Richard Osman: 'The addiction itself becomes the shame'
How Do You Cope?
Significant Productions
4.9 • 868 Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John is joined by best-selling author, podcaster and TV host Richard Osman for a conversation about food addiction, shame, and the challenge of changing behavioural patterns.
Richard reflects on how his addiction developed during childhood, and why he sought therapy in his thirties after becoming “tired of weird behaviour”.
Richard also speaks about his relationship with shame and how he manages it, as well as sharing some practical insights for anyone navigating similar struggles with food addiction.
There’ll be more from Richard on Thursday in our bonus episode, The Gratitude List, where he shares the five things he’s most grateful for right now.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone, it's John here, just letting you know that I've written a book. It's called Thirst, 12 drinks that changed my life, and it's available to pre-order now. In many episodes of How Do You Cope, you'll have heard me talk about my relationship with alcohol, and in writing Thirst, I wanted to explore what alcohol means. Why did it mean more to me than other people? Why did it mean some things felt better, and why did it mean so many things went wrong? I also talk about lots of other things you'll have heard me |
| 0:24.5 | and my guests discuss on how do you cope. Meditation, physical pain, gratitude, trauma and therapy. |
| 0:30.8 | There's even a chapter about my bum and its relationship with Buddhism. So if that piques your |
| 0:35.1 | interest, thirst is available to pre-order now. And the |
| 0:38.3 | audiobook, read by me, is available to save or pre-order wherever you get audiobooks from. |
| 1:00.4 | Hello and welcome to the first episode of a brand new series of How Do You Cope? |
| 1:02.1 | I'm your host, John Robbins. |
| 1:12.5 | This is the show where I sit down with special guests to talk about the challenges they've encountered in their lives and the coping mechanisms that have helped them find a way through. |
| 1:18.5 | I'm really excited to be bringing this show back and I can't wait for you to hear the brilliant conversations I've been having with some amazing people. My conversations have covered a huge range of experience |
| 1:24.3 | and I'm sure there are lessons, observations and insights that'll be beneficial |
| 1:28.3 | for everyone listening or watching. Yes, that's right. You can now watch full episodes of |
| 1:33.6 | How Do You Cope on YouTube? Just search for How Do You Cope Pod and subscribe so you never miss an |
| 1:38.7 | episode. In the coming months, you'll be hearing from comedian Alison Spittle, Donald Trump's former communications director |
| 1:46.1 | Anthony Scaramucci, musician Kate Nash, and many, many more fascinating people. On to today's |
| 1:52.7 | episode, and are pleased to say that my first guest of the series is presenter, producer and author |
| 1:57.8 | Richard Osmond. From hosting quiz shows such as Pointless and House of Games to producing hit formats like |
| 2:03.8 | Deal or No Deal and 8 out of 10 cats, Richard has had a hand in making some of the biggest |
| 2:09.0 | shows on our screens. |
| 2:10.8 | He's also seen huge success with the rest is entertainment alongside Marina Hyde. |
| 2:16.2 | Away from TV, Richard has become a hugely successful author with his Thursday Murder |
| 2:21.2 | Club series and the latest instalment, The Impossible Fortune, is out in paperback on |
| 2:26.7 | the 7th of May. |
... |
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