Fearne Cotton 'almost gave up fame' while presenting on BBC Radio 1 for one reason

Fearne Cotton 'almost gave up fame' while presenting on BBC Radio 1 for one reason Newspoint | 23/04/2025 05:39:13

Fearne Cotton has emotionally opened up on her showbiz career as she admitted that she almost called it quits from being in the limelight while working on BBC Radio 1. The 43-year-old TV personality confessed that she suffered from an identity crisis that caused her to fall into depression.

In a new episode of her , Fearne shared how she had been feeling "lost" in her early thirties. She said: "I got to this point where I found myself just really not liking what I was doing, finding the feedback loop of being on the radio and in the public eye, excruciating. I started to inflate other people's view of me with what I knew to be true about myself. Which is dangerous, really dangerous."

Fearne explained how she felt after leaving the radio station, adding: "I thought every negative thing said about me was true. I left radio and I just thought, 'What am I doing? What is the point of any of this?'

"And I honestly thought at that point, 'Maybe I just quit everything because it's all too painful'. And I wrote a book called Happy, and that was the first time I really spoke about anything remotely real, because you can't really do on the radio.

"This is the first time where I said, 'Actually this is what's going on' rather than me just saying 'morning' and playing some happy music. It was like, actually, I'm going home and I'm crying and I don't know who I am anymore. I was in a real period of proper depression and on antidepressants".

Fearne, who used to also star on Celebrity Juice alongside Holly Willoughby, has since expanded the Happy brand by turning it into a lifestyle company. As well as the book, she now runs a podcast and also a festival - Happy Place - where she invites celebrity guest speakers to share their experiences.

Her brand claims to "empower joy by sharing real stories alongside expert wisdom". On her website, Fearne said: "Everyone is going through something.

"We've all got our own story to share and challenges to face. If we can stand in the shadows together we've more chance of learning and growing through it all".