05 November 2023 , 07:00
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Multitasking seems to come easy to “mumfluencer” Giovanna Fletcher, who has gone from lone blogger to best-selling author, podcaster and a friendly voice of reason and comfort for a generation of women, including the Princess of Wales.
As we chat over the phone, Giovanna, 38, juggles deliveries to her door with telling us about her new album and her relationship with husband Tom, also 38.
Speaking ahead of her recent 20-year anniversary with the McFly singer, she says, “We’ve known each other for 25 years and been together for 20 this month – it’s a big old time for us. I don’t feel like we have to be all flashy and go big on an anniversary, but I think we’ll put the kids to bed and have a takeaway. We’ll be very, very happy with that.”
Pursuing their careers while raising their sons – Buzz, nine, Buddy, seven, and five-year-old Max – hasn’t been easy, she explains, but the couple appear to be an unbreakable team.
“I think self-awareness is really, really important,” she says. “So when you’re being a bit of a plonker, acknowledge it. Humour has also been a massive thing for us, knowing when something is ridiculous and being able to laugh at it. Patience is very important too. All couples have their moments and you realise there are phases that might have nothing to do with you, that you have to ride through and not be afraid to talk about because you’re a team.”
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Giovanna Fletcher has gone from lone blogger to best-selling author (Lorna Roach / OK! Magazine)
Giovanna with husband Tom and their three sons (Instagram/@tomfletcher)Adding to her already impressive skill set, Giovanna – who won I’m A Celebrity in 2020 – has just released an album. But it’s not the kind you might expect from a popstar’s wife with an impressive set of lungs herself. Happy Mum Happy Baby: The Sleep Album is a compilation of music and sounds to help children sleep.
“Over the years, we’ve become quite fixated on sleeping,” she says, laughing. “Tom and I would go to bed and say ‘good luck’ to each other before our heads hit the pillow because we never knew what the night would bring.”
The album is the wild card in her career so far, but it’s maybe not a surprise given that music is such a huge part of the Fletcher household “You know, music has become our family’s version of playing sports together,” she tells us. “The kids are constantly going into Tom’s office where all the instruments are and having a go on the drums or trying out the guitar.”
Buzz has even been allowed to watch his dad in action this year on McFly’s summer tour – which also marked two decades since the band was formed. “He stands at the side of the stage with his own guitar that’s not plugged in and his earbuds in so he can hear what some of the guys are playing and he plays along and completely rocks out!”
Between recording her weekly Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast and bringing up their boys, Giovanna also finds time to focus on another project close to her heart. As patron of the CoppaFeel! breast cancer awareness charity, she’s at the helm of many of its treks, leading men and women everywhere from the Pembrokeshire Coast to the Himalayas.
Giovanna was crowned Queen of the Jungle in 2020 (Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)She recently completed a 100km, five-day trek to Mont Blanc in the Chamonix Valley, joined by celebrity friends including Kelsey Parker, the widow of The Wanted’s Tom Parker, and TOWIE’s Pete Wicks. It’s “challenging”, she says, but adds that it gives her a high like no other. “It was my eighth trek and every time I’m like, ‘Well, we’ve created magic, we can’t do that again,’ but somehow they’re just incredibly inspiring every single time.
“It’s challenging emotionally and mentally as well as physically, but seeing people overcome different obstacles is incredible. It’s the most rewarding, life-affirming thing ever. And the chats we have are massive. There’s something about walking that just opens your heart and words come tumbling out.”
Pete Wicks seems an unlikely companion for such an emotionally charged experience, but Giovanna laughs when we suggest this.
“I absolutely adore the man,” she says. “He came on the Sahara trek and I don’t think he understands how much his team adored him. Seeing him work with a team and the different ways he encourages people was phenomenal.”
No one could accuse Giovanna, whose brother is former TOWIE star Mario Falcone, of resting on her laurels or riding on her husband’s coattails. While “influencer” is a bona fide career nowadays, that wasn’t the case when she started her blog in 2014 and she says it took guts to put it all out there. “When I started sharing online it felt like everyone else had smiling kids and pristine white bed sheets and everything was hunky dory,” she says. “I got messages saying it was a relief to see what I was sharing, but it was also a relief for me to know that other people were feeling the same way as me. I was living that life at the time and I wanted to share that it wasn’t all clean sheets and smiles, it’s tougher than it looks and we’re all just trying to battle our way through.”
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Giovanna with Tom, his bandmates and Emma Willis in 2003 (Getty Images)Sharing the warts and all of parenting online is par for the course for many celebrities now and Giovanna couldn’t be more thrilled. “I think it’s absolutely incredible,” she says. “As new mums come into the fold, maybe from the Love Island generation, it’s important that those conversations continue and the younger influencers who are having children now keep sharing. Younger generations used to be a bit more filtered in what they were posting, so seeing them share in this new light is the most encouraging thing ever because it gets away from that picture-perfect stuff and helps everyone feel more secure in who they are.”
Following the success of her blog, she started her podcast in 2017 and in 2020 secured the guest who rocketed its profile – the Princess of Wales. Kate spoke about whether she experienced “mum guilt” (“Yes, absolutely – and anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying!” Kate said) and used the opportunity to champion the importance of early years care.
Given that their working relationship and friendship has continued, might we see Kate pull on her walking boots for a CoppaFeel! hike? “I’d love to have her on a trek,” Giovanna says. “We could share our snacks and have a little walk and talk, but I think the logistics would probably be a bit tricky!”
So who else would Giovanna like to entice into her recording studio?
“I’m totally obsessed with [Dawson’s Creek actor] James Van Der Beek at the moment,” she says. “He shares his family life online and speaks so beautifully about raising kids, his own upbringing and the effect his mum has had on him. I’d love to have a chat with him.”
Aware that she needs a healthy work/life balance away from her brand, Giovanna says she makes sure she finds time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life – including watching I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. She was already a huge fan before she took part in the 2020 series, and can’t wait for it to be back on TV later this year.
“I’ve always loved the show. When it gets to that really lovely time of year in the lead up to Christmas and it’s getting darker at night, we snuggle in and watch it. It was an incredible time in my life, I absolutely loved it.
“My advice to anyone going in is to just be yourself. You’re there for three weeks so make the most of it and don’t take it too seriously. Because when else are you going to do anything like that again?”
Happy Mum Happy Baby: The Sleep Album is out now via Decca Records