Fearne Cotton reveals she quit radio to protect mental health

‘I had to walk away because it was literally ruining my mind’, said the former Radio 1 presenter

Fearne Cotton stepped back from working on BBC Radio 1 because the pressure was “ruining” her mental health.

The presenter began her career presenting on children’s TV when she was just a teenager in 1996, going on to present the Radio 1 Chart Show in 2007 and hosting her own daily show on the station in 2009.

However, Cotton parted ways from the station in 2015 after becoming pregnant with her second child, now telling Grazia that the decision to quit was to protect her mental health.

“I’m very lucky to have worked in the industry I have since I was 15, but a lot of the world I was doing, I didn’t feel connected to,” she said.

“I didn’t feel like I fitted in; I always felt like someone was about to slag me off. It gets really tiring and hurtful and I had to walk away because it was literally ruining my mind.”

“I left Radio 1 just before I had my second kid, and knew that I needed a new chapter.”

Isolating with her husband Jesse Wood and kids Rex, seven, and Honey, four, Cotton last week opened up about struggling mentally during coronavirus lockdown after suffering her first panic attack in months.

For mental health support, you can contact charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or texting 86463.