Talking To The Living

Fiona O'Carroll has played Maria Brown in Mrs Brown's Boys since the very first episode, opposite her dad Brendan as Mrs Brown himself. The character only exists because a business partner vanished with the family's money when Fiona was eight, and Brendan needed cash in hand. Years later, with her marriage over and her feelings switched off, Fiona flew to Peru for ayahuasca. In this episode of Talking to the Living, Stuart Michael sits down with Fiona O'Carroll to trace the story from a family pub to the Pavilion in Glasgow and the BBC. She explains why her dad avoids rehearsals, why the evening taping usually makes the final cut and how a midnight call from Anjelica Huston turned his first book into a film. She opens up about leaving a relationship that began when she was 16, and the 14 ceremonies she did over the next two years. And she describes the figure at the end of her bed while she was heavily pregnant, the one she believes was the brother she never met. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Cold open: Mrs Brown's Boys, Peru and five years of counselling in a weekend (00:03:38) Born 18 months after her parents lost their first son (00:09:43) Why Brendan hates rehearsals, and why the evening show usually airs (00:13:52) Margaret Thatcher's personal butler (00:15:07) The pub, the partner and the family holiday that cost everything (00:16:58) Men with guns at the door, and a blind date night that needed an MC (00:18:44) Mrs Brown, invented on the spot for a radio producer (00:19:49) The midnight call from Anjelica Huston he thought was a prank (00:21:06) The Pavilion in Glasgow and the road to the BBC (00:27:10) Her marriage, four children and no regrets (00:28:16) Why she never felt safe after her parents split (00:33:06) "Not being allowed to safely be yourself" (00:33:50) The first relationship that has ever felt easy (00:38:45) "Separation is contagious": the friends who disappeared (00:42:35) Going numb after leaving her marriage (00:45:55) Finding the only certified ayahuasca retreat in Peru (00:47:21) The first ceremony: "awful and wonderful all at the same time" (00:48:51) Five years of counselling in a weekend, and why aftercare matters (00:53:26) Hearing voices call her name as a child (00:55:06) The figure at the end of her bed while pregnant with Eli (01:00:44) What she wants next: peace (01:04:01) The story she's been dying to write (01:11:44) Retraining as a tea master, and Irish versus English breakfast GUEST Fiona O'Carroll, Actress, Mrs Brown's Boys Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiona0carroll/ X: https://x.com/OCarrollFiona LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StuartMichaelPsychic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033cMvcyuZIDuS6xRqhdPH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-to-the-living/id1896608417 FOLLOW STUART MICHAEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuartmichaelpsychic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stuartmichaelpsychic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartmichaelpsychic

Bobby Norris spent ten years on The Only Way Is Essex, became the first gay contestant on Celebs Go Dating and took a campaign against homophobic trolling all the way to Downing Street. But long before any of it, a white witch read him at 16, told him he had lived before and named the past life that might explain why he is terrified of flying. In this episode of Talking to the Living, Stuart Michael sits down with Bobby Norris to trace the whole story: the only child in Essex who made his own fun with a Barbie and a stack of holiday brochures, the chance meeting with a producer that had him filming TOWIE within ten days and the trolling over his sexuality that turned him into a campaigner. They get into the recurring dream about his teeth, the shoulder he dislocated on Celebrity SAS and why he wants his 40s to be a year of yes. Stuart reads for Bobby throughout, from the worthwhile work he sees coming next to the new face he predicts will walk into Bobby's love life before the end of the year. One for anyone who has followed Bobby since the Sugar Hut days, and one for anyone who has ever been called an old soul and quietly suspected it might be true. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Welcome Bobby Norris (00:02:14) "I've always been a bit of a witchy poo" (00:03:01) The car Stuart saw vandalised the night before it happened (00:04:41) The care home cat that knew who was next (00:06:07) The white witch who read Bobby at 16 and called his career (00:07:20) A past life as an RAF pilot and a lifelong fear of flying (00:10:38) Little Bobby: an only child in Essex (00:14:36) Coming out without the sit-down conversation (00:31:08) Infidelity, healing and being ready to date again (00:37:39) The trolling that started Bobby's Bill (00:40:44) Downing Street, Theresa May and the fight to change the law (00:45:13) A bath bomb, a chicken ball and the night TOWIE found him (00:51:34) Why Bobby is honest about his surgery (00:56:59) Anxiety, the year of yes and the case for therapy (01:06:13) How real is TOWIE? Producers, phone calls and set-ups (01:15:27) Celebs Go Dating: the first gay contestant (01:20:51) Celebrity SAS: a dislocated shoulder and begging to stay (01:27:01) Teeth falling out, flying without a plane: Bobby's dreams decoded (01:31:08) Stuart's final reading: worthwhile work and a water sign on the way GUEST Bobby Norris, TV Personality Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbycnorris/ LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StuartMichaelPsychic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033cMvcyuZIDuS6xRqhdPH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-to-the-living/id1896608417 FOLLOW STUART MICHAEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuartmichaelpsychic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stuartmichaelpsychic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartmichaelpsychic

Pandora Christie hosts Heart's mid-morning show, weekdays 10 to 1. Before any of that she was in and out of care from the day she was born, with a mum who turned living on the street and finding food into a game. At nine, she watched that mum have a heart attack in front of her. And she has never once seen her father's face. In this episode of Talking to the Living, Stuart Michael sits down with Pandora Christie to trace the road from foster homes in South London to the Heart studio, the flyer job she landed without a driving licence and the acting CV that nearly came undone. There is celeb gossip too: Kim Kardashian, The Rock, Dame Helen Mirren and why Tom Cruise surprised her most. Then Stuart reads a recurring dream Pandora has never understood, a train station, a clock stuck at 2:10 and a man with no face, and lands on the one person she has never talked about. If you've ever listened to Pandora on the way to work, grown up in care, lost a parent far too young or wondered whether the people you've lost, and even the pets, are still close by, this one is for you. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Cold open: footsteps at 2am, and the mum she lost at nine (00:01:58) "I can now see the person behind the voice": 25 years in radio and Heart 10 to 1 (00:03:14) In and out of care from birth, and the mum who made living on the street a game (00:05:33) "Your car can be taken from you, but resilience can't" (00:11:36) Watching her mum have a heart attack at nine (00:13:27) Full-time foster care, and pretending it never happened (00:16:44) Losing her dog, hearing him at 2am, and Stuart on animal spirits (00:18:36) "You can lock it away in a safe and close the door" (00:21:12) The Hoyts: a new family in her teens, and the night she finally talked about her mum (00:24:56) Vet, actress, then radio: the Heart flyer job she took without a driving licence (00:32:28) The acting CV that named David Lynch (00:37:27) Kim Kardashian, The Rock, Dame Helen Mirren and why Tom Cruise surprised her most (00:43:32) The reading: romance, a name and what Stuart sees in five years (00:56:59) The recurring dream: a clock stuck at 2:10 and a man with no face (00:59:13) Stuart reads the dream: the father she has never seen (01:03:04) A birth certificate with dashes where a father's name should be (01:05:33) What's next: the book, the family tree and the fairy tale GUEST Pandora Christie, Heart Radio Presenter Website: https://pandorachristie.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pandorapresenter/ LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StuartMichaelPsychic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033cMvcyuZIDuS6xRqhdPH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-to-the-living/id1896608417 FOLLOW STUART MICHAEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuartmichaelpsychic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stuartmichaelpsychic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartmichaelpsychic

Katie Atkin called off her wedding three months out, after a hen do in Nashville. What came out of that breakup was Girls In Low Places, a country music podcast that has since put her on the CMA red carpet and in a room with Riley Green and Tucker Wetmore. What she has not talked about much is the night terrors she had through the last years of that relationship, and the fact they stopped the moment she left. In this episode of Talking to the Living, Stuart Michael sits down with Katie Atkin to trace the line from a Surrey childhood and vocal nodules at 18 to interviewing Nashville's biggest names in a broad British accent. They talk about the country fans who say she has not earned the right to do it and the ex who stormed out of an argument and came back with his mother. Stuart then reads for her, and a name, a set of months and a warning about money all come through. If you've ever ended something good because your gut would not let you stay, or lain awake wondering whether your dreams are trying to tell you something, this one is for you. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Cold open: night terrors, a hotel lobby and Billy Ray Cyrus (00:02:09) Why country music is suddenly selling out in the UK (00:03:28) Surrey, Hong Kong and the vocal nodules that ended musical theatre (00:13:34) Stuart's past life visions and the Black Forest village he named as a toddler (00:16:58) Chicken Shop Date, but for country music (00:18:41) The country fans who say she has not earned the right (00:21:06) The Nashville hen do that ended her engagement (00:26:43) She wanted Megan McKenna to host it. The email went to spam (00:38:09) "It's not the artist you need to look out for. It's the tour managers" (00:42:56) He stormed out of the argument and came back with his mum (00:45:58) The reading: a man called Scott, and the months that change everything (00:49:22) "Hold on to it, leave it where it is" (00:55:06) Libra, Aquarius and the January birthday Stuart is looking for (01:01:08) The night terrors that stopped the day she left GUEST Katie Atkin, Host of Girls In Low Places YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GirlsInLowPlacesPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegirlsinlowplaces/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6SMbykxzAg7WnWb1veoyZX LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StuartMichaelPsychic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033cMvcyuZIDuS6xRqhdPH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-to-the-living/id1896608417 FOLLOW STUART MICHAEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuartmichaelpsychic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stuartmichaelpsychic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartmichaelpsychic

James Barr wakes the country up on Hits Radio every weekday. He has also performed a comedy show about his own abusive relationship more than 130 times. And once, in a bathroom in Montreal, something made him walk straight back out. In this episode of Talking to the Living, Stuart Michael sits down with James Barr to find out how a comedian known for quick jokes ended up writing an hour about the years he spent with someone violent. They cover the panic attack that made him say the word abuse out loud and the sentence his ex said that proved the violence was a choice. He also explains why he thinks the queer community stays quiet about the harm it does to itself. Then Stuart reads for him, and tells him he may have a gift of his own. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Cold open: a bathroom in Montreal and the lights that would not stop flickering (00:02:13) Straight off the plane from Australia, and the worst question ever asked in the sea (00:05:33) Why write a comedy show about domestic abuse, and why sensitivity keeps us silent (00:09:08) Everyone told him not to do it, including an AI (00:10:24) Giving the shame back, and the moment he decided to write it (00:13:08) "I've performed it over 130 times now around the world, and that healed me" (00:15:18) "I thought I'd get gay bashed in the street, not in my own house by another gay person" (00:20:14) The panic attack at a Botox appointment, and the stranger who changed everything (00:22:13) "Oh, I haven't been violent for a while" (00:24:57) His favourite joke, and the two people at brunch (00:27:12) Why the queer community stays quiet about the harm it does to itself (00:38:18) James's own gift, and the night his friends ran out of a restaurant (00:40:19) How Stuart switches it off, and what the zip actually means (00:44:53) The Pride deck reading: someone is already in your perimeter (00:54:10) "I believe that there may well be a mediumship ability with you too" (00:59:59) The wasp in the duvet, and what a five year recurring dream was saying (01:01:37) Croydon, Eastbourne and knowing at eight (01:03:40) "My mum said it was like her son had died and she had a new one" (01:04:24) "I'm definitely editing something out there" (01:09:01) "It's always the ugly people that are mean to you" (01:16:26) Deflection, burnout and the sadness he hasn't reached yet (01:20:52) The UK tour, Cardiff and a new Edinburgh show GUEST James Barr, Comedian and Radio Presenter Tickets and tour dates: https://www.jamesbarrcomedy.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbarrcomedy/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesbarrcomedy LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StuartMichaelPsychic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033cMvcyuZIDuS6xRqhdPH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-to-the-living/id1896608417 FOLLOW STUART MICHAEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuartmichaelpsychic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stuartmichaelpsychic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartmichaelpsychic