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Today I'm going on a style journey with the British
television presenter and Formula One host for Sky Sports, the
vivacious and energetic Natalie Pinkham.
Hello and welcome, Natalie. A bit of pressure.
I need to be vivacious today. You do need to be.
I mean, up your game. Yeah, right.
I can't think of many better settings to do it.
Look at this with you here. And we last saw each other in
Bahrain for the for the Grand Prix.
So actually that was the first time I've ever been on a
busman's holiday where I've actually gone away to the
location and not worked at the race.
I could get used to that. Oh, it's so lovely.
It's amazing to my kids. There was 14 kids in total.
But then all my friends, we just had such a great time, didn't
we? It is.
It's a a sort of unsung hero Bahrain, isn't it?
It's a really beautiful, calm, gorgeous little Oasis.
I would say it's my favorite paddock actually, on the on the
whole calendar because it's beautiful.
Just comes alive at night. Those palm trees.
It's my favorite paddock because it's the only one I know.
Well, we need to take to a few more for starters.
But you're right. Bahrain.
Yeah, you've, you've set the bar very high now.
Very, very high. But it is the the excitement of
the lights go, you know, the sun going down and that fly past
and, and then the lights coming up.
Yeah, it's amazing. And it's, it's great racing
there because the drivers of the teams know it so well because we
test there all the time. So it's a track that they
understand the nuances of and it's sort of really separates
and it gives you a sense of the pecking order in a way that you
might not get at other tracks. So you get to Bahrain, it's a
marker in the sand. And you think, OK, now I know
who's going to be competitive this year.
And do you ever go out in the safety car to get a feel for the
track? There's an idea.
No. Do you know what we do on a
Thursday night? We run the track.
I, I heard you say that on one of your podcasts.
That's amazing. It's really good because it's,
they're, they're normally about 5K.
So it's a nice distance. I mean, some people you know, in
the paddock do at 5 laps you're like, OK, one's fine for walking
it or you can take a bike out. So we, it's a really good way to
familiarize yourself with the track, reconnect with the track
and just a great way to keep fit.
So it's do you feel the ups and downs very much so in a way that
you don't appreciate when you see it on telly.
So you don't understand the undulations and the inclines and
you know the, the challenge that the, the drivers have somewhere
like Holland, for example, the banking is intense.
It's not until you get out there and you're running it going.
I can't believe the Formula One car comes through here.
I you've got to get in the safety car.
Yes, I've worked on that. I have been taken out in the two
seater with Anthony Davidson, who's on our team.
He took me around Barcelona, which was just amazing.
Actually, I did and then I've, I've done a few hot laps with
some of the drivers. So I did it with George Russell
at the beginning of the year. So I've, I've done it a few
times. Great.
Because you could explain what you're feeling and what the
drivers would be fine. Anyhow, I'm not telling you your
job. I have you.
Have you done a hot lap before? I I have, I've been down to
Goodwood and also, where's the other one down often.
Did you? No, it wasn't.
Oh my God, yes, I did. Racy ladies at Silverstone.
I feel like I've seen you at Silverstone.
I've with a, you know, helmet on and.
Yeah, No, no, no. And it was, it was in aid of
Tommy's campaign. It was about 25 years ago and it
was fantastic. And we were doing F1 tyre
changes. I mean, I think we got it down
to about 10 seconds. I mean, now it's sort of 2.8.
Yeah that's the world record is 1.82 setting Qatar in 2023 by
McLaren Oh my God 1.82 but how can we scroll back for a second?
How did you get involved in F1 in the 1st place?
So I've always a big fan of the sport grew up near Silverstone
so went to the rate the British Grand Prix with my family kind
of appointment to view television ski Sunday rug rugby
special and Formula One. We would just sit and just
consumer sport all weekend, but Sundays were just like family
bonding sport, you know. And then the BBC were looking
for a pit lane reporter and offered me the job kind of out
of the blue and I thought, God, that sounds so much fun.
But I only had the knowledge of a fan and when I got there I
realised how much you actually need to know and understand the
nuances of the sport, but also just the way the processes that
have to be followed, if that makes sense.
So if you want an interview with Lewis Hamilton, you have to do
it at this time, through this person.
Do this, don't do that, whatever.
And it I was a rabbit in the headlights.
It was a real assault of the senses.
Like overwhelmingly, Sir, I remember just working and going.
I can't do this. But to come at it from a point
of view of having a complete and utter passion for the sport.
How exciting. Yeah, great.
But then it's also quite intimidating because you've
followed this duty of care to get it right.
But then I thought, I think, and I hope that my intention is
anyway to always ask the questions that the fans weren't
asking. And it's not about me.
I'm like a conduit for the fan. Yeah.
So because you're being a yes, you're being a conduit for the
fun. So just just talk about
emotions, work out what makes them tick.
You know, don't steam in and ask something crass.
Certainly don't ask them a question that is, I know this
might sound a strange thing to say, but self promoting.
So I think often, particularly women, and I'm sure I've been
guilty of this myself over the years, you want to justify your
position, say you belong there. So you almost load your
questions with too much information, too many stats to
say, look, I know my stuff, I've done my homework.
Actually, you don't need to do that because you're there.
So therefore you've earned your place.
So have the confidence to ask very simple questions and what,
when, how, why, and just get the sense of emotion from the driver
in that moment. That is really, really
insightful. I need to take that on board.
Actually, no, but just talk to me about women presenters in in
F1 because that this has not been a historic thing.
No, I mean, we're definitely a growing club, which is great.
Definitely massively helped by Drive to Survive because I think
what Drive to Survive was so clever at doing was opening this
up as a sport and saying actually, you know, there's
there's something that everyone to enjoy in this sport.
And so they were able to deify and humanise the drivers at the
same time, which I thought was so clever because then you felt
invested in the drivers. So here we are.
I mean, the amount of times I've walked through airports with
drivers and they've haven't been recognised.
This is going back 10 years now. Because they just, they're kind
of small little jockeys, aren't they?
And they, you know what, as you might a rugby player, your eyes
might be drawn to them because they're massive.
And then you go, oh, you know, that's James Haskell or whatever
because big lad, Oh yeah, I recognise him.
But with, with Formula One drivers, they could sort of get
away with not being noticed. And then you realise actually
when you dig a bit deeper. And this is what I hope Sky F1
have done as well as Drive to Survive is understand their
backstories, because they've all taken a massive amount of
commitment, not just from the driver, but from their families,
from everyone involved. You know, I remember Max talking
about how it's, you know, they say it takes village to raise a
child, but I mean, it takes an army to raise an F1 driver.
So much sacrifice. And therefore once you
understand that and that's what driver to Survive was so good
at, you recognise what it takes, how much it matters.
And then when you watch them race, you're really in their
corner. It's interesting because Max
Verstappen's at a point now in his career where he can, well,
he's got 4 world titles under his belt, He's still only 26.
He could actually take a year out.
And he said, you know what, I actually, I'd quite like the
onus not to be on me. My whole family's focus has been
on me and my career. It'd be quite nice to give them
something back. He's just had a baby with his
girlfriend, so you might find that he takes a year out and
then comes back and decides where to go from there.
But I sort of digressing a bit now, But your original question
was about ladies in the sport. And what's so interesting is
that 41% of our viewers of the fans of the sport are women.
That's extraordinary. I would have guessed that sort
of 30%. Yeah.
Wow. 41 and and rising, by the way.
Wow. So as recently as 2021, our
sport was 91% white and 88% male, which isn't good enough.
No, but thank goodness for Lewis Hamilton because he has been
this incredible trailblazer for every minority group, whether
it's ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, he stands up
and speaks up for all of them. And because he's got 7 World
Championships under his belt, people listen and he sets the
agenda, which is great. You know, you've got him over at
the Met, the Met Ball, which is stunning.
And, and he's a massive advocate for women because all the people
on his table at the Met Ball were women and black ladies,
which was amazing. And my fear, I suppose, is that
we may lose some of that impetus when he eventually does retire
from the sport. So I, I think we've got to that
tipping point now actually where he's made, been so disruptive
and really kind of made people sit up and take notice and
actually action change that. Hopefully when he does retire,
which I hope doesn't happen anytime soon, but when he does,
there'll be enough people of all sorts of different backgrounds
in the sport because socio economic backgrounds are a
massive barrier as well. It's expensive to be an F1
driver, to go up through the echelons of motorsport and to
get to the top. So it's definitely getting
better. We've still got a way to go.
But what struck me being in Bahrain and being so close,
literally in that Mercedes garage, which was such a
privilege, is it's like fashion. There are so many different
careers within F1. You don't have to be the
designer or the driver. You, you can be touching that
car, changing, you know, there there were women in the pit lane
too. So yeah, I think I, I think
Drive to Survive. You're absolutely right.
Has has really expose the sport to so many people in the best
possible way completely. And there are so many young
women messaging me now and saying how much they love the
sport. It's music to my ears.
I just love it. I remember coming in 15 years
ago on like day one, looking around and not seeing other
women and thinking and actually there were kind of stereotypical
roles catering PR, the grid girls.
That was it. I mean the odd outlier like
Claire Williams or Manisha Carltonborn who were leading
teams, but then, you know, where's the next generation
coming through. So F1 Academy has been
absolutely amazing, some brilliant moves on behalf of
Susie Wolf and her team by brilliant.
Really done extraordinary things, hasn't she?
Yeah, she's very cool. And you know, she's test tested
an F1 car. She's obviously been a a role
model to so many to want to emulate, but her points the same
as yours. There are so many roles.
You don't have to limit yourself to anyone.
And really what we need to do is bring lots of girls into STEM
subjects as early as school to say this is a viable career
option for you. You can do it.
Don't assume. I mean, why would you assume a
boy would be better at STEM subjects than than you?
And by the way, there is nothing, nothing physical that
precludes a woman from driving an F1 car.
Can you just for, for our listeners point of view, can you
just explain exactly what Susie Wolf is doing?
Toto Wolff's wife? Well, Toto's her husband.
But yeah, I'm only joking. I'm only joking.
But listen, it's important distinction.
But Toto is so supportive of her.
And I think what's great about their marriage actually is the
sense of parity between the two. Even though he's, you know,
incredibly successful leader of men and women, but he really
does back her every step of the wave of what she's doing.
I think what she's been so smart at is bringing in
unapologetically female brands and saying, you know what, it's
OK to wear makeup and beautiful clothes and love racing.
You know, the two aren't mutually exclusive.
So in the past, and I'm being guilty of it myself, of being a
bit of a tomboy, an expression I don't actually like anymore
because it's a misnomer. But to embrace your femininity
and your love of racing and it's cool to do so.
And she's supporting a women's, a female only, yeah, a female
only racing series that sits on Formula One weekends.
The great part of this is, is it gives track time to young women.
And that's the crucial thing, this kind of outliers rule of
10,000 hours, just just building up your experience and then
getting a seat in in a another series after that.
That will be single seater as well, but also you'll be racing
against boys and men. But the great thing about this
is because there's been so much support from it from Stefano
Dominicale and the other the rest of the Formula One world.
Each of the teams is partnered with a team in Formula One.
So Aston Martin, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, they all have
their their F1 Academy teams. And then what's great is that
the spotlights well and truly on the girls competing so they can
show their talent to the world. Fantastic.
Bravo. Yeah, Bravo, Susie.
Yeah, she's great. Yeah.
Now, another big project of yours at the moment, I know is
you Co founded Flak stock. Yeah.
Tell me a bit. So I was close friends to
Caroline Flak, which I'm sure you and most of your listeners
will know, tragically, horrifically lost her life.
She took her own life in 2020. Can't believe it.
That's that's crazy how quick. Hard to believe.
Actually, it's hard to believe in yet feels a long time since
I've seen her. So, you know, that's what
happens when you lose someone close to you.
You you do lose that sort of immediacy of their presence.
The laugh. Yeah.
The voice, the smell, the smell, like everything.
Yeah, it does fade. And that sort of panics you
slightly, doesn't it? And obviously there was a huge
amount of pain around her suicide because there inevitably
always is anger, shame, guilt, all the emotions, a lot of
toxicity because of the press and the CPS and the police.
And there was just so, it was so layered in such a horrific way.
And then months later, I sort of had a dream about her.
I used to dream about her a lot and I rang her mum and said,
what do you think if we did a little music festival to
celebrate her life and to try and actually change the
narrative a bit about how she's remembered.
And Christine loved that because festivals were kind of Flaky's
things. She just loved them.
So yeah, we set up Flak stock with a group of like, and her
twin sister Jodie and Dawno Porter, Anna Blue, Sarah Tyclip.
There's a there's a, there's sort of a group of us that do
it. And yeah, this is our fourth
year. It's on August the 8th at
Crystal Palace Bowl. And it's been amazing because
we, you know, we want to, we really want to forge a positive
legacy for her in the mental health space because we all knew
she had vulnerabilities, but obviously none of us thought for
a minute that she would take her own life, which was is
devastating. It's and the guilt never goes
away. However much someone says, you
know, you can't blame yourself. You always wonder what if I
constantly scroll back over our last messages to each other.
But I also realise, you know, it's great to do this feel good
music event every year. And we do get amazing music
acts. I mean, we've had everyone from
Tom Grennan, Tom Walker, Pixie Lott, Ronan Keating, Fleurice,
Louise Redknapp, like we've had everyone like, perform for
nothing. This year's line up is looking
great as well. Tell me.
I don't want to jinx it. Like in case.
Yeah, but they're big. Like we're talking, we're
talking some really big names making comebacks.
Oh, how exciting got to come. And how many?
What's the size of the audience? So I think there'll be about
10,000 and we divide the money up equally between Choose Love,
Charlie Waller Trust, which is suicide prevention, charity Mind
and Samaritans. And they're all causes that were
kind of close to our hearts for obvious reasons.
But what we realised is it's great to have this feel good
event once a year. It's great to bring people
together. It's a safe space.
Very, very female, actually very family oriented.
Yeah, we realised a lot of women sort of their coming together,
but we also recognise that we need a connective thread through
the year. We can't just sort of prize
people out of their safe space to talk about mental health
because we do have a, we do have like a Wellness area and we do
have speakers come along and it is so it is a safe space.
But then I've anecdotally, we were finding out lots of people
were struggling in the days, weeks and months after flak
stock, myself included. I remember going to the Belgian
Grand Prix straight off the back of it and it was when Sinead
O'Connor died. And I don't even know Sinead
O'Connor, but I could not stop crying.
Triggers. Yeah, it because she had such
Sinead O'Connor had such a sad story.
And then anyway, I, it occurred to me, I thought we've got to do
more between the flax stocks. So now we're doing some really
cool stuff. Although it does actually, it
sort of needs a full Time Team on it, which obviously is hard
to do with children. And we're all working mums and
obviously the F1 calendar is quite uncompromising that to
that extent, but. We're developing an AI app which
we want to roll out for young people.
So what we're finding is that lots of young people don't talk
to adults because they fear judgement.
They won't necessarily go to a parent or a teacher, but they'll
have say you want to connect them with a therapist.
That can take weeks or months to the NHS, by which point, God
forbid, it could be catastrophic.
And then we know that we can do pre emptive measures to stop a
child getting to that critical stage of their mental health
struggle. So this avatar you can curate to
suit you on your say, you can select it's gender, it's accent,
love that background, whatever. Just so that it's relatable.
And say, for example, a teenager has a panic attack in the middle
of the night because they now got an exam the next day, they
can tap into Remy Remy's the working title for this and talk
to Remy and say Remy, I'm struggling what do I do?
And Remy's there for you anytime, day or night.
And it really excites me because now I finally feel as if we're
going to do something really positive for Caroline that could
save lives. Yes.
That's not just raising money that you then redistribute to to
the different, which is very important.
And by the way, I've had unbelievable support from the
world of F1 because obviously it costs money to put this on and
the music acts don't charge anything ever.
But technical riders, I was going to say the the cost is
expensive. Isn't it quite stressful raising
the money? But F1's been amazing.
And it's about, you know, channelling that because
everyone wants to do something in this space because it, it
matters to so many people, doesn't it?
Mental health matters. And also, in the F1 terms, if
you can improve the mental health of every single member of
your staff, imagine the performance gains he's always
going to sell it in on. Yeah, Yeah.
Yeah. In in F1 speak.
Exactly. Now, today we're going on a
style journey. Yes.
So tell me about what you're wearing.
OK. So this is a rare moment that
I'm wearing a dress. I don't think I've ever seen you
in a dress. I don't think I've ever worn a
dress part of my wedding day. This was actually a dress by
Beulah. And Beulah was set up by two
great friends of mine, Lavinia Brennan.
And that's Rufus Isaac and it's an amazing company because
Beulah means going from darkness to light.
And what they do is they empower women by going back to the the
roots of the silk to India and they educate and train the
ladies to make these handmade dresses, which are gorgeous.
I actually got a payout. I've never told anyone.
This might might have to be edited.
I got a payout by the now defunct News of the World for
phone tapping. Good for you.
This is a long, long time ago. I was just part of a group case
and I didn't know what to do with this money because it felt
weird getting it. So I gave it all to Beulah in
the hope that so I'm actually sort of, you know, I have a
vested interest in it, but I didn't do it for that.
I did it because I love these girls and I love what they were
trying to do. Anyway, I remember before I got
married I was to dreamily walk past your shop on the Fulham
Road and hearts and my eyes at your wedding dresses.
Buda actually ended up making me a wedding dress, the only
wedding dress they've ever made. But I I liked walking down the
aisle. Obviously I would have loved to
have bought one of yours, but they made me one from the silks
that they sourced in India and from a sweet lady that they had
trained up. So I liked the back story to
wearing their wedding dress and I've just been with the girls,
hence wearing the dress, But I think I need to probably embrace
my femininity a bit more because I'm much more used to wearing it
really suits you. Does it?
Yes, sort of. So you walk in, I think, gosh,
is it the fraud in a dress? No, don't really don't fab.
I love wearing I love wearing like practicality is a massive
thing in F1. So, but also I love the way you
slung a leather jacket over your shoulders because I think, I
think we're probably quite similar.
We don't like anything too girly and probably tend to not the
tomboy in us, but there's sort of, it's just about bringing
that actually more sportiness into it.
And so you've got a sort of motto leather jacket over your
shoulders. And I and I like that
contradiction between femininity and androgyny, I guess.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I do like androgynous.
Look, I have to say now, you grew up in Northamptonshire.
Yeah. Yeah.
Your mother was a barrister. Yes, still is, my goodness.
Still a full time barrister and a carer for my dad who has
dementia. So she's a busy lady.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you.
But was her style impactful on you?
Funny you should say that because her mum didn't actually
qualify until she was 40. We just thought she made great
flapjack and was an amazing mum. We didn't know there was a great
brain in here as well. Good for her.
I know. And she just went to law school
and then she went down to bar school in London, smashed it.
And we were like. Oh my.
God, so she's a great role model to me that you can sort of
change direction in life. But one thing I always remember
in terms of her style is that because when she first
qualified, she had to wear a wig and gown to court.
That's quite shocking as a child or, you know, as a daughter, but
she would she would sort of like customise the look.
So she she used it. So she always used to like, dye
her hair crazy colours and she always used to wear like bright
colours on her nails and like to try and just sort of personalise
the look of it and, and feminise it.
Yeah. Very androgynous, isn't it, That
weak thing? Absolutely.
But I, yeah. So I've always loved that in her
and I've always sort of followed suit.
I've always sort of tried to, I've had every hairstyle under
the sun and, you know, although this one's been a bit boring and
old now. But anyway, yeah, so Mum's had,
although Mum always used to try and put me in law, Ashley
growing up always. And I'd go, Mum, I just, I'd be
much happier in a pair of brown corduroy dungarees.
And I used to cut my hair short and pretend I was a boy.
Yeah. Now I, I just wanted to come
back to that word, You know, you said, I hate that word, tomboy.
But I read somewhere that you, you passed off into the boys
relay team And and I thought, God, there's, there's a, a
lovely spirit there that of I don't care of what my gender is,
I'm just going to do it. Well, actually, do you know
what? Looking back on it, it's a bit
depressing because there was just, there were no options for
girls that were sporty. They're just, you know, if you
wanted to compete at the highest level, you had to be a boy.
I thought, God, how awful is that?
And was that because of what school you were in?
I think it's because, yeah, girls sport just wasn't
supported in the same way in the school that you were 30 years
ago. Yeah.
Or, or just generally. So we got all the way through to
the national finals and I got busted coming out of the girls
loo and they just said, Pinkham, are you in fact a girl?
And I have. No.
I mean, yes. So we were disqualified.
Can you badger that now? I had a heartbreaking,
ridiculous haircut. I bowl like this.
And I just used to totally flat chested until I was about 15.
So I used to just pretend I was a boy in terms of, you know, but
my daughter even now to Willow is so similar to me.
So she is quite girly in the sense that, you know, she loves
Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter and she, you know,
she's kind of into that scene. But she will always wear like
baggy trousers, little crop tops and or, you know, she's quite
boyish, but she has like long flowing blonde hair.
But she's the only girl on the whole Football League, which I
just think, how is this even happening that 30 years on
you're still the only girl in the whole league.
And she's tough. I mean, she's she's nails and
getting tougher. Yeah.
She like she did this sort of double footed slide tackle and I
was like wincing and this boy was like squealing on.
She went. Should have won a shin pad,
shouldn't he? I was like, you secretly quite.
Yeah. Tag your mum on the side.
She's she's she's very stylish actually.
So she's and she's got some attitude.
I put something on last night and she went I mean, I wouldn't,
but you do you How old eight. Oh my God, I mean you do you.
Where have you even heard that? And what was her issue with what
you were wearing? She just she went.
I just it's not vibing for me. I'm like, where's this chat
coming from? Where these and what were you
wearing describe it? I think she was probably right.
It was a sort of jumpsuit thing that was just didn't, didn't
really flatter me. So I didn't put it back.
All I was going to say, Did you take it off?
Yeah, took it off. And I'll never wear it.
I've sent it back. But she's brutal.
Scrolling back. Do you remember when that moment
when clothes actually had an impact on you?
Yeah, absolutely. I remember.
I remember my first dress For what do they call them back then
We used to have these, like, school balls.
Yeah. And I remember this first dress
and it was like a green velvet, quite short, but like kind of
off the shoulder. But I I've never been that
comfortable with my body. Like, I've always had really
knobbly knees. So I've always liked being
conscious about. Hang on a second.
This is extraordinary. You are super fit.
Super fit. Well, you've run marathons.
You. You're a very sporty family.
Yeah. But I've always been very
conscious of being too muscly. I'm called the greyhound in the
house because that's kind of wire.
Is it battering, though, isn't it?
If my kids see a greyhound like walking down the street, they
go, Mummy, there's a lot of teasing in our family.
So I've always been like conscious on like covering up
parts of my body, which is a bit of a shame actually, because you
should embrace it. Oh, can I just say you're the
same? Embrace it at this age.
Just go for it, get it out there.
I know you're. You're right.
But Mum will always tell you
that she tried to make me pretty and feminine and I wasn't having
any of it. Yeah.
But I I was the same. Yeah.
Two older brothers. I was one of the boys.
Yeah. Yeah.
And then. And suddenly then you're not.
Yeah. Yeah.
And it's interesting, isn't it? Because style is so much about a
sense of self, and you're working that out for so much of
your life. Even now.
I know what I don't like, but I think you're always evolving
that in the chapters of your life, but you probably always
come back to that sort of childhood of what instinctively
feels right for you. And it's totally agree.
And it's more a gut feeling than a working it out because I do
see other people, like other friends of mine.
I've got a good friend called Zoe Hardman who really goes for
it with her fashion. Naomi Schiff on Sky as well
really goes for it and she really does, doesn't she?
I met her at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year, I think.
And she was chatting, we were chatting about clothes because
it, it's quite, there's a lot happening during a Grand Prix
weekend definitely. So how do you go about planning
that? So I've got an amazing friend
who is stylist called Annie Mile.
And Annie totally gets F1 and totally gets me.
So she has all the parts of my body I want to cover up.
She has the bits that I'm comfortable to accentuate and
what I'm not. And she also recognises the
practicalities of an F1 weekend. So for example, you can't wear
heels and you can't wear open toe shoes, so they have to be
flat. So a lot of trainers.
But actually sometimes you can be a bit more experimental and
wears, you know, lovely pumps or you know, there are options, but
Annie finds them for me. But also, you know, if you've
got 3 minute ad break to run to the loo, you've got to be able
to get the backpack, you know, the mic packs off and true.
So actually I dumped down the loo.
I know I have done that, which has happened.
So yes, so jumpsuits, things like that aren't practical.
So actually really what I might go to now and even someone
commented, are you only ever going to wear buggy trousers and
tops now? Well, probably, yeah.
Because that's they're so comfortable.
You've got to be comfortable in the pit lane.
It's got to be practical. But you can also show a bit of
your own sense of style. So, you know, I love waist coats
with like wider trousers. I'm sure that looked, that
looked great. I mean, I love that.
But I know some people don't. A lot of men don't because it's
a rainy bit androgynous. And that's probably probably
why. Get your pins out.
Like, no, thanks. But what's happened isn't my
imagination. But those pit lanes can be
incredible. Well, the tracks can be
incredibly windy, very windy, as I found out in South Korea.
Back in with your skirt above your head.
No. Yes.
Do you know what? This is a great story about
Bernie Eccleston because I didn't know this picture was out
there. But basically the gust of wind,
a snapper got the shot and I found about found out about it
was about to go on in the sun. And I told Bernie Eccleston
about this and he phoned the camera man, the the photographer
and said if that goes to print, your pass won't work at the next
Grand Prix. You don't stitch Natalie up like
that. And I was like, wow, he's a
feminist. Because he was like, you know,
obviously Bernie loved the grid girls and everything else, but
actually he's got two daughters. He has got a lovely wife,
Fabiana, great girl and so actually he's all for sticking
up for girls in the moment. But then I was like, can I just
see the picture and see what my bum looks like and then if it's
OK, I know it just ring my dad a morning before.
Did you see the picture? I never saw it, but but I asked
a couple of people who did and they went.
I know it looks your bum looks quite pre kids.
You see my bum was still quite hurt.
You're an amazing bum. Stop it.
Honestly, in terms of the the sort of getting dressed for
those weekends, do the do does Sky give you any support?
Absolutely. So back 14 years ago when I
first started with Sky, there was definitely, and thank
goodness this this is a phase that's passed.
But there was definitely a sense of dressing girl, all the women
on Sky a certain way. And that was not my style at
all. So don't get me wrong.
I remember that actually, Yeah. And and don't get me wrong, they
those sort of bando dresses look great on girls like my great pal
Kirsty Gallagher wears them and she looks incredible.
But I just just not me. I feel way too self-conscious.
I feel like fiddly and and race one in Australia, they still put
me in this dress and these heels and I was like, Oh no, I looked
so awkward totting around the tottering around.
And I remember one of the girls who I knew was just laughing at
me going what are you wearing? I don't know, you know, it's the
look and they were like, it's not your look.
Like embrace individuality. And actually in fairness, quite
soon after that, Sky recognised that actually people should be
able to celebrate who they are and, you know, and work with
that. So now we do have a lot of help
with that and but Annie's amazing.
She's the one that sources everything for me and she's
quite smart about doing some from High Street, some higher
end bits and then also sustainable stuff.
Yeah, she thinks about what she puts together the looks, and
it's more considered than it might look.
Totally, totally not. What about glam?
Do they provide you with that or do you?
What do you mean hair and makeup?
Yes. Never in 15 years, so never once
had hair. And you can arrive jet lagged.
And the problem was, is that from the beginning, it was
always impossible to get passes for hair and makeup.
Yeah. And now it's sort of not
impossible. But what are you?
What are you going to do? You're going to fly the same
hair and makeup artist all the way around the world.
Or are you going to source local?
But if you source local, you can't guarantee that you'd like
the look that they give you. And equally, you've then got to
get them in to fit in around your schedule.
So actually what Naomi and I tend to do is we'll be in the
office and we'll sort of help each other with our hair makeup.
And so that's what it's great that the team's grown in terms
of the women, we all help each other.
Nice. And so in terms of getting your
own glam and makeup down pat, is that just something you've
learnt through the years? I haven't quite.
There's still a work in progress.
No, not at all. No.
But it's not easy because it is so hot in most pit lanes and
it's quite dirty. And it's like you, you don't
want your makeup caked on, but inevitably you get sweaty and
it's just not very. Yeah, it's it's look, it's one
of those things it's hardly a big price to pay, but you just
sort of learn on the job. And actually, we've got this
great guy, Adam, who who is holds the monitor for you to
watch. And at every race, he has my bag
around his back and I just go and unzip and put, oh, that's
brilliant. And he just stands there holding
the monkey. Yes.
Come on then, Pinky. He's great.
I love that him. I love that.
And do your own hair. Yeah.
And that is actually the bane of my life because my hair is so
unruly. Like if I left it, it's just
thick and it's just curly. And so I'm trying to get a blow
dry. Like if you go to the Middle
East, get brilliant blow dries, amazing blow dries.
But I have to say that wind in Bahrain, by the end of I know,
right, quality day. Yeah.
My hair was just disas. I've never seen your hair look
disastrous, honestly. And I got into the shower that
night and it was just so thick of dust.
Yeah, yeah. Sand.
Yeah. And then you think, do I wash it
every day or you're going to like break your hair by doing
like overdoing it. So what I try to do, if I can,
is get a local blow dry that will last me a couple of days.
And then, but you can tell the weekends when I've had of help
and when I haven't, you're like, oh, don't watch that back.
No, stop it, stop it. I would love to know as sort of,
you know, the face of, you know, Formula One female presenting,
do you get flooded with offers by different brands saying, oh,
please wear, please wear. Well, they tend to go to Annie
because they know that she will start because she also styles
Bernie Collins, who's on our on our show.
I mean, Bernie's just like initially was.
I mean, she's so brainy and she offers so much insight.
And then she was like, I probably just have to sort my
image out a bit and, you know, actually make a bit of effort.
And I think you'll notice this year she's suddenly wearing
like, tailored suits and stuff and it gets a blow dry.
And she's like, whoa, Bernie, you've just gone from A9 to A10.
Like, she looks great. But yeah, I think now that
Formula One's got a broader appeal, we do loads more collabs
and loads more brands want their stuff featured at races because
they know more, more and more women are watching.
And actually, like Annie has a handful of followers who were
like, like, where did you get all those things from?
And she just sends them out the links and then they.
So yeah, stuff sells. If you if you can show that it's
stylish and practical. Yeah, I think a lot of you know,
particularly working mothers who don't have time to iron
anything, definitely don't look too closely at this dress
because I didn't steam it. But that's any joy of silk and
bias cutting and little bit of embroidery.
But do you does your stylist send out affiliate links to so
the the pieces are shoppable? Yes, yes.
So she's really on it. After a race weekend, I don't
tend to have as much time but to.
And also, she knows, so I will always tag in what I've worn and
then help them push through to the item.
And if anyone's got a question, so they'll put it in the
picture, like in the messages underneath.
Annie will always reply to each of them saying you can get it
from this store or here online or whatever.
Brilliant. Yeah.
And it, and it, and it's great because I also just think, you
know, we said it earlier, we do dress for other women.
I mean, it's it's a cliche, but it's so true.
Like if my husband doesn't, he's very clear about what he likes
and doesn't like, but he'll say to me, I'm not sure about that.
I'll still wear it because I know I like it and I know my
girlfriends will like it. And actually I know it will sell
and other women watching will like it.
And he'll probably get a bit of a grump that I haven't taken his
point of. So if he would dress you, what
would he dress you in? He like, yeah, OK, I need to be
careful. He wouldn't, no, he wouldn't go
that far because he he likes fashion.
He's actually really into fashion.
He likes very simple styles, though for him he wouldn't, you
know, he'll keep it quite simple, like T-shirt and jeans
or whatever, polo shirt or whatever, or, you know, like a
nice shirt and jeans. But for me, he he loves boobs.
He loves women's shape. But if it's if it's baggy, we're
like, I can't really see boobs. I'm like, I don't want to show
my bit like, but he's like, no, but just show the curves of your
figure. So he'd like me to be more
confident like that. But it's funny, isn't it?
It's funny what they see because you'd think he'd want me to
cover up, but he's like, no, I'm comfortable with you being more
date night. Natalie wearing.
Oh, yeah, good point. Doesn't really happen very
often. Oh, stop it.
It doesn't. I mean, I I actually said to
him, should we go out for a date night?
He goes, what would we talk about?
I was like, here's a good point. We could just drink.
We could just drink, just drink. But if he were if what would be
his dream? Look for you, I think a dress.
I think like a sexy dress, like a backless something.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK.
No, I'm going to. I'm going to ask a crass
question here. Rumour has at the once dated a
certain Prince Harry and Rumour What's wrong?
Natalie wearing Oh, rumour is wrong.
OK and never strike that. No, no, it's fine.
I've I've known him for years. We've been friends since I was
like 17 and he was 12. That's how long I've known him.
But never romantic. No cougar.
Sorry. Sorry to sorry, no cougar
action. No exactly.
Sorry to disappoint. Be a much more fun story if I
said the opposite. But we only want the truth.
Do you have a particular woman that you look at their style and
girl crush? Inevitably.
I've had girl crushes through the years and my main one has
always been penélope Cruz, embarrassingly so because her
husband is in the F1 movie, which is coming out in the
summer. And I met him at Silverstone.
And then I proceeded to tell him what a massive crush I had on
his wife. But he was lovely.
Have you about him And great guy, but I've always just loved
her style. I just love the sort of Spanish
flair. And again, I think she's
feminine, but she also embraces a bit of androgyny.
She's, you know, there's a cool clue.
Yeah. Yeah, she looks great.
And there's loads of people that I look at that I wish I could
call that off, but I don't feel like I can.
So I think the style is huge, hugely about confidence, isn't
it? But maybe the older I get, the
more I'll just start drilling down into that confidence.
I definitely feel more confident now than I ever have.
Do you feel like you have drilled down to your style DNA?
Yeah. And I think you're so right that
we, we tend to regress to this comfort zone.
But actually there's no shame in that because all it is, is, is
where you feel comfortable. And therefore, if you're
comfortable, you're confident and your shoulders are back and
then you exude that confidence. And I think that's, that's
likeable. And that's, you know, it helps
other people relax, doesn't it? If you if you're relaxed
totally. I mean, if, if you were to ask
one of your very good girlfriends how, what 3 words
they would use to describe your style DNA, what 3 words would
you want those to be? I don't know what what I I'd
like them to be probably something different than they
are. So I think they would say I'm
quite boyish. I mean, they won't believe I'm
wearing this dress today. I mean, I nearly didn't
recognise you. They really won't.
But I yeah, I don't know. I just think if something is
quite chic, you just, I don't know, You just like grow an inch
in terms of confidence, then you bring that into your day.
What? And I love putting something on
and going, yes, that feels right.
And then I attacked the day and it shouldn't be that
superficial, but it really is. It isn't superficial.
It is. I always say it's what is
between our naked selves and the rest of the world.
It's it's our armour. We message through it, it
cocoons us. Do you know, it's so interesting
you say that because I had this quite intimidating meeting with
a editor of a newspaper after Caroline died and what did you
reach for? Well this is really interesting.
So I'd worn this like 2 piece suit to another shoot like the
week before and I was going with Chris, Caroline's mum.
I was really nervous and I didn't really know what we
wanted to get from the meeting, but we wanted to say how we felt
about the way Caroline had been treated by the press.
And I I rang Annie and I said, do you remember that two piece I
wore? I felt really good in that.
Can I, can I just borrow that again?
She went, yeah, I'll get it sent right away.
I put it on and I just put my shoulders back.
We also did do a shot of tequila before we went in.
Good couple of courage. Yeah, exactly.
And then the meeting was really positive.
And of course nothing's going to bring her back, but just
processing it and talking about it and listening to her mum talk
directly to an editor of a massive newspaper was so
empowering and actually I think really helped her mum as well.
And you, you did you feel like those clothes made you present
as your best self? Yes, it was strange.
It was like I just felt confident because I felt like
the right parts of me were accentuated.
The bits I don't feel so confident about were hidden.
And then I just projected the best version of myself in that
hours meeting. And that's what Caroline needed.
She needed a strong representative in that moment.
And the clothes definitely helped me.
Good, good. That's really lovely.
Lovely to hear. Because I was going to ask you
what you reach for when you need to feel empowered.
I think your body changes so much when you have kids and you
have to sort of not really be phased by that.
But I mean, I remember my daughter coming up to me when I
was, when she was about 3 and like pulling my skirt up and
laughing at my, and I went, well, you did that to me.
But it's look, if, if my body's changed in a way that I'm not
comfortable with. It's a very small price to pay
for having two amazing little creatures in your life.
And I'm very grateful to being a mum because it is hands down my
greatest achievement for the thing I I feel grateful for
every single day, every minute of every day.
When I'm not with them, I'm thinking about them.
I just, you know, and that's been the hardest thing really in
terms of my career is juggling travelling with my children.
But I do try to take them with me wherever I can go.
But it's so interesting because you just have to take ownership
of your body once you've had kids because there's certain
bits that will never look the same again.
So actually I think if you can dress accordingly and be sort of
sassy enough not to feel that you're then defined only as a
mum, that you've still got these other interests in your life and
something else to bring to the table, that you can really tell
that story through what you wear.
Now I am looking at this near perfect human being in front of
me. Can you, can we just for a
second talk about the bits that you like to celebrate and your
body? I'm not very good at this with
my tummy at the no, I really do about celebrating, not hiding.
OK, OK, but we can we can approach it the other way.
Where do what do you like to dress around?
Well, my, my tummy has never been the same again since babies
and I've definitely because I, you know, I've always had a six
pack like it was always so sporty and that's gone.
I mean that is gone. I'm trying to do like Pilates,
all sorts of cool stuff at the moment.
So I definitely have to dress around that and I'll literally
Annie will be on tummy watch when I'm on shoes to dress
around it rather than have to. No, I have to.
I definitely have to. But we're working on that.
And then yeah, I don't know what.
Do I? Actually, I don't.
Know I don't know, I think you get to a point you're not really
happy with anything but look, I'm not listening.
This isn't like fishing, whatever this is just.
But listen, this body produced 2 babies and I'm so grateful for
that. I'll never, ever, ever forget.
And you're fresh and healthy in here.
Exactly. Yeah.
Very, very good. Do you think?
Being stylish is important to you, I think.
If you can add. To what you give to the world
and and and like your offering of yourself can be enhanced by
fashion and style is so important.
And so. To go back to that example.
About seeing the newspaper editor, if I represented
Caroline 10% better than I would if I'd felt self-conscious and
not shoulders back, that was all to do with what what I wore.
And again, I feel like am I being superficial by saying
that? But but no, it is.
I love your analogy. If it's the lair between you and
the world and if that is your armour, then why wouldn't you
embrace it and, and dress accordingly?
And I, I, I do have to thank Annie for so much of that
because she pushes me slightly out of that comfort zone.
I think that's really useful and important, finding someone that
you trust to take you on that journey if you're very much in
the public eye. It also very helpful that she's
got a great wardrobe and we're exactly the same dimensions.
Such helpful for all her stuff. That's so having a big sister
and I just nick all her shoes. I've got to ask you flak stock.
Yeah. How do you decide what to wear
for that? That is hard actually, because.
Because it's sort of your. You want to honour Caroline?
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, last year I wore cowboy
boots and then this like floral little skirt thing and top.
I think you want to embrace the whole festival vibe.
And then I wore like a big headdress.
So I think you can have a lot of fun with it.
And like if we do go to Glastonbury, although it does
always clash with the Austrian Grand Prix, but in the years
that my husband and I've gone, we do go out there a bit.
And just like, I love dressing up, I love dressing up.
One of my best mates probably likes dressing up fractionally
more than I do. And therefore, when we in
costume, Yeah. Loves it.
Right. So when we go on holiday
together, we will do fancy dress like every other night.
You'll joke. No, I love it.
That must triple your luggage. It does.
But you bring so little for the rest of the week.
So you'll be like literally a handful of bikinis.
And then it's like massive headdress.
OK. So give me an example of a
couple of your favourites. So she'll themes.
Well, so, so, so we've like we've done loads of themes
through the years, but we'll do white Knights.
An obvious one, but that always looks great in pictures.
Yeah, but we'll do like games. So you could so I mean, you
could go as the Queen of Hearts or you could be a board game or
you could be like, you know, but you could do something very
simple. We did, I think one year was
sexy jungle. So you went.
But I really stitched my husband up with this one because he
doesn't buy into it. And I always have to get his
outfits and then when he gets there, stitch him out.
So, so that, so I was wearing this sort of like leopard print
thing and like, it was like leaves wrapped around me and it
was all really saucy. And then I got him this giant
polystyrene snake just wrapped around him and the mouth was
like round his neck and he was just standing there going.
I said, well, you should have put more effort in.
But his whole suitcase was a snake.
That's all he had. But he didn't know.
I just said that's your that's your luggage.
Yeah. It was like a pair of Speedos
and and snake. So what is it?
I love the escapism. I was going to say, what is it
about it? I love it.
Yeah. I just, I love having fun with
it. Also, it's such a it's such an
icebreaker when you go to a party and I tell you something I
love this about it is that my son, who's quite alpha male,
already aged 10, loves his sport, Everything else.
He loves getting dressed up with me.
So he will wear dresses and he will go for it, and his sister
will put makeup all on him and he'll wear a wig.
He makes a very pretty young boy, actually, like, looks
really good in drag. But I love the fact that.
So we do like gay pride and we do lots of things together as
family. And I love the fact that, you
know, he experiments through fashion as well.
I mean, one of the parties I made us all wear because it was
white light. So this goes all the way down to
the kids, too. Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So this white luggage must be. Can you imagine someone else
picking up your bag going from the carousel?
So true. That's such a good point that
needs to happen. Yeah.
This one night we all wore white vests and then white tutus.
So we all turned up in matching massive white tutus and white
vests. And of course, everyone loved
it. And I think Wilf actually loved
the fact that he made everyone laugh because he was comfortable
enough to come in a white Tutu to a party aged 10.
I thought it was quite brave. That is brave.
And actually on World Book Day, he dressed up as Matilda with
his sister. So they both went as Matilda
again. Great.
I mean, I'm all for it. There's a future in theatre
beckoning. Yeah.
He definitely loves to express himself, but he's quite earnest
and, you know, intense and shy about other things.
But then as fancy dress comes out, he's just like me.
He just loves complete escapism. Yeah.
Lovely, lovely. Let's talk about beauty for a
minute. Is it important to you?
Look, the older I get, I certainly more self-conscious.
I feel about being over 40 on camera because.
And then I, it's, it's, it's weird because I, I swing between
thinking, well, you know, no one's going to want me in a few
years time. And then I look at the boys and
go, but they're like 50-60, you know, they're not of old.
And actually with that comes knowledge and, you know, and
credibility and credibility. So I think I just need to
embrace that. And I think particularly the,
the example my mum set is that she's just really embraced by
her world. You know, she's a family law
expert. She comes in with such amazing
experience to look after kids that don't otherwise have a
voice. So she looks after some terrible
situations of kids that have been bereaved, abused,
traumatized, abandoned. But she's able to do that
because she's an. Older lady, now she's.
In her 70s and she's, she's got that credibility and she's got
that warmth and that graciously and that relatability and all
these things that so I realise actually, even though your
appearance might not be perfect, you might have crow's feet and
all these lines from having kids.
No, but you know what I mean. You, you actually, I think that
makes you more relatable to an audience.
And hopefully you can connect with them through that shared
experience. Completely, completely.
What about treatments? Christ, I'll be up for anything.
I had that, you know, the old salmon sperm thing, but it
didn't hurt because they put like gelling.
Oh, A. Cooling gel?
No. What's it called?
It is the most painful. No it's not thing I have ever
experienced. I had it done once.
Not a chance. Stop it.
Oh, I I honestly it. I.
Loved. My tummy even talking about it,
my mates find it hilarious because I will just.
I'll always go yeah, I'll have a go at that, you know, I'll just
have a go at anything to see what happens.
But I did once get fillers and, oh, my God, I looked horrendous.
The problem is my husband spots anything.
He'll go. What have you done there?
What have you done? Right there I go.
How did you even see? Where did you have fillers?
So they put some there. Yeah.
They put Botox there. Yeah.
To try and, like, lift that lip. Yeah.
And they put a tiny bit of filler in my cheek and I had to
have it removed because you can get filler removed.
And I just. I said I hate it.
I absolutely hate it. And what do they do?
Dissolve it. Yeah.
They dissolved the filler that that Botox just had to gradually
go dissipate. And I didn't do that.
What was it that weird? What was it?
The the comedy thing when someone was it.
Dudley Moore was drinking a cup of tea after going to the
dentist. Yeah.
Dudley Moore. That's a blast from the past.
No, but it's, it's so interesting because look, each
their own. I'm all for women doing whatever
feels right for them, but I do think there's something slightly
sad and depressing about being a conveyor belt look, you know,
and it, that kind of goes back to what I was saying about Sky
in the in the early days, is that they wanted us to look the
same. I thought, why?
I think I don't get that. And and that the only thing I,
you know, worry about slightly, and I talked to Willow about
this is, is you've got to celebrate.
Individuality you've got to you. You absolutely have to embrace
that. Does that mean I want to embrace
wrinkles and lines? Absolutely not blast them out.
But actually in terms of changing the contours and the
structure of your face, I'm I just, that's my personal,
there's no judgement for me. Do whatever you need to and want
to to your face. But I find that a bit sad
because I just think those quirky little things, scars, you
know, they make you you. I love scars.
I do. I know that sounds bonkers.
No, it doesn't. Look, I totally agree.
They're they're so individual and they're part of your
journey, part of your life. Yeah.
And they tell a story, you know, and if the story's a bit boring,
make it a more interesting story.
Say you wrestled a shark. Whatever you need to.
But it. No, I totally agree.
I've got one there. I've got one under there.
I've got one down here, I've got one on my knee, you know, I've
got, I'm really axing. I've got them on my hand, you
know, I mean, I'm sorry, I can't see any single one of those.
No, I don't, I definitely do. But look, I also find it
slightly depressing when you can't tell if a girl is 25 or 45
because girls are getting stuff done so young now.
And actually it can be quite ageing.
Willow is doesn't miss a trick. And.
Not just in terms of what I wear, but also if she would, if
she ever sees me put like a filter on a picture.
What are you doing? Be honest post that I really.
And of course she said, mummy, why on earth would you change
your face? And she even says to me, why are
you putting so much makeup on? Like don't just don't wear
makeup. And actually, I really want her
to hang on to that because I see some of the Tik Toks that she
watches, you know, of, of kids like playing around with skin
care and stuff. And I go, you don't need product
like that. So she won't.
We'll take the same advice for yourself.
And I'm like, yeah, but hang on a minute.
I definitely need it. You don't.
But I love the fact, and I hope she hangs on to that, that
actually don't be a fraud. Don't project a false sense of
self to the world. Just post the picture.
If you don't like the picture, don't post it.
Now. Interesting.
In terms of being yourself. You've obviously had your photo
taken a lot over the years and I just want do you do you try and
control that image in terms of I probably sure have done where
actually I haven't. I've been I have been a bit
slack on that and you know, there's certain pictures out
there that I go, Oh my God, I can't believe that picture is on
the worst fashion moment. Oh God, so many right.
So I bought this one thing where it was this like silky, what
would you call a? What would you call a?
Jumpsuit. That's just cropped.
That's short. Playsuit.
Yeah, more like a playsuit. Yeah, exactly.
And it was this lovely colour, like chocolate silk.
It was gorgeous, but it was ridiculously short.
This is back in the day when I got my legs out and your bum
out, by the sounds of things. It was honestly.
And one of the papers printed it and I went, Oh my God, what was
I thinking? It looked awful and I was like,
OK, Will. You learn from your.
Fashion faux pas. And actually, again, a bit like
a scar. It's part of your journey.
Yeah. And probably back in the day it
was tomorrow's chip paper rather than in pituitary.
Yes. On the.
I haven't seen it on online since, so I think it's
disappeared. Thank God.
If I would say to you, you could only dress in two brands. 1 High
Street. Oh, wow.
One designer. Which two brands would those be?
Which ones do you instinctively love the most?
Well, the truth is my daughter loves Zara.
So I if I'm taking her around Zara, I will then take a couple
of things like little vest tops or whatever from there.
And if money were no object, what would you?
Well, obviously you, you can't do that anymore, damn it.
Oh God, what would I wear? So I wear a lot of me and em
because again their designs do sit and suit as they sit well on
my on my figure and American. Vintage.
I always go in there. When I'm on Marylebone High
Street, I always go in there and and buy something just slightly
more Skate a girl. I quite like that oversized
denim jacket look. I do actually so.
I'm too old for Topshop. Now, I went in there the other
day with Willow and I was like, God, I used to shop in here all
the time and I just was like, I can't wear anything in here
anymore. So that's changed.
But I definitely tried to mix it up in terms of of High Street.
And higher end stuff what? About designer bags, Well, I my
husband every Christmas buys me a designer handbag.
Basically, he hasn't got any imagination.
He asks Zoe Hardman which bag should I get pinky this year?
And then I see this little bag. Oh, yes, well done, Zoe.
Zoe will have chosen it. Yeah.
OK. And favour.
So you'll go. Well, I always wear the
crossover bag at the track. I've got 2, two or three little
Gucci ones that are just the perfect size to stick my hair
and make up stuff in. But the trouble is the lining's
now wrecked because it's just had loads of.
That's bad. It's had a lot of use.
Yeah, but that's great. So you'll get me a black one and
a nude one and, you know, I can mix and match it, which, you
know, I'm very grateful. I don't want to sound ungrateful
for, but it's just that he has actually outsourced it to one of
my best mates. That sounds pretty good.
Yeah, I do too. I mean, you know, you should
like what you get. What's your approach to
sustainable fashion? Very much so.
Committed to it as and when I can sky a hugely pro sustainable
fashion for obvious reasons, and when we all should be committed
to it. I think that Princess Catherine
has been amazing for encouraging us to wear things over and over
again and just style it slightly differently each time.
I mean, why not? And if and if it's good enough
for the future queen, it's good enough for all of us.
Like we absolutely should embrace it.
And by the way, if I wear something again and again and
again, which I have done many times in Formula One, if anyone
says, weren't you wearing that last week?
And I'll say yes. And I loved it and I still love
it. And that's why I do it.
And why would you just want to churn through stuff?
So we actually have a complete ban on fast fashion in our in
our family. So Willow loves Stefan Sheen,
I'm just like, I'm not, I'm not going there.
And I explained to her why by rotation, her my wardrobe.
They're all great initiatives that actually have sent me loads
of clothes over the years. And I love the fact that if you
want to go to a cocktail party or a ball or whatever it is and
you have to wear black tie, you can rent something from there
that is phenomenal and you can feel $1,000,000, but it won't
cost you that. And then someone else benefits
from it the following week. I mean, that's just genius.
And it's very simple. Brilliant idea, and I'm all for
it. Yeah, brilliant.
I am going to spin on some quick fire questions.
Oh my God, the pressure fashion advice you'd give your 20 year
old self. Just believe in yourself a bit.
More put your shoulders back. Embrace it, be more curious, be
more experimental, don't play it so safe.
Which fashion trend would you? Most like to.
See, make a comeback. Oh, I love flares, but I don't
think they've ever gone away. I mean, I would still wear
flares all the time. I love the shape of them and I
love the fact you can wear like massive wedges underneath big
boots. They're proper leg length.
Aren't they gorgeous fashion or beauty trend that you'd
consigned to room 101? I mean, there's so many that
I've even gone through through the years.
I mean, probably that silk play suit that I told you about that
was bad. Your last impulse buy.
I've had so many. I mean, I bought this thing
actually to wear at Bahrain Grand Prix and it was this like
it was gingham, which I love. And it had this like big bow on
it and I put it on and I just looked like an Easter egg.
I look ridiculous. I was like, can I pull that off?
You see, mates of mine would have worn that and looked
amazing, but I just didn't have the confidence to do it.
It was the the old knobbly knees were out in it.
Has it gone back? It's gone back.
Well, actually I gave it to a friend that OK, so this is a
confession. This is really bad.
I never send anything back. I'm so bad.
I just give it to friends. And I'd never throw it away.
Would always be because actually Annie's involved in this amazing
initiative that gets clothes for ladies that are going for job
interviews that can't necessarily afford.
So we will Smart works. Yeah, that's it.
Love that. And so actually, we, we always
pull together stuff for that. Like, I can't stand this idea of
disposable fashion. It's just, it's wrong on every
level. And.
And yeah, if you can, I mean, I'd love.
I love pieces. Having a history and a.
Story to them. My dad bought me this beautiful
velvet military jacket probably 30 years ago, and I still got
it. I still wear it.
I went to Glastonbury, actually. That's a good feeling.
Yeah. It was so cool.
I love the. I love thinking about my dad
buying that for me. Your views on tattoos.
Well, I actually have a couple I can see.
Yeah. So that one my kids.
Initials, you know, pretty simple.
And then I've got sort of tramp stamp on my back.
The story about that was that I went into a tattoo parlour when
I was like 17 in Australia when I was backpacking.
And when I came home, I just asked for some stars to put be
put on my back and my dad in the garden.
It was a hot summer said to me, what on earth is that on your
back? And I said, oh, I tried to
quickly think of a story and I said, well, it was a it's called
the Southern Cross, and it's part of.
You know the. Australian identity and what
they used it for us. It guided the sailors into the
mainland. I tried to come up with this
story and he went well. Where exactly you're guiding the
sailors now? touché, you got me there, Johnny
Pinks, damn it. But I never see it because it's
on my back. So beauty treatment, you
couldn't give up? I'm really bad at beauty
treatments. My routine is face wipe, fall
asleep and it drives all my mates mad.
Elemis have just done this incredible deal in Formula One
where they're collaborating with Aston Martin.
Brilliant partnership, have changed, finally trying to make
the effort to do a bit of You've seen the light.
Yeah, it's probably too late, but I'm going to.
Fight for it. High end or High Street?
Oh definitely High Street. Bling or bare?
I'm quite bare now, but I don't mind a bit of bling.
Minimalism or maximalism? Well, I would always say
minimalist, but actually if you looked at my house, the amount
of clutter and crap in my house, you wouldn't believe it.
But there's something very therapeutic about having a big
clear out, so I try to do that as regular as I can.
Couture or charity shop. Do you know what?
There's loads of charity shops near me and we went in there,
Willow and I, the other day because she wanted to and we
found some really cool bits of couture.
So maybe a nice hybrid of the two.
Nice. Where's just in Chiswick.
Great Crocs. Cute or puke?
Well, I think they're cute again.
Sneakers or Stella hose sneakers.
Boyfriends or wide legs boyfriends.
Oh no. Oh I shall like wide legs beanie
or baseball caps Love a baseball cap sports lux or rock chick
sports Always been a love to think I was more rock chick but
I'm not I'm sporty. Red carpet or relax.
Can we just have? A little bit of both you can,
yeah. Trend or style?
Style. Colour or monochrome?
Oh, monochrome I think. Experimental or uniform?
Well, again, one thing I'd like to be the reality.
It's like Instagram versus reality.
I think I'm, I'd probably just play it safe as in uniform, as
in, you know, it just it's easier, isn't it cashmere or
cotton Cashmere order or editor, I don't know.
Can I tell you one thing about
cashmere? Yes.
One of my friend's mum's once said, Darling, if ever I feel
little blue, I just slipped some cashmere on.
That was a quote of the year. But it's good.
It's a good one. Shapewear or sexy lingerie
again. One thing I'd love is.
The other thing that I do, you should see my knicker drawer.
It's just it's not sexy at all. Too much information.
Sorry. Tights or stockings or hold UPS.
Oh, hold UPS. Hold UPS.
I love a pair of hold UPS. I say I think they look sexy.
They feel sexy, but they're slightly more practical than you
know. Yeah, bikini on one piece
bikini. I would love to say still
bikini, but etching. I'm starting to retire the
bikini. Don't.
And finally, traditional last question.
At the end of the day, what do you or don't you wear in bed?
I have to wear pyjamas because I sleepwalk and I have slept walk
naked before and I've never made the mistake again.
I sleepwalk regularly and now I get fully clothed before I go to
bed. That's.
An answer I've never had. There you go.
But Natalie, thank you so much. Thank you so much.
What a lovely journey through your stylish life.
Oh, you're so lovely. Thank you.