In Bed With Neil Moodie

In 2011 at the age of 15 Rosie Tapner was discovered by Storm Model Management at the Birmingham Clothes Show Live, and within weeks became the face of Balenciaga's 2012 campaign shot by Fashion Royalty Steven Meisel. Rosie hit the ground running with modelling and was suddenly THE New British face of the moment being tipped as the next Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne. Within a year she had become a Vogue cover star, was in the Chloe, Burberry and Selfridges campaigns and walking many of the major fashion shows… But then something happened!!! Rosie retracted from the fashion industry as quickly as she had been thrusted into it, completely re-thinking her life trajectory. Rosie tells me about her transition from modelling into becoming a Sports TV presenter, and how she protected her mental and physical well being.

My guest on this episode is my dear friend, top fashion illustrator Nuno da Costa. Born in London to Portuguese parents, he opted to leave studying Modern Languages and Hispanic and Latin American cultural at uni to pursue his first love of art, choosing a career in fashion illustration. HIs love of fashion photography and collaborating with hair and make up artists in the fashion industry, has allowed him to create a singular style of illustration that he has now become famous for. Now residing in Portugal he is the current Official Illustrator to Vogue Portugal, and is the first illustrator in over a decade to be given a Vogue Cover with his work.

Tom Chapman, founder of the Lions Barber collective and Model turned TV presenter, and myself discuss raising awareness about mens mental health outside of metropolitan cities, following a recent research conducted by Ironmongery Direct, in collaboration with charity Mind, which has shown that male construction workers are three times more likely to die from suicide than the average UK man, and half of UK trades people experience mental health issues due to work. Tom Chapman is not only an award winning founder of Lions Barber Collective, but also multi published author, public speaker and Internationally renowned barber. Rosie Tapner is a TV Presenter, Model, as well as ambassador for Well Being For Women and Children’s Air Ambulance.

My guest on this episode is Maranda Widlund. Maranda’s Swedish mother who sadly passed away quite young was a hedonistic Model, living her life to the max, packing in an inordinate amount of drink and drugs. Miranda’s father, Gavin Hodge was one of the first “celebrity” hairdressers in the swinging 60’s of London, who also packed into his life an inordinate amount of drink, drugs and sex. Growing up amongst this chaos Miranda managed to forge her own life, and become one of the most lauded hairstylists in the US. Her sister Gavanndra who is on episode Ep 4, launched today, released her first book in 2020, The Consequences of Love, a best selling memoir which examines grief, addiction, trauma and what it means to come to terms with the past.

My guest on this episode is Gavanndra Hodge. She has worked in newspapers and magazines for over twenty years, including the Daily Mail, the Independent and ES Magazine. Gavanndra is the sister of my guest on EP 5 Maranda Widlund, launching today too. She was the deputy editor and acting editor of Tatler. In 2018 she left Tatler and became a freelance writer, contributing to publications including the Sunday Times, The Times and the Telegraph. In 2020 during the 1st covid lockdown, Gavanndra released her first ever book, The Consequences of Love, a memoir which examines grief, addiction, trauma and what it means to come to terms with the past. The book became an instant best seller and catapulted Gavanndra into the spotlight, as she shared her story about growing up with her father Gavin Hodge, one of the first “celebrity” hairdressers in the swinging 60’s of London who packed into his life an inordinate amount of drink, drugs and sex, but also about how amongst all the chaos of her teenage life, her younger sister Candy, sadly passed away suddenly whilst on a family holiday.