Episode 116: Gabby Logan

Gabby Logan is best known as a BBC sports presenter but has also turned her hand to stand up comedy for Sports Relief (2012), to writing her memoir called The First Half, and to ice baths on Freeze Your Fear (2022). She hosts an excellent podcast called Mid-Life in which she, a guest and an expert explore how to navigate the mysterious territory of middle age.

She has 18 year old twins and is married to retired Scottish rugby union player Kenny Logan. I spoke to Gabby a few months after her son Reuben had left the nest, with her daughter Lois following suit in a year, and she told me how the house is starting to feel too big.

We talked about her brother Daniel's sudden death in 1992 when he was 15, and Gabby was 19 - and how she and her family were - and still are - impacted by this tragedy. But Gabby has a core of positivity and stressed that people can go on to have a good life even when something so terrible happens.

Gabby represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 as a rhythmic gymnast, which Gabby so perfectly described as: where sport meets showbiz. The brightly-coloured leotards she wore were not a million miles from what I wear on stage now - but she wasn't too impressed by my opening bid to buy them as a job lot. I'll keep working on her!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones

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