S7 Ep1: “Paddy Mcguiness: Piggybacks, TV career choices and importance of mental health”

Today on Monday Mile we launch Series 7, with a man who’s kinda got the triple threat going on. He’s an actor, comedian and television presenter.  To you and I, he’s best known for his comedic persona and presenting shows such as Take Me Out, and one of my favourites BBC’s Top Gear, if you haven’t already guessed it’s Paddy McGuiness. We take the Monday Mile podcast on a train trip up North to Macclesfield to meet Paddy at his local tea room, for a rather blustery and rainy hike at the Teggs Nose Country Park. I think it has to be one of our most adverse weather situations we have ever had on the mile, which resulted in a new pair of trousers bought in a charity shop for the ride home!  We tap into Paddy’s relationship with keeping active, and how important that is in helping him to find the balance and switch off when juggling being a Dad, and a multifaceted face of broadcast. He speaks openly about his recent documentary Our Family and Autism with BBC, and the difficulty in taking the first steps in opening up to the media in an attempt to help other parents going through the same process.  We chat about how that has impacted on his mental health and his own diagnosis of clinical depression. Paddy puts strong emphasis on the importance of speaking out and finding the right therapist for you.   We also discuss the importance of staying true and humble to his routes, just a lad from Bolton debunking the stereotype of men having to be the bread winner, and removing that mask of no emotion , no tears,. He leaves our listeners with some strong advice on how to manage and juggle criticism in the public eye, whether it be on social media, or in the Press and the importance of not being defined by one moment or a series of events. “It’s a little bit of fun in a moment in time that when we’re all dead, no one cares about it”. Aimee will be probing for answers from the full spectrum of routines; the early birds who have finely tuned Monday mornings, to the late risers who struggle to get up before 11am. How do elite athletes find the motivation to kick start their week come rain or shine? How do celebrities deliver no matter what the time of day? What knowledge can they pass on? Each episode drops on a Monday morning as a bitesize piece of content and weekly dose of motivation - right when you need it. Aimee will meet each of her guests for a walk and a chat and over the course of the mile she will find out how they cope on a Monday morning - their idiosyncrasies, breakfast routines, alarm noises - and how, when they need to, find the motivation to kick-on through the week. Sharing some of Britain's greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, doctors, authors and broadcasters ’ secrets on self-motivation, candid thoughts on what they struggle with and a sideways look at some of their more unusual morning habits. Head over to IG to watch the visuals of our episode and what we get up to on our Monday Mile. https://www.instagram.com/aimee_fuller/ Filmed by Tom Mallion