I get to interview someone I have been a fan of for years and years today - the brilliant and iconic Helen Lederer (Ledgenderer more like. It's going to catch on). I found the clip of her on Wogan that I mention in the intro. To make it even more enthralling, it's a real pleasure to see how confused Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan are by the whole …

A brilliant episode this week with the hilarious BAFTA-winning actress Kimberley Nixon (Fresh Meat, Cranford, Agatha Christie's Marple) The automatically AI-generated show notes for this ep included the phrase '(Kim) discusses her rich fantasy life and how she can play out multiple scenarios in her head', but let's be honest: that barely scratches …

This week's guest is the amazing Elizabeth Day (How To Fail podcast and author of Friendaholic) who joins me in poring over her many and varied crushes - from a teenage Peter Phillips to Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables - as well as the time she brought a dead bat into school. It was such a funny chat - I loved spending an hour in her compa…

It's a glorious one this week from Cuddle Club's own Lou Sanders! Pin back your ears for tales of chasing boys down in parks, hosting parties to impress boys, and why she'd give it all up for the romantic allure of a cosy retirement with Keanu Reeves. One. Not. To. Miss. As always, if you want to find us, we are crushedbymcs.substack.com - you can …

Now, I'm not a fan of the most romantic day of the year TM. In fact I like it so little that I banned celebrating it when I got together with my now husband and 21 years later, we have yet to eat an overpriced meal in mid-February. So, for a treat this week Isy Suttie and I sat down to discuss V-Day - the highs, the lows, and why it might have been…

I think you are going to enjoy this episode. My guest is the wonderful Sarah Hadland (who you'll probably know from Miranda, and The Job Lot and Quantum of Solace). She is wonderfully indiscreet about her early crushes/kidnapping attempts (depending on what side of the curtain you were on); and about briefly meeting some of her more famous crushes …

Just squeezing in to January, it's our Best Bits 2023. It was such a blast listening back to the interviews we've had over the last year. It honestly made me want to go back and revisit all of these conversations again in full. So, I hope you enjoy this short dip back into the past. From Alison Spittle, explaining the huge part Morrissey played in …

My guest this week is the easily embarrassed Athena Kugblenu, talking about her teen crushes. We dredge our memories for long forgotten 90s boy bands, ponder when an older man is too old and decide whether our allegiance was to George Clooney or Goran Višnjić in the great E.R. Crush Wars of 1999. It's a fantastic episode - not least because Athena …

Happy New Year Crushos! This episode is a great one to kick us off - in fact it might be my favourite ever episode. Is that disloyal to all the other episodes? I don't know. It's how I feel now. It features the glorious Kerry Howard on starting slow, and ending up a female incel - taking in scenic stops at how best an 8 year old can compliment a gi…

Hi all, this week's show features someone I have known for more than 20 years - writer and performer Barunka O'Shaughnessy, as I think you'll be able to tell from the level of giggling. Barunka has a list of credits as long as your arm, including Motherland, Up the Women and Hunderby. But by the end of this episode you'll know her best as a woman w…

My guest this week is actor and Penny Dreadful - David Reed. I love his attitude to crushes - and indeed, his attitude to this conversation. He said afterwards "sorry if I didn't answer all your questions, I had a lot of things I wanted to get off my chest", and I think this is one of those episodes that really digs in to the the loneliness and lon…

Holly Burn is my wonderful guest this week, and it's one of my giggliest episodes. You may not know Holly - but she's one of my favourite people. Really open and honest, and this conversation is honestly incredible. We mainly talk about one of her earliest crushes on her friend's brother, and it all gets a bit deep and therapeutic. And very, very f…

Megan Ganz, the amazing writer whose work includes Community and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (and co-host of The Always Sunny Podcast) is my guest this week, as we swap stories about crushes real and fictional, and politely mark our territory with regards to Hugh Laurie. He's mine, back off buster. Expect teenage angst aplenty, alongside 90s …

I'm so excited to share this episode. I've been looking forward to putting it out since we recorded it with lovely, lovely Sarah Millican at the Leicester Square Theatre in July. In a cupboard, in case you thought podcasting was always glamorous. Sarah was in town recording RHLSTP with Richard Herring, so I managed to catch up with her backstage to…

This week, Margaret Cabourn-Smith steps into the world of unrequited infatuation with the delightfully frank Anna Richardson, host of Channel 4's "Naked Attraction." Anna reveals her formative crushes and the candid tales behind them, from memorable encounters with Tom Cruise to playful - if unsuccessful - flirtations with Mick Hucknall and the all…

It's a bumper episode today - true tales of lust and heartbreak from the fabulous Caitlin Moran and Sali Hughes, sharing anecdotes as only best mates can. This episode is a romp through their lives in crush form, from Hip Hop Dads, to toilet graffiti. Thanks for listening! love you! Margaret xx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a…

Hello! In this episode, I talk to Ghosts' Kiell Smith-Bynoe about his crushes and unrequited loves. From a primary school wedding, to dating his parents' best friend's daughter, and falling in love with the prettiest girl on the bus - it's a funny, silly, set of stories. Do come over and say hello on Substack if you haven't - we post there infreque…

Hot off the editing desk, here is a very special episode recorded at the Soho Theatre in last month. A glorious mash up of Crushed and The Guilty Feminist, with one of my favourite stand ups, Sindhu Vee, and one of my first ever guests, the glorious Deborah Frances White. Expect indiscretion galore, plenty of embarrassment and more than a little sm…

Tatty MacLeod joins Margaret to talk about crushes and unrequited love. We talk about the procrastination crush; how a cute guy in a library can improve your mood; and why French and English women approach crushes very differently. We've just announced our guests for the London Podcast Festival - Caitlin Moran and Sali Hughes. Do not miss it, it's …

It's an Edinburgh special with Non-Censored's Rosie Holt making time to talk to me before she heads to the festival. It's the most wonderful time of the year - I met some of my favourite crushes, and one of my favourite husbands in Edinburgh, after all. Rosie's Crush journey is full of lovely moments - from the Guardian reading, sarcastic boy in th…

Hello Crushos, here is a joyous chat with the lovely Allusionist, Helen Zaltzman. We had such a wide ranging chat - from youthful crushes that lasted years, to Judy Blume's bluest YA novel Forever, and the love of - well I would say a man in uniform, but I think Detective Inspector Morse is in plain clothes so that doesn't quite work. Let's just sa…

Hello my fabulous Crushing friends! New logo, new platform (hello Auddy!) and new episode.... This week is awesome Nish Kumar who talks me through a whole lot of romantic failure and nerdy fantasy. There’s also some good gossip about comic Ed Gamble, which is especially good as Ed refuses to do the show. He joins a list of people who find the sheer…

Stand up and host of the brilliant Succession podcast Firecrotch and Normcore, Sara Barron, is Margaret's guest this week. It's a very giggly show that lurches from the pitfalls of writing tween erotica, falling in love with Elliot after Elliot, the improbably named Baskin twins (no relation to Carol, I assume) and the allure of a bad boy. Or even,…

Actress Juliet Cowan is our guest this week, and Hoo Boy, this week's episode has it all, from gaslighting French pen pals (aged 12), to sisterly love rivalry, via far too long spent lusting over discussing Top Trade Union Totty Mick Lynch. It's lovely and mad, and very relatable content. Especially if you fancy Mick Lynch, but honestly - even if y…

The lovely Sue Perkins joins Margaret Cabourn-Smith this week to talk about her crushes - from high-kicking, back-flipping martial artists to wise-cracking Marion Ravenwood - Indiana Jones's brilliant love interest in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a brilliant, funny and occasionally moving conversation - hope you love it as much as we do. As always…

Eleanor Morton talks cartoon crushes, actors who weren't problematic in the 80s but sure are now, and the Yeo Valley Yoghurt Boys with fellow crush addict Margaret Cabourn-Smith. We had an absolute blast in The Swallow Theatre at Machynlleth Comedy Festival. We gained a beautiful embroidered logo from the lovely @purplestrawbs1 (follow her on Twitt…

Otegha Uwagba - writer, speaker and total crushaholic - is Margaret's guest this week. They've got a lot in common. Otegha tells Margaret about her first crush - who went on to be a famous actor; and the impact Peter Andre had on her in his Mysterious Girl video. From uni crushes, work dalliances, to flying across the world to stalk meet the object…

It's a very special throwback Friday episode today - Margaret's guest is her former Do The Right Thing collaborator Danielle Ward. There's plenty of discussion of why stand ups make terrible boyfriends, which two qualities you'd have to have to date Danielle, and some frankly filthy discussion of the hottest star of Red Dwarf - Chris Barrie. Yes, y…

Hot off the presses - it's Margaret's conversation with Angela Barnes earlier this week. Angela shares some of Margaret's worst crush excesses. Beardy nerds? Check. Comedians from the 1990s? Oh yes. Angela's crushes include Kenny Everett (note for anyone born after 1979 - he was a very funny, very gay, very rude primetime ITV family entertainer. Th…

Aka, Mr Margaret Cabourn-Smith. And Happy Birthday Crushed - it's a whole year since we released the first episode. It's a special birthday episode, with Margaret put on the spot by her husband, and guest, Dan Tetsell. Dan is a writer and actor who you may have seen in everything from puppet-actor-fest Mongrels to hot-actor-fest Hollyoaks (and most…

Still Game's Sanjeev Kohli is Margaret's guest this week. It's a bit of a tearjerker, looking back at Sanjeev's primary school crushes. As he says - for the first 30 years of his life, all his love was unrequited. Except for his mum. (Life was tough for a Glaswegian metalhead in the 1980s). Sanjeev and Margaret talk about first love, 1980s hedge po…

The magnificent Rosie Jones drops in this week to talk to Margaret about her crushes. And it's a doozy. Or should that be doozie? Please advise. Rosie is so prone to crushes that she likes to think of them like a trifle - layers of custard, cream, jam and strawberries. But no sponge fingers. We always knew she was a maverick. It's a wide-ranging ep…

In this episode, Margaret Cabourn-Smith interviews comedian, and little legend Alison Spittle about her crushes and unrequited loves. We don't want to say she picks badly, but Morrisey and Kanye West both get a mention. Listeners of a sensitive nature may like to know that there are frankly filthy discussions about Bob Hoskins's hairy back. Listene…

Actress, singer, comedian, Twitter star and all round good egg Sooz Kempner is Margaret's guest this week, with crushes that manage to encompass Top Cat and Bruce Forsyth. I'd like to see that Venn diagram. Note to keen listeners - the science this week is... inaccurate, due to Margaret not counting the Vs correctly in this weeks Maths. For those o…

Comedian, musician and improviser Rachel Parris talks to Margaret about Leonardo di Caprio, Spike from Buffy and fills in the gaps on how she got together with last week's guest; crush-turned-husband Marcus Brigstocke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Margaret talks to comedian Marcus Brigstocke about his plethora of crushes ranging from Robert Smith from The Cure all the way through to Susan Kennedy from Neighbours (with a sprinkling of Morten Harket along the way). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Margaret talks to writer, podcaster and producer of this podcast Sophie Black about John Lennon, being attracted to a cartoon wolf, and writing to Just Seventeen to get a photo of a bloke in The Bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Writer-performer Abigail Burdess talks to Margaret about falling in love on a family holiday and a boy with 'the voice of an angel' at whose house she caused a massive security breach. Abigail's novel Mother's Day is out in March 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Writer Daisy Buchanan talks to Margaret about her love of Kermit the Frog, Declan Donnelly and being confident enough to say she loves Mariah Carey (let alone PJ and Duncan). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Relationship expert and comic Rosie Wilby talks to Margaret about a university crush that had her crouching behind the bins and 'the only man for her' George Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Margaret talks to stand up and self-proclaimed 'snog monster' Jenny Eclair about the allure of Rod Stewart, Peter Noone and the-actor-who-is-about-to-play-Elvis-in-an-upcoming-biopic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Actress Mina Anwar talks to Margaret about her Geography teacher Mr Simkins who not only inspired her to sing but also looked uncannily like a ginger Magnum PI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Writer, podcaster and downright comedy legend Richard Herring talks to Margaret about how, as a teenager, being both square and smelly cost him huge. He goes on to talk about how he went out with someone he had made a shrine to on national television and the importance of dealing with his own fans' crushes sensitively. Learn more about your ad choi…

Aussie stand up Heidi Regan remembers loving Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher from afar and harbouring a beautifully life-changing crush on Andrea Corr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Actor and writer Katy Wix talks to Margaret about her most memorable crushes - from Heathcliff to a boy in the canteen to King Kong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Award winning writer and stand-up Sarah Kendall looks back on the crushes from her youth - from Alan Alda to Dustin Hoffman via a boy called Piccolo. She also talks about the challenges of coming out in her 40s and the deeper understanding she has gained of herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Writer, actor and executive director of Wrexham AFC, Humphrey Ker, talks to Margaret about his most ardent of crushes - from Sgt Callahan in Police Academy to Jennifer Aniston. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi talks to Margaret about all her crushes; from the boy she knew as a teenager to the newsreader Jon Snow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd

No-one knows more about the power of the crush than comic, writer and actor Sara Pascoe who literally wouldn't exist without it - her mum camped out on her Dad's lawn until they got together. Sara also talks about her own crushes from boys at school to Robbie Williams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Writer performer Chris Neill talks about growing up gay in the 1980s; the lure of accountants, oboeists and pen and ink drawings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesPar Mighty Bunny Ltd