At the end of the day… Katie Piper

on her hit podcast, tiger king and the joys of a good clean

There have been some real lows of lockdown. It’s been stressful being in the house with my husband Richard and two children. But there have been good times, too. I taught my eldest daughter, Belle, how to ride a bike without stabilisers. And I’ve been potty-training Penelope. To be there for those things, not on an early morning commute, has been really special. But I have to be honest: I am not always positive.

I started planning my podcast way before lockdown but, since coronavirus, the listening figures have gone through the roof. Because I’ve been so open about my own experiences, I think people kind of felt connected to me. They come up to me on the street or DM me to tell me these amazing stories of adversity. There are two camps: those who overcame their experiences and now enjoy phenomenal success. But the others are stuck in a rut. So I thought I could make a platform to listen to experiences like those.

I get really nervous before we record, because some of my guests are a bit intimidating. I worry they’re more intelligent than me. So it takes a lot of research, and I’ll stick Post-its all around my laptop with notes on. But when I do it, I really enjoy it. It’s like having a coffee with them. A recent guest was Matt Willis. I was so nervous because I loved Busted as a kid. He didn’t hold back: he was so honest. He’s a real person, with real hurt, and we found common emotional ground.

A lot of my work requires silence, so that we can record. In lockdown, that means working when the kids are in bed. So I’m really looking forward to working normal hours and having my evenings back. Even my home office got taken over for home schooling. I’ve been working in the loo.

We were clichéd in our lockdown viewing : we loved Tiger King. We were gutted when it finished. I’ve heard they’re making a new series set in the Tiger King animal park so I can’t wait for that.

We’re doing more cooking than normal. We joined Whatsapp groups on our street in east London, trying to find flour. We found a garden centre that was selling bags for a fiver. We bake a lot of cakes even when it’s no one’s birthday, and we do curries with homemade naan bread. We’ve basically been going through the BBC Good Food app. Cooking is like our meditation: it gives us purpose and structure and something to look forward to.

I tried to get into meditation. I even did a course. But I found it hard. I sort my head out at the gym or on a run. Before lockdown I got into hot yoga too.

If I’m angry, by the time I have finished exercising, I have processed it.

I love tidying up at night.

I Dettol the surfaces, tidy toys, load the dishwasher, put the dishes away, straighten the sofa cushions and then I can go to bed with a clear head. In the morning it’s a fresh start.

I take my phone to bed, which I know is really bad. I scroll through Amazon or ASOS. It’s no wonder I have unhinged dreams! I’ve dreamt I’m losing my job and shouting at my family, then I wake up. But it’s just the uncertainty of the times. Katie Piper’s Extraordinary People podcast is available now