S16, Ep1 How To Fail: Rick Astley on never growing up, never giving up and how a difficult childhood shaped his success

Explicit content warning

01/04/23 • 67 min

2 Listeners

We're back for a brand new season. Well...you didn't think we were ever GONNA GIVE YOU UP did you? (See what I did there?)
My childhood self is utterly thrilled that we get to open Season 16 with the legendary Rick Astley. The singing superstar who gained worldwide fame in the 1980s with hits such as Never Gonna Give You Up and who is now being discovered by a whole new generation thanks to the viral internet phenomenon known as Rickrolling (don't worry - I didn't know what this was either: he explains it on the pod). Now 56, Astley has 8 consecutive UK top 10 hits, more than 40 million album sales and 3 million TikTok followers to his name. Besides which, he's a thoroughly nice man.
We talk about his difficult upbringing, his failure to grow up and his inability to give up drinking good wine. Prepare yourself for a lot of entertainment, some laughs, a side-order of self-deprecation and yes, a few tears too.
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My Plan To Save The Planet, the new album by Rick Astley is out now and avaiable to order here.
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Failosophy for Teens: A Handbook for When Things Go Wrong by Elizabeth Day is my first ever book for young adults and it's out TOMORROW, 5th January 2023, and available to purchase here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email [email protected]
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Rick Astley @officialrickastley

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Previous Episode

S15, BONUS EPISODE! How To Fail: Roman Kemp on mental health, male suicide and failing to be Batman

TW: discussions around suicide
The period between Christmas and New Year can be tough for many. That's why I wanted to bring you an episode designed to help you feel less alone, where my guest talks openly about his own mental health and his desire to make others take care of theirs.
Roman Kemp has presented the Capital FM breakfast show since 2017, attracting a weekly audience of almost six million. In August 2020, his best friend and the producer of his radio show, Joe Lyons died by suicide. Lyons’ death was deeply shocking to all who loved him, leaving Kemp bereft, angry and searching for answers. Kemp went on to present an acclaimed BBC documentary on male suicide and wrote a bestselling book, Are You Really OK? packed full of personal reflections and practical advice.
Here, Roman talks about the impact of Joe's death, about this own mental health and destigmatising the conversation around these issues. Along the way, we chat about his failed driving test, his failed career moves and what it was like having George Michael as a godfather (pretty great, as it turns out). A moving, enlightening and ultimately uplifiting conversation. I hope you take something from it. If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, call Samaritans for free on 116 123.
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Are You Really OK? by Roman Kemp is out now. The charity set up in Joe's name is here: Joe's Buddy Line
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My new book for young adults, Failosophy for Teens, is a handbook for when things go wrong and is out on 5th January, available to preorder here
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email [email protected]
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Roman Kemp @romankemp

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Next Episode

S16, Ep2 How To Fail: Alex Jones on fertility, mental health and the time she locked King Charles in the toilet

TW: miscarriage; infertility.
Oh Alex Jones, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Like many of you, I already felt I knew Alex before I met her. She is one of the most trusted and famliar faces on our TV screen as co-host of BBC's The One Show. But in person, she was EVEN lovelier than I could have imagined: warm, funny and totally genuine.
She's currently presenting an extraordinary documentary series on the W Channel which saw her train as a fertility assistant at one of Britain's leading clinics. Making Babies is one of the most emotional - and accurate - portrayals of fertility I've ever seen.
Alex joins me to talk about this, as well as her own experience of miscarriage. We talk about how she got fired from her first job for a number of hilarious professional errors of judgement - including the time she locked the future King in the toilet. And we discuss her self-perceived failure to understand the mental health challenges faced by loved ones, including her husband. It's such a brave and authentic conversation and I'm really grateful to her for opening up about it to me.
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Alex Jones: Making Babies is being broadcast on the W channel on Thursdays at 8pm. The channel can be found on Freeview, SkyTV and Virgin Media.
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Failosophy for Teens: A Handbook for When Things Go Wrong by Elizabeth Day is my first ever book for young adults is out now, available here.
--
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email [email protected]
--
Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Alex Jones @alexjonesthomson