Melanie C, Toddler 'skinfluencers', Bryony Gordon
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Melanie C has been a household name for the past three decades, since the Spice Girls burst into the charts with Wannabe and went on to become the world’s biggest ever girl group. She says her new solo album Sweat is a chance to bring together all the different aspects of herself, from pop star to superstar DJ, teenage raver to being fit in her 50s. She joins Anita Rani to discuss why she’s bringing the joy on a quest to get people dancing, and the enduring legacy of the Spice Girls.
Concerns are being raised over a lack of safeguards for ‘child influencers’ after an investigation found children as young as two demonstrating skincare routines on TikTok. The Guardian's Consumer Affairs Correspondent Sarah Marsh tells Anita about their research which found that from 8,000 skincare-related posts on the social media platform, there were hundreds featuring children believed to be under 13, and at least 90 featuring children under five. Dermatologists have said children do not need multi-step skincare routines, which could damage their skin and increase anxiety about their appearance.
Writer and newspaper columnist Bryony Gordon joins Anita to talk about her novel People Pleaser, her first work of fiction after writing seven memoirs about her experiences with addiction and mental health and her attempts to combat those.
Maddie Haining, an 18-year-old wheelchair user from Oldham, posted online her experience of being asked to leave a Manchester nightclub for safety reasons. She described feeling embarrassed and infuriated when told that her wheelchair was a safety risk. Maddie joins Anita to explain what happened and we also hear from Dr Shani Dhanda, Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Consultant.
Calli Hauger-Thackery was bronze medalist in the women's half marathon at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, and a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 2024 European Half-Marathon Cup, held at the same time. She represented Great Britain at the 2024 Paris Olympics and England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She's just returned from the Boston Marathon which took place on Monday, where she completed the marathon whilst 22-weeks pregnant with her first child. She tells Anita about her achievement.
Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Corinna Jones
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | Your time starts now. |
| 0:07.2 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast. |
| 0:09.4 | Absolutely right. |
| 0:11.5 | So, you might like to know that the BBC makes loads of other podcasts. |
| 0:15.6 | Really? |
| 0:16.4 | Wow. |
| 0:17.2 | Many of them are very funny. |
| 0:19.1 | Which I think means... |
| 0:20.3 | A hatful of ha-hars. And energy. Even if we do very funny. Which I think means... A hatful of ha haas. |
| 0:21.7 | And energy. |
| 0:40.7 | Even if you do say so ourselves. I agree 100% to that. Find them all on BBC Sounds. Just tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Just search comedy on BBC Sounds. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:46.9 | Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast. |
| 0:50.1 | Good morning and welcome to the programme. |
| 0:56.7 | She is the female artist with the most songs at number one in the UK's charts history. |
| 0:59.9 | She's back with her ninth studio album. |
| 1:03.8 | We are in the presence of Spice Girl greatness. |
| 1:05.8 | Melanie C. is here. |
| 1:10.0 | Also, Callie Hauga Thackeray has just returned from the Boston Marathon, |
| 1:13.4 | where she competed 22 weeks pregnant with her first child. |
| 1:14.9 | I'll be speaking to her later. |
| 1:22.2 | We'll be hearing how Maddie Haining, an 18-year-old wheelchair user, was asked to leave a club just minutes after arriving in Manchester. |
... |
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