That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Adele Roberts

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

Adele Roberts joins Gaby for a celebration of life and laughter and all things joy. From Big Brother to Radio 1, to the Guinness Book Of World Records - Adele is an inspiration and a joy spreader - whose attitude and love of life is infectious. Gaby chats to Adele about early fame, coming out on TV, her love of music and radio - and whether she might ever go back to presenting? They also discuss her love of running - which started when she was 37 and has been a huge part of Adele's life ever since. She recently ran the London Marathon which her stoma on show - as part of her ongoing campaign to normalise hidden disabilities and to encourage people to get their poo checked! Remember you can watch all our episodes on YouTube - and see some of the footage from Adele's marathon on Gaby's instagram!

to be joyful is the biggest reason that I wanted you to be on here, Adele Roberts, because you're a reason to be joyful throughout everything that you do, everything that you cope with, you just spread, look at that smile. You just spread joy. Thank you for saying that. I think it's a conscious choice. It's something that I try and practice daily and it's because I never used to be like that. And I've found through life that being happy is so much easier. Why suffer twice? that, you know, I've learned that from the stoics. And yeah, it's something I definitely work at. But anybody who's listening to this and struggles,

if you can start to move your way towards the light, your life gets better. Now, a lot of people, when I say that to people, and I'm lucky because I've always been a very positive person, that a lot of people say, oh, it's so easy for you to say that. But actually, it's not easy. And you've certainly been very honest. and open and public about what you've gone through, and yet you still manage to shine. Thank you. Yeah, I think it's because I spent so much of the first part of my life

hiding my feelings. I think that's a very northern thing. You know, you just get on with it. And I thought that was the best way to cope. And I think eventually it catches up with you. You know, I think that energy has to go somewhere and those feelings have to go somewhere. And if you don't process them, they stay in your body. And it comes out eventually. and I got to a very dark place. And I couldn't understand why on paper I was doing so well in life. So I was like, had the job of my dreams and everything seemed to be going well, but I didn't feel good inside.

And I know it sounds really cheesy, but happiness really is an inside job. And you have to really... Doesn't sound cheesy. Don't say that. You sure. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Well, as opposed to people that, you know, my family, they'd be like, what are you on about? But as I've got older, I've learned that things outside, you can't make you happy.

It's only you internally that can make you. happy. So we're not going to talk about the dark place, but I want to talk about before all of that because, I mean, you burst into our lives through reality television and then you were an absolute staple of radio and you say you were doing your jobs that you'd always wanted to do. But before that, what were you like? Before you burst, what were you like when you were younger? Yeah, we, I kind of like to say that I came from the bottom. I still feel, I still identify with being at the bottom. You're talking about bottoms already. We will be getting to bottoms. Don't you worry. You and bottoms. Don't worry. Yeah. There's a big correlation with bottoms in our life.

Well, yeah, came from very humble beginnings. Big family, rowdy family. There was always lots of music in our house and lots of laughter. There was also lots of struggle with that. And I think that's something that I learned very early on that, yes, life isn't fair. But there's, if you don't give up, you always get where you're going. So that was always the message that I got off from my mum and dad. Oh, that's lovely. They were brilliant. And I think we didn't have much, but we had love.

And I know that that's the most important thing as well. If you feel loved, you've always got a chance in life. And they always gave us love. And, yeah, in terms of other things, we didn't have, like, maybe material things. Those don't necessarily make people happy. You think they're going to. But that car that you've always dreamt of, it will make you happy for a moment. Yeah.

And then you're like, oh, I'm still me. Yeah. I'm still there. So when you said to your parents, I want to do Big Brother, did they just go, yes, of course, off you go? You know, what was it? Because it was so new then. And it wasn't about chasing fame or it was about the extraordinary human experience, I imagine.

Yeah, so Big Brother was a weird one. And I was on Big Brother 3. So they'd only been two series. And they'd gone well, but they hadn't had somebody. like Jay Goody. And I happen to be in the one with Jay Goody. So she's the one for me that changed reality TV in this country forever. Well, because I was on the inside of it, I didn't really realize what she'd done until I came out. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, because when you're in the house, you're blocked off from the media so you don't really understand or you don't know how it's

being translated or how big the show is, how many people are watching. You're just sort of in this. Well, did it feel like now looking back? Because it's all well and good to feel something in the moment, but looking back on how you felt, can you do that? You maybe can. Yeah. How did you feel in there at the moment? I felt like no one was watching. It felt like quite boring. And I'd not been in a situation where I didn't have newspapers, didn't have TV, didn't have music.

And music's vital to me. I learned that lesson and didn't have my family. And that was something that really knocked me. And a lot of people don't realize this, but I didn't tell my family I was going on, Big Brother. I only told my mum. And my mum didn't understand what it was. So she didn't care.

So she was like, okay, have a nice time. And so it was a bit of a shock for all of us. And at that time as well, I wasn't really like out to my family. And when I went on Big Brother, I made this decision just to speak honestly and openly about who I was. And then so I kind of came out to everybody on TV. There's one way to do it. You're going to do it.

Do it like that. But I didn't really feel like I was coming out. I just thought, right, just go in there and have fun and just be yourself. For you. And for the first couple of weeks, that happened. And then after that, it all. went a bit skew with, but I think it's because I'd been dealing with a lot of stuff before I went in Big Brother. And essentially, I think I went in Big Brother to cope with the loss of my auntie

who sadly died very suddenly before I applied for the show. And I remember it really knocking me and, yeah, hurt a lot. But because I didn't really deal with my feelings, I think I ran away to Big Brother to hide in this experience that I thought, oh, that'll just be something for me to do. And that wasn't necessarily the best thing for me to do. But it did change. your life. Yeah. Yeah, I knew that. I knew that. Oh, you did know. Oh, that's interesting. I knew that it would give me a different perspective on life because I hadn't really left up north and I hadn't really been away from, yeah, where I grew up. So I just knew that it would put me in a different place and it would lead to different things. But it's such a thing to do. You were young.

This was, this was experimental television. We're also used to it now, but it was so, I remember watching the very first season. And I couldn't believe what I was watching. We were all obsessed, just sitting there thinking, this is fascinating. Because we didn't think of the larger picture. None of us did who were watching it. So obviously you going in there, and I remember watching you and Jade, but watching it as an audience member, as a viewer, just it was what everyone was talking about.

And it wasn't judged. People weren't, well, in my circle, we weren't going, oh we don't like that you did eat that and this one. It was, God, I wonder what it's like to feel that you're being watched. It did all of those things that we were thinking about. And to me, you were in that part of the world. So I quite like that it changed your life, but you weren't expecting it to be like that. You just went in.

Yeah, yeah. It wasn't like, because I understand now, maybe people see reality TV as a career choice. And it wasn't that because the producers were really good. They said, we don't know how successful this show is going to be. so don't expect anything. And so I think mentally they prepared us. Yeah, they prepared us really well. And there was a lot of sort of chats that you'd have

and psychoanalysis before you went in. I think there just wasn't much when you came out. So we didn't know how to deal, or at least I didn't know how to deal with the aftermath of the show. So going in, they vetted you. But then they were kind of like, have a nice life. And then that's when you're like, oh my God, I don't know how to deal with this.

But for me, I just went straight back to Southport and tried to be as normal as possible because I was a bit overwhelmed by, I wouldn't call it fame, but I was overwhelmed by the attention. And we weren't ready for that attention because we weren't ready for Jade Guddy. And Jade just changed everything. She made the show massive. And I was a bit overwhelmed by that. That is so interesting. And you think, I mean, Jade Goody is one of those people that has gone down in fame, celebrity history, if you like. And, I mean, obviously her boys and bless them, bless them.

But she did change the way that we viewed it. And also what she did after that and the impact that she had was enormous. Yeah. I feel for her as well because it must have been because they didn't show everything obviously that happens and I remember her saying I think for a long time she'd wanted to do well in life and my family are totally nothing to do with sort of like TV or fame

like they don't really like I never went to acting classes or anything like that but a lot of the people in my show did and they wanted the fame and I know that Jade wanted the fame and I know that her mom wanted the fame but I don't think she was prepared mentally for what actually happened yeah because we'd never seen that before Blesser. Oh my word. So tragic. Yeah. Such a tragic thing that happened.

Okay, but this is about you. So you left Big Brother, you went back to home. You just went, hey, look what happened on telly. And then it seemed it just, it rolled for all of us watching it. For me, you were then radio. Thank you. You went, I think of you, Big Brother. And then that was just what, you know, it's like, she was on Big Brother. Oh no, she's a radio presenter.

I don't think of you as a reality star, which I, when I did all my research and everything, and I know we're lucky enough to have met each other a few times. But when I did my research, I thought, I don't think of you as a reality star. You don't see yourself like that, do you? You think of yourself as a broadcaster. Yeah, I knew that was something as well. So after Big Brother, you're very lucky and you get people that want to represent you, that were agents.

And I was like, I don't even know what an agent is. And then I'd speak to these people and they'd be like, you know, You can go to this university, turn up, have a fee, be there with like the Chuckle Brothers and get paid thousands of pounds. And I was just totally like, no, I can't do that. I know a lot of people did, but I just felt really like, I didn't understand and especially seeing how my dad works really hard when I was growing up. He was like a builder and he grafted all the time. I couldn't reconcile almost like just appearing somewhere for lots of money without doing anything. So I was like, I'll go to places, but I want to DJ for it.

it. I don't want to just turn up and just be that girl off Big Brother. You wanted to work? Yeah. I get you. And I wanted to learn radio. I wanted to do it fair and square. You didn't want to open a local garage. Yeah. I hear you. My dad was totally like, you're an idiot. He was like, you should just take the money. But I just couldn't do that. You know, and I knew as well that like that doesn't last forever. That's just like a flash in the pan. So you're just going to kind of like in a year's time when the new Big Brother people come out, no one's going to care anyway. So I want to, I use it as an opportunity. to learn about something that I was passionate about,

which is radio and music, and I'm very happy. I did it the way I did. But people didn't really understand it at the time because they were kind of like, you could be doing all this in London, but you've come back to Southport and you're on your local radio station

and you're learning how to, like, be a DJ, what you're doing. You know, we're not getting paid much money, really. But that's... I get it. That was in my heart. I just knew that was, for me, that was the right thing to do. And then, so then it moved and it moved on.

And I know you did all, you know, hits. And, but then... Then you were at the BBC and your face when you talk about the BBC. I just said the BBC then and your smile. Yeah. It's a special place. It was like the Emerald City. So this is something that I want to really get across as well to people.

Never be afraid of failure. I fail so many times in my life and I kept getting those from the BBC. It took me over 10 years to get a yes from the BBC. And I just kept sending them demos and they were like, you're not good enough. but I never took it as a hard now. I just took it as a not now and keep working hard and you'll get there in the end

and then I did. So to me, to be able to get into broadcasting house and to get my BBC pass which I've still got to this day was just the most amazing moment for me. And that's when I felt like

I'd done something good. I hear you. Yeah. It's all I wanted to do when I was three. So all the letters that you get that I found a letter the other day that was I know this isn't about me

but I was eight years old and I wrote to the producer of Blue Peter and I said please can I present Blue Peter and I got a reply. Really? Maybe when you finish school why don't know, so I did I kept writing to them.

That's incredible. But it's the same thing and then you get your BBC pass or whatever it is, whatever your dream is. I mean I always say don't give up on your dreams and I feel that that should be a mantra for you as well

never give up, never give up on your dreams. Absolutely. And it's never too late to change. So in terms of the running that I do now, I didn't... Hello, how many medals. How many medals? Yes, we'll get on. I didn't start running until I was 37.

I was until recently very different, very overweight, couldn't run. So please, if you're listening to this and you want to change your life, it is never too late. But you've done that a few times. You've changed your life. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So you must have inside... This is incredible. And I mean this as a compliment. And people always think determination is a negative thing. I think it's a positive thing. You must be very determined. Thank you, Gabby. Yeah,

I learned that from my mom and dad. They just never gave up. And they're so resilient. And I really believe if you don't give up, you can't be stopped. And I think in life, again, it's a cliche. And it might sound a bit cheesy, but I don't believe in losses. I just believe in lessons and wins. And if you see things like that, it's perspective. Perspectives are a really powerful thing. Your mindset's a powerful thing. And it's something again that I work on all the time, especially in my mindset. And I do get down and I do feel defeated sometimes, but you always get back up and go again.

So how have you, has that, I was going to say, how have you cope with all of the stuff? Because you're very open, you're very honest about it all. And we have to talk about it because I want to talk about it and I know you want to talk about it. But all the things that you've gone through and the pain that you've gone through, And yet you keep running. And I don't mean physically, but I mean mentally as well, you keep going. Yeah. What is it in you that keeps you going?

That is an amazing question. I don't know. I think at first, when my mum was still here, it was always, I think, a need to make her proud. And then when I lost her, it was, yeah, it stopped me in my tracks a bit. You know, I think that is like the biggest thing that's hurt me in life. And it's been a hard one to navigate, but I know she wouldn't

want me to give up and I know she'd want me to keep pushing. And I think it's just realizing that that's what life is about really, I think, to become the best version of yourself. And you'll never get there, but enjoy the journey of trying to get there. And enjoy it wherever

there is, wherever you get to, keep enjoying it and striving for more. Okay, so let's, it's your choice. Would you like to talk about the bowel cancer now, would you like, yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Because when I feel like I'm talking about my mom, that's when I want to cry. No, I know. Boul cancer's fine. Yeah, bowel cancer is fine. So, bowel cancer, you were diagnosed when? Tell me, talk me through that. And I actually, can you talk about the Niti Gritty? Because it's important as a child of somebody, a survivor of bowel cancer. You had, dad had bowel cancer 30 years ago. And obviously, you and I both knew lovely Debs. Talk to me about that, about how you found out what, how you found out what, happened. Yeah, so this is in 2021. I was on Radio 1 and I felt like I was in the shape of my life. So I'd managed to find running when I was 37. I got diagnosed when I was 42. So a bit before I got diagnosed, I'd started running, turning my life around, getting fit. And I think that helped

me notice the symptoms because old me had a lot of like junk in my trunk and I don't think I really looked after my body and I don't think I would have gone to the doctors, the old me. But the new me started to notice that I was losing weight, but I thought that was because I was running and enjoying it. And then my tummy would be quite bloated and I'd find it quite hard to digest my food. And this is something that cropped up actually when I did the TV show, I'm a celebrity. I think I was the only person who didn't eat the food ever because I couldn't digest it. And I just thought it was just because it was weird food and because I was like far away from home. So it didn't really understand what was going on.

And it was shortly after that show that I started to notice blood when I'd go to the toilet so blood in my poo. But did you see it? And now this is, and we are going to be graphics. So for anybody that's listening to this and we need to be graphic. Yeah. Because the difference is blood in your actual poo as opposed to wiping your bottom and it might be a pile or you might have a slight cut in your... Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. So you're right. And also I'd like to stress as well, it wasn't lots of blood because people aren't quite sure. So it's only little bits of blood. It was like spotting at first. but it started to become consistent.

Yeah. Yeah. And it was when it was consistent that I was like, oh, that's not normal for me. But it was COVID. And again, I overthought things and I thought, well, this isn't a priority. They're trying to help people not die from COVID. So don't, you know, don't just get on with it. And I thought it was something I was doing.

So I thought I'm not the best cook. So I thought it was like my bad cooking. But it got so regular that I thought, no, this is weird. You mean every time you did a poo? Was there blood there? Started to be. At first it was just intermittent, and then it started to be all the time, and I was like, this isn't normal for me.

So I rang the doctors, and because they know what to look for, that rang alarm bells. So they sent me to my GP. And then when I saw my GP, she said I was probably too young to have bowel cancer because I was 42 at the time. And she thought it was piles, and she did an examination. She said, oh, it was probably just piles, but I'm going to give you the bowel cancer test just in case.

And I think that saved my life. because when I did get diagnosed, I was stage two, but very nearly stage three, which means that it was nearly breaking out the lining of my bowel and might have traveled around my body. So thank God she did that. And those Putez people are scared when they come, but please do them. Yeah. Just do them.

Yeah. Yeah. I went on loose women once and I think it was Janet Street Porter told me that she had the test and she carried it around in her bag for like months filled. She kept forgetting to send it off But she said she sent it off in the end But yeah Even she forgot

So yeah Do them and send them off Because the way I see it now is Symptoms I used to be scared of symptoms I used to think Oh God I don't want to find a lump in my breast Or I don't want to know

But that's That's just a signal from your body Then it needs to help And the sooner you go and see someone The sooner they can sort it out And hopefully they can help you So sadly, bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in our country. It's because people don't know what to look for.

And if they do, they get scared. And so by the time they do go, it's too late. And also, like, as happened with you, no, you're too young. It can't be bowel cancer. Yeah. And it is trending younger now, sadly. Why is that? I mean, my dad was 61 when he got it, which is still relatively young.

But obviously, Debs was young. You were young. and there's a girl who I was reading about the other day she was late 20s who was diagnosed with it. Why is it trending younger? They think they're not quite sure, but they think it's something to do with food and thinking back to the thing like to,

especially in the 80s, yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Just don't, just I think it's sort of like they say, go and see someone, see someone and rule it out fast. So just basically, if you can, ask for the test and then you know, you know, you've got a lot of people, It's not that. It is maybe IBS or something else. So you just need to get diagnosed as soon as possible if you can. So you have the operation and you put it all on socials, which was incredible. And you now have Audrey.

You and Audrey run together and go everywhere together. But I don't know if this is right, but you're one of the first people. We'll talk about your world record in the moment. But you're one of the first people I've seen who's so open about having a stoma. stoma bags, lots of people have them and people have no idea. And they're allowed to be hidden and they are allowed to keep theirs quiet because they're self-conscious of it. But what made you choose to say, right, this is me. Yeah, thank you for asking that question. One of the reasons is because I remember getting diagnosed with cancer and they were almost like as sad about me getting a stoma as they were about the cancer. And to me, the doctors. Oh, right. Okay. So I remember thinking I would rather have a stoma than tumour. So please take the tumour. Please give me a stoma. You know, because this would save my life. And I didn't really understand properly what a stoma was.

That's one reason I want to talk about them. But two, it was seen as something that was like debilitating. And it is technically a non-visible disability. But to me, it's something that's giving me my life back without it. I wouldn't be here. So it's a superpower to me. and I think it's just growing up not having much representation

when I was younger getting way back in my life a lot of racist abuse also sometimes homophobic abuse I feel like yeah you've got the triple now yeah I've got completely the search

but I just know that it's irrational and there's a lot of people who won't get stomas because they carry a lot of shame and those people die So people are dying of shame. People are choosing not to have stomas because of the connotations. Is it because of the embarrassment?

Yeah. And I just, I can't have that on my conscience. So I want people to know that it doesn't end your life. It can enhance your life. You can get on with your life. You can still do things. And sadly,

there's a lot of children who have stomas. And like you say, aren't able to talk about them because they get bullied. They're misunderstood. So if I can, in my own little way, just show that there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just a different way of your body working.

Hopefully people can be more open and be accepted. I remember meeting a lovely little boy. He was about 10 years old and he told me about his stoma. And he said, I've got a stoma because my poo is on the outside of my body, not on the inside of my body. And he just, a little like that, I said, that's fantastic. He said, do you want to see it? So I went, yeah. He showed me. And then he said, people at school all ask me about it all the time because my mummy said, I should go in and tell everybody. And it just, I didn't, he didn't want me to hug him and cry and say, how wonderful. I went, that's fantastic. like, okay, you should tell everybody. He said, that's why I do, so I show everybody.

Brilliant. It was amazing. Brilliant. But that's it. How's he said it? My poo is on the outside. And it was just so, when you said it, you just think, God, that's, that's it. Yeah.

Yeah, totally. It's just a different way that your body goes to the toilet. That's all it is. And so, yeah, it's irrational to me that people should be made to feel like there's something wrong with them. It's very sad. It is. And it hurts getting a stoma.

Like, anyone who's got a stoma is made a tough stuff. believe me. They really hurt. Does it hurt? Do you mean not now? Not now, but when you first get it, it's like, basically, your small intestine is coming through the front of your body, so, or depending on what type of stoma you have. And so it's like a massive wound, you know. Right. I've got a permanent hole in the front of Bombahy.

Yes, you've got a hole. You've got an extra hole? Yeah. You've got a few holes. You've got an extra hole. You've got poo on the outside, extra holes. Lots of medals. Yeah.

So you, okay, so you are in the Guinness Book of Records as well, aren't you? That's cool. That's pretty cool. Okay, for people who don't know, just say it. Okay, because it sounds so cool. So when I got my stoma, I didn't know if I could run with a stoma because I wanted to get back to running because I knew mentally how much it helped me. And so I thought I'd ask for forgiveness, not permission.

So I thought, right, start running again and see if you can do a marathon. I didn't know if it was allowed, but I thought I'm going to go for it. And so when I googled running marathons with stomas, I couldn't find much of it. information. So then I was like, well, what's a good time? So then I tried to find if there was a Guinnessville record and there wasn't. So I thought, well, I'll try and do the marathon and try and set a Guinness World. And I was able to do that. So I became the fastest woman with a stoma to complete the marathon in the world. And then since then, I've become the fastest woman to complete all the six major marathons of the world and then the seven major marathons. So I'm just one of

those crazy people that just goes around running. No, but it's not crazy because this, I, but It brings you joy, doesn't it, running? And it helps your head. It helps my head. And also, I feel like it's a disservice to people with Stone was not to be represented in a book like the Guinness World Records, you know. It's fantastic. Kids should be, like, your little friend that you saw, he should know that his body's capable of anything. And so that's another reason I did it, because it shows that we can do things just like anyone else.

So you've had a bit of a, you've had a tough time recently with your health. How is all of that? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. the other side of running with a stoma is sometimes I'll have a prolapse, which is where it comes out my body way too far.

So instead of being a couple of inches big. I'm right out here now. Honestly, it like unravels and doesn't stop. Oh, lovely. Yeah, that hurts. That must be. Do you know what my stomach just went like that? I thought it did this weird pulling my stomach in.

Yes. Yeah, so they're not perfect stomers. So getting them back in is a big job. Well, were you just sitting there and it went boing? Oh. How did that? It did. So, you know, one of the times was on an aeroplane.

So the pressure in the cabin will make my bag blow up. So sometimes it will also force your stoma out of your stomach cavity. Yeah. I don't want to. I'm sorry. I'm going to laugh. No, honestly. It is.

It's. Sorry, you see your bag blow. I mean, I do being on the air. I'm sorry. It does. It does. But like, get on. You're sitting on the airplane and something.

He goes, oh, what's that? Don't worry. Don't stand too close. You never know what might explode. Has it ever exploded? It's not exploded, but it's come off. Okay. It hasn't gone, pff. It doesn't explode, but it does fill up with air because it's it's sick. Of course, it's aeroplane. You're in the airplane. Oh my goodness. Have you done, have you done a children's book? I know you've got your book out. I'd love to do a children's book. You need to do a children's book about exploding poo. Yes. Get on an airplane.

and it explodes everywhere. Kids love a bit of poo. You need to actually, all jokes aside, you need to do a children's book. I was thinking that when I was looking through your book and I thought, because it's so important to young kids who have this, that you need to do a kid's book,

but also just, I hate the word. I'm going to use the word, but I don't mean it, but normalise everything. Because otherwise, you know, their pet would be parents, they don't say the word. I remember when dad had bowel cancer, he said to me,

I want to talk about it publicly and that had been a broadcaster at the BBC. And so we did some, we did some interviews. And I remember, so this is like I said 30 years ago. And the interviewer for this TV show said, can you talk about it, you two? But don't mention poo. Don't mention bottom. Don't mention bum. And my dad said, no, I can't not mention poo.

He said, and my dad just went, would you prefer me to say shit? And the guy just went, no, but you can't mention poo. I said, but it's bowel cancer. I have to talk about poo. Yeah. And that was so, it's come on quite a lot in 30 years. Well, I really truly believe that the work that people like your dad has done and people like Dame Deborah's done help save my life because it then meant that my GP was more aware of

things and knew to send me for the test. Because like you say, Deborah was 35 and she kept getting fobbed off. Yes. She kept getting told that it wasn't about. cancer. And sadly, by the time hers got diagnosed, it was too late. And it wasn't her fault. She kept saying, I know there's something wrong. But that's, we have to change perceptions, not only for making it more acceptable, but also GPs. You know, they're just human like everybody out. Absolutely. And they've got a lot on their plate. So just having a top of mind for them

helps as well. So you do so much work now in that area and with charities and everything. For you going forward, that is really important. And please keep doing it. it and thank you for doing it. But can you please go back and do some more radio? Yeah, I'd love to. I took a bit of time out of radio after I lost my mom. We're not going to talk too much about that. I'm some, my mom died 30 years ago. But, but it's, it's not, it's like people to go, oh, you know what? You'll get better. You don't get better. It just gets easier. That's all I can say to you. It gets easier. Yeah. And I feel like, and you know this and I know this from listening to you.

you need to mean it with radio. You know, your audience can feel if you're being genuine and serious and I think that mentally I wasn't fully there. And so I would never have the privilege of being on radio and not giving my all to a show. So I think that I can do that now. Yes. What show would you?

Okay, magic wand. What show would you like? I know this sounds like really maybe weird, but I've always wanted to do a disco show, you know. What's that weird? I don't know. That's not weird. Is it not?

Is that okay? Yeah. I pitched it to the BBC a few times, but I don't know if there's like a space for a disco show. I know Michelle Rizage has a disco style show on radio too, but yeah, I feel like I'd like to go back to Specialist Radio because that's how I started.

I started with a dance and R&B show. And I love music. So I'd like to do a show to do with music and just share music with people because it just makes me insanely happen. What's the music that, okay, what's your go-to that you put on and you just go, yes, you and Kate, what's the one that?

you dance around. I can imagine you and Kate dancing around. Do you know, Kate is a bit funny with music. She's just behind me. She's just behind you through the glass. You should see the face. She's given. Kate, Kate's more of a musical person. So Kate's into musical theatre. Oh, good God, Kate.

And I need Kate to hear you singing, because I listen to you singing with the Appleton sisters, and you are very good. Do you perform? Do you know, I want to go back to singing lessons? No, I have done. I've been in the West End, but yeah, I can hear it. Kate, you need to listen to Gabon. No, I'm not going to sing. No. Go on. Just what? No. But you, so what music do you put on?

Yeah, so I don't listen to music, Kay. When I'm running, what I like to do is there's this feature on Spotify where you find a song style-wise that you want to listen to and then you make a radio out of it. So what I would do when I did my marathons around the world, I would pick a song that was ultimately New York to me. So it could be anything from Billy Joel and I play his music or it could be like a really filthy hip-hop. track and I just basically start with one song and then get Spotify to put a load of like music in that genre in a playlist for me. So that's how I do it. I'll pick one song how I want to feel and then make a whole playlist from it. So you're going to do the radio. Have you ever thought about doing live radio whilst doing a marathon? That's an amazing idea. Why don't you do it? Would it be annoying being out of breath? No, but just do it on, we'll do it on YouTube.

Yeah, I suppose. Just run a marathon with a with a, uh, go. Yeah. GoPro looking out and a GoPro looking in. So you've got one on your hand and looking around. And then broadcast it live. That's a good idea. I bet it's saying you can be in the Guinness Book of Records again. Girl with a Stone Mode live YouTube marathon run.

Letting disco music. Well, my next... It needs a quicker title though. My next marathon will be with Bryny Gordon. Oh, lovely Brianne. So we're going to be running the London Marathon in a couple of weeks in our underwear. So we're doing this for Dame Deborah. We're doing this for Bale Cancer Awareness.

And it'll be the first marathon I'm going to run with my stoma visible. Oh, what is it not visible last time? No, because you have to really, you know, prolapse and everything. Right. You have to really like strap it in. So you're going to strap it, though? No. It's going to be visible because it is sort of like a hidden disability.

So they're never visible. So I don't think anybody ever runs a marathon with it showing because you have to eat and drink. and so your bag will fill up, blah, blah, blah. So I've been practicing not eating and drinking as much, and yeah, it'll be the first marathon. Can you not have a see-through tape or something? Not really, no, because when you need to... Because you don't want it to prolapse again.

I've been practicing. So because... You've been practicing a few marathons? We'll be going a bit slower. I should be okay. It's because I usually run them fast. Right. With me going a bit slower, I should be all right.

So running is, it's your head and your body. Is it head first? Absolutely, yeah. When I first started running, I remember my friend Ian saying marathons are 80% mental. And I remember thinking, you can't think your way around a marathon. It's massive. It's very intensive on the body. But I think I understand what he's saying now. And the benefits I get from running are massively in terms of mental health. Like my mental health has got so much better since running than my physical health. Does Kate run with you? Kate hates running. A perfect match than you two. Musical theatre and hip-hop and disco. And she hates running. But everything else is good in your world. We balance each other out.

She just chucks me out the door. She's like, you've been annoying. Go for a run. And then I'm like, okay. Do you run every day then? Not every day. I walk every day. I love walking.

Love it. Love walking more than running to be on. Will you come and do the moonwalk with us? I absolutely will. When is it? It's May the 16th. I'll send you the link. Yeah, please do.

We've got a fantastic team. of people. Yeah. What do you do at the moonwalk? It's only 15 miles. 15 miles? Yeah. Is it a night time?

Yeah. Through the night. Oh, wow. Wow. It's lovely. Anyway, this is right. So you can probably be, you'll probably do, you'll be the first person with the stoma walking for breast cancer charities.

There we are. I'd love that. There we go. All sorted. So we always ask everybody who comes on this. What brings your most joy? Now, you've gone through so many things. I know a.

radio show would bring you joy. Hello, all radio people, give this girl a new job. And I know that Kate brings you incredible joy, even when she loves musical theatre. I love you, Kate, for that. And I know so many things bring you joy, but we always ask somebody to bring in something or tell us about something that brings them so much joy.

I have no idea what you're going to pick. Really? Yes. Oh, I feel like it might be obvious and really boring, but this is my thing, and I carry this everywhere. ago. What is this? No. It's a headphone case. It's your headphones? Yeah, it's my headphones. Oh, I thought you might keep something else in there? No. So these, ever since I was a little

girl, so headphones to me. So you know how people say books are a portal to another world? To me, headphones are a portal to another world. So I've realized looking back over my life, whenever I needed to escape my reality, put headphones on and escape to a different world. Because it's amazing. Ever since I was little. Yeah. And I'm so old now. I'm so old now. I'm so old now. Kids nowadays won't realize this, but when you're longer. You're not so old. Stop. Oh, I am. You couldn't really watch what you wanted on TV

and you couldn't listen to what you wanted on the radio. So when personal, when Walkmans came out, it was revelation. And so I was in control of the music for the first time. And yeah, ever since then, I think headphones have been the thing that have like pretty much saved me. You know, before I found running, it was music. That's incredible. Yeah. And that's also really, I love that everybody,

It comes in and shares what brings them most joy. Without a doubt, they're really simple, heartfelt things. And music has been your escape and your reality, your life and your love. Yeah. Bye, Kate. Sorry, I thought she brought you along. You brought you along because you brought her most joy. Don't worry, you do really.

Adele, we've been trying to get this done for so long. I'm so delighted that you came in. You properly are a joy. I just want everything for you that you wish for and more and never, ever, ever give up on your dreams. You promise me you won't give up on them. Thank you, Gabby. I just want to tell you one thing before I go as well.

So you were the first person I was ever on TV with. So you might not remember that. You won't remember this. So years ago, the big breakfast came to my house. So you know we used to send Keith Chegwin out? Yeah. He came to our house. And...

What? Yeah, I know. You've never told me this before? No. This is why I was a bit intimidated about you because you're Gabby. Oh, Gabby. Yeah, so he came to our house and my mom had to... This sounds really random.

I don't know why we had to do this. We had to dance in our street dressed as ballerinas. And at the time, you used to give away like holidays all the time. We got a cup. Have you got the footage of it? No. I don't have the footage. Because we didn't, we probably couldn't afford like a VHS.

But yeah, it's like years and years and years ago. I think I was about like 13. Would you know, if you could try, I could try and find somebody to find if there's any. Oh, I don't know if we should take it back up. But yeah, you're the first person that I ever, like, it blew my mind and everybody at school was like, oh my God, you were on the big breakfast this morning. So Keith Tegwin did down your door to. Yeah. Oh, where are you Keith?

Was it with Chris as well, with Evan? because you've been on his show. Yeah, I didn't tell him. Oh my word! We've got to get Chris. I'm going to call him the three of us speaking. That's just insane. Isn't that amazing?

And all these years later, and so I think this is another reason why, like, I've just been incredibly nervous about, like, talking to you properly because of that, because of that, you know? I hope we didn't traumatize you. No, no. Dressing as a ballet dancer in the street and dancing. But you know what?

That's what life is about. And I think, I really do believe that there needs to be more moments like Debs did, just dancing in the street. Yeah. And running marathons with their stomas out and writing children's books. Yeah. And this is for you. Yeah.

Oh, you're fantastic. Adele Roberts, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.