Hello and welcome to another episode of IWay with Jamila Jamil, a podcast against shame.

And good grief. Do we deliver that this week? I think this is the most candid episode,

or at least one of the most candid episodes that we've ever done. And it was just such a breath of fresh air.

And my guest was so, so excellent. Her name is Ashley James. She is a known and loved TV personality in the United Kingdom for anyone who isn't familiar

with her work.

But up until recently, I don't think she's ever really been given the chance or the platform

to be taken seriously for her thoughts and opinions because she's incredibly pretty

and has been known more for her aesthetic than her

massive beautiful brain and i've been noticing her lately as she debates on television over

huge subjects to do with the kind of culture wars and feminism and trans issues and poverty

and all kinds of different things and And I think she's just such a

wonderful communicator and very refreshing in that she's not trying to humiliate anyone. She just

comes ready, organized with fact. The way she delivers her information is as a precision strike.

She's incredibly well informed. She's calm. She's composed. She's kind.

And I think a good example for what we need to see more of when we talk about these hugely

sensitive issues. And so I invited her on this podcast this week to talk about one of the things

that she speaks most beautifully about, alongside the other things she speaks about

wonderfully, which is motherhood. She speaks about motherhood in a way that is so candid, it genuinely

takes my breath away. And I mean that in a way of, in the form of awe, because she speaks

publicly the way that my friends who are mum speak privately to me. And she carries no shame

around the difficulty of motherhood, the fears of regret, the feeling of having to mourn your

previous life, the fact that it's not just all fucking roses and daisies and teddy bears and joys and

...