I can’t believe I am saying this but we are back babes with season 8 of the podcast, and to celebrate, the dress code for today’s episode is *SEQUINS ONLY*, because we are joined by Strictly Come Dancing judge, Motsi Mabuse! Before Motsi became a judge on our favourite TV show, she had a 30 year professional dancing career, which saw her being crowned Latin dance champion, and if you haven’t seen her dancing yet, sashay to YouTube ASAP, Motsi is mesmerising. Plus, she is also a judge on the German version of the show, where she still lives with her husband and daughter. Aside from spilling the sequins on this season of Strictly, Motsi shares her inspirational journey to the glitterball world, which wasn’t a waltz, growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and leaving for Germany to follow her dreams with only 50 euros to her name. Motsi also tells me about the discrimination she has faced and continues to face and how she deals with it. I LOVE what Motsi says about never giving up on yourself, looking after the relationship with yourself and that one of her greatest learnings in life is: when things are bad they don’t stay bad forever. Plus she loves the gays almost as much as I do! If you find Motsi as joyful as I do, get in touch! You can find me @joshsmithhosts across socials. It’s always so great chatting to you! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am so proud to bring you these special episodes of the podcast which are focusing on our self care and wellbeing with my favourite skincare brand, Elemis. During the change of seasons so many different feelings can come to the surface so it’s important you make positive self care decisions everyday to help your wellbeing. Wellbeing looks different for everyone but it’s the simple things that make the big difference for me, like using Elemis’s Pro-Collagen Green Fig Cleansing Balm every day just to reset. Its formula combines the ripe, green and earthy tones of Fig, Raspberry, and Bergamot for a fresh, calm and uplifting scent which has been used for centuries in aromatherapy to help relieve tension and stress. That's what I love about Elemis’s formulas: they use high performance scientific ingredients with blended essential oils that not only give you visible results but give you a moment of mindfulness, too.So go on, practise self care and treat yourself to a good skin day, it might just make a difference that isn’t just skin deep, head to elemis.com and find out more about their wellbeing work here: https://uk.elemis.com/blog/world-mental-health-day?utm_campaign=reignpodcastmind&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=podcast  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am so excited to share this live episode we recorded at Selfridges with my new hero, Sabrina Elba! Think you know who Sabrina Elba is? Think again, because she cannot be boxed in! Sabrina is the co-founder of her well-being brand, S’able Labs with her husband Idris Elba, she’s a model, the host of her podcast Coupledom with Idris, AND above all she is an incredible activist. You will not believe how much inspiring work Sabrina does to help diversity, equality and the climate as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and beyond. So get ready to feel inspired as she shares some incredible thought provoking words on FGM and more - a topic which is close to her heart after her own mother experienced FGM in her homeland of Somalia. As this live recording was part of Jamz Supernova Selects events at the iconic Selfridges which were all about celebrating culture, music, fashion and expression and we got into all of those topics in this episode, too, so big thanks to Jamz for having us. And I am thrilled that Sabrina is just as much of a Spice Girls fan as I am! It was AMAZING to be surrounded by so many people in the REIGN family to record an episode which is all about celebrating community and family. One of the most beautiful moments in this episode is where Sabrina says she has subconsciously been trying to create a better world for the little girl her mum was. So, I hope this inspires you to use your voice and help build a better world for yourself and others. If it does, get in touch! You can find me @joshsmithhosts across socials. As always it’s so great chatting to you! Love, Josh xx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hands up if you can barely do a handstand or a forward roll? Just me?!? Well today we are joined by a set of twins who have flipped and flew their way into the Olympic history books and I’m sure they could teach me a thing or two about flexibility: Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova. The twins made Olympic history when at 16, they were part of the Team GB gymnastics team who took Bronze at the Tokyo games. It was the first medal in the event for Team GB in 95 years, and they haven’t stopped making history since. Still only 19 years old, Jessica has become World Champion on the floor, claimed an all-round Bronze medal at the World Championships, and has five European Championship titles to her name along with a further three European medals. Jennifer also has a World and European Championship silver, too and multiple British Championship medals. If you haven’t seen their jaw dropping routines run to YouTube whilst listening to this episode! Your jaw will be on the floor! It is remarkable that twin sisters can make it all the way to the top of gymnastics together, and today they talk about the secrets of their success, from climbing on furniture as kids, to practicing in their garage to prepare for their first Olympics. I’m sure you are going to feel so inspired by the sheer determination of Jessica and Jennifer, and what I love the most about them is how they can continually show up in the face of failure. As they say, failure is part of their process every day, so hopefully this might encourage you to reframe when things don’t go right too! If you are inspired by Jessica and Jennifer please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts and let me know your thoughts, because it’s always great chatting to you! AND if you missed it make sure you catch up on the other episodes in our special series celebrating women in sport as we have been joined by World Cup Lioness Lucy Bronze, Lioness legend Jill Scott, the new athletics queen Keely Hodgkinson & more! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialing, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest knows a thing or two about endurance, both in and out of the world of swimming. Get ready to meet the inspirational marathon swimmer, Alice Dearing. Alice has been swimming since the age of four, and at the Tokyo Olympics became the first Black woman to compete in an Olympic swimming event for Team GB. It has taken 125 years from swimming’s Olympic debut in 1896 for this to happen, so let’s just let that sink in for a second and ask why? Well in this episode, Alice shares some insight on the racism that has prevented black people from accessing the world of swimming. Alice isn’t just a game-changer in elite sport, she is also trying to change swimming at grassroots level too, by co-founding The Black British Swimming Association, which she hopes will reverse the statistics that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children do not swim. It doesn’t stop there, Alice has co-created the very first swimming hat designed specifically for Black hair, something that is vital for representation in swimming, a place which hasn’t always made space for Alice. But why wait to take a seat at the table when you can build your own, like Alice has done, right? I really hope you will be inspired by Alice's story, as she talks about the racism and mental health hurdles she’s had to overcome to participate in sport, as well as the sheer endurance it takes to just keep swimming. As always, if you love this chat please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because it’s always great chatting to you and come back next week for the next episode in our special women in sport series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialling, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not every day we are joined by true royalty on this podcast! Bow down for the Queen of the Pitch and the Queen of the Jungle, Jill Scott! Jill is a true Lioness legend who helped bring football home at the Euros last year, and shortly afterwards announced her retirement from football after playing for an incredible 18 years! In that time Jill went from being an unpaid football player in Sunderland, to a European Champion playing in front of record crowds at Wembley. Jill’s career saw her also play for Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa, and with 161 England appearances, she is England’s second-most capped footballer, male OR female! She also scored three FA cup titles, was named FA International Player of the Year, AND was awarded an MBE. Not only did Jill solidify her legend status on the pitch, since retiring she’s gone on to win I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and is now the first female captain on the hit Sky show, A League of Their Own. The stories Jill shares today are eye-opening; from being called names at school, being tripped up and breaking her elbow just because she was a girl who played football, to being told as a professional not to show emotions on the pitch, Jill shows just how much women’s sport has changed. I really love what Jill says about how women’s football gave her space to truly be herself and take pride in her identity, and I hope it will inspire you to go into every space and be yourself! If you love this chat or just want a Lioness England World Cup support group, please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because it’s always great chatting to you! AND if you missed it make sure you catch up on our episode with fellow Lioness, Lucy Bronze earlier in our  special women in sport series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialling, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I love a bit of healthy competition and today’s guest thrives off it too! So, on your marks, get set and go prepare yourself for the record breaking Team GB runner, Keely Hodgkinson.Keely’s big sporting break came when she won Silver in the 800 metres at the Tokyo Olympics at just 19 years old. Since then, she has gone on to obliterate the national 800 metre record multiple times, set a new world indoor 600m record and has taken home medals at the Commonwealth Games, and the European and World Championships. All in the space of two years - busy, much?!?Ahead of the World Championships this Summer, and the Paris Olympics next year, Keely joins us to talk about her journey to the top in athletics, and it hasn’t always been in the fast lane! In this episode, Keely tells me about the harder times that have made her the incredible athlete she is today, how she quit athletics as a teen, the times she ended up crying on the pavement during lockdown, and how she went from not being able to get out of bed, to winning a Commonwealth medal in the space of a week. Now *THAT* is the kind of mentality we all need to take notes from!So many of Keely’s wise words are so relevant to our everyday lives, from her thoughts on failure, to getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, so get ready to take her record breaking mindset into your life! You’ll also hear Keely call for more research into how contraception affects women's bodies in sport and beyond (which is long overdue - RIGHT!!!), plus so much more. AND as always, if you love this chat please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because it’s always great chatting to you and come back next week for the next episode in our special women in sport series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialling, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS EPISODE ALERT! Come on Barbies (and Kens) let’s go party because not only are we dropping a bonus episode of the podcast today, but we are joined by President Barbie herself, Issa Rae! The Reign team have been high key obsessed with Issa since we watched her TV show, Insecure. If you haven’t watched one of the greatest TV shows ever made yet, it’s about a directionless millennial woman and it’s not only highly relatable, but it changed the landscape of TV, as Issa became the first Black woman to create and star in a premium cable series. That’s right, not only did Issa star in the show, she created it, wrote it and produced it, too! Issa IS everything and she’s proving that yet again by taking on the role of President Barbie, in the most anticipated movie of the year, Barbie - created by fellow genius, Greta Gerwig, and alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Trust me when I say this movie is worth every inch of the hype! There are many reasons I am SO excited that Issa is joining us today, but one of them is because she has done everything off her own back and on her own terms. She started out making shows on YouTube, got a HBO contract, created two incredibly successful TV shows, and joins us today in her ‘mogul era’, with her own production company, Hoorae Media and a forty-million dollar contract with Warner Media. Issa is a true role model for making your dreams a reality in the face of huge obstacles, and I can not wait for you to hear her talk in this episode about everything from tackling the patriarchy to leaning into vulnerability. This President certainly gets my vote and I know she will get yours too… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There aren’t many athletes who make Olympic history with Union Jack space buns, but there aren’t many athletes quite like weightlifter Emily Campbell, who is as hilarious as she is strong, as you’re gonna hear in this episode! You might remember watching Emily at the Tokyo Olympics, weightlifting her way to history by winning a silver medal, which made her the first British female weightlifter to win a medal at the Olympics. Alongside being a Commonwealth Games champion she is now also a European champion, and double World Champion medalist and Emily has been snatching and raising the bar ever since!After winning her Olympic silver medal, Emily said, ‘“I don't look like a typical athlete, but what my body does is amazing,” and Emily’s success at the bar is matched by her success in changing the game for body positivity in sport. She is doing it for the strong gals, and this episode is a reminder to everyone that no matter what your body may look like, you are capable of anything! It’s not been an easy journey for Emily to become an Olympic athlete - as you will hear in this episode. Not only has she had to overcome outdated societal standards about strong women, she had to self-fund her way to Olympic trials whilst living at home with her parents. Emily’s story is the definition of inspirational and I hope her words about embracing and celebrating her body make you love yourself a little bit more. AND if you didn’t think weightlifting was for you - think again - I am off to give it a go.  If you love this chat please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because it’s always great chatting to you and come back next week for the next episode in our special women in sport series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialing, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To kick off our special series celebrating one of my favourite things, women's sport, and ahead of the Women's World Cup this summer, we are joined by a real sporting game changer: England and Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze! As part of the EURO winning England team last year, Lucy truly changed the game for the visibility of women's sport, and for future generations. But being part of a winning team is just a part of Lucy’s legacy. Alongside more than 100 caps for England, she has won every domestic cup in England, the domestic title in France, the Champions League, a bronze medal in the Olympics, the SheBelieves Cup, the Arnold Clark Cup in 2022, been named FIFA’s World Player of the Year AND she just received an MBE! In today’s episode Lucy looks back on her epic career, the sexism she has had to overcome, how she has learnt to thrive under pressure, managing her mental health and how one chat with fellow icon Jill Scott helped make her into the team player she is today. Lucy also shares some never before heard tales from winning the Euros from the pitch and also as they wrote a letter to the government to campaign for all girls to be allowed to play football at school. And as we look forward to (hopefully/crossing everything) England bringing football home again at the World Cup, Lucy talks about how empowering the new Nike England kit with game changing blue shorts are! I love what Lucy says about the work that still needs to be done for true gender parity in sport and hopefully normalising talking about periods in sport and beyond might get us one step further to that! If you love this chat too, please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because it’s always great chatting to you and come back next week for the next episode in our special women in sport series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am BEYOND proud that this series is empowered by Nike, whose ambition - just like Reign - is to champion women and girls and ensure they feel seen and included in sport and beyond. Nike is committed to celebrating ALL women, supporting HER journey by taking action to make meaningful change and coming through with innovative style-led products you will hear all about in this series. I’m sure you will have already seen the game-changing new England women’s football kit - which we talk about in this episode - that includes the new Leak Protection technology embedded in the lining of the Nike Pro Short for athletes. And Nike have also just launched the Phantom Luna - a women-led football boot, backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet that has taken more than two years of research, trialing, designing and styling to develop. We haven’t even got onto the bras, leggings, Pro Hijabs and their maternity and plus size ranges so make sure you check out all of the latest innovation for HER product at Nike.com and @nikewomen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am SO excited for season two of Netflix’s ‘Heartstopper’ and I know you are too! So I am thrilled that we are joined by the latest addition to the cast, Bel Priestley, for the final special episode of this series which has been celebrating all things Pride! You may have already seen Bel before all over TikTok as she has emerged as one of the UK’s leading young transgender voices. From sharing her transition journey to shutting down trolls, Bel’s honesty has garnered her an epic 1.2 million followers and 84.9 million likes! Today Bel tells me about her transition journey that began at 13 years old, and now at 20, she looks back at the lessons she’s learnt along the way and shares stories of the eye opening prejudice she has faced. At a time when trans people are facing hate in record numbers, and governments across the world are trying to undo their rights - including right here in the UK - it's more important than ever to listen, learn and celebrate our trans community. So, I hope Bel’s story inspires you to be a true trans ally. Because now is the time for true allyship. If Bel’s story resonates with you or inspires you, please get in touch across socials on @joshsmithhosts because I love chatting to you and come back next week for the next episode in our special pride series! Love, Josh xxP.S. I am beside myself excited that this episode, which is celebrating Pride month, is brought to you in partnership with The GelBottle, who just like Reign, are all about inclusivity and individuality, helping people express themselves and be who they really are - right down to their nail colours!The GelBottle not only have created over 500 colours, but are famous for their game changing BIAB technology, which leaves your nails looking stunning, whilst increasing your nail growth too! Their at-home formula for sister brand, Peacci, also gives your nails that salon quality feel. AND here’s the exciting bit: they’ve given me my very own edit, called the REIGNBOW edit which has a Peacci colour to represent every single stripe of the pride flag - from the banana yellow, Clueless to the summer green of dreams, Serena because no matter how you identify, everyone is welcome inside the REIGN-bow! Check out the collection here: www.thegelbottle.com Plus 25% of the proceeds from now until the end of August from the Peacci REIGNBOW Edit and the 90’s baby collection will go to Switchboard, a charity that has been listening to and supporting the LGBTQIA+ community since 1975! So go forth and express yourselves however you want and support our LGBTQIA+ community. X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices