That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Carrie Hope Fletcher

Episode Date: July 11, 2021

In this episode Gaby chats to the talented actress, singer, best-selling author and extremely popular vlogger Carrie Hope Fletcher. She is currently starring in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber and Emerald Fennell’s version of ‘Cinderella’ on stage. Carrie talks about returning to the stage after such a long wait, how she prepares for such a performance and the power of live theatre. Plus, she chats about writing a musical with her brother Tom Fletcher and what she thought of his wife Giovanna taking on the jungle in ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here’. She talks out passionately against body shaming particularly for young audiences, and stay tuned to hear whether or not she would stand for parliament.For more information on the sponsor of this episode:Start your language journey with 25% OFF at www.michelthomas.com use discount code GABY at checkout to claim 25% OFF any Michel Thomas course  Produced by Cameo Productions, music by Beth Macari.  Join the conversation on Instagram and Twitter @gabyroslin #thatgabyroslinpodcast  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, Gabby Roslin here. Thank you so much for listening. I was delighted to chat to this week's guest, the talented actress, singer, best-selling author, and extremely popular vlogger, Carrie Hope Fletcher. She's currently starring in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber and Emerald Fennell's version of Cinderella on stage, which I got to see.

We, of course, talk about her effortless performance and the power of live theatre. Plus, we chat about writing a musical with her wonderful brother, Tom Fletcher, and what she thought of his wife Giovanna's time in the jungle. She talks passionately against body shaming, particularly for young audiences, and stay tuned to hear whether or not she would stand for Parliament. Enjoy.

Please can I ask you a favour? Would you mind, please, following and subscribing by pressing the follow or subscribe button on the show. Now, I have to tell you, this really honestly does not cost any money. It's completely free. And then if you wouldn't mind, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, which is the purple app on your iPhone or iPad. You simply scroll down to the bottom of all of the episodes and you'll see the stars where you can tap to rate and press write a review. It would mean the world to us. Thank you so much.

Hello, Carrie. Hello. Okay, first question has to be, what is it like being back live in the theatre? It's a bit surreal. I just couldn't quite believe it. I kept saying the whole way through the last year, you know, they kept being promises of getting back on stage, and I kept saying, do you know what, when I'm on a stage, I'll believe it.

I'll believe it when I'm finally there and doing it. And then I actually got on stage and was doing it, and I couldn't believe it. I was like, what? No, we're actually doing it. I can't believe it. This is amazing. Is it sort of quite surreal? Because I think for the past 18 months for everybody has been very surreal, and there's been so much about you.

and this show in the press and you being Cinderella and I'm not talking about the Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff I'm talking about you that everybody was waiting for this to come out and you're bringing this brand new character

even though we know Cinderella but brand new version to the stage and it's as if everybody was holding their breath for you yeah I think because it's you know we've been teasing it over the last year as well that this is a new retelling

by Emerald Fennell and it isn't Oscar winning Oscar winning Oscar winning Emerald Fennell, yeah, wow, how amazing. But because we've been kind of teasing it, that it isn't the Cinderella that everyone knows and loves, I think everyone kind of has been holding their breath a little bit to see what I'm going to end up looking and sounding like.

Oh, will you look fabulous? Thank you. You're singing, oh my word, you, well, you know, we've met before and I've chatted to you before and you know that my daughters just love you. And actually, I'm thrilled, that it's you that they look up to in this world. I really am.

Oh, thank you so much. No, but you know that. You know, I think you're a force for good and how you make, you're helping young people with their minds. And I think a lot of people connected to you for a very long time, but I think last year you were somebody

that a lot of young people held on to. That must feel quite a responsibility. Yeah, I tend to try not to think about it too often because I think I'll end up running a million miles if I do. But yeah, I mean, I'm kind of used to it now because I've spent the last decade now, God, 10 years, on online, on social media and on YouTube most predominantly. And I kind of built up an audience very, very quickly. And they always seemed to be quite young. Back when I was 18 and making videos, the main portion of my audience was sort of 13 to 17. So I was always very aware that I had a kind of a responsibility. not to set a bad example, I guess.

And that was something I was always very, very aware of. And so I've kind of taken that through my adult life. And it's something that's kind of built into me now, I think. I very much kind of censor myself before I put anything out there. Just because of the nature of the internet, everything's archived, everything's saved. So you kind of don't have the luxury of making any big mistakes online. That's very interesting, actually. I suppose I never thought of that, how you have to.

censor yourself. So are you aware at all times? Do you sort of slightly feel like you're always on show on camera? A little bit, yeah, but it kind of sounds like it's a negative and I guess at times it can feel like that even to me, but it's, I don't really think overall it is a negative. I think it's just, it's the same responsibility you'd feel if you had a little brother or a little sister. Yeah. You wouldn't, you wouldn't go around doing silly things in front of them, you know, you're always being told by your parents you have to set a good example for any, you know, younger siblings or family members. I kind of feel like it's that similar thing. That's kind of how I feel about it. It doesn't feel like it's, you know, a burden or something that I'm

always worrying about. No, good. I should hope not. And please don't because what you do is fabulous. Thank you. What made you, I know that you've been performing since you were child and we're going to keep going backwards and forwards because that's how these chats go. But what was that thing that made you suddenly say, okay, I'm going to do YouTube. And it's massive now. YouTube is sort of bigger than, I suppose, anyone ever imagined. But 10 years ago when you started, it was big, but it wasn't like it is now. Yeah, it kind of skyrocketed around 2012 and I kind of got in there just before it really took off. And I think it was before, I think it was monetization that made it a thing because then suddenly, you know, traditional media, the press kind of realized that this

was something that younger people were actually taking on as a job and it was something that people could potentially earn a living from. And it was kind of that press and media attention that made everyone kind of turn and look at YouTube and it ended up skyrocketing. But I was just a bored teenager. I always wanted to be an actress, but that doesn't happen easily. So whilst I was trying to find my way into the industry. I'd written a musical with my brother at age 16, and we were kind of like pitching that and working on that and workshopping it with a bunch of different people. So whilst I was working on that, there was a lot of downtime because I was just a songwriter on that. So in that downtime, I was just bored. It was just a bored 17-year-old going,

how can I fill my time creatively? And I just noticed that a lot of people had started vlogging and posting videos of themselves singing and I thought well that might be a good idea if I posted covers of me singing songs from musicals on YouTube you know stranger things have happened maybe someone will notice maybe camera McIntosh is scrolling through Twitter and and YouTube right now who knows but I thought I'd just you know I'd give it a shot and it was just something fun to do in the meantime I really did not expect it to take off the way that it did but you as I said you were performing from a very very young age of course your lovely brother Oh, bless Tom. I mean, what a family you are and your gorgeous sister-in-law, gee.

I mean, really a lovely, the sort of people that as parents, your parents must just, oh, they must be so proud of themselves and proud of you guys. They are. They're extremely proud. It is just a lovely bunch of people. But all of this started so young. So your parents not only feeling proud from what you've done, but you were very young and Tom was very young. Did they, I don't want to use the word push, okay, so I'm not using it, but did they aid and assist that way in? No, I was the sort of child that you couldn't make me do anything. I'm not surprised.

I was a little madam, and they don't let me forget it either. No, there was absolutely no way that my parents would have been able to make me do anything. It was very much a me decision. And the same with Tom. Tom kind of, you know, we're both. kind of quite very driven people because of our parents. Our parents are, you know, a very driven hardworking people. And they kind of instilled in us this idea that we can do anything we want to do

if we are willing to put in the hard work to do it. Yes. Yeah. And so, yeah, Tom was very much, you know, set his sights on wanting to be some kind of a performer and went to Sylvia Young's theatre school. And I was just a little kid who was like, well, if Tom's doing it, I want to do it. I was that sort of child. So yeah, from the age of three, I was signed up to Sylvia Young's Theatre Agency.

I didn't go to the school, but I was signed up to their agency. And I've been working since I was five. It's incredible. And your voice, I mean, you know, Cinderella, your voice cut through. I was with my 14-year-old who is the only time that both my girls say, you know, we properly love her. And I, like I said, I'm delighted that they feel like that. And I do too. I really do.

I think you're incredible. Your singing voice is. effortless and I hope you understand that people who don't know about singing will think that's me being very rude but hopefully as you're a singer you know what I mean it's effortless. That's the aim got to try and make it sound effortless even when it isn't. Oh my word. Was it always like that for you? I've been singing since I could talk I've been singing you know I come from a very musical family my dad plays guitar and my dad sings and my mum will never say that she sings but I've definitely heard of singing and she can sing. But we you know,

we're a great lover of musicals as well as a family, so there was always musicals playing on the telly when we were kids. I don't remember a time when I wasn't singing or couldn't sing. But your voice cuts through. It's you, and so you and I have a lot of, we don't need to name drop because it's too embarrassing, but we have a lot of mutual friends in musical theatre. And some of the greatest older ones now, the older generation,

will always put you up there and say, she's a great. Oh, that's so sweet. You have something extraordinary on stage that a lot of people wish they had, and it is that effortless, and also you're so relaxed. Oh, I'm glad it looks that way. God, I'm not. I'm one of the most nervous performance. Oh, God, I'm terrible, yeah.

Tell me about your nerves. Tell me about your nerves. Once I'm up on stage, I'm absolutely fine. I feel comfortable, I feel relaxed, but then I come off stage, and I'm a bag of nerves, and walking on to stage as well. I'm terrible. I'm absolutely petrified every single time and it never gets easier. That is incredible.

Because seriously, as an audience member and as somebody in the industry, that's what I said to my daughter, watching Cinderella, I turned to my 14-year-old and I said, because she wants to do this as well. And I said, you know, follow your dreams, do it all. But do it like her because she's so grounded and I'm pointing now. You're not here and I'm pointing at you. But she's so grounded and she's, you're so grounded and she's,

using the nerves in the right way to make it look, I'm going to use that word again, effortless. So did anybody talk this through with you? Or did you just, was this just you? No, I don't really know what to say to that. Because I, you know, I had drama lessons when I was a kid at school and I had singing lessons with a guy called Ray Lamb at Sylvia Youngs. And yeah, I don't know, it's always kind of just been an innate thing. I've always wanted to perform and there was kind of never any question. Like I've never wanted to do anything else. I mean, when I was like four, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I mean, I'm an archaeologist, but that's, you know, everyone, everyone wants to do something ridiculous like that when they're children.

But I don't remember ever wanting to do anything else. Like there's literally never been any question. So, okay, so you're doing the singing, you're doing the dancing, you're doing the acting, you're three years old, you've got an agent, but suddenly now you're a bestselling author as well. Yeah. It is incredible. Where does that come from? Same place? Yeah, I've always said that kind of everything I do, whether it's YouTube writing or acting, that it's all about storytelling. Everything is about telling a story in just very different ways. With YouTube, it's me, it's my story, it's what I'm up to on a day-to-day basis, living my life and being an actress and being an author. Being a writer, it's, you know, it's the more traditional way of telling a story. It's, you know, writing the story down and then literally telling it to other people. And acting is very much putting yourself into the story

and acting the story for other people. It's kind of all very much the same thing just in slightly different ways. Yes. Okay, I get that. And there are a lot of people who want to write a book, but we're talking best-selling Sunday Times author, novelist, and there's another one that's rumoured and that you've got another book about to come out. And they're churning out of you. Yes. I'm going to ask you that question again. Where does it come from? You can have an idea.

Lots of people want to be on stage. Lots of people want to write a book. Lots of people possibly do want to be on YouTube these days. Lots of people want to do all those things. And then a lot of people do them. But not as many people, not many people are so successful. And you're very humble. So I know you don't like answering these sort of questions.

I know I'm squirming right now. I know. I can feel it. I can feel it from you. from you. But, but, you know, best selling novelist to add to the list of things that you do, I just, are you incredibly focused? No, I wish I could tell you I was. Everyone's like, how are you so organized? I've had so many people be like, taught me through your time management. And I'm like, what time management? I've got zero organization skills whatsoever. I am a, I'm a

mess. Like, honestly, I'm sat in my office right now and if you could see it, it's just, just a complete mess. All right, I want the whole... Tell me what you're looking at now, please. I want to feel this mess. I want to see the mess. Okay, I've got a pile of cut-out stamps from letters next to me.

I've got an umbrella, an empty coat can, a burnt-out candle I tried to light yesterday that has burnt down to the wick, but yeah, I still haven't got rid of it. I've literally got a cat in a basket. It's an old Christmas wicker hamper

that I was given at Christmas, and the cat has now just claimed it as his own. And there's a hair dryer on the floor, There's an abundance of dying cacti on my windowsill and just books everywhere. Books everywhere on the floor, on my chair, next to a coat hanger. It's just a mess.

It's pointless. There's no one could ever work in here. Yeah, I love that. But actually, that's obviously how you work best. Apparently so, yeah. I probably have a little bit of a tidy before I attempted to do any writing in here. Okay, so alongside the vlogging and the acting,

and you've got you've had albums out and you're this incredible singing and a writer bestselling author you see when you list it all i can feel you squirming but this is true it makes me feel a bit sick no don't let it don't let it but also this is something i know you're so open about is this whole idea of social media can be a very negative thing and the body shaming and all of this so let's go there because this is what i i think your most powerful part of your voice is because you're very outspoken about this where some people are scared to do it. Yeah, I think I am still quite scared to do it, but I also kind of then give myself a little pep talk and say, well, I have a platform and if I'm not going to use it for this, what's the point in having it? And it is something that I'm very passionate about and also something that I feel that I can talk about from a place of experience. And I just think it's so important. And I know that my audience is made up of mostly young, young girls. And I know that if I was their age, well, when I was their age, I wished I'd had someone to say that sort of stuff and sort of guide me

through how ridiculous it all is and that it's not something that needs to be taken seriously when someone says you're too fat to do this or you're too thin to do that or, you know, shames you for the way that your body is, that your body is naturally. So yeah, I'm, I kind of am still quite scared to say things, but then when I do say things and I see the response, I go, that's, that's why I said it. Do you ever get, does it ever come back to, I mean, does the nastiness ever come back at you from saying that? Occasionally, occasionally, but the positives always outweigh the negatives from talking about

that kind of thing, so it's worth it. Because I mean, I do, I think as a mother of two teenage daughters, and I think there are a lot people out there, other people I've spoken to about it. I think social media can be a great place. I really do. But I think, I think it can be a very nasty, cold, dark place as well. And I do worry that there's a strange way that we look at people now. And it all seems to be very much on the outside. Yeah, I mean, all you need to do is open a magazine and there's those horrible articles and

double page spreads that have pictures of celebrities and it's a circling, a circling, cellulite and circling wrinkles and spots and blemishes and it's just perpetuating this idea that we have to be flawless, that you aren't allowed wrinkles, cellulite, your skin isn't allowed to, you're not allowed to have acne, you're not allowed to have any kind of imperfections so that as soon as something does show up that is completely natural to have, like wrinkles and cellulite and blemishes and whatnot, we're instantly looking for ways to get rid of it and then we're paying company's money to try and get rid of it, to try and get rid of something that's meant to be there. And it's just this sort of vicious circle of shame, really.

And it's happening younger and younger as well. I mean, you know, I read an article about teenagers or wanting to have Botox and fill up before they got the wrinkles, so they'd never have the wrinkles. And all I hope is that they do laugh and cry because I've got a lot of wrinkles from laughing a lot and crying. some too as well. Yeah. That's what I've always said. I was talking to a friend of mine recently because he was having a bit of a crisis as well about how he looked. And I said, I've kind of taught myself to be very proud of how I look because all of these wrinkles on my face that are now showing up now that I'm 28 are from years worth of laughing with my friends or crying over someone that I loved so much who didn't love me back. And, you know, I've got a little bit of

belly and that's from all the nights drinking wine and cheese with my friends at two o'clock in the morning and having the best time. And so I kind of feel like my body is just a product of the life that I have lived and I'm very proud of that life and therefore I'm very proud of my body. Wow. You see, that's why I like my girls looking up to you. I really do. Thank you. Okay, so let's go back to live theatre. So I've, oh goodness, I'm going to sound like a weird stalker. But you know, I've seen you in Les Mise when you've seemed to have played every part. Are you going to be Javert next? I'll give it my best shot.

I wish they'd do that. I do as well. Really? Agenda swapping Le May Ms. I think it would be amazing. Yes. I said that to Michael Ball because I said my dream would be to sing stars in their multitude.

I love that song. You can do it. Do it. Carrie be the first. I'll pitch it. I'll pitch it. But Le Miz, Chitty Bang Bang, I saw you in. Heather's I saw you in.

It is music. Musical theatre, okay, as a huge fan and everybody knows that because I talk about it on the podcast, on radio shows, on TV shows. I'm a massive musical theatre fan. For people who don't get musical theatre, can you explain to them why it's so special? Oh, what a task. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough, go on. The way that it was explained to me once is that the reason people sing in musicals is because the emotion has become so big that words no longer can convey them. so they have to sing and they have to resort to music. I think there's a Victor Hugo quote as well that said, oh God, I'm going to get it wrong now

and I'm going to completely butcher a genius's words. But it's something like music says what words cannot express. Something like that. It's absolutely not that. You're going to have to look that up and correct me. But it's the reason people sing in musicals is because talking no longer cuts it. They have to sing. And I think that's why I love watching musicals so much,

because that point where someone sings a song, it's because the emotion has gotten so big that they have to sing, and I always end up getting kind of swept along with that. Here I've got the quote. Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. That's beautiful. That's a longer quote than I thought it was,

and a more beautiful quote than I thought it was. So you know when you said you were writing a musical with your brother? Yes. I know he's done the Christmasaurus. The Christmasaurus, the Christmasaurus. You're going to be doing more musicals together? I think it's always been on the cards. It's just about time.

He's a very busy boy. You didn't answer that question at all. That was very funny. Are you a politician? I would love to write a musical with Tom, and I think it's something that we've always wanted to do. And the musical that we wrote is still, you know, it's still sort of, it's not in the making

because we've not worked on it for forever. Other things have kind of taken priority, like his three children, for instance. But yeah, I think we would love to write a musical together one day. I'm speaking on behalf of us both now. He might turn around and be like, no. He never says anything. He never says no, he never seems to say no to anything.

No. I mean that in a good way. No, no, no, yeah. He and Giovanna. How did you feel watching your sister-in-law in the jungle? She did so amazingly. Like, so amazingly. She's so fearless and she always has been, though.

And I knew, I said to it before she went and I was like, you've got the mindset for something like I'm a celebrity. Because I don't think there's anything really that, like you just said that she'd say no to. She would always give everything her best shot. So I think she's the perfect person for I'm a celebrity and that was ultimately why she won. And there's rumours about you, obviously, doing I'm a celebrity and doing strictly come dancing. Me? Yes. I don't think I've got the guts for something like I'm a celebrity.

And funnily enough, I think strictly would be the death of me. I don't think I could handle that kind of stress. I genuinely think I would be terrible. I think I'd be all right at the dancing, but I think I'd let the pressure and the nerves get to me. I genuinely do. I was asked to go on pointless a while back, and I said no, because I just couldn't handle it.

I completely get that. I mean, the whole strictly thing, you know, if they ask, I always say, absolutely no way. I would, I can say it on here. I would actually think I would poo myself before. I genuinely think I would too. So you and I will never be on it. That's absolutely fine.

We can put that one, we can lay that one to rest. Okay, so I want to, now we ask everybody on this podcast, what makes you properly belly laugh, a real proper belly laugh. And you are a giggler. I am. I feel like you're always close to giggling. And I don't mean on stage, I mean in real life. which is lovely. So what makes you properly belly laugh?

What makes me belly laugh? That's such a good question. I like good wordplay. I really like a good pun or something like that. It has to be like at the right moment, a well-timed pun. They do make me very happy. In fact, I've just started up at a tuck shop at work. And instead of anyone paying for anything, I said all you've got to do is write down a joke in my notebook. and there's been some good ones so far. You're kidding me, I love this idea. So what do you give them in return for their joke?

There's fizzy drinks, there's chocolate, there's crisps, the sweets, there's Harry Bow. It's just like your usual tuck shop. Oh my word. So they'll just knock on the door and come in and they're like, can I have something from the tuck shop? I'm like, yeah, help self, just make sure you write a joke in the notebook. Have you got your notebook there or is it at work? I don't know. It's like it's on my fridge at work.

It's just on top of the fridge. Oh my word, you must be just complete joy to work with. It's how I'm trying to like bribe everyone to come into my dressing room. That's what it is. I'm just trying to make people come and visit. Does anything get you down ever? Yeah, I definitely have my down moments. Usually it's something to do with unfairness.

If I think something's unfair, I get really upset or really annoyed, even if it's not me. Yeah, no, I get that. I think you're a real force for good. The question that my youngest wanted to know, is are you going to stand for Parliament? She actually said this on the school run this morning. She said, can you just ask Carrie, can she stand for Parliament? Because actually I think she'd do better than the people are now.

I think I would make a terrible politician because I'm such a people pleaser. I'd try and please everyone and end up being a complete mess. But do you know what? I've always said that. I've always said that the people who should be politicians are the people who don't want to be politicians. That's so true.

The people who would probably be best suited to the jobs are scientists or artists or actors. They're not actually people who want to be politicians or have any kind of power. I think you're very right there. How were the 18 months for you, the crazy 18 months? Tough. It was awful being away from the theatre and kind of seeing the theatre industry kind of crumble a little bit. You know, watching shows closed because they couldn't. afford to stay in the theatres that they were in. And I was one of the lucky ones because,

again, I, you know, I'm also a writer so I could just focus on writing for a while and, you know, kind of I had something to fall back on. It was just, it was just horrible. It was just horrible watching everyone suffer and struggle and also then see our industry sort of mocked by our government and literally at one point told to get to the back of the line. So it, yeah, it was kind of hard seeing how little respect our industry earns from the people at the top. It's very interesting. I mean, I completely agree with you. But it's interesting that everybody who was in lockdown, say 99% of the people,

were saying if it hadn't been for television and films. Yeah. And actually, that's what all of you guys are about, all the people behind the scenes. And I think a lot of people forgot that. They forgot that there's a link between theatre and television. and films. Yeah, the whole entertainment industry. I think I said that in lockdown to various people. I was like, well, if all of these people are saying that the arts don't matter or don't

matter enough to have any kind of support from our government, then you've got to turn off your TV, turn off your radio, don't listen to your iTunes, don't turn off Spotify, put your books away. Like, it's all part and part of the same industry. And if you're saying that it's not worth help and support, then you don't deserve to consume it. It's very interesting because the theatre audience coming to see Cinderella, the theatre audience were, it's the most extraordinary overpowering thing of being back in a theatre because I will, you know, I bang on about it all the time. I love live theatre. Love it. I found it heartbreaking how everybody was treated in the industry for 18 months, but that you could feel the audience just lapping up.

being there. The minute, I mean, anything, any, there was any movement and the minute the first note was played, they cheered, they clapped, they applauded, it's only 50% for, but my word, I hope you felt that as well on stage. There was no way we couldn't feel that. It was just so electric and so, so incredible. And, you know, having an audience makes all the difference, but having an audience like that was just overwhelming. And coming out afterwards, you know, know what was so lovely? And this makes me a bit emotional and I think probably you too because I think we're quite similar about these sort of things, but was, we left and I sort of turned, I was, went, got into our car and I stopped and watched everybody coming out to the theatre.

They were so happy. Yeah. It's the, honestly, it's the power of theatre and the power of live performances that does that to people. You know, every time I've gone to see a show, I come out afterwards and I'm still buzzing a couple days afterwards because it was just so powerful and so incredible and I feel like if I you know I haven't seen a show since before well no I saw um what did I see I saw Jesus Christ superstar and even that as soon as the opening notes played I was a mess I was an absolute mess the the hardest part for me as well is that I know people in these shows as well so that I'm emotional because I'm seeing friends do what they do best and after the year that we've had as well You know, I think there's nothing beats live theatre, but after the year that we've just had, I think I'm going to be an emotional wreck.

You're wonderful. Carrie, thank you so much. Carry on doing what you do. And when you do become prime minister, I think I know that this family will be voting for you, my love. Good luck, break a leg, enjoy every single moment. Thank you so much. Lovely to speak to you again. You too. Thank you. That's it for the first series of the podcast. Thank you so much for listening.

It's meant the world to us. All your comments, all the kind things that you've said. And thank you to all of my amazing guests. We will be back after our summer holidays. So please tune in again then. That Gabby Rawlsend podcast is proudly produced by Cameo Productions. Music by Beth McCari.