Vogue Williams is no stranger to sharing the most personal and cringe-inducing moments of life. Whether it’s opening up about her relationship with husband Spencer Matthews, or discussing celebrities’ most embarrassing memories on her new podcast Never Live It Down, the Irish presenter, 39, has mastered the art of baring all — and having the craic while doing it.
While the former model may look the height of glam on the red carpet, behind the scenes it’s a different story. Married to ex-Made In Chelsea star Spencer, 36, since 2018, they share three children, Theodore, six, Gigi, four, and two-year-old Otto. Together, they’ve learned to juggle the chaos that comes with parenting and work, and all while giving fans an inside glimpse into their lives on their podcast, Spencer & Vogue.
As a TV power couple with six years of marriage behind them and three beautiful children, you might even call them “couple goals”. But Vogue is quick to point out, if you did, you’d be wrong. “I don’t ever want to be ‘couple goals’,” she laughs. “As soon as you say that, it goes wrong. When you’re in a relationship, everyone has their ups and downs.”
In fact, she tells us that their relationship has been thriving lately thanks to one simple change. “Spenny and I are getting on extraordinarily well at the moment, because he started helping out around the house,” Vogue says with a smile. The secret, she adds, is understanding that “no one is perfect”.
“Last night, he said, ‘Look at how great we are!’ I was like, ‘Don’t say that! Brilliant, now we’re going to fight!’ And then last night, we did argue after we’d been getting on really, really well!” Balancing a busy household with three young kids can be challenging, but Vogue and Spencer have found small ways to make time for each other — and their particular brand of date nights are rather unconventional.
“We love having a sauna together… no, not like that! It’s not sexy. It’s very sweaty, and I don’t like anyone touching me in the sauna,” she says. “But it’s 20 minutes of quiet. We’ll go for a run or to the gym, and then have a sauna together, and it’s just really nice to spend an hour doing that.”
The couple are also making a special effort to go out together more often. “We’re trying to be better at going out for dinner, and we did last night because my mum was over,” Vogue tells us. “We’ve just had our first proper couple’s holiday away — I got it for Spenny for his birthday, and we went away for a couple of nights to Italy on our own, to Amalfi, with no kids.”
However, day-to-day life with their brood is anything but quiet. Vogue describes her busy morning routine as nothing short of chaotic. “On a typical morning, I get up at about 6.15am, do a workout before anyone wakes up, then I feed the dogs and give our dog Winston his tablets — because he’s on a lot of them — and then get the kids ready,” she shares.
“I drop the elder two off at school, then go back and get Otto ready — he’s just started nursery, so I love to drop and collect him because he’s just so new to it.” After that, it’s finally time to get to work. “I get work done when they’re all out of the house, and there’s an unusual amount of quiet,” she adds, appreciating the brief moments of calm amid the chaos.
When it comes to their kids’ personalities, Vogue sees traces of both herself and Spencer. “My mum just sent me loads of pictures of myself when I was younger and Gigi is really starting to remind me of what I was like,” she says. “But in their personalities, most definitely yes; Gigi is funny, she’s such a character. Theodore is really clever and Otto is in charge of everybody.”
It’s not just family life keeping Vogue busy, of course. In addition to the hit Spencer & Vogue podcast, and the award-winning My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast, which she hosts with her comedian pal Joanne McNally, Vogue’s a bona fide broadcasting powerhouse, having also just launched the podcast Never Live It Down, where she invites her famous friends on to reveal their most cringe-worthy moments. For each hilarious episode, Vogue sits down with a celebrity to discover the most uncomfortable, awkward and embarrassing moments of their lives — warts and all.
The stories she hears on the podcast range from the hilarious to the downright shocking. “One person, and I’m not going to say who, told me about the most hungover he’d ever been. He woke up with his body half inside and half outside a tent, with his feet in a fire, and he’d had an accident — and I don’t mean a hurt-yourself accident,” she laughs.
But even Vogue has her own mortifying moments (“My life is a constant stream of embarrassing moments,” she confides). Is there a ‘I’ll never live this down’ memory that still makes her cringe?
“When I was about 13, I used to rob Miss Selfridge [the clothes shop]. And not only did I rob them, my friends were also really good robbers, so I used to give them cash to steal eyeshadow stacks from the shop for me,” she confesses. “God, I’ll never be allowed in a Miss Selfridge again!” Still, she reassures us, “I don’t steal any more, you’ll be glad to hear. I’m very weird about stealing now.”
The highs and lows of life are part of what makes Vogue so relatable. From awkward run-ins with celebrities such as Graham Norton — “I was too embarrassed to go over, so I just eyeballed him instead” — to Spencer’s embarrassing fanboy moments, Vogue isn’t afraid to share it all.
“Spenny loves a famous person, he’s really attracted to them. But Cillian Murphy, of all people, is known to not like that. Of course, Spencer went over, and Cillian Murphy was just like, ‘Who is this?’ and kept talking to his friends, while Spenny just kind of sank into the background.”
It’s clear that with her quick wit and down-to-earth nature, this latest podcast won’t be Vogue’s last endeavour. But you won’t be seeing her on I’m A Celebrity anytime soon.
“I’d be the worst on I’m A Celeb. I’m so frightened of all creatures. I would humiliate myself. I think it would ruin my career. That’s how bad I’d be. I’m particularly frightened of cockroaches; I don’t know how people can touch them. I’d die if I was touched by a cockroach,” she reveals, remembering another less-than-glam moment.
“I did a show with Bear Grylls [Mission Survive] and I was so frightened that he would bring in cockroaches. I was crying. But, luckily, he only brought live scorpions for us to eat, which I thought was really kind of him. Yum.”
