September/October 2017

Hello….

I guess it must be a good thing that it’s taken me until the end of November to write about my September/October activities – it’s been that busy – but it is now freezing and Christmas is just around the corner, so feel exhausted just time travelling 😉

It’s odd how sometimes one part of my work seems to simply eclipse all the others and in the last few weeks, that must have been TV. As in on screen rather than behind the scenes. I seemed to spend most of time in cars travelling backs and forwards from ITVSky and Channel 5. I’m always amazed that I rarely get asked to do the same thing twice, given that most of my work is news based.

As the consultant psychologist on Good Morning Britain, a week rarely goes past when I am not asked to advise on whether someone considered vulnerable should be able to go on TV or not. Often their concerns are not about being on TV – or the social media flak that they might get from being on there – but just a fear of being interviewed by Piers Morgan!  I was on GMB a few times over the past few weeks, generally managing to avoid Piers (not deliberately obvs) by appearing on a Thursday or Friday morning… I was also on This Morning taking calls for a phone in on dating, which is always a popular topic and way too many calls to get through sadly. In other TV work I was on Channel 5 News discussing the curse of Strictly and sexual harassment in dating – a major topic at the moment, so much so, I was on twice in one week – chatting to the lovely Matt Barbet. Also a few stints on Sky News – including talking about the science of attraction and how to be a morning person. Not that easy at 6 am…

A lot of writing these past couple of months too, much of it for the Daily Mail – and yes I know there are mixed opinions about that paper, but in my view it tackles women’s issues pretty well. I wrote two features loosely based around themes from the hugely popular Dr Foster, one on the appeal of ‘hate sex’ and the other on when a man’s mistress can have more integrity than his wife. Though realise that sounds terrible when written like that – I am not condoning infidelity in any way! I also wrote for the Mail on vibrant women over 70 who are still enjoying a great sex life.

Other features included the Daily Telegraph on why it’s OK to be OK when your children leave home, the value in keeping an honestyjournal and aisle versus window seat people on a plane. A diverse selection of subjects. I am also slightly obsessed with the future that robots might play in our relationships – an increasingly controversial subject as the fantasy becomes a closer reality – so I was pleased to write for the Daily Star on that.

My regular celebrity psychologist musings for New! included writing about Gemma Collins – and of course, inevitably about Katie Price. I also contributed to Metro on why women like to be dominated in bed and a piece about anxiety; for Prima on dating as a single parent; for Stylist on how certain scents trigger memories of past relationships; the Sunday Times Style magazine on the pleasures of TV comfort watching and for Look on what happens when you ‘accidentally’ snog someone at a party or you find out that your partner has!

As my regular newsletter readers will know, I love being on the radio, so was delighted to contribute as an expert on a few stations including LBCTalk RadioBBC Radio London and Radio 5 Live as well as contributing to my lovely friend Geoff Lloyd’s new podcast.

So a lively month – hope you’re all well. As ever, you can find me tweeting on @TVPsychologist.

Love

Jo
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