Susannah Constantine on alcoholism, 'mental' menopause & finding herself in her 50s

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.8 • 525 Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You might think you know all there is to know about today’s guest. Posh girl who once dated Princess Margaret’s son. Half of the early noughties style duo Trinny and Susannah. Plus a short-lived and strangely identifiable turn on Strictly as the slightly embarrassing older woman who can’t really dance. (Hands up who over-identified!) Because that’s what the media has told us. But look at it another way, Susannah Constantine is a novelist, writer and broadcaster with over 25 years experience. She’s a hit podcaster (My Wardrobe Malfunction is a hoot - check out the episode with Kristin Scott Thomas!) and, on the cusp of 60, she’s just written a game changing memoir that will make you think more than twice about what it really means to be a girl brought up in privilege; a girl brought up to be Ready For Absolutely Nothing. Susannah joined me from her swanky kitchen to talk extremely candidly about hitting rock bottom before she could confront her alcoholism, her complicated relationship with her mother, rediscovering her identity after it was ripped away and how she experienced a mental menopause. PLUS surviving Strictly humiliation, Dolph Lundgren and having tea with the queen. * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at Bookshop.org, including Ready For Absolutely Nothing by Susannah Constantine and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me! * And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including transcripts of the podcast, please join The Shift community. Find out more at https://steadyhq.com/en/theshift/ • The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a paid message from GoFundMe.
0:02.9	My name is Ashley Kane.
0:04.6	I'm the daddy of a little girl in heaven and a father to two boys on earth.
0:09.9	I've got an incredible relationship with GoFundMe, both personally and via our daughter's foundation, the Azalea Foundation.
0:17.4	GoFundMe has allowed me, the foundation, and thousands of people out there to give hope to others in need.
0:25.5	You'd actually be surprised how many people out there are willing to show love and support you in your time of need.
0:33.3	My advice for anyone that needs to stop a GoFundMe would be do it.
0:38.6	You don't need to feel shame.
0:40.1	You don't need to feel guilt.
0:41.3	You don't need to feel embarrassment.
0:43.1	If you need GoFundMe, use GoFundMe.
0:46.8	Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com.
0:50.7	That's gofundme.com.
0:56.7	This message reflects one. That's go fund me.com. G-O-F-U-N-D-M-E.com.
0:59.8	This message reflects one person's experience.
1:11.3	Hello and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no--hold bar truth about being a woman post-40,
1:15.3	created and hosted by me, writer and broadcaster, Sam Baker.
1:18.6	You might think you know all there is to know about today's guest.
1:21.3	Posh girl who once dated Princess Margaret's son,
1:24.4	half of the early-naughty's style duo Trinny and Susanna, plus a short-lived and strangely identifiable turn on strictly.
1:29.1	Susanna Constantine is a novelist, a writer, a broadcaster with over 25 years experience,
1:34.7	she's a hit podcaster, my wardrobe malfunction is an absolute hoot, and on the cusp of 60,
	...

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