The BEYOND Podcast

Sam Vanderpump, the Made in Chelsea star turned entrepreneur, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast for an unfiltered conversation about fame, business and resilience. Weeks after cycling 20 kilometres a day in seemingly perfect health, Sam was waking up in a hospital bed fighting sepsis, not knowing whether he would ever see the outside world again.

He and Aleksandra King explore what reality TV really does to the people on it, how his fiancée Alice helped save his life, and how he built a foreign exchange brokerage from scratch despite the assumptions attached to his famous surname. This Sam Vanderpump podcast episode goes far beyond the headlines.

In this conversation:
From a building site to founding Vanderpump FX, which recently exchanged over £10 million in a month
Why the nepo baby label misses the story: self-funded ventures and debt taken on after his father’s passing
The smartest advice from his aunt Lisa Vanderpump on turning a TV platform into a business springboard
Finding purpose in the pain of a near-death experience
A candid discussion of love, loyalty and resilience

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/sam-vanderpump-from-reality-tv-to-a-near-death-battle-with-sepsis/

Aleksandra King, host and producer.

Nicola Vaughan, a functional nutritionist at NV Health, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast to decode what your meals are really doing to your body. A former aerospace engineer with a first class physics degree, she brings scientific precision to the question busy people keep asking: why am I always tired?

The answer is rarely age or bad luck. Food acts as information, and the wrong choices can quietly drive insulin resistance, inflammation and burnout in people who look perfectly healthy. Nicola and Aleksandra King work through how to rewire your metabolism using simple shifts in what you eat and how you move, without fad diets or fear. This Nicola Vaughan podcast episode is science led rather than wellness fluff, taking in energy, metabolic health and cancer risk.

In this conversation:
Why feeling sleepy after eating can be an early signal of insulin resistance
What being thin on the outside but fat on the inside means for organs, hormones and long-term health
Straightforward nutrition and movement changes that steady blood sugar and energy
The link between ultra-processed foods, sugar and rising cancer rates
Why your body is not broken, and how to start fuelling for focus, mood and longevity

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/how-the-science-of-food-can-fix-your-health-problems/

Aleksandra King, host and producer.

Robin Dunbar, the Oxford evolutionary psychologist who formulated Dunbar's Number, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast to explain how humans really form social bonds.

A social media friends list is not what it looks like. Most people can realistically sustain only around 150 meaningful relationships, and behind that number sits an architecture of intimacy, from the core five shoulders to cry on, out to a sympathy group of 15 and a weekend barbecue layer of 50. Robin and Aleksandra King work outwards through those layers, and this Robin Dunbar podcast conversation moves between personal anecdote and hard science to ask what genuinely drives human bonding.

In this conversation:
Why roughly 150 stable relationships is the cognitive ceiling for most adults
The layers of connection, and how often you actually reach each circle
Why a single new close friendship costs about 200 hours, and who slips out to make room
Gossip reframed as information sharing, and why a breakdown of trust inside families is so damaging
How group singing synchronises emotions and builds trust quickly

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/gossip-trust-the-hidden-rules-of-human-connection/

Aleksandra King, host and producer.

Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, a doctor turned founder and the chief executive of Patients Know Best, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast to explain how a childhood spent dodging air raids in war-torn Yemen became the foundation for a digital health record platform that takes on billion dollar technology giants.

From a first class degree at Cambridge to combining medicine with code, his is a story about thinking clearly in chaos and holding your ground as the smallest player in the room. Anyone looking for a Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli podcast conversation will find a candid account of courage, code and calling, as he and Aleksandra King explore what war taught him about risk, why patient data needs protecting from corporate interests, and how technology can hand people control of their own health.

In this conversation:
How surviving conflict shaped his tolerance for risk, his empathy and his leadership style
The mindset shifts that stop chaos defining you and start it strengthening you
Why pairing clinical training with programming became his route through broken systems
How a smaller, values led team can take on global corporations without selling out
Why integrity, family and education anchor every major decision

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/the-mindset-that-turns-trauma-into-power/

Aleksandra King, host and producer.

Jane Couper opens up to Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast about nearly losing everything to addiction and depression before rebuilding her life and leading two purpose-driven businesses in healthcare. From drugs, alcohol and darkness to sobriety, motherhood and entrepreneurship, Jane speaks frankly about relapse, shame and the slow, unglamorous work of learning to trust yourself again.

This is a raw and ultimately uplifting Jane Couper podcast conversation for anyone who has battled inner demons and still dares to dream of success, taking in her spiral, her recovery and the tech-enabled healthcare business she built to serve the NHS.

In this conversation:
The spiral into drugs, alcohol and depression, and the moment Jane chose life.
What recovery really looks like: the timeline, the setbacks and the daily disciplines.
Coming out and motherhood, and building genuine self-worth as a gay woman and parent.
How she built purpose-driven, tech-enabled healthcare businesses serving the NHS.
The role of her father's unconditional love, even after his death, in saving her life.

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/addiction-recovery-building-a-purpose-driven-life/
Aleksandra King, host and producer.

Mike LaCorte, CEO of Conflict International, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast to pull back the curtain on the hidden world of espionage and professional investigation. This fearless conversation dives into secrets that affect us all: who hires an international investigator, what the work can uncover, and why power, trust and the fear of losing control sit at the heart of it.

Together, Mike and Aleksandra King explore what it takes to lead investigators around the world and where the ethical lines are drawn. For anyone searching for a Mike LaCorte podcast episode, this is a rare, candid look inside a world most of us never see.

In this conversation:
Inside the hidden world of espionage and international investigation.
What the CEO of Conflict International can reveal about the secrets around us.
Why power, trust and the fear of losing control shape these cases.
The secrets that touch our everyday lives more than we realise.

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/power-trust-the-fear-of-losing-control/
Aleksandra King, host and producer.

In this special episode of The BEYOND Podcast, host Aleksandra King turns the microphone on herself and tells the untold story behind her headline-making decision to walk out of The Apprentice. What began as a light-hearted application became a life-changing experience, one that pushed her to the edge but also gave her the clarity to rebuild on her own terms.

From a childhood shaped by a corporate high-flyer mother and an entrepreneurial father, to the strange, controlled world inside the show, this is a fearless reflection on burnout, courage and walking away from other people's expectations.

In this conversation:
What growing up in South Africa taught Aleksandra about ambition and perspective
How two very different parents shaped her mindset
The disturbing reality of life inside The Apprentice house, with no phone, no freedom and no food
The moment she walked away mid-task and reclaimed her sense of control
What burnout really looks like behind the scenes, and why she now defines success by balance, purpose and wellbeing

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/the-courage-to-walk-away-and-start-again/
Aleksandra King, host and producer

Shahin Hassan knows what The Apprentice is like for the candidates who are not the villains: the hardworking engineer and property investor was fired in week one, and he joins Aleksandra King, host and producer, on The BEYOND Podcast to tell the story most contestants stay silent about.

The Shahin Hassan podcast episode goes from the boardroom to the things that actually hold a life together: what losing control taught him, how his father shaped his work ethic, what representing his Bangladeshi community meant, and how faith keeps him grounded.

In this conversation: why so many candidates stay silent after the show; why losing control is the hardest part; what he does now across engineering, property and classic cars; what immigrants contribute to Britain.

Full episode page: thebeyondpodcast.com
Aleksandra King, host and producer: aleksandraking.com

Ian Stringer, broadcaster and former contestant on The Apprentice, joins Aleksandra King on The BEYOND Podcast for one of the rawest and most human conversations of the series. What begins with guarded, one-word answers opens into a powerful account of reality TV fame, media scrutiny, an employment tribunal against the BBC, and the childhood experiences that shaped the man behind the microphone.

Together they explore addiction and alcoholism, the loss of his mother, surviving domestic violence as a boy, and how counselling, marathon running and healthy living became his way of turning trauma into strength. If you have been looking for an Ian Stringer podcast conversation that goes far deeper than the headlines, this is it.

In this conversation:
How The Apprentice and reality TV fame reshaped Ian's life
The reality of media scrutiny and public pressure
His battle with the BBC and the personal cost of taking a stand
An unflinchingly honest account of addiction, alcoholism and losing his mother
Surviving childhood domestic violence, and how marathon running became his path to resilience

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/turning-trauma-into-strength/
Aleksandra King, host and producer

Lewis Ellis went as far as getting a tattoo of Lord Sugar's face to settle a score, and he tells Aleksandra King the whole story on The BEYOND Podcast. The Apprentice rebel turned criticism into branding fuel, controversy into career growth, and a public feud into a story he owns completely. Together they explore what it really means to stand out in business, build confidence under pressure and live unapologetically, from the abuse he took over his tattoos to the moment he quit drinking and got ahead of his workload for the first time.

In this conversation:

How criticism can be turned into fuel for a personal brand
The real story behind the feud with Lord Sugar and the revenge tattoo
Why giving up alcohol transformed his mindset and his business growth
How unapologetic authenticity becomes an edge in branding and business
What it takes to grow a business without investors or safety nets

If you have been searching for a Lewis Ellis podcast conversation that goes past the headlines, this is it.

Full episode page: https://www.thebeyondpodcast.com/confidence-tattoos-the-art-of-being-unapologetic/
Aleksandra King, host and producer