Mollie King has spoken about her long-standing anxiety around reading as she launches a new book podcast with Matt Edmondson.
Mollie joined Fearne on the podcast Happy Place alongside her BBC Radio 1 colleague Matt Edmondson to discuss their new show Novel Idea and the friendship behind it.
During the conversation, Mollie spoke openly about living with dyslexia and how it once made the idea of reading out loud feel overwhelming, something that initially made her nervous about recording the podcast.
She said: “I felt a bit anxious because I’ve got a weird relationship with books in that I immediately get that feeling in my tummy. It takes me back to school, and I feel a lot of anxiety.”
Mollie explained that reading aloud in class as a child was particularly difficult and often filled her with worry about making mistakes in front of others.
“In school I felt like, oh, I can’t read these words. And you know, where they would go around the class and it’d be like, right, we’re gonna take turns to read,” she said, recalling how she would count how many classmates were ahead of her before it was her turn.
Despite those experiences, she said recording Novel Idea quickly became an enjoyable experience once she and Matt settled into the format.
“But once we got stuck into the pod, we had so much fun, like proper belly laughing where you can’t stop laughing,” Mollie said.
She also reflected on how becoming a mother has helped her build more confidence when thinking about challenges that once made her doubt herself.
“There are parts of that where I have felt like I’ve got a lot more strength and I’m like I have these two amazing little girls, and you are their mum; you are a part of that,” she said.
Matt Edmondson also spoke about their long friendship and how he has watched Mollie wrestle with self-doubt despite how others see her.
“Mo is my best friend, and we are as close a close friend as you could be,” Matt said. “It’s really hard watching her have that internal dialogue with herself.”
Fearne Cotton’s Happy PlacePodcast is available wherever you get your podcasts.
