ZOE HARDMAN
THE RADIO PRESENTER SPEAKS CANDIDLY ABOUT BODY ISSUES, EMBRACING HER INNER CHILD AND HER ‘DREAM’ JOB
Whether she’s hosting her radio show, walking the red carpet or filming style videos for her Instagram followers, Zoe Hardman always radiates confidence and style. But, she tells hello!, she hasn’t always felt this way.
“I don’t want my kids to go through what I went through in my early 20s, which was attaching value and worth to a dress size,” says the star who is mum to Luna, five, and four-year-old Kit with her husband, former rugby union player, Paul Doran Jones, and stepmum to his daughter Isla. “I had a very bad eating disorder off the back of it. They mustn’t grow up feeling like that. They’re worth so much more.”
Zoe, who just landed her “dream job” covering for Amanda Holden on the Heart Breakfast show with Jamie Theakston, is adamant about teaching her children what’s really important in life. “One of my biggest focuses at home is to make sure my children know they are kind, clever, funny, bright – and pretty, of course. But it’s not everything.
“I was fed this whole thing about being beautiful and it doesn’t mean anything. Be a good person and know your worth. That’s all that matters.”
LITTLE TEACHERS
She is learning from her children, too. Zoe is fronting Tu clothing’s 2022 spring- summer collection, which wants people to “dress for joy this summer” and take life lessons from youngsters; which she’ll soon have a chance to put into practice on a family holiday in Ibiza, where
‘I make sure my children know they are kind, clever, funny, bright — and pretty, of course. But it’s not everything’
she and Paul tied the knot in 2017, joined by her friends Zara and Mike Tindall and covered exclusively by hello!.
“The kids are my biggest teachers. They help me embrace my inner child,” she says. “I think we can learn a lot from our children with the way they dress and play. Kids love to wear what makes them feel great and don’t give a second thought to other people’s opinions. Luna is so alive and fun. She’ll be wearing her pink sparkly wellies with her ballet tutu and some sort of fluffy hat. It’s all about reprogramming that inner monologue that tells us we can’t wear that – we’re ‘too old’, or the item is ‘too bright’.
‘We can learn a lot from our children with the way they dress and play’
ALARMING STUDY
“Tu has done some sad, but not shocking research – we say over 1,000 negative comments to ourselves every single year. I think in my first year of motherhood, I probably said double that.”
It’s been an “on- going journey to selfconfidence”, she says. “After I gave birth for the first time, I remember standing in front of the mirror and not being able to understand who I was or what I wanted to wear. It took me a really long time to find my way back to enjoying fashion again.”
After having many open conversations about motherhood, Zoe and her best friend Georgia Dayton launched the award-winning blog and podcast Made by Mammas. Together, they have hosted a range of celebrity guests and been praised for their honesty. “I’m working on this every single day,” Zoe says. “I may be able to sit here and speak confidently today but tomorrow I might have a wobble. I’m turning 40 this year and there’s a lot of pressure on women at this age to look a certain way. You have to block out the noise and just take it in little steps, day by day. That’s how I do it.”
To see and buy the range, visit tu. co. uk and selected Sainsbury’s stores.