In honour of #transawarenessweek, we wanted to re-release one of our favourite episodes with one of our favourite people, Travis Alabanza. Travis is an established writer, performer, and theatre maker, known for their outstanding pieces that engage audiences in the conversation around trans politics and the queer experience. In this Ep we speak about using art for activism, victim-blaming, the contradiction of being hyper-visible and invisible in public spaces,  and so much more. *Trigger Warning* We discuss themes to do with transphobia and a story of sexual harassment towards the end of ..read more

This episode is the last episode of season 3, can you believe it?! Today I am speaking to a truly inspirational person, who’s work I’ve been admiring on my feed for years now, its the model, activist, entrepreneur and all round superstar, Kenny Ethan Jones! Kenny’s career in activism was launched after appearing in Pink Parcels’ I’M ON campaign, in which he made history by being the first trans man to front a period campaign. Kenny’s impactful work has been featured by the Independent, Teen Vogue, The BBC, Dazed and many more, and I can’t wait to share this episode with you! In this Ep. we spe ..read more

Hello and welcome back to the penultimate episode of Season 3! Today on the show I'm speaking to changemaker Lou Northcote. Lou is an activist, influencer and ex-model, known for her notable campaign #FreeThePimple, a skin positivity movement. After developing acne, Lou’s modelling career was put on hold, so she decided to challenge the skin stigma by using the hashtag #freethepimple in 2017. By doing this, Lou aimed to bring awareness of other people living with skin conditions, and has created an online space for people to share their skin-positive stories.  In today's episode we talk a ..read more

Joining me on today's show are two women, whose podcast has honestly been getting me through lockdown, It's the amazing duo & wonderful hosts of Brown Girls Do It Too,  Poppy Jay and Rubina Pabani!! I'm so excited about this episode and had so much fun recording it. If for some reason you’ve been living under a rock for the past year and aren't familiar with Brown Girls Do It Too, then let me briefly fill you in. Brown Girls Do It Too is an award-winning groundbreaking BBC Asian Network show, where they discuss all things related to sex & relationships, and candidly cover the topi ..read more

Welcome to another episode of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast! Today I'm speaking to someone who I’ve been really keen to get on the podcast, it’s changemaker Tyla Grant. Tyla is a model, podcaster and activist who campaigns to raise awareness about autism in adulthood. She is also the founder of Black and Neurodiverse, a platform which supports the personal development of young black neurodivergent adults.  In this episode we speak about the importance of inclusive language, the gender data gap in health and medicine, and why you should never trust someone stopping you on the street for directi ..read more

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast! Today I’m speaking to someone whose work I have been admiring online, and in real life for a few years now, it's the incredibly talented illustrator Alice Skinner. I have been obsessed with Alice’s work for a long time, and after I realised she was also part of the activist collective, The Pink Protest, I fell in love with her work even more. Alice’s bold, beautiful and unmistakeable style has lead her to work with Always, Converse, Badoo, The Sunday Times Style Magazine and if that wasn’t enough, she has just illustrated the co ..read more

Welcome to another episode of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast! This week I am speaking to the incredibly talented writer, author, performer, and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi, or Glamrou as some may know them. I’ve been looking forward to speaking to Amrou ever since I finished their book, ‘Life As A Unicorn’ , an incredibly moving memoir documenting their journey from shame to pride, navigating growing up in the Middle East, attending the boarding school Eton, questioning their Muslim faith, and finding themselves through drag, as a queer British Iraqi. In this episode we speak about how TERF's are using ..read more

In this week's episode of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast, I'm speaking to someone I've wanted to get on the podcast for ages, it's the phenomenal campaigner and founder of Glitch, Seyi Akiwowo! Seyi is a public speaker, activist and the executive director and founder of Glitch, a charity dedicated to ending online harassment and abuse - which just celebrated it’s 4th birthday as of last week!  In the Ep we discuss the increase of online abuse during the pandemic, how unregulated tech platforms are, how to combat victim blaming narratives towards online abuse and why we need to hold tech firms a ..read more

Welcome back to Season 3 of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast! Who better to kick start the season, than the amazing intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien, known for her groundbreaking roles directing scenes in Sex Education, Normal People, I Hate Suzie, I May Destroy You and It's A Sin.  As well as directing sexual content, Ita founded the organisation ‘Intimacy on Set’, which provides services to TV, film, & theatre like training, consultancy, advocacy when dealing with intimacy and nudity. In this Ep we discuss why there haven't been dedicated roles for directing sex until now, intimacy on set i ..read more

Guess what? This week we have a bonus International Women’s Day special of The Cheer Up Luv Podcast - how exciting is that?! In today’s episode I am speaking to the remarkable Dame Heather Rabbatts, who is the chair of TIME’S UP UK, but has also had a vast career spanning law, media, government and sport. In this episode, we speak about Heather’s important work with TIME’S UP UK, and ask the pressing question: How do we shift the culture surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace? We also discuss the polarisation of opinion around #MeToo, and how we can support women and non-binary people ..read more