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Charlotte Cripps

Senior Culture Writer@charcripps

Charlotte Cripps is a Senior Culture Writer at The Independent who specialises in profile interviews. Her highly amusing and irreverant weekly column about IVF and being a single mother ran in The Independent from 2019 to 2021. She acted as arts editor/commissioning editor for The Independent's culture desk from 2017 to 2018. She began her career writing for Tatler and Harpers & Queen, before joining The Independent as a writer.

<p>Charlotte Cripps now admits she was wrong not to get her children vaccinated against measles</p>
Features

I haven’t vaccinated my children against measles – let me explain

<p>Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid dated for six years before their relationship ended messily in 2021</p>
Voices

Stop judging Zayn – true love is always evolving

<p>Muggles enjoyed his loaded puppucino with whipped coconut cream and goji berries at London’s Love My Human Townhouse </p>
Features

I had a Valentine’s Day date with my dog – and I’m not the only one

<p>Brooklyn Beckham had his ‘dad’ tattoo altered in his quest to cut ties with his famous family </p>
Features

Brooklyn, removing a tattoo won’t fix your problems and I should know

<p>‘It’s not some fad. I am generally worried about my daughters’ nutrient-deficient diet – that fussy eating again – and how it might affect their gut health’ (Alamy/PA)</p>
Voices

Help! My children’s supplements are bankrupting me

<p>Pop star Lily Allen claims she was supported by fellow mums during the collapse of her marriage to David Harbour</p>
Features

Lily Allen has revealed the terrifying secret about school-gate mums

<p>Ellie Goulding singing at her baby shower with the boyband Blue</p>
Features

The big problem with baby showers that no one is talking about

<p>Charlotte with her golden retriever, Muggles</p>
Voices

I’m sick of outrageous vets fees – it’s time for an ‘NHS for pets’

<p>School-gate drama: Amanda played by Lucy Punch and Meg (Tanya Moodie) in ‘Motherland’</p>
Features

I spent £550 on my daughter’s birthday – that’s now considered normal

<p>Brooklyn, David and Victoria Beckham in 2018</p>
Features

Like Brooklyn Beckham, I don’t want to reconcile with my family

<p>‘You can give me the cutthroat Rachel, or cheeky chappy Stephen any day over a Faithful’</p>
Comment

I’m raising my kids to be little Traitors – lying is a vital skill!

<p>Jessie Buckley in Chloé Zhao’s tearjerker, ‘Hamnet’</p>
Features

The real reason Hamnet is making you cry, according to psychologists

<p>‘Nit Blitz’: Laura (Emily Lloyd-Sani) helping to stop the spread of nits as it sweeps the school in BBC’s ‘Motherland’ in 2021</p>
Voices

Am I being scammed by Big Nits?

Voices

Am I being scammed by Big Nits?

<p>‘Nit Blitz’: Laura (Emily Lloyd-Sani) helping to stop the spread of nits as it sweeps the school in BBC’s ‘Motherland’ in 2021</p>
<p>Lorraine Stanley put on a whopping seven stone with surgery - and now regrets it </p>
Features

Why losing three stone made me more miserable than I was before

<p>Sarah Snook in ‘All Her Fault’, a thriller about a mum who tracks her child until he goes missing, his online tracker smashed to pieces</p>
Features

Why I’ve stopped tracking my kids with an AirTag

<p>People leave flowers in Crans-Montana, the upscale ski resort in southwest Switzerland where 47 people were killed in the New Year’s Day fire</p>
Voices

I use psychics – I’m taking Nostradamus’s 2026 predictions seriously

<p>Sophie Habboo posing by her festive table three weeks after giving birth </p>
Features

Don’t blame mothers for performative parenting – blame the internet

<p>Sophie Habboo posing by her festive table three weeks after giving birth </p>
Features

Don’t blame mothers for performative parenting – blame the internet

<p>We spent a lot of time in the amusement arcade on a pier, winning teddies and eating fish and chips</p>
Features

My Christmas week in the most miserable place in Britain

<p>Muggles wearing a Christmas alpaca knit, a crochet Christmas tree hat, and a traditional large red velvet festive bow from the luxury pet store, Love My Human in London’s King’s Road</p>
Features

Is it really that wrong to get my dog a Christmas outfit?

<p>White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has said in a Vanity Fair interview that Donald Trump has an ‘alcoholic’s personality’</p>
Features

I know Trump has an ‘alcoholic’s personality’ because I have one, too

<p>Liberty had a ‘play assistant’ during her NHS stay who made sure she was always entertained, even though the rest of the hospital was drowning in superflu </p>
Features

My NHS sleepover with my daughter in the middle of a flu catastrophe

<p>‘The mutant strain has sparked an NHS meltdown with hospitals declaring “critical incidents” and the sick being urged to wear masks if they have to go outside to tackle the wave’</p>
Voices

The ‘flunami’ reduced me to a wreck and sent my family to hospital

<p>Meghan makes out she is having the perfect Christmas in her Netflix special, ‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’</p>
Features

Meghan has been named a ‘holiday hypocrite’ –there’s a reason for that

<p>Christmas fridge with a view: Six in ten GLP-1 users say medication is transforming what a traditional Christmas looks like in the UK</p>
Voices

How Mounjaro has completely changed my Christmas fridge

<p>According to the new YouGov Big Survey on Christmas, a third of Britons (33 per cent) say they are fairly worried about the impact of Christmas on their finances</p>
Lifestyle

I tried to do my Christmas shopping in an hour. Here’s what happened

<p>Meghan makes out she is having the perfect Christmas in her Netflix special, ‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’</p>
Features

Meghan has been named a ‘holiday hypocrite’ –there’s a reason for that

<p>Christmas fridge with a view: Six in ten GLP-1 users say medication is transforming what a traditional Christmas looks like in the UK</p>
Voices

How Mounjaro has completely changed my Christmas fridge

<p>According to the new YouGov Big Survey on Christmas, a third of Britons (33 per cent) say they are fairly worried about the impact of Christmas on their finances</p>
Lifestyle

I tried to do my Christmas shopping in an hour. Here’s what happened

<p>‘Miracle on 34th Street’ explores the true nature of believing for children and adults alike</p>
Features

When is it cruel to lie about Santa according to child psychologists?

Features

When is it cruel to lie about Santa according to child psychologists?

<p>‘Miracle on 34th Street’ explores the true nature of believing for children and adults alike</p>
<p>Daddy Pig with Evie, a new addition to the Pig family, along with Peppa and George </p>
Features

Daddy Pig is useless – but he’s not giving men a bad name

<p>‘It’s the end of an era. McDonald’s has replaced it with a McFish Happy Meal. But it just doesn’t work for us. Many young children can’t bite through a bun’</p>
Voices

I’m a ‘McDonald’s mother’. How dare they come for our Happy Meals

<p>‘I’m not condoning severe absence rates. But the odd day off? What is wrong with giving your child a bit of TLC and space away from school politics?’</p>
Voices

I give my kids duvet days whenever they want for their mental health

<p>Working parents like me end up drowning in the ping after ping of ‘friendly reminders’ on class WhatsApps</p>
Features

Scandals of the school WhatsApp chat – and what you really can’t say

<p>Working parents like me end up drowning in the ping after ping of ‘friendly reminders’ on class WhatsApps</p>
Features

Scandals of the school WhatsApp chat – and what you really can’t say

<p>‘Treating a friend like a subordinate can be an unconscious way to exert control. It can also be because somebody feels entitled and expects everyone around them to serve them’</p>
Voices

Why do my closest friends treat me like staff?

<p>Rini’s new facemasks for kids come in panda, puppy, and unicorn designs and shimmery pink and green</p>
Features

Skincare for four-year olds? It’s a no from me and my daughters

<p>Gordon Ramsay says he won’t entertain the idea of ‘Mounjaro menus’ at any of his restaurants</p>
Features

Gordon Ramsay is wrong – ‘Mounjaro menus’ do work

<p>‘Snus’ nicotine pouches have rocketed in popularity in recent years – especially among teenagers</p>
Health & Families

A generation of children is addicted to nicotine pouches – how come?

<p>My daughter Liberty now speaks Americanise fluently after watching American YouTube channels since she was a toddler</p>
Features

Why I’m fine with my daughter speaking Americanese

<p>‘At first, I couldn’t believe it. What parent would follow such a routine?’</p>
Voices

Would you give Wegovy to your child if it stopped them being bullied?

<p>Prince Harry playing polo: ‘Getting your son a tutor so he can aspire to mingle with members of the royal family<em> </em>is one of the more extreme forms of helicopter parenting<em>, </em>but it’s not a crime’</p>
Voices

If a £180k tutor sounds mad, wait til you hear what other parents do

<p>When David Aird, 56, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2017, he didn’t know how to process it</p>
Features

‘I’m living with a tumour the size of a golf ball in my head’

<p>Lenka, 27, who lives in Copenhagen, goes grocery shopping in supermarket bins three times a week – and doesn’t ever have a monthly food bill</p>
Features

I’ve lived off bin food for seven years

Voices

We’re all hooked on Ozempic, so why has Britain never been fatter?

<p>If I’d added up the cost of motherhood on a calculator, I’d never have had my two children, Lola, nine, and Liberty, seven </p>
Features

Putting a price tag on motherhood isn’t always useful

Features

Putting a price tag on motherhood isn’t always useful

<p>If I’d added up the cost of motherhood on a calculator, I’d never have had my two children, Lola, nine, and Liberty, seven </p>
<p>The Conservative politician Jacob Rees-Mogg poses with his son Alfred in 2018</p>
Lifestyle

Can a name like ‘Forever Sugar’ really determine your child’s destiny?

<p>The Princess of Wales published an essay this week on the dangers of too much screen time (Kensington Palace/PA)</p>
Voices

Kate’s essay on screen time hits a raw nerve for parents like me

<p>The truth is that motherhood – or the overwhelming nature of impending parenthood – gets a bad reputation</p>
Features

We need to stop trauma-dumping on new mums – it makes them anxious

<p>‘Muggles, 11, is currently in the process of switching back over to a vegan diet again’</p>
Voices

Like Lewis Hamilton, I’m putting my dog on a vegan diet

<p>‘Muggles, 11, is currently in the process of switching back over to a vegan diet again’</p>
Voices

Like Lewis Hamilton, I’m putting my dog on a vegan diet

<p>James Richards created Moobs, the UK’s first dedicated male breast cancer organisation, in response to a lack of awareness of breast cancer in men, with it being perceived as a solely female disease</p>
Features

‘I was a man, I was 36 – I didn’t think I could have breast cancer’

<p>French President Emmanuel Macron called US President Donald Trump for help when he was forced to get out of his car to make way for Trump’s motorcade in New York City</p>
Voices

Think politics is full of power plays? You should see the school gates

<p>Emily Oliver with her son, Archie</p>
Lifestyle

‘My baby died at three months old – I hoped it was just a bad dream’

<p>Frédéric Roscop overcame his own battle with chronic Lyme disease after being misdiagnosed for over two decades</p>
Features

‘Lyme disease ruined my life – I was misdiagnosed for over 20 years’

<p>‘Many of us have tried to prove we are good enough, but the real problem is that it’s not what others think of us – it’s how we view ourselves’</p>
Comment

Like poor Victoria Beckham, I too suffer from the ‘liking gap’

<p>As a child, Charlotte Cripps (pictured) was idolised and always looked for external validation and approval from her dad</p>
Features

I’m a hapless victim of narcissism as the family’s ‘golden child’

<p>The Peligoni Club is a laid back paradise with plenty of watersports, social nights, and a kid’s club run by TARKA, which has branches in Notting Hill</p>
Greece

How to holiday in style as a single parent with the kids

<p>Charlie Kirk with his wife Erika and their son and daughter</p>
Comment

‘Why did Daddy die?’ is the hardest question for Charlie Kirk’s widow

<p>‘I’m neurodivergent – but I’m not interested in taking Ritalin or whatever people take. I don’t want to add more chemical pharmaceuticals to my system’</p>
Features

Annie Lennox: ‘I wanted to perform as a woman, not as a piece of meat’

<p>It’s rock bottom for Muggles, and I need him on weight-loss drugs pronto. Excess weight can shorten a pet’s lifespan and reduce their quality of life</p>
Comment

Ozempic for dogs? I’d happily put my golden retriever on ‘Wagovy’

<p>A new book suggests that there is a connection between our desires and how we dress</p>
Features

I’ve swapped my boring jeans for ‘energy dressing’

Features

I’ve swapped my boring jeans for ‘energy dressing’

<p>A new book suggests that there is a connection between our desires and how we dress</p>
<p>In the trailer for her new cookery show, Meghan says: ‘You know who doesn’t like lobster? My husband…’</p>
Voices

Like Prince Harry, I’ve been lobster-shamed

<p>‘Even back in 2008, doctors like mine were trying to lobby the government to get proper regulations so that such treatments could only be done by medically trained individuals’</p>
Voices

Labour’s new cosmetic industry regulations could have saved my face

<p>Mark Ruffalo in ‘Avengers: Endgame’, Elijah Wood in ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Kate Winslet in ‘Titanic'</p>
Features

The 29 worst mistakes in popular movies

<p>Brooklyn Beckham making seawater pasta, and Liam Gallagher's daughter, Molly Moorish-Gallagher, and Richard Ashcroft's son, Sonny Ashcroft, on the cover of the latest ‘Tatler’</p>
Voices

Nepo babies used to get on our nerves – now they’ve got the upper hand

<p>Brooklyn Beckham making seawater pasta, and Liam Gallagher's daughter, Molly Moorish-Gallagher, and Richard Ashcroft's son, Sonny Ashcroft, on the cover of the latest ‘Tatler’</p>
Voices

Nepo babies used to get on our nerves – now they’ve got the upper hand

<p>I’m starting to wonder if waking at around 4am has some special significance – beyond sheer annoyance</p>
Features

I keep waking up at 4am. Is it stress, or is it the spirit world?

<p>Love, Happiness, Loyalty, Serenity, Hope and Luck are the Labubus Charlotte’s children desperately want</p>
Voices

I’m losing my mind over Labubu dolls – and the fake Lafufu

<p>Many of us want to turn our dream life into an abundant reality through woo-woo practices, but it’s not always the best course of action</p>
Features

Is your woo-woo lifestyle ruining your relationship?

<p>‘My lucky 22 that follows me everywhere,’ she captioned the post, referring to the building behind her, with the number 22 on its door</p>
Comment

I gave up smoking 40 cigarettes a day in 15 minutes – and this is how

<p>Georgia Harrison had tried everything to have a baby over the six years since she met her partner Duncan in 2019 – here seen with their baby Sunny whom they had via a surrogate in Mexico earlier this year </p>
Lifestyle

‘Our surrogate went into labour in Mexico while we were mid-flight’

<p>The Prince of Wales has been criticised for breeding his cocker spaniel</p>
Comment

I’m with Prince William – there’s a reason people want pure-breed dogs

<p>The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte matched for the Trooping the Colour last week (Aaron Chown/PA)</p>
Features

Help! My local high street is full of mums dressed like their kids!

<p>Doomscrolling can be addictive – and pose serious health risks if done while sitting endlessly on the toilet</p>
Voices

My doctor ordered me to stop doomscrolling for medical reasons

<p>‘If I hadn’t been arrested, my behaviour would have escalated to another level to becoming a “proper stalker” – it would have got the better of me,’ one anonymous stalker admits</p>
Features

Can stalkers be rehabilitated – and do they deserve our compassion?

<p>Meghan Markle shared a video of herself dancing with Harry</p>
Voices

Don’t bash Meghan for twerking – I did something worse while pregnant

<p>‘If the content is inauthentic, it can leave a bad taste. But when Meghan’s garden bounty is so delicious, who cares whether she did or didn’t grow it?’</p>
Voices

Give Meghan a break – little ‘cheats’ make the social whirl go round

<p>Across the UK, 2.7 million children have no father at home, representing almost one in five of all dependent children</p>
Features

Do my kids really need a male role model?

<p>Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner reportedly wants to strip middle-class families of child benefit handouts (Stefan Rousseau/PA)</p>
Voices

What Rayner’s crackdown on child benefit will mean for mums like me

<p>‘Ozempic tongue’ is the latest side effect to blight users of the weight-loss drugs </p>
Voices

I shed two stone on weight-loss drugs – then got ‘Ozempic tongue’

<p></p>
Features

I can’t get my kids out of my bed and it’s starting to impact my life

<p>The challenge of self-care is there is no ceiling: It’s a never-ending activity of quick fixes</p>
Features

I spend £8,000 a year on self-love – have I got it all wrong?

<p>‘Ozempic tongue’ is the latest side effect to blight users of the weight-loss drugs </p>
Voices

I shed two stone on weight-loss drugs – then got ‘Ozempic tongue’

<p></p>
Features

I can’t get my kids out of my bed and it’s starting to impact my life

<p>The challenge of self-care is there is no ceiling: It’s a never-ending activity of quick fixes</p>
Features

I spend £8,000 a year on self-love – have I got it all wrong?

<p></p>
Lifestyle

An app says my kids’ food isn’t healthy – I’m now emptying my kitchen

News

‘It was so embarrassing’: 30 times things went wrong on set

<p>‘People online have been blown away because it is, without a shred of a doubt, an amazing thing to do for your children’</p>
Voices

This might be the best parenting idea Meghan’s ever had

<p>I eat within an eight-hour window starting from midday and fast for the remaining 16 hours (most of it while I’m asleep)</p>
Lifestyle

I don’t eat before noon – but I worry it’s a bad idea

<p>Yin and Gaz are contestants on the BBC’s Race Across the World – and separated after 31 years of marriage</p>
Voices

Would you go on Race Around the World with your ex? I would

<p>The parent WhatsApp groups never stop – even in the Easter holidays </p>
Voices

Nothing is more toxic than a school parents’ WhatsApp group

<p>Katy Perry and an all-female crew are set to fly into space on Jeff Bezos rocket</p>
Voices

I was a people pleaser, too – but going to space is a step too far

<p>The cost of renewing a British passport has jumped to £94.50 – a 25 per cent increase in two years </p>
Voices

I’m not the only British tourist with a passport horror story

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