Mollie's Feel-Good Feed: the music and TV to kick off the festive season

Mollie's Feel-Good Feed
Mollie King
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Welcome to Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed, a place where each week Mollie King shares her round-up of the things bringing her joy in these strange and uncertain times. Check back each week for uplifting music, self care tips and, hopefully, a smile being put on your face.

So here we are, December is finally here. Advent calendar windows are opening and there’s lots to be smiling about. With the brilliant news of the COVID vaccine being approved it’s certainly given me a spring in my step and hope that 2021 will bring us so much more fun than this year did. And if you still need more joy, how do you fancy the ultimate escapism with a record-breaking live stream you can download right now? Let's start with that…

Music

Everyone I know has been talking about this this week. If you’re a pop fan, or even just a music fan in general to be honest, this has been the event that had everyone around the world excited. With six Grammy nominations, an album so huge it required a whole separate remix album off the back of it and now racking up over five million streams, there’s only one woman I could be talking about, Dua Lipa. Putting all other live streams in the shade, Dua enthralled us with her live concert entitled Studio 2054, which was a perfect mix of futuristic elements and throwbacks to the infamous New York club Studio 54.

Filmed at Printworks, one of London’s most popular haunts, it made you feel like you were actually at the concert. Despite cameos from some of the biggest A-List stars - Elton John, Miley Cyrus and Kylie Minogue - Dua was still the main talking point after the big night, showcasing just how much of a pro she is. This gig will no doubt be used as a template for other artists and record labels across the world on how to do it right. Do I hear a Glastonbury headline set calling? I can only hope.

From the megastars, to the up and coming, Griff is an artist you need to pay attention to. Just 19 years old and already having written for Hailee Steinfeld, Griff is a London singer-songwriter who has just landed herself the Disney Christmas advert. If that isn’t big enough, she has already earned herself a nomination for an Ivor Novello award, one of the most prestigious song writing awards in music. Her recent release Love Is A Compass leaves you feeling warm inside and gives you a feeling of hope that Disney does all too well. This is one career I can’t wait to follow.

Album

From making an appearance on Dua Lipa’s livestream last week, releasing her new single Prisoner, and dropping the album Plastic Hearts, it’s been a busy few weeks for Miley Cyrus. The ultimate reinventor has done it again and grabbed our attention. With co-writes from Mark Ronson and Ryan Tedder it’s a recipe for something special. Having already proven herself as a pop and country star it should be no surprise that she’s now taking on glam-rock and excelling at it. Get your eye liner on and leather jackets ready, this album showcases the Miley we’ve been waiting for!

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TV

If interiors and makeover shows get your pulse racing, Netflix’s Dream Home Makeover will spark a lot of joy this December. Husband and wife Shea and Syd McGee, otherwise known as Studio McGee, transform homes somehow leaving you not envious but inspired. Ok so the end look is often something perhaps unachievable for us, but it does present ideas to help us highlight the best aspects of our homes. How to use panelling, what shades are best in dark rooms, why rugs are essential, the list goes on. If you need some easy watching whilst wrapping presents, look no further than this show.

Self Care

Finding time to start off our day right or end the day in the best possible way can sometimes seem impossible to fit in. I know today, for example, I dived into my emails before even pausing to think what would enable me to have the most proactive day. It is, however, a known fact that we need to be kind to ourselves and carve out time to make ourselves happy and healthy. Whatever works best for you is such an individual thing, but if I can provide any ideas to help you find that special thing then I’m here for that. I spoke a few weeks ago about my love for the TV series The Queen’s Gambit.

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Well I’m proud to say I’ve joined the millions of others who have since taken up chess. As a complete newbie to it, I had a lot to learn. Who knew how useful the Queen was, she really does have all the moves. What a woman. Should’ve guessed really. But on a more serious note, finding this game has been such a wonderful switch off for me, rather than aimlessly staring at a phone or scrolling through Netflix trying to find something to watch. This new hobby requires concentration, but can be social at the same time. Give it a go, dust off the old set, and until next time, I’ll see you on the board.

Read more Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed:

Thanks so much for reading Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed – check back on Marie Claire every Friday for more of my feel-good recommendations.

Mollie King
Mollie King

Mollie King rose to fame as one-fifth of the multi-platinum selling girl band, The Saturdays. The last few years have seen her become a Radio 1 DJ, present across flagship TV shows and a campaign in Parliament.

During her time in The Saturdays, the group sold over five million records worldwide, achieving 13 Top 10 singles and five Top 10 albums. The band also embarked on four nationwide tours and had three primetime TV series, including Chasing the Saturdays for E! which aired in over 40 countries.

In 2018, Mollie turned her hand to presenting and after guest presenting for several weeks on Matt Edmondson’s Radio 1 show, she was offered a permanent role at the station. The duo began hosting the Matt & Mollie Weekend Breakfast show and 2021 moved their new afternoon slot. Mollie also presents her own Friday morning show Best New Pop, sharing music from her most loved genre. After only six months into her role at Radio 1, Mollie won the silver award for ‘Best New Presenter’ at the 2018 ARIA Radio Academy Awards.

In addition to Radio, Mollie has also guest presented This Morning several times, including a month-long stint in the summer of 2018. She’s covered the entertainment slot on Lorraine, and guest presented on Blue Peter. In 2019, Mollie hosted The Greatest Dancer podcast for the BBC. She also presented the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, alongside Greg James and Maya Jama, which aired on BBC2. Mollie also took part in the 15th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, making it all the way to the semi-finals.

Away from her TV and Radio work Mollie writes a weekly column for Marie Claire magazine, ‘Mollie’s Feel Good Feed’ and has worked with numerous brands including Estée Lauder, L’Oreal, Amazon, GHD and Aspinal of London.

Mollie is a proud ambassador for the Dyslexia Association, a learning disorder she was diagnosed with as a child. Mollie is very passionate about campaigning for early diagnostic tests in schools, as well as funding to support children through education with Dyslexia and spoke about this in Parliament in 2019.

Mollie is also a Born Free anti-captivity ambassador, has worked closely with the charity Mothers2Mothers and traveled to Ghana in 2014 with REDD charity to help raise awareness and funds for HIV.

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