So, as we power into a new year, 2026, Gobsmacked! serves up an incredibly compelling, and what will become a vintage episode to start us off.

You do not forget the day you meet Nicky Pattinson. She is impossible to overlook. She is life force embodied. From that flame-red hair, to those unmistakable, inimitable, deep Yorkshire tones, this is a woman forged on the anvil of life.

Nicky is a woman who has lived her life on the spin cycle. She has experienced deep tragedy, child loss, visceral grief. The kind of grief that poleaxes you. The kind that rewrites who you are. 

And yet. And this matters.

What this conversation reveals is not just reflection, but momentum. Not just insight, but intent. Not just survival, but a unique perspective.

Nicky holds a worldview that is both fierce and generous. She speaks openly about how the darkest moments of unimaginable loss, resource us and can define who we choose to be

It whips along at pace. It is funny. And this is a conversation between two women who have grown in both admiration and depth, because there is no getting away from it. Our lived experience shapes us. It changes us. It forges who we are.

And as we reset, and set our course for a new year, there is no finer woman to share some wisdom with than this incomparable Yorkshire lass.

This is Gobsmacked.

And this is where we begin.

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There’s a lot in a given name.

When Zelda’s mum chose that name for her little baby girl, who could have known just how completely she would go on to embody it. Zelda is often said to derive from an old Germanic name meaning battle or warrior, sometimes described as a battle maiden, so calling her a warrior princess feels anything but accidental.

Zelda has been battling various forms of breast cancer for eighteen years. After inheriting the BRCA2 gene from her dad, she has been fighting and thriving for over a third of her life.

As Gobsmacked! approaches its fourth year, Catherine sets out in the Gobsmacked podcast van to revisit previous guests and discover what has unfolded since they last pressed record.

And for Zelda, there has been a lot. A staggering amount of life for a true warrior.

This is Gobsmacked… After the Podcast.

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At first glance this promised to be a full blown Britain’s Got Talent conversation, a look behind the scenes at what it’s like to step onto that famous stage, to meet Simon, Amanda, Alesha and Bruno, and to experience the whirlwind of television fame.

But this story sits somewhere else entirely.

When Mark Smutz Smith, respected artist manager, lecturer, songwriter and creative mentor, heard about the Post Office scandal and the plight of those caught up in it, he couldn’t just stand by. A life immersed in music became the catalyst for something far greater, a mobilisation of people and places from his past. Reaching back through friendships and old connections, he found himself part of a movement that, almost instinctively, helped to form a choir that would lift not only voices but spirits.

Through those connections runs a thread that leads to Bequia, the small Caribbean island that anchors friendships and emboldens connections, an idyllic backdrop to the tumultuous life events that unfold in this compelling interview.

The Gobsmacked! moment comes when the conversation shifts. What begins in the world of showbiz and performance opens into something deeply human. When family stories surface and truth begins to settle, this becomes a story about redemption, belonging, and the power of song to bring people home to themselves, even when grief and disorientation still reverberate.

This podcast is dedicated to Avril Teresa Smith.

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This episode of Gobsmacked features Wendy Boast a woman who left school at 16, when the world of work beckoned brighter than the underwhelm of the classroom. Later discovering she has a remarkable IQ, and went on to build a career in the City with big jobs in complex information systems and major corporate achievements.

Wendy’s journey hasn’t been without heartbreak and betrayal, but she has come through wiser, sharper, and more grounded — the most informed and insightful friend you could ever hope for.

Her worldview is vast and surprising, flipping perspectives a full 180. In this conversation she takes us from the rat race to aliens, from ancient wisdoms to global jitters, from Shakespeare to Plato, with the 2012 Olympics woven in along the way.

Bright, centred, and compelling, Wendy Boast will put your brain in shaker-maker mode. This is an episode that will stretch your thinking, shake your assumptions, and leave you wide awake to possibility.

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Some of us say we’ve got anxiety the way others say they’ve got the flu - when really, it might just be a cold. But for some, that anxiety is life-shattering. Dr Jeanne Retief knows this well.

A South African international human rights expert with a PhD and 15+ years of global work behind her, Jeanne collapsed under what she first thought was a stroke. It was panic disorder and it ended her law career in an instant.

From that breaking point, she rose. She trained in cosmetic chemistry, launched FIGGI Beauty, and built a community called The Anxious Calm - for people who understand that anxiety is more than a buzzword.

Jeanne is bright, wise, and deeply learned. This conversation isn’t just inspiring - it’s a survivor’s manifesto. A must-listen for anyone who’s ever felt their wiring was too much for the world.

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Domestic abuse. Sexual abuse. Exploitation. Serious organised crime. Trafficking. Addiction.

These are not easy topics but they are real, urgent, and happening all around us.

This is one of the most powerful and necessary conversations we’ve ever recorded.

Javina Greene, a rap artist, music producer, and fierce truth-teller, shares her story with raw searing honesty and incredible strength. From model pupil to teenage trauma, from addiction to artistic awakening, Javina lays it all bare.

What you’ll hear is more than survival it’s transformation. Her pain has become her power. Her past fuels her mission to create safe spaces for women and galvanise their recovery through music and creative expression.

If you’ve ever wondered what lived experience really sounds like and what it can teach us - this survivor deserves your attention

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In a Better Place? The mystifying words we use to describe death — and how they can fail the grieving.

Lorna Vyse missed a moment — a child in grief, and she didn’t see it. She chided herself for not being clued in, and that regret stayed with her. Add to that a chance encounter and a promise to a dying woman, and Lorna’s second life purpose was born.

Now an author, grief trainer and speaker, Lorna is on a mission to help us stop sugar-coating death. From “passed” to “gone to sleep” to “in a better place,” the euphemisms we use to avoid talking about death don’t help — especially not for children.

This is a conversation about missed chances, keeping your word, and the healing power of speaking plainly when it matters most.

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The Second Innings is the journey of Andrew Patterson, known to most as Patto, former Irish cricketer, father, and fine fellow, who was diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a rare neurological condition that gradually takes away your ability to walk.

He was told he’d need a wheelchair for life.

Instead, he raised £70,000, travelled to the US for pioneering surgery, and taught himself to walk again. Just months later, he completed a 5K.

This podcast is about what it really takes to come back. It’s about persistence, perspective, and the power of keeping going - one determined step at a time.

Because every step really does tell a story.

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In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Liz Sparkes — a psychologist who has spent years working with pain management, mindfulness, and how we heal.

Liz’s story is a powerful one. After surviving a serious accident, one with haunting echoes of earlier childhood trauma and loss, she made a decision that would challenge most people: she reached out through restorative justice to the individual responsible.

The compassion she showed, and the forgiveness she offered, didn’t just shift something in her — it had a profound effect on the other person too.

Liz’s life hasn’t followed the straight line she once imagined. The ambition she started out with and the work she does now are worlds apart.

This conversation isn’t about easy answers. It asks something harder: when it really matters, are we truly able to forgive?

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In this special episode of Gobsmacked!, I’m joined by my second cousin, Damian Le Bas, author of the acclaimed The Stopping Places and now The Drowned Places, a haunting, lyrical exploration of grief, memory, and the worlds that lie beneath the surface.

Written in the wake of his father's death, the visionary artist Damian Le Bas, the book takes us on a journey through submerged landscapes and the emotional terrain of loss, drawing unexpected parallels with the myth of Atlantis.

We speak about his parents' creative brilliance, including his mother, Turner Prize nominee Delaine Le Bas, his experience of writing through grief, and the grounding arrival of fatherhood with the birth of his daughter, Nina.

My word—this is a profoundly articulate, bright, and thoughtful fellow. Sitting down with him for this conversation about legacy, identity, and resurfacing after loss was a true privilege.

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