everything just changes. So I always have a little bit of focus on that.”

Fitness is important to her too – she enjoys running and resistance workouts and hosts live classes on her fitness app, Flexy – and Vogue is meticulous about her bedtime routine.

“As soon as my alarm goes off, I’m like – boop! – straight up. Mornings are my favourite time. And if I’m still awake at 10pm at night, I’m like – Jesus, I need to turn the light off.

“Because I love to get all my work done by the afternoon, I’d rather get up and do everything and be finished by around 4pm, so I can have dinner, bath-time and all that stuff with the kids. So, I’m always up at about 6:15am, certainly during the week.”

Never Live It Down with Vogue Williams is available to listen to now on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

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