Katie Piper's Extraordinary People

Anton Ferdinand is a former professional football player, husband and father and is now using his own experiences to mentor the next generation of young players. 

Anton was involved in probably the biggest racism case within English football in 2011 when John Terry was accused of using racist language towards him during a huge West London Derby. 

The repercussions of the incident had a huge impact on Anton’s mental health, which he talks about candidly in his BBC documentary “Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me” which aired in November 2020. 

Anton speaks generously to Katie about the loss of his mother, changing perceptions and being a family man. 

This is a Somethin’ Else production. 

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Jack Ivens-Gardiner is living his best life as a married, gay man with autism, but finding his place in the world hasn’t always been so easy. 

Katie met Jack at ITV studios many moons ago, doing his job in production on ITV daytime. Katie loved Jack’s vibrant clothes and kind nature, and the two found common ground more recently as they made their voices heard about their invisible disabilities in a new ITV campaign. 

Jack and his husband Wes have also recently adopted a little boy and made an informative podcast about the process called “2 Dad’s Can Do It”, and along with their Instagram page are hoping they can help others on their own adoption journey too. Jack tells Katie about living confidently with autism, how some companies could do better for their neurodiverse employees and how he kept his gay balloon to himself until he was ready to let it fly! 

This is a Somethin’ Else production.

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Lauren Mahon is a campaigner and podcast host who has gone, and continues to go, above and beyond to share the truth of what being diagnosed with breast cancer as a young woman really means. 

After receiving her own diagnosis in 2016, at just 31 years old, Lauren took her natural strength and gumption and started raising money for charity the very next day, all whilst spreading the word to women to check their breasts. 

Lauren went on to write about her experiences candidly on her “girl vs cancer” blog and after gaining a huge following, began co-hosting award-winning BBC podcast “You, Me and the Big C”. 

5 years on, Katie catches up with Lauren to find out the impact cancer has had on her world, why she simply had to use her diagnosis for good, and her exciting “girl vs cancer” news! 

This is a Somethin’ Else production. 

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Jamie Campbell joins Katie on the day “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”, the star-studded film, drops on Amazon Prime. 

This is a huge day for Jamie, who’s story of wanting to go to his small town high school prom in drag, started out on the small screen in the BBC Three documentary “Jamie: Drag Queen at 16” in 2011. 

This poignant time of Jamie’s life went on to be told on stage in the popular musical version in 2017 in Sheffield, moving quickly into London’s West End. 

Katie chats to Jamie about his inspiring story of courage, support and inclusion, exactly what you need if you’re an aspiring drag queen and how to support others who are finding their place in the world. The ultimate uplifting listen! 

This is a Somethin’ Else production. 

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Ollie Locke and Gareth Locke became the Locke-Locke’s less than a year ago, as they got married with only 13 guests in attendance, 1 minute before another lockdown hit the UK. Not ones for going low-key though, cast members Ollie & Gareth filmed their wedding for the popular reality tv show Made In Chelsea, and it became the most watched wedding, worldwide, of 2020! 

A few months ago the happy couple started their surrogacy journey and are taking their huge following of fans with them through the highs and lows, and are using their platform to try to break the stigma of IVF. 

Katie chats to them about their coming out stories, embarking upon IVF, and they bond over memories of nights out at iconic London club, China Whites! 

This is a Somethin’ Else production. 

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Dawn O’Porter is an author and presenter, wife and mother, who thrives on been open and honest, especially with her dedicated Patreon fan base. Dawn is well- known for her critically acclaimed books and presenting deep-diving documentaries but, like the rest of us, the lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic hit hard. To add to the struggle of not being allowed to leave the house, Dawn experienced the tragic and sudden loss of her close friend Caroline Flack, and so, dealing with this grief and sadness along with day-to-day family life, Dawn started writing a diary. In October 2020, Dawn released Life In Pieces, her first non-fiction book, and all about her life in lockdown. As the paperback of the book released yesterday, Dawn and Katie chat parenting, charity, grief in lockdown and of course…. weed gummies!

This is a Somethin’ Else production.

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Ed Jackson is a successful TV presenter, mountaineer, and as of yesterday, an author, however this hasn’t always been Ed’s way of life. A former professional rugby player, Ed was involved in a freak accident, diving head-first into the shallow end of a swimming pool back in 2017. Ed broke his neck and crushed his spinal cord, leaving him paralysed in a hospital bed, and was told he would never walk again. That, however, was not going to get in the way of Ed living his life to the fullest. In the last four years, Ed has not only focussed on his own recovery, defying the odds and learning to walking again, but felt immediately inspired to help others. Ed has unbelievably been climbing mountains since 2018, raising thousands of pounds for charity, and has more recently started his very own charity “Millimetres to Mountains”. Ed’s first book “Lucky” was released yesterday, to unite and inspire the reader, whatever their story. Lucky by Ed Jackson (Published by HQ) is out now.

This is a Somethin’ Else production.

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Seema Jaswal is a successful sports presenter who most recently landed her dream job as lead co-host of ITV’s coverage of Euro 2020. Having worked across sport for many years, including for Channel 4 and on the Premiere League’s worldwide coverage, Seema is an absolute pro, but her success has not been handed to her on a plate. After being hit by bacterial meningitis at just 16 years old, sport was an important part of Seema's recovery and accelerated her passion for life and her work! Seema's energy is completely infectious as she talks to Katie about how the industry is slowly changing for females, why she wants to inspire young people and the lessons she’s learnt along the way!

This is a Somethin’ Else production.

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Gareth Thomas is a former Rugby Union captain, winning 100 caps for Wales, then moving to rugby league and leading his country to victory over France in the European cup. Going against the grain in the world of male dominated sports, Gareth came out publicly as gay in 2009 and more recently, 10 years on, revealed that he was HIV positive. Now leading a Tackle HIV campaign, Gareth uses his passion to end the stigma surrounding HIV to educate others. Gareth tells Katie a story about his experience being blackmailed, how he used this to take back control and the joys of living his life now truly as himself.

This is a Somethin’ Else production.

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Gary served in the military and the British Transport Police. He was a frontline worker in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings and is haunted by some of the tragic things he has seen as part of his job. As mentioned in the podcast, here is the link for the charity that Gary runs. https://www.ptsd999.org.uk/

Claudia Winkleman and Professor Tanya Byron identify struggles faced by real-life parents and family members by inviting them in and hearing their story, in a one-time unscripted session with a real person. Claudia listens in to the conversation to discover how Tanya begins to unlock the story behind the issue and help find solutions. With topics ranging from parental estrangement, gender identity, domestic violence, trauma, inheriting mental health issues, family dynamics after cancer and raising a severely disabled daughter, How Did We Get Here? is a passionate, insightful and moving experience with clear outcomes to each episode. This podcast doesn’t tell people how to raise their children, or reconnect with family members, rather it helps people understand why, as perfectly competent adults, they can’t put into practice what they know they should do. Each episode passes on useful links and contacts which listeners can find in the programme notes.

This is a Somethin' Else production.

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