Woman's Hour - Shirley Ballas, Bed Bugs, Everything Now writer Ripley Parker

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

Shirley Ballas is best known for being one of the judges on BBC Strictly Come Dancing and her stellar career in Latin dance that earnt her the title, ‘Queen of Latin’. She joins Krupa to talk about Strictly, the menopause and her new book, Murder on the Dancefloor. Last weekend’s earthquake in Western Afghanistan killed 1,300 people and injured many more according to UN figures. UNICEF have said more than 90% of those who died were women and children, as they were more likely to have been at home. Krupa speaks to Salma Braham, Afghanistan Country Director for the International Rescue Committee. She joins live from Kabul. Bed bugs are everywhere in the news. The actress Sue Elliott Nicholls joins us to describe the shame she felt when her house became infested. Social media influencer and author “Queen of Clean” Lynsey Crombie says with education and vigilance bed bugs can be avoided in the first place. She shares her top tips on actions we should take now and what we must avoid. Serious issues relating to cervical screening services in parts of Northern Ireland have led to 17,500 women having their smear tests re-checked as part of a major review of cervical screening dating back to 2008. Failures in screening has led to some abnormal tests not being followed up. Marie-Louise Connolly, the BBC’s NI Health Correspondent joins us to explain, together with a patient, we are calling Susan, who has been affected by previous failures within the screening system.Ripley Parker is the 22-year-old writer and creator of the new Netflix series Everything Now. She joins Krupa to talk about why the series is so important to her, and how it came from her own personal experiences as a teenager. Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Emma Pearce

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I'm Natalia Melman-Petrozzella, and from the BBC, this is Extreme Peak Danger. The most beautiful mountain in the world. If you die on the mountain, you stay on the mountain. This is the story of what happened when 11 climbers died on one of the world's deadliest mountains, K2. And of the risks we'll take to feel truly alive. If I tell all the details, you won't believe it anymore. Extreme. Peak danger. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello, this is Krupa Bharti and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast. Hello, very good to have you with us. We're going to talk murder on the dance floor this morning with the Strictly Head Judge, Shirley Ballas. Now, it's not the name of a new dance routine, but the title of her new novel, which Shirley has described as

saucy as salsa, raunchy as rumba, and with as many twists as any dance you can name. I'm going to part that right there and let Shirley explain in a few moments. And from the Queen of Latin to the Queen of Clean, we're going to have a chat about bedbugs. You may have heard lots about them in recent days with outbreaks in France and fears of them crossing the channel. Lindsay Crombie of Instagram fame is here to give us her guidance on the best way to deal with them. So do send in your questions for Lindsay. Now infestations can be difficult to open up about. You might feel a sense of shame or stigma which is why we were encouraged when one Woman's Hour listener got in touch to share her story about bedbugs. And she's going to join

us. So send us your questions, your thoughts on this. You don't even have to share your name if you prefer, but we do hope it might dispel some of those myths around bedbugs. And this is how you can get in touch. You can text the programme. The number is 84844. Over on social media, we are on the handle at BBC Women's Hour. You can, of course, email us through our website or you can send us a WhatsApp voice note using the number 03700 100 444. Terms and conditions can be found on our website. Ripley Parker, the director of the new Netflix series Everything Now, will join us.

It's been called a teen dramedy, witty, whilst taking on the complex journey of 16-year-old Mia, who is recovering from an eating disorder. Plus, an investigation into the failings within cervical screening services in Northern Ireland and the dire situation in Afghanistan, where two large earthquakes, which hit four days apart, have killed more than 1,300 people, mostly women and children. More on both of those stories a little later on. But let's start with a bit of glam for your Friday morning. She started dancing at the age of seven and during a hugely successful career earned herself the title the Queen of Latin. You know her as the head judge of Strictly Come Dancing but Shirley Ballas is also an author.

Her autobiography Behind the Sequins came out three years ago and she's just published her debut fiction novel Murder on the Dance Floor. She's also spoken openly about her struggles with the menopause and how she wishes she had been taught more about it. As if that isn't enough. She's also found time to speak to us this morning. Good morning, Shirley. Good morning. How are you today? I'm very well. How are you? A very busy Friday, I imagine. Well, fair and partly cloudy. You know, the weather's not too great. I'm listening about the bedbugs, which I've had experience of those. I know, we have it all here on Woman's Hour. Look tomorrow will be the week four of the 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing where you are head judge. It looks like

a lot of fun making that show. Well Strictly Come Dancing is a phenomenon isn't it? I mean it's for all the family. I get little tweets and videos every week of the two-year-olds and the little ones and grandpa. Everybody gives their opinion and I just love it. So it's just that lovely looking forward to Saturday evening with all the family because it is for everybody at the end of the day. It is. And everyone likes to have their say and get involved, don't they? Let's talk about the it's never too early for a 10 from Shirley moment last week where you awarded your first 10 to radio presenter Eddie Caddy.

And we're only into week three here. Some fans disagreed with that. What is happening here? Is it just that the standards are getting better and better? Well, I thought Eddie didn't have such a great week the week before with his chomp, chomp, chomp. And he came out this week and he really was quite spectacular. And it was everything his body ever wanted to do was those bopping kind of moves it was synchronized together you know Karen is the expert when it comes to that form of dancing and I just thought he was outstanding so I thought you know normally I would wait so much later in the season but I don't know whether he's going to turn that kind of performance in again so I

thought it warranted a 10 I gave a 10 I think people were more shocked it came in week three than they were about whether I gave a 10 for the dancing. So yeah, he fully deserved it, in my opinion. And let's hope he can keep it up. You know, as he goes into ballroom and Latin, it's a lot more difficult. And staying with this series and everyone having an opinion, let's talk about outfits. The yellow dress with feathers that you wore, which viewers said made you look a bit like Big Bird from the Muppets. You even did a TikTok video making fun of that. How do the outfits work? Do you even get a say in what you get to wear on Strictly?

Well, first of all, it was a different kind of dress for me. And Alexandria, my dresser, who I've had for seven years, we thought it would be fun to go with something just more bright, you know, to open up the show. Didn't think for a minute people were going to compare me to Big Bird, but that was OK. I've got a great team. I don't really mind what people call me or say about me. I've had a lot worse in my industry. So, yeah, I rather like the dress, but it was fun making the TikTok for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about the menopause, something you have spoken openly about. You've been doing Strictly since 2017. And during part of that time, you were going through the menopause, something you have spoken openly about. You've been doing Strictly since 2017. And during part of that time, you were going through the menopause. And it's something

that we know impacts women in different ways. First of all, what kind of symptoms did you get? Well, first of all, it impacted my daily life. And you know how busy I am, and my relationships and my social life in every form that you could possibly imagine. And symptoms started well before my periods actually stopped. I was having mood swings. I was feeling very, very low with anxiety and very, very low self-esteem, if you can believe that. Problems with concentration a little bit and fog, which I still have a little bit to this day. I mean, my mother went through the menopause and didn't have a symptom. My mother is very much get on with it. She didn't have a symptom. But I had this just awful time. I didn't have anybody to talk to. And I was embarrassed to go. Kind of started around 48, I would say, and was completed probably 58, somewhere around there.

And it was my son that I actually talked to. He could see I was in a terrible, terrible place. And then we sat down together and we chatted and I told him all the feelings which he knew was not me. And then we went to see the doctor eventually. And then I started on bioidentical hormones. But the thing with hormones is if you don't get the right balance, because I got the right balance at first, and I felt like a new woman, hello. When I came back to London, I didn't quite get the right balance. I and I felt like a new woman hello when I came back to London I didn't quite get the right balance I had too much testosterone so I had hairy legs hairy armpits hairy bits here there and everywhere growing out the nose all sorts of things so if you don't get the right balance of the hormones then it's also not great but now my doctor has found the right

balance and I'm feeling much much better But it leaves you with joint pain. I still have that to this day. My period stopped immediately. I didn't have any of that ongoing. They just stopped when I was 50. Just that was it. There was nothing else. And of course, it can go into your personal relationships with, you know, your boyfriends or whatever else, you know, you're dry and all sorts of things in fact the whole body the skin dries the hair starts to go thinner I noticed that it was falling out but the hot flushes I'd be suddenly teaching in the studio and from the neck up I could feel this burning sensation and I found it very embarrassing because I didn't understand it back then we

didn't really have the google that you can self-diagnose. Was there a space where you could talk about this? I know that you said that you turned to your son or rather he approached you saying, Mum, you're not who you usually are. But we often talk about employers needing to do more in the workplace to recognise what women are going through. Do you feel that within Strictly you had some kind of safety net where you could express what you were going through? Well, I feel that by the time I started Strictly, I was on the tail end of the menopause. So that really didn't come into it, you know, but the BBC, they give you help in any areas that you need. I've never worked for a company that's just so fantastic as they are but um I think that mine started around

48 and finished just around about the time I was going on strictly so I was over the worst of it but headaches migraines muscle pains changes in your skin you know discomfort itching I would say to anybody who's out there try to seek the help I got my help a little bit late um like I said I was embarrassed to talk about it and I think in the workplace today everybody needs to be educated on it for me because you know everybody talks about when we're going into puberty and this and that and everyone's excited and then when we go on the other end like we're falling off a cliff no one seems to want to listen and that's men as well isn't it because in your case you opened up to listen. And that's men as well, isn't it? Because in your case, you opened up to your son. And there's always that debate about men needing to know more. Well, again, you know, my son noticed a huge change in me. I'm a bubbly, upbeat person. I have a big red

button on my shoulder. I just press light, camera, action, we're off. And he was the one who came in and sat down. And I was so embarrassed, crying and upset. He said, don't be embarrassed. Let's try to understand this together. If more men were like that, more caring, more understanding, like if you see somebody struggling in the workplace that's having a hot flush, at least let them go out and get a drink of water. You know, don't be sort of like giving you marching orders

and everything. I've had stories for some women that are unbelievable what they put up with in the workplace. So I was self-employed, so it was a little easier for me to take a 10 minute break or a five minute break. But I still don't think it's really talked about. I think people get embarrassed if they're talking about their sex life. Also, when they're going through the menopause, you know, that is very uncomfortable. You know, suddenly, you you know years and years of pleasure

and whatever else suddenly becomes something that you're dreading so i i urge people now we're in a different world altogether and we have google not that you should self-diagnose by the way but it tells you to go and seek help talk to your doctor talk to a friend talk and let's get more education from young adults i suppose let's get education as to where the body is going it doesn't mean we're dying because we've gone through the menopause do you know what I'm saying yeah so something else I want to talk to you about um we heard earlier this week Shirley that Holly Willoughby the host of ITV's This Morning is leaving the show after a plot to kidnap her was revealed. You're also a woman on national TV,

and I know you've spoken publicly before about receiving death threats last year. What was your reaction to Holly's decision? And more widely, how safe do you feel? Well, I know Holly is a wonderful, sensitive young lady, and I think all women in today's society should become more vigilant. I'm just about to enroll in some self defense classes. I think it's important that people take care of themselves, carry tasers, things like that. So it was unfortunate for Holly, her situation was really quite dire. But my message goes out to all women, not just women in profile. It's taking care of yourself, it's educating yourself, what can you do if you were in a situation that happened to take hold of you that you have no idea of what to do? So I shall

be getting myself a lot more educated on that for sure. Well, good luck with those self-defense classes. I think it's a wonderful thing that you're doing. Something else you're doing, writing. Lots more of it. Your debut novel was published yesterday, Murder on the Dance Floor. It's been described as sex, lies and ballroom dancing. Tell us more of it. Your debut novel was published yesterday, Murder on the Dance Floor. It's been described as sex, lies and ballroom dancing. Tell us more, please. Well, everybody looks at the, in my industry, I'm strictly, you know, glitz, glamour. It's all beautiful baubles, bangles and beads. But when I wrote my autobiography, I couldn't fit many of the stories in or they weren't appropriate in the book.

So Mons said, you know, wouldn't it be lovely if you could write a fiction novel? You love writing. So I thought it would be great to do a crime novel. It turns very sinister, may I say. And behind the scenes, a Blackpool Tower, which is where I first started to dance. And this whole event turns very deadly when Oksana Bondarenko heads up to the dance floor

in a passionate opening of the tango with Jack, and she suddenly dies. So then Lily, I will tell you, is me, teams up with Susie Cooper, who is a detective, used to be a dancer, and we get together and we try to solve these murders. But it is, and I want people to think when they read it, did Shirley take part in that?

Did she witness it? Or is that part fiction? And will they ever know? Well, you see, you see sex lies intrigue backstabbing bed hopping manipulation bullying and ballroom dancing what more and that's just my first book in my sequins well my second book in my sequins mystery next year i'll be dance to the death oh we can't wait because i can't fit all the stories in you know i can't fit them all bubbling with ideas you are shirley what i love about what you just shared there is your mum told you to write this novel.

Well, also, she was in her room and she was reading the novel, which she read overnight. She's an avid reader. And I could hear all these noises coming from her room. Oh, you can't say that. Oh, Shirley, get a grip. I don't know whether she was having an orgasm or reading the book. Anyway, she came out. She said that was an amazing book, but your ending is poop.

We're going to have to start again with your ending. So we wrote the ending together and it was very exciting. She's also got a very vivid imagination, my mum. I think she would have made a great writer. So, yeah. Well, she's doing it with you. You're a team by the sounds of it. A team.

And we had a great writer called Sheila Crichton, who's as mad a box of frogs she was able to bring things to life tone things down not too much though because I wanted to really give a good insight behind the scenes um yeah so it's been absolutely delightful but I've got so many stories to share and tell and and like I say this imagination that just doesn't quit yeah Was it awkward having your mum read something so steamy for you? Oh, no, she loved it. She loved it. She was a bit of a girl in her day, let me tell you. Yeah, she loved every minute of it. She loves steamy and sensual. And of course, she knows some of the characters that I based my story around. So yeah, she really got into it. She said that was one of the most exciting reads

and she's read everything you know so she she loved it yeah yeah uh when when it comes to family um I have to say congratulations because you're about to be a grandmother how are you feeling about it it's very imminent I'm very very excited uh about the new baby. And I'm hoping that I can fly there in between strictly. So providing the weather is good, you know. So it's their first baby. Unfortunately, last year, they unfortunately lost a baby, which they wrote a beautiful song about called Rainbow. And that just came out a few days ago. And to anybody who's had a loss, this song really is, well, it makes me emotional just talking about it. She's waited a long time for this baby, BC.

She's 36. My son's 37. So it's all very exciting. Very, very exciting. Yeah. I have to ask, will you be buying your future grandchild some tiny dancing shoes? Well, I've got a funny feeling because his parents are singers. Of course, Mark does everything acting and singing and dancing.

But I've got a funny feeling after all those notes that the baby's mother belts out. I'm sure it's going to be a singer. I'll be getting a microphone like yours with a big red fuzzy top. Your grandchild's clearly going to be in the entertainment industry. Thank you so much for joining us. An absolute pleasure to talk to you, Shirley Velas. Murder on the Dance Floor is out now and the next episode of Strictly Come Dancing

is on BBC One tomorrow at 6.30. And as Shirley said, if you're concerned about the menopause, please go and see your GP. And I must also say that earlier, Shirley was talking about defending herself and we must say that stun guns or tasers are prohibited weapons

and it is an offence to possess them. Thank you again, Shirley, for being with us. The death toll from last weekend's earthquake in western Afghanistan now stands at 1,300 people and many more have been injured according to UN figures. Taliban officials put the numbers even higher. A second earthquake has hit the country on Wednesday. UNICEF has said that more than 90% of those who died were women and children,

and they were more likely to have been at home when Saturday's quake struck in the morning in the Herat province. Let's get more on this now with Salma Braham, who is Afghanistan Country Director for the International Rescue Committee. She joins me now from Kabul. Salma, thank you for being with us. First of all what is the latest on the ground following uh that second earthquake thank you very much for hosting the international committee uh joy school committee today uh so the situation um remains highly concerning on the ground uh we have experienced the second aftershock on the 11th of October.

My team has reported that within one hour, we had three aftershocks, one of them magnitude 6.3. So just the first aftershock, there was like slightly some villages that were still standing. Unfortunately, with the aftershock, it makes things even worse. And even last night, there was a storm actually in the middle that didn't either help the situation of some of the tents and the shelter that were established by the humanitarian community on the ground. So clearly it's a very fragile situation there on

the ground for your staff and the people impacted. I said in my introduction there that most of those who have been killed have been women and children. In fact, the UN puts that figure at 90 percent. Expand on why that's the case. That's the case because of the timing, actually, of the earthquake itself. So when the earthquake happens during the first hours of the morning, usually men are outside working or even most of them maybe are even outside Herat working in other province. So it was unfortunately expected that the highest number of that would be impacted are women and children.

So far there is no final final figures assessment are still happening. And you know, the rescue operation are still on the ground, there is no much capacity. So people if you see have seen some of the pictures and some of the videos, you see people actually using their hands to remove debris. So we don't know how. I would expect that the figures will increase in the coming hours. And on those images, those men using their bare hands to try and find survivors, does that represent the fact that there just isn't enough support reaching

those communities? There is support reaching but it's not enough to cover actually all the needs. You know before even the crisis in Herat we were already arguing about the situation, humanitarian needs overall in Afghanistan, in Herat. Herat is one of the provinces that is hit by the malnutrition, civilian malnutrition. Technically, we are speaking about APC3 and more. Overall, even before and with the crisis, we know that 90% of the people who are impacted by the humanitarian crisis are women and household women, same compared to 80% that are men household. So it was expected, unfortunately, that the impact will be higher on women and girls. Yeah. And of course, many of these women will have been mothers who have, you know,

young children who have been left without one or both of their parents. What's the situation with that? Yes, the IRC have conducted actually two assessments we were able because we have our operation already before the earthquake in Herat. So they were deployed within the first 24 hours. Even they were themselves also affected by the crisis and they were looking actually for shelter for their families. So the first and the second one that happened just after the second aftershock shows like, for example, some of the babies, less than two years old baby, they have lost their mother. And with the shortage of infants, either like dried or milk, there is no actually in these impacted area makes it actually even worse for these babies. So we have observed, for example, on terms of malnutrition.

Also, I want to just to say that we were always, even with the assessment, to engage with 40% of women that were part of this assessment. There is like dried and ready to use, there is no milk products available. There was also babies or young that are like up to two years in their community and they were like highly impacted because they lost also their mother. So that's the situation on the ground.

It's such a devastating situation that you describe. And I wonder whether this has been made all the more harder under Taliban rule and the various limitations that have been put on on women working accessing information for example on that point I want really to to insist that on the response women have been the first responder for this crisis so they women have

been the first responders they were part of the first responder in what way health we have mobile health team irc we have like i will give the example of irc we have six mobile health team and the majority of the responder are women you know you we are operating in respect of the cultural norms in afghanistan And women have to be actually part of the response. So it may be like with some adjustment of the operation or how we do our response, but still since the first hour, we had doctors, nurses being part of the response.

Salma Raham from the International Rescue Committee based in Kabul. Thank you so much for bringing us up to speed with that important story, the earthquakes in Afghanistan and how so many women and children have been killed in those earthquakes. We'll keep you posted on updates as that story continues. We've been in touch, or rather we've had a message from Heather, who's been listening to Shirley and says, what a breath of fresh air discussing the menopause. I can relate to all those symptoms. However, what I really wanted to say is that Strictly speaks to so many people. I lost my dearest mum last November and

Strictly was her favourite show. Watching it makes me feel closer to her. Thank you. Well, thank you, Heather, for being in touch with your memories of your dear mum as well. Lots of you have also been in touch about this next story, bedbugs. So let's crack on. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite bugs so let's crack on good night sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite that was once a playful good night said to our children now a reality for those who are worried that bed bugs will get into their homes because bed bugs they are making the news it's after a rise in infestations in some french cities in paris for example the insects have been reported in schools trains hospitals and cinemas over here in in London, the Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that everything is being done

to ensure the bed bug infestation seen in France will not spread to the city's transport system. Whilst in Luton, the council there have warned that this week they've seen an alarming number of calls to tackle bed bugs. So what is it like to endure an infestation and how can we avoid ever getting one? Well, Woman's Hour listener Sue Elliott-Nichols sent us an email earlier this week wanting to share her story about her encounter with bed bugs and we also have Lindsay Crombie who will also share her expert cleaning tips gained from years in the job with over 300,000 Instagram followers. Welcome to you both.

Welcome. Thank you. Welcome to me as well because I don't often do this program so it's great to be here Sue why don't we start with you how did you first learn that you had bed bugs well we were on a beautiful Greek island just the three of us left my up with what my youngest son left my oldest son at home thinking because you know when you're a woman there's always a drama there's always a trauma thinking there have been no dramas what a lovely relaxing holiday we have and we get this this phone message from my son with this hideous little apple shaped creature he videoed it he videoed it running around my bed at breakneck speed and he's like i think these are bed bugs so we immediately started googling holiday ruined because obviously all we wanted

to do was get back and kill them of course so there is a serious dimension to this I mean how did you feel in those moments when you received that message from your son and you saw the creepy crawlies I mean it's hideous it was my bed it was my lovely bed with my lovely bedding and it was just like oh do you know what I actually thought oh no this is going to be just another drama that we're gonna have to sort out because we're gonna have to get back we're gonna have to get rid of these things little did I know well I want to learn how you tackle them in a moment but um the reaction to bed bugs I mean you said that you just wanted to crack on Sue and just crack on and get rid of

them. But did you feel a sense of horror? Yes. You had them in the first place? Yes, I still feel it. I'm still carrying the trauma. This was years ago. Yes. And that's a common reaction, isn't it, Lindsay? It is a common reaction. You probably took them to Greece with you as well, because they just climb into your suitcases and all those little places and just follow. And that's how they spread so easily. And the biggest mistake people do make is going on holiday and packing their case on their bed or getting to the destination and starting to unpack on that bed, you know, before they've checked to see if there's any sign of anything there because they love a dark suitcase. They love a dark drawer.

And on your mattress, it's the little seams that they really get into. And those little round toggles, that's where they like to sit. Okay. So you need to get your torch out. You need to have a good look. Now, I've cleaned houses where they've... It's been incredible what I've seen. Literally incredible.

You know, thousands on a mattress. Thousands. And so when you get to that situation, you do need to call in the professionals. But in your situation, you mean anybody can get them. There's no shame in this at all. You know, it's really common. They're in our schools, they're in our cinemas,

they're in our cars, they're all over. But I think it's been really, it's been highlighted because of this. Anywhere they're not. This problem in Paris. And we're going to Paris in a couple of weeks and everyone's messaging me saying, you're still going. I'm like, yeah, I've got no issues.

I've got my torch. I've got my steam cleaner. You know, this for me is, this is just great. Watch out bed bugs. They're fine. But honestly, there is so much we can actually do just to prevent them. Well, let's get into that in a moment

because I can't believe the number of messages we've had from our listeners wanting to know how to tackle bed bugs. What did you do, Sue? Well, so the first thing we did, obviously, is we took our bedding to the dry cleaner and washed it at 60 degrees and then we brought the bed bug exterminator and she just basically said well that was a waste of time because you've just cleaned your stuff but they're still there so she showed me I watched what she did she basically kind of like unscrewed every bed board

and then she hoovered every seam, every button, every crack, every nook, every cranny on the floorboards, the little tiny bolt holes on the screw holes on the side of your bed. So she hoovered it, then she steamed it, then she put the stuff down and then said, I'm going to come back two weeks later. Two weeks later, they came back. So they were getting smaller and smaller, but were still there so they came back did it again

and then a few days later we saw another one crawling over our duvet so we're right I said this is it this is hundreds of pounds later so my husband and I decided that we were going to take it on ourselves literally every single night after work, after making dinner for the family, we would be unscrewing every bedboard in the house. We'd be hoovering, like you say, every seam, every little button, every little hole. And then they moved to the three beds. My youngest son slept in a camper bed in the back garden.

But you know, we're laughing about it now, but at the time it must have been so traumatic for you it was hideous and like i had this huge argument with my husband one night and he's like why are you so paranoid just let it go for one night i was like we can't let it go they'll be building hospitals they'll be electing their bed bug mayor like we can't let this go and i like literally threw the mattress across the room and then i was like crying in my son's room my husband came up at half late later with a cup of tea and went come on then let's do it but i was right i was right

because after we hadn't seen any for days yeah and i insisted that we carried on we literally there was this teeny teeny little screw hole and there's me like sweating in my underwear 11 o'clock at night you're painting quite the picture in my mind here it was it was so idiotic shining my torch battery my torch on my phone into this little screw hole and there were hundreds and hundreds of little eggs it's so tough to get rid of them so let's talk about getting rid of them I want to go through some of these messages. Katie in Edinburgh says, bed bugs are like headlights.

They prefer clean conditions so nobody needs to feel ashamed. Is that true? That is true, yeah. It's all conditions, to be honest. You can't say you're dirty so you've got bed bugs. That's completely not true.

But they like clean conditions. They like dark conditions. I see. And they like cluttered conditions. So if your bedroom is quite cluttered and you store stuff under your bed, you are making it easier for bed bugs. If you've got lots of bits on the side, try and keep your surfaces clear. Then you can see them as well.

But clutter, they love a laundry hamper. So if you keep your laundry hamper in your bedroom and you've got your dirty clothes in there and it starts to smell, they can smell your skin on them. They're going to go straight to your laundry hamper in your bedroom and you've got your dirty clothes in there and it starts to smell they can smell your skin on them they're going to go straight to your laundry hamper just try and keep that in a bathroom if you can or you know if you've got a fabric one just ensure that you wash it on a high temperature every couple of weeks or hot soapy water if it's a hard shell one but there is absolutely no shame in this honestly you know so did you know this that so when you found out you had bed bugs did you think oh people think i'm dirty or did you know this that so when you found out you had bed bugs did

you think oh people think I'm dirty or did you actually know that this has nothing to do with cleanliness or dirty or dirtiness? Well the bed bug exterminator explained to me that it's all sorts of different people that get it and she explained the same thing like my husband was in a nursery school it could have been you know in the seats in a doctor's reception area no I kind of was out and proud about my bed bugs but my kids were like at the time because I wanted to write about it I wanted to write about it my kids were like no no it's only now like a few years later in retrospect they'll allow me yeah but no I was very out about it and my friends were just kind of like they were very good they were like

okay you can come to my house but don't give me a hug and how did you feel about that I completely understood all right okay yeah I completely and all my long-term damage to any of those friendships no long-term damage no and all my lovely clothes my lovely 30 degree wash and dry clean you can't wear any of those they have to be bagged and you can only wear clothes that you can wash at 60 degrees well let's talk about temperatures because we've had this message uh from katrina who says we don't have bed bugs but what's the advice on the correct temperature to wash the bed linen at yeah as a preventative measure yeah definitely anything over 60 degrees so if you're feeling like you could have them or you've been somewhere and someone's highlighted that there's been a problem, stick to 60 degrees. And I know we're talking about, you know, for the, you know, keeping temperatures down when we're doing our washing these days. But I think in cases like this, if you feel you really need to stick to that and having a steam cleaner is a really good thing that's come up a few times yeah the hot steam is absolutely brilliant

and obviously do your headboard do the surrounding bit don't just do the mattress but the steam will blast it freezing does that work it does so they also say as well like in your case where you take your clothes off and put them into a sealed bag like a like a vacuum pack bag really and to pop that in the freezer but i know my freezer wouldn't be big enough. I don't know if yours would be. If you've got that option, you've got an old chest freezer in the garage, then yes, by all means, use it. But I think, you know, it's easier just to get,

you know, a steam cleaner from somewhere and just have a good blast with steam and stick to those hot temperatures with washing. One listener wants to know, if you find them, is washing bedsheets enough or do you need to deep clean your whole house? You don't need to go so over the top yes get the bedding off get it strict and give your mattress a good bit of tlc um regular vacuuming but when you empty your vacuum don't make that mistake of going into

the kitchen and emptying it into the kitchen bin take your you know your vacuum canister outside and get rid of it outside so if you have picked something up it's not going to come crawling back in and I think they don't just live in our beds they live in our sofas and our upholstery chairs and our carpets and our rugs so it's just about being a bit more vigilant. I want to read you this message from Rosie who says we had bed bugs 20 years ago my son brought them home from university by the time we realized what was going on they were everywhere it took months to eradicate it was stressful and exhausting and expensive to rectify we look back and make jokes about it but it wasn't funny at the time so i want to ask did this fall on you as mother of the household to fix this problem of course it fell on me as

mother of the household. And to the point that they were like, oh, you know, my husband and my sons, after a while, because I obviously got them all involved every night, they're like, do we really need to be doing this every single night, mum? You were like this when we had knits when we were kids. You'd never stop.

But I'm like, why wait? Why make this situation go on forever? Let's just kill them, kill them, kill them, kill them until they've gone. So, yeah. So not only did it fall on me, obviously, I didn't do all the physical work. I got them involved. But the thought of it and I became like the kind of like slightly paranoid naggy person. Yeah.

You know? So, yes, it typical kind of, yeah, house of more boys and men. Bed bugs or a pile of washing that you're nagging the family about, that is often something, that's often a label that falls upon women. And most of your Instagram followers, I imagine or I understand, are women, Lindsay. They are. I think I'm about 97% women, which is obviously quite a lot. But worrying as well. Well, my husband's really good, actually. I'm really lucky.

So when I show him on my Instagram, people are like, god he's so well trained I'm like no he's just naturally good at this stuff yeah um but I also think sometimes some men might be a little bit ashamed to say they enjoy housework yeah there's plenty of men that do love it my son got the ironing board out the other day I was like what are you doing he's joined like the cadets he's like what has to be done my way so I was like oh you're better than me oh you're so good so i think there is a generation of of you know boys coming up and wanting to get involved yeah we talked about freezing we've had this message from karen he says bed bugs my husband stayed in a hotel and encountered bed bugs uh when he got back home he declared what had happened the only sure way to deal with them was the freezer his clothes went

into the freezer for a week. A little later, my daughter's friend and her mum came back for tea after school. She asked if she could help and I said she could get the ice cream out of the freezer. She looked completely horrified. I wasn't quite sure where this was going. She looked completely horrified and stuck to

the bottom of the ice cream box was a pair of men's box shirts. Trying to explain this really wasn't helpful uh there was no return invite at least there wasn't bed bugs on the underpants i mean that's what i thought you were gonna say i've actually got my bed i actually kept a diary a bed bug i bet when you go away are you when you go away now on holiday or stay in a hotel are you like are you kidding me like a procedure when you get in the room? Pull the bed sheets back.

I'm forensic. And I lift it. And they quite often have heavy mattresses in hotels. And literally lift up the hotel and check all the bedding. And if you found something, what would you do? I'd leave immediately. Yeah. Look, there is an ongoing concern.

We need to... I mean, I know that we talk about ingestion. You've gone through the drama yourself. You see, I'm laughing now. You're laughing, but it was traumatic at the time. This message from Janet says, bed bugs are already here. Ask any charity dealing with grants to families in need.

I'm a trustee of a charity that funds beds and domestic necessities to families who cannot buy their own. You'd be shocked at the conditions some people have to cope with with increasingly long hot summers. This situation will arise more often for needy families in substandard rented homes. Please make your listeners aware of the difficult lives that so many families have. And that's a very valid point. Thank you, Janet, for reminding us of that, because

also dealing with it costs money fundamentally. It costs so much. That's why we did it ourselves in the end, because it was like we can't just keep on shelling out all this money. It does. But you can do it yourself. It's hideous, but you can. I think if you've got the time and the dedication, you can. Yeah. Well, listen, thank you to both of you.

Thank you to all of our listeners for sending in your questions. It's important to keep this in context. Yes, they're on the rise in places like France, but they're not on the rise everywhere. And we do hope that there have been some useful tips from our guests here. Thank you, Sue Elliott-Nichols and Lindsay Crumby for being with us here on Woman's Hour.

Thank you. Thank you. Over the last year, the BBC has been investigating failings within cervical screening services in Northern Ireland. A major review led by the Royal College of Pathologists has led to 17,500 women in one of the five health trusts having their smear tests rechecked. Failures in screening resulted

in some abnormal tests not being followed up. And this week, women started to receive recall letters so new smear tests can be carried out. Now, a smear test is part of a screening offered to check the health of the cervix and can help prevent cervical cancer.

Not all abnormalities found will result in cancer, however, and no screening process is 100% accurate. This week, BBC Northern Ireland also revealed that there were incident reports related to cervical screening within another of the trusts as well. So what is going on here? Marie-Louise Connolly, the BBC's Northern Ireland health correspondent, joins us to explain, together with a patient who we are calling Susan, who has been sadly impacted by these failings. Thank you to both of you for being with us here on Woman's Hour. Good morning. Good morning. Marie-Louise, first, what prompted you to start these investigations just over a year ago? Yeah, well, it's Marie-Louise here. Just over a year ago? Yeah, well, it's Mary Louise here. Just over a year ago,

I was contacted by Susan via an email and she had a horrendous story. She told me that as a result of missed smear tests that had shown abnormal cells, she had gone on to develop cervical cancer. She had had to have a radical hysterectomy. And as you can imagine, her whole life was just turned upside down. She decided to take on the health trust. It was the Southern Health Trust. That was a massive task in itself, as well as coping with cancer and an early menopause and she went on to discover and was told that actually she had had smear test results that had been missed and if that had been caught earlier she probably wouldn't have gone on to develop cancer. Thank you Marie-Louise and thank you for the correction there. Susan can you share what happened to you? Yes, so I went for my routine smear test in

November 2020. A few weeks later, I was recalled back for a colposcopy. Then in January 2021, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I had a radical hysterectomy at the end of February. Thankfully I didn't need any more treatment after that and then in June I was called to a meeting. When you have invasive cervical cancer there is an audit review meeting that goes over the history of cervical smears and your histology the previous 10 years up until diagnosis. I was told at that meeting that my smear tests in 2011, 2014 and 2017 had been misread and all showed positive abnormal cell changes and had I had those smear tests been read properly I would not have had cancer and instead been treated for pre-cancer

cells. How did that leave you feeling Susan? Really upset, really annoyed, devastated that I had to pay the price for somebody's mistake. Yeah. Mary-Louise, you found out that others have been affected by something similar. Yeah, whenever Susan contacted us, we started our own investigation into all of Northern Ireland's five health trusts. And it emerged that in the Southern Health Trust, there were other women affected. And the Southern Health Trust has apologised for what has happened. But back in February, they called in the Royal College of Pathologists to carry out a review of slides, of smear slides.

And that review found that several cytology screening staff had been significantly underperforming for many years. Therefore, they hadn't been reading the slides properly. It also found that mechanisms to check their work were flawed. That's the management that were involved for several years. And action taken by management was inadequate over many years. So now what has happened, 17,500 women who have reached a certain or met a certain criteria, they have been written to this week.

Their smear tests will be reviewed or their slides reviewed. And some of those women will certainly be recalled back for a new smear test. It's something that none of us like doing, but it is so important because I know Susan will agree with me. It was a smear test, her last smear test that saved her life. So we have we know that other women are affected. discovered this week that in another health trust, the Western Health Trust, it's dealing with 12 serious adverse incidents, all linked to cervical screening. And an SAI is declared for events or circumstances that could have led to harm or damage, including loss of life. So there's 12 women that we know investigations are ongoing. I've been contacted by one of them.

And again, cervical cancer and early menopause, hysterectomy and just lives that are totally turned upside down because of smear tests being read incorrectly. I'm getting the impression from what you've just shared there, Marie-Louise, that we just don't know the full extent of this as yet? Yes, well, the public health agency and the health trusts and the Department of Health, who has said this week that the findings of all of this are clearly unacceptable, they are insisting that whenever this review is over, that a small number of women will be adversely impacted.

But as Susan has said to me in an interview this week, whether it's one, three, five, seven, nine women, every woman's story is so important. And for one woman, and we know that there are definitely more than one woman affected by this. Yes, cervical cancer is one of those cancers that if detected early, it can be treated and it can be turned around very well.

But sadly, for women who are undergoing this early, they also have to undergo a hysterectomy and therefore an early menopause. And as we know, know with most cancers, a lot of cancers, here health professionals don't agree with HRT. And so women are having to cope with an awful lot on their plate, just like Susan has done. Yeah.

I must ask you, what's been the official response from health authorities? Well, the Southern Health Trust has apologised. It has admitted that things could have been done a lot better. The Public Health Agency, that agency monitors,

it carries out checks and controls. It has also said that it didn't catch this early enough. But it's now insisting that there are many changes now in place and it has reassured women in every interview this week that the screening programme here in Northern Ireland is working. It is effective and it is saving lives. Susan, there'll be a lot of women who are concerned having received those recall letters. What would your message be to them?

It's really horrific to receive a letter like that but they have to remain calm they will be helped through this process cervical screening is really important as marie louise has already said it was a cervical smear test that saved my life in the end up despite the errors and they are important so to have faith faith and to go back for those tests? We have to have faith that the health trusts have promised now to change and put the processes in place that make it more accurate and more helpful to women. So please take those letters up.

Please get those appointments. Can I just add that, as you know, Northern Ireland doesn't have a government at the moment. We don't have a health minister. We don't have a women's health strategy in place at the moment. But the Department of Health only this week has said that we have been operating with what is known as a second grade screening programme. We don't have primary HPV screening process in Northern Ireland. We haven't had the funding to make that available. But the Department of Health has announced that come December, we will have HPV screening, primary screening, rolled out across all of the health trusts come December. And it has been acknowledged by lots of women's groups in Northern Ireland. This has been triggered and supported by people like Susan coming forward.

Well, thank you to both of you for bringing us up to date on that story. There is more on the BBC website written up by Mary Louise. But for now, thank you to both of you for being with us here on Women's Hour. Now, I don't know what you're watching at the moment on Netflix. It might be this new series. It's called Everything Now. It's being compared to other huge hits like Sex Education and Heartstopper. It's a comedy drama about Mia.

Mia is 16 years old. She's just come out of hospital and she is recovering from an eating disorder. She rejoins her group of friends and she realises that she's missed out on several big moments, including first kisses, losing her virginity and getting drunk. And so she makes a bucket list of things that she wants to do to catch up. It's an emotional combination of laughs, sadness, hope and fear. The new series Everything Now and the writer and director Ripley Parker joins me now. Good to have you with us Ripley. Hi, lovely to be here. Now you first started to think about this idea when you were just 18 years old, you're now 22. How does it feel now that Everything Now

has been released and is doing so well? It's been so, so, so lovely and overwhelming. Responses to it have been really, really wonderful. It's been so great to hear, particularly from people who have either experienced disordered eating themselves or know someone who has. It's been really wonderful to hear that it's either helped them, it's given them some catharsis or just kind of taught them the language to talk about their own issues or the issues of people that they know and love. There are certainly a lot of talking points that arise from the series. Tell us more about how it came about because in part it is based on your experiences but you've spoken about wanting to leave a distance between Mia and yourself. Yeah it came about as you said when I was 18 out of a quite personal essay that I wrote in a book called It's Not Okay to Feel Blue, curated by the brilliant Scarlett Curtis. And it was an essay on the subject of kind of teen

mental health and the impact of living with anorexia. And I wanted to find a way to dramatize that because I'm not naturally a prose writer. And that's how the pilot for the show came about. And so originally, it was very much kind of rooted in my own story in my own experience but that just it yeah I as we kind of brought in more writers and more you know voices in the room uh the story really really broadened and the character of Mia was really fleshed out and kind of took on her own identity outside of me and um yes I wanted to leave some room between you know my world and Mia's world my story Mia's story my friends and Mia's friends just so it didn't feel like I was you know taking the story in any places that didn't feel authentic to it for the sake of my own

you know my own catharsis. Was that though in the first instance quite hard to write? Um it's I suppose just because I was writing from an authentic place in a place that i knew and had experience of it came it came very easily at first and um it was kind of you know it's going to be initially a little bit of a worry to kind of feel like you're relinquishing control or something that's very personal to you and you know a story that's very close to your heart something you've worked very hard on um And yeah, luckily, I had really, really brilliant people surrounding me. And I work with, you know, the greatest team I could have asked for. And so it was, yeah, they, the scary moments, they kind of, you know,

held me close and reassured me that it would all be all right. It would all work out for the best. And it did. Good. And eating disorders, they're a sensitive issue. People often want to say the right thing, do the right thing, but often they can end up having the opposite effect. And I felt like that really came through in your series. How difficult was it to tread that line between representation and not being triggering? Yeah, we were very keen to show the realities of living with Mia's condition in as kind of raw and real a way as we could.

And we obviously didn't want to glamorize anything about her condition. But we also, as you said, didn't want to be triggering to anyone or didn't want to, you know, do or say anything that would be detrimental to someone else's journey and someone else's healing. So we really leaned on the knowledge and experience of experts in the field of mental health, and we had kind of consultants come in on every episode and just steer us right if we got anything wrong or if we said anything that could be triggering. And, yeah, so it was just a case of making sure that there were

as many voices in the room who had either personal experience, experience via their career, and, yeah, making sure we there were as many voices in the room who had either personal experience, you know, experience via their career and making sure we could get it as authentic as possible. And it's not just eating disorders that the programme tackles. We look at diversity from all different types of angles, sexuality, ethnicity. And these are all really important to you, weren't they? Yeah, we really strive for um for diversity in the casting process we really wanted to kind of represent uh modern london which is such a you know gorgeous cultural melting pot and so um yeah and as you said

sexuality it was very keen i was very keen going into it that um there'd be a really really wide range of sexualities represented but that nobody's sexuality would ever become plot i suppose or um i think most of the relationships in the show are queer relationships but no one ever needs to come out no one ever needs to assign a label it's just a very kind of free very uh fluid world that they live in which is quite i suppose quite idealistic at the moment. But yeah, I thought would be lovely for today's queer and straight youth to see. And the handling of that was by, as you've described, a very strong team of actors, including Sophie Wilde, who plays Mia. So, oh, she's brilliant. She's absolutely fantastic. It is kind of it's the last thing you want to hear about someone as stunningly gorgeous as Sophie is, but she's just the nicest person in the world.

Yeah, yeah. But it really was up to them to bring those characters to life. Yeah, yeah. And they were, we kind of knew that casting like the main, you know, the kind of core friends was going to be, was going to be a real challenge because they need to have such kind of, you're meant to believe that they have known each other basically their entire lives. They need to have sort of immediate kind of electrifying chemistry. And it was a real, real shot in the dark that we would find four actors who could do that. And they absolutely blew us away. Yeah. Going back to the plot, whilst it focuses largely on Mia's recovery, there are moments that are shown when she is in hospital.

Now, I know that you, I should make clear, were never an inpatient yourself, but why was it important to you to include the hospital part of Mia's journey? We wanted to show the kind of help that, I suppose, again, a slightly idealised world, but the kind of help that we would like to be available to people if they find the words to ask for it.

And, I mean, we should all hope that we have a doctor or a listening ear as wonderful as Stephen Fry is in this show. Yeah, who plays Dr Nell in your series, yeah. He's brilliant. Yeah, yeah. Taking a step away from this series, you come from a family which has had tremendous success in the acting world. And I wonder, does that come with an added dimension

of pressure? I suppose it presents, it does present pressures, it presents more opportunities. And it's been, yeah, and I think I try to be kind of cognizant and aware of the fact that I did begin my career with a massive head start and tried to kind of you know keep that in perspective and tried to pay that that luck and that opportunity forward by making the industry a better more inclusive place and hoping to leave it better than I found it but I think I just I just wanted to do well and I wanted them to like what I'd done. And yeah, I've been I've got strong, strong notes from them, but a lot of praise as well. A lot of guidance as well. No doubt. Looking ahead, you've been asked to adapt the young adult fiction novel Lies We Sing to the Sea.

What's that going to be about? It is a sort of fictionalized greek myth um set 100 years after the events of the odyssey and kind of uh i suppose the the feminist fallout of of the odyssey in that original story um and it's so so so good it's so fun sarah underwood who um wrote the book because i think 23 is just prodigiously talented and i'm yeah very very lucky to have been brought on board for that so another exciting project on the horizon. And what about a series two of everything now? I would adore a series two.

If that's on the cards, then I will absolutely be, you know, be involved and be very enthusiastic. But if it's not on the cards, then I am, you know, I'm happy and proud of Mia with the place that we leave her in season one. So yeah, we'd love a series two if we can't get it. And then I hope people... You're very happy with the place that we leave her in in season one so yeah we'd love us we'd love a series too

if we can't get it and yeah you're very happy with the outcome well it's been very well received congratulations on it and thank you for being with us here on women's hour everything now is available to watch on netflix and i must add that if you have been affected by anything that we have discussed here with ripley park, director of the series, then there are links to support and resources over on the Women's Hour website if you do need them. Thank you to the many of you still getting in touch about various bed bugs issues.

Ruth has said, listening to your programme and the piece about washing bedding at 60 degrees to kill bed bugs, I immediately stripped my bed and put it into the washing machine at 60 degrees, even though I don't have bed bugs. I immediately stripped my bed and put into the washing machine at 60 degrees, even though I don't have bed bugs. And this one from Pam, who brings up a personal issue, which we'll try to get to Lindsay, who writes, I'm 77. My husband is 85 and disabled. We have a solid heavy mattress and I struggle to make the bed normally. What are we supposed to do if bedbugs come here? Thank you, Pam, for your message and highlighting that very valid concern. And this one from Liz, another top tip for preventing

bedbugs, never pack or unpack your suitcase or huddle on your bed. That was also shared with from our guests as well. That is it from myself and the Woman's Hour team. Do enjoy the rest of your Friday. Thanks for listening. There's plenty more from Woman's Hour over at BBC Sounds. Hello, it's Amol. And I'm Nick, and we're launching the Today podcast from Radio 4. Come on then, what is it, Nick? Well, every week we're going to take a big subject we want to spend more time on,

because I don't know about you, when I present the Today programme, I'm always thinking of things I wish I'd asked, I wish I'd heard. And this is going to give us the time to do that, to get more analysis, more insight, sometimes more gossip. Same goes for me. I'm looking forward to this. Episodes will drop every Thursday. It's called the Today Podcast, and you can listen now on BBC Sounds. I'm Sarah Trelevan, and for over a year, I've been working on one of the most complex stories I've ever covered. There was somebody out there who's faking pregnancies.

I started, like, warning everybody. Every doula that I know. It was fake. No pregnancy. And the deeper I dig, the more questions I unearth. How long has she been doing this? What does she have to gain from this? From CBC and the BBC World Service, The Con, Caitlin's Baby. It's a long story, settle in.

Available now.