What if the secret to better skin isn't doing more, but doing less?

In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson sits down with multi-award-winning aesthetician and celebrity facialist William Foley, founder of William Foley Skin and creator of The BioSync Method™, to challenge some of the biggest messages we're being sold about skincare today.

With 17 years of hands-on experience working with skin, William believes we've become obsessed with fixing, stripping, resurfacing and perfecting it, often at the expense of the skin's own ability to function.

Together, Ellie and William unpack the rise of complicated skincare routines, viral beauty trends and increasingly young children reaching for powerful actives. They explore what chronic stress can actually do to our skin, why the nervous system matters more than we might realise, and whether our constant pursuit of younger-looking skin is doing us any favours.

The conversation also covers men's skincare, teenage skin, the changes that come with perimenopause and ageing, and the growing world of regenerative aesthetics. William shares his thoughts on why more intervention isn't necessarily better, what genuinely healthy skin looks like and the simple things we can all do to support stronger, more resilient skin.

If your bathroom cabinet is overflowing with serums, acids and products promising to transform your face, this conversation might just persuade you to rethink the lot.

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Show notes

Find out more about William Foley at william-foley.com and follow him on Instagram @william_foley_.

Website: William Foley Skin Instagram: @william_foley_

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

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The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Why do people have affairs, and is infidelity ever as simple as one person being in the wrong?

In this episode of My Baba's Parental Control podcast, Ellie Thompson sits down with presenter, relationship expert and counsellor Anna Williamson, host of the hit podcast The Affair. Now in its sixth season, the series explores real-life stories of infidelity from every perspective, uncovering the emotions, motivations and consequences behind one of our most complicated relationship taboos.

Anna and Ellie talk about why people cheat, the impact affairs can have on relationships and family life, and whether couples really can rebuild trust after betrayal.

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Show notes

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Would banning social media for under-16s protect our children, or simply drive their online lives further underground?

As debate around children's access to social media continues, Ellie Thompson welcomes Child and Educational Psychologist Dr Emily Crosby to the Parental Control podcast to look beyond the headlines and explore what social media is really doing to young minds.

With more than 13 years' experience supporting children, young people and their families across NHS, local authority and private practice settings, Dr Crosby explains why adolescence is such a critical period for identity, self-esteem and emotional development, and how constant exposure to unrealistic content and addictive platforms can affect everything from body image and attention to anxiety and low mood.

But is an outright ban the answer?

Ellie and Emily discuss whether children would simply find ways around restrictions, the danger of pushing social media use underground, and whether banning access could inadvertently make some online risks harder for parents to spot.

They also tackle the bigger questions: Should tech companies be doing more? Are parents being expected to shoulder too much responsibility? What happens to teenagers who rely on online communities for connection? And if social media is off limits until 16, what magically changes on their 16th birthday?

Most importantly, Dr Crosby shares practical advice for parents on creating healthier digital habits at home – whether a ban happens or not.

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Show notes

Instagram: @doctoremilyep

Website: dremilycrosby.com

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Fear is a normal part of childhood. From monsters under the bed to spiders, needles and the dark, most children will experience fears as they grow. But when does a fear become a phobia? And what can parents do to help?

In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson is joined by leading Harley Street phobia expert and Face Your Fears author Christopher Paul Jones. Having overcome his own debilitating phobias, Christopher has spent more than 20 years helping people around the world—including Hollywood actors, musicians and celebrities—break free from fears that once controlled their lives.

Together, they explore why phobias develop, how parents can respond without reinforcing fear, and why Christopher believes many phobias can be overcome far more quickly than most people realise.

Whether your child is terrified of dogs, needles, vomiting or even going to school, this fascinating conversation is packed with practical advice that could help your whole family face fears with greater confidence.

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Show notes

Face Your Fears, 7 Steps to Conquering Phobias & Anxiety

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Every year in England, thousands of bright, capable kids sit down to take their GCSE English and maths exams — and fail. Not because they don't know the material. Not because they haven't worked hard. But because the exam itself only tests one narrow way of showing what you know.

My guest today has lived this. She watched her own dyslexic son work harder than anyone, understand the material, and still miss the pass mark — again and again — by the smallest of margins. And she watched what that did to him.

So she did something about it. She founded Fairer Exams, a parent-led campaign fighting for a fairer GCSE system — and she's since taken the message to the TEDx stage with a talk called Why exams need to change.

Today we're talking about dyslexia, dyscalculia, and why England is falling so far behind when it comes to fair assessment. We'll get into the terrifying stats — did you know as many as one in three young people are effectively locked out of opportunity because of this one narrow form of testing? And we'll talk about a route that exists right now, hiding in plain sight, that almost nobody knows about — one that could change the trajectory for thousands of kids, if only more parents knew it was there.

This is a conversation for every parent — not just those with a child who has additional needs — because this system touches every single family sending a child through school.

My guest today is Hannah Gee, founder of Fairer Exams. What a pleasure it was.

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Show notes

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Why do so many women reach their 30s and 40s feeling more critical of their bodies than ever before?

In this honest and thought-provoking episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson sits down with eating disorder specialist and author Elle Mace to explore the complex relationship women have with food, body image and self-worth.

From the pressures of social media and the rise of weight-loss injections to perimenopause, ageing and the unrealistic expectations placed on women, this conversation unpacks why so many of us still feel we're never quite enough—and, more importantly, how we can begin to change that.

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Show notes

Parental Control, Ep 134: Why Are Children Worrying About Their Bodies So Young?

Instagram: @iamellemace

Food Freedom is available from 27th August at £14.99 via major retailers including Penguin, Amazon and Waterstones.

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

What is it like to dedicate your career to finding a cure for one of the deadliest childhood cancers?

In this deeply personal episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson sits down with Dr Ashley Vardon, an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Birmingham, whose pioneering research into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is being part-funded by Billy's Battalion.

Together, they explore what life is like on "the other side of the room"—the side where doctors and researchers must deliver devastating diagnoses while working tirelessly to change the future. From the latest breakthroughs in childhood brain cancer research to the hope emerging from global scientific collaboration, this is an honest conversation about grief, determination and why every research project matters.

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Show notes

Billy's Battalion JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/billysbattalionofficial

More on Dr Ashley Vardon x Billy Battalion Research Project

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

If you've ever found yourself shouting over something small, only to be overwhelmed with guilt moments later, you're far from alone.

In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson is joined by award-winning journalist and author Lauren Novak to explore one of motherhood's least talked about realities: mum rage.

Lauren has spent more than two decades reporting on family life, child safety and social issues, and after becoming a mother herself during the Covid-19 pandemic, she turned her attention to the hidden pressures facing modern mums. In her book Meltdown, she explores what really sits beneath the anger, from the relentless mental load and sleep deprivation to hormones, guilt and the impossible expectations placed on mothers today.

Together, Ellie and Lauren discuss why so many mums feel they're constantly on the edge, why maternal anger is still surrounded by shame, and what parents can do to recognise the warning signs before they reach breaking point.

If you've ever wondered, "Why am I so angry all the time?" this honest and reassuring conversation is for you.

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Show notes

• Mum Rage Survey
• Buy the book Meltdown, by Laura Novak
• Instagram @lauranovakwrites

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Becoming parents changes everything, including your relationship. In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson is joined by relationship and sex therapist Georgina Vass to discuss what really happens to intimacy, communication and connection after children.

Why do so many couples end up feeling more like colleagues than lovers? Is it normal for sex to disappear after kids? How much conflict comes down to the mental load? And how do you know the difference between a rough patch and a relationship that's genuinely in trouble?

Together, they explore the biggest communication mistakes couples make, the impact of social media on modern relationships, and why many women feel unprepared for the effect motherhood can have on sexual wellbeing.

An honest, insightful and reassuring conversation for anyone navigating love, sex and family life.

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Show notes

• Website: georginavass.com
• Instagram: georginavasstherapist

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Body image worries are starting younger. Diet culture may have changed its clothes, but it certainly hasn't gone away — it's simply rebranded as wellness, self-improvement and "health optimisation," all while our children scroll through TikTok, influencers and impossible appearance standards in real time.

In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson is joined by Elle Mace, eating disorder expert, coach, author of the upcoming book Food Freedom, and someone whose own struggles with body image and disordered eating began at just 10 years old.

Together, they explore the early warning signs parents may miss, how to tell the difference between normal food fussiness and something more concerning, the everyday language around food and bodies that can accidentally cause harm, and what today's obsession with wellness, weight-loss drugs, and appearance culture is doing to young minds.

A thoughtful, honest and hugely important conversation for any parent raising children in a world obsessed with bodies.

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Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram

Show notes

Instagram: @iamellemace

Food Freedom is available from 27th August at £14.99 via major retailers including Penguin, Amazon and Waterstones.

What is My Baba?

My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.

Visit mybaba.com

The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/