Giovanna Fletcher brings star power and inspiration to new BBC Sport Couch to 5K Podcast
Created by BBC Sport in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care, this fresh audio companion to the popular NHS Couch to 5K app is designed to inspire the nation to get moving.
Each week, Giovanna is joined by special guests – including Jo Whiley, Charley Marlowe, and Lindsey Burrow – who share powerful, personal stories to keep you motivated with every step.
Whether you're lacing up for your first run or getting back into the rhythm, the podcast brings warmth, encouragement, and real-life inspiration to help you stay on track.
Giovanna Fletcher said: 'Being part of The Couch to 5K Podcast has been such a joy. Running can do wonders for your mind and body, and this podcast is all about offering support, motivation and a friendly voice to keep you going—no matter where you are on your journey.'
Ashley Dalton, Minister for Public Health and Prevention said: "Getting active isn't just good for your body – it works wonders for your mental wellbeing too, clearing your mind and boosting your motivation. And that's true for every single one of us, regardless of our starting point.
'As part of our Plan for Change, we are committed to preventing ill health before it starts, including breaking down barriers to exercise and getting the nation fitter.
'The NHS Couch to 5K App is a brilliant example of this– it offers exactly what we all need: support, encouragement and a friendly voice cheering you on at every step.'
BBC Radio 2 presenter, Jo Whiley, who once disliked running, reflects on how coaching for the Couch to 5K app has been one of the best experiences of her life.
Jo Whiley says: 'It's one of the best things I've ever done in my career. 100 per cent.'
'I have been at so many different festivals where such a variety of people of all different shapes and sizes and fitness abilities coming over to me and saying 'Couch to 5K! It's changed my life!'
Also set to join Giovanna in upcoming episodes are Dr Punam Krishnan, a GP who shares insight into the health benefits of running, Coronation Street star Colson Smith who talks about how running helped him with weight loss and Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny.
With more guests to be announced, Giovanna's podcast brings humour, heart and real talk to support and keep you company on your Couch to 5K journey one step at a time.
BBC Sport has long been at the heart of the nation's most iconic sporting moments, from global tournaments to local triumphs. With a huge summer ahead, including the Women's EURO and the Women's Rugby World Cup, The Couch to 5K Podcast reflects BBC Sport's commitment to not just covering sport, but encouraging participation, by making movement feel accessible, inclusive, and something that brings people together.
Listen to the first episode of The Couch to 5K Podcast on BBC Sounds, Friday 25 April. Further episodes will be released weekly from 5 May.
CF
About NHS Couch to 5K
NHS Couch to 5K is a running plan for absolute beginners. It is based on the plan designed by Josh Clark in 1996, who wanted to help his 50-something mum get off the couch and start running. The plan involves 3 runs a week, with a day of rest in between, and a different schedule for each of the 9 weeks. The idea behind the programme was to gradually build endurance and stamina over the course of several weeks, starting with short intervals of running interspersed with walking.
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The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Match of the Day's new era: reassuring dad jokes and a lot of Wayne Rooney
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BBC News
19 hours ago
- BBC News
A bold new era of Football on BBC Sport - Your Game, Your Season
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I think what they have done is got the players out they need to get out because when I was there, you had Tony Mowbray, Gary Rowett after me who also struggled as well… but yeah bit disappointed but nothing too serious so move on." Watch, listen and subscribe to The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport's YouTube channel, BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website & app from 6am on Friday 15 August The Football Interview The Football Interview is a new series that takes audiences closer to the game than ever before. It's fan's backstage pass to the personalities, pressure, and passion that define football in the UK. Whether it's reflecting on career defining moments or digging a little deeper into the footballing origins, mindset and motivation behind some of the most recognisable faces in football, The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player. 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Alongside the Premier League, 5 Live continues to bring people together with live commentary of the biggest games throughout the season in the Women's Super League, Men's and Women's Champions League, Europa League, Scottish Premiership, Men's and Women's FA Cups and Men's and Women's League Cups, as well as international matches involving the home nations. Women's Football: Women's Super League & League Cup Final After an historic summer for women's football, the Women's Super League is back - and the stakes have never been higher. The new season gets under way on Friday 5 September and BBC Sport are bringing fans even closer to the women's game, with 21 unmissable WSL matches live on BBC TV and iPlayer, plus digital highlights from every single fixture - delivered straight to audiences' feed via the BBC Sport website, app, and social channels. More wonder goals. More last-ditch tackles. More world-class saves. Wherever fans are watching, we're making sure they never miss a moment. 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BBC Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and BBC Local Radio BBC Scotland Sport is where Scottish football lives, with extensive live coverage across radio and online of the Scottish Premiership. BBC Radio Scotland - which last year had over 200 commentaries across various competitions - will again have live commentary of all the main Scottish Premiership games and every goal as it happens on Saturday afternoons in Open All Mics. BBC Radio Scotland will also have live commentary of key international fixtures and action from Championship matches. BBC Radio Wales and Chwaraeon BBC Radio Cymru will provide live commentary of all Wales men's and women's international fixtures, alongside updates and coverage of matches involving Welsh EFL clubs: Swansea City, Wrexham AFC, Cardiff City, and Newport County. For the first time this season, dedicated club feeds are available on BBC Sounds, offering the latest news, interviews, and analysis; users can simply search for their club on the app or website to tune in. Post-match fan reactions will feature on the Feast of Football Phone-In, while BBC Radio Cymru's podcasts Y Coridor Ansicrwydd and Y Panel Chwaraeon, as well as BBC Radio Wales' Feast of Football podcast, will deliver essential news, analysis, insights, and interviews to keep listeners fully up to date with all the action. The new NIFL Premiership season has kicked off with coverage across BBC iPlayer, BBC Two NI and BBC Sport Online. This includes highlights of every NIFL Premiership game on the BBC Sport NI website, with 30 live NIFL Premiership streams on BBC iPlayer. BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and BBC Sounds will have live coverage of the games on Saturdays while continued live coverage of every Derry City game can be heard on BBC Radio Foyle. There's also coverage of the Northern Ireland men's 2026 World Cup qualifying matches and Northern Ireland's women's international team across 2025/26, including their Nations League play-off against Iceland. BBC Local Radio is your EFL hub, offering live commentaries and club feeds – with audio content – for every EFL team giving fans more match analysis, interviews and conversation than anyone else. Collectively BBC Local does more than 5,000 commentaries a year across the English football pyramid – from Premier League, the EFL and into National League. React To The Game Full-time Reaction – Match of the Day Brand new for the 2025/26 football season, BBC Sport is bringing fans instant full-time reaction streams to some of the Premier League's biggest games on the BBC Sport app, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport's YouTube channel. As the final whistle blows, jump straight into sharp analysis, expert opinion, and unfiltered debate from top pundits. No waiting, no delay. It's fast, interactive, and all about what fans want to know - right when it matters most. The Women's Football Show Want to keep across who's scoring bangers, topping the table or fighting for survival? The Women's Football Show has highlights of every Women's Super League fixture. Watch it first on BBC iPlayer from 9pm and on BBC One at 11.30pm, every Sunday of match weeks, after Match of the Day. Current and former players and managers join each week to dissect the action from the biggest games. Fans can also keep up to date with women's football news, features and analysis and our popular live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app. And across social media too, including our dedicated women's football TikTok account: @BBCWomensFootball. 606 Every weekend, join dynamic duo Chris Sutton and Robbie Savage as they take calls from you, the fans, about the latest footballing action. BBC Radio 5 Live's iconic 606 puts audiences at its heart, providing a place for rapid, fan-led discussion of that day's fixtures. Join Chris every Saturday evening and Chris and Robbie every Sunday evening on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sounds. Monday Night Club The ever-popular Monday Night Club returns for the new season, as Mark Chapman, Chris Sutton, Rory Smith and guests analyse and debate the weekend's football. Audiences can follow the show across BBC Sport's platforms, by listening on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds or watching via BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website. Don't forget… All of this is all of this is alongside Match of the Day every Saturday and Sunday of match weeks, with highlights available at the earlier time of 8pm on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app. Other Ways To Keep Up With The Game BBC Sport Website, app & social media accounts Get ready, follow and react to games every week by locking into BBC Sport's digital channels throughout the season. Ahead of the action, find squad news, club press conferences and score predictions on the website, app and social media, plus the latest episodes of The Wayne Rooney Show and The Football Interview will both be available to watch online – putting everything you need to prepare for an epic weekend of football in one place. Keep up to date with fixtures from across the football pyramid via BBC Sport's industry leading live commentary pages, and with dedicated reporters at some of the Premier League's biggest clubs, you can be across breaking news as it happens. For a deeper dive into the results, fans can read in-depth analysis, tactical discussion and reaction to the weekend's biggest talking points from BBC Sport's world-class football journalists on the website. Or, if you miss any of the action, every goal from every Premier League game is available to watch from 8pm, with clips of the biggest moments also on BBC Sport's social media accounts. Sami Mokbel, BBC Sport Senior Football Correspondent says: 'The new season promises to be one of the most exciting Premier League campaigns yet. Hype and anticipation is sky high amongst fans at this time of the summer and BBC Sport's expert team will bring you in-depth coverage of all the twists and turns over the next nine months." BBC Football pundit, Troy Deeney, will share his Premier League team and manager of the week after every round of Premier League matches this season. Follow online at or @BBCSport on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X as well as @BBCWomensFootball on TikTok. Football Daily Podcast Football Daily is the place for the best analysis, reaction and debate, whatever your footballing passion. Covering everything from the Premier League and the Football League, plus Scottish, International and European football. Dropping every day on BBC Sounds, podcasts include Monday Night Club, Premier League Review, The Commentator's View, 72+ : The EFL Podcast and Euroleagues. Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave also return to test their fantasy football skills in The FPL Podcast. BBC Women's Football Weekly BBC Women's Football Weekly is the home of women's football on BBC Sounds. Each week, Ben Haines and former Lioness Ellen White will be joined by the biggest names in women's football to discuss the latest news, fixtures and transfers from the Women's Super League and beyond. The Tooney & Russo Show with Vick Hope The podcast has returned for a hotly anticipated second series. There are 10 new episodes available on BBC Sounds where European Champions, England teammates and best friends, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo, talk about their lives on and off the pitch. All episodes are available now on BBC Sounds and BBC Sport YouTube. Last Pundit Standing 12 of the UK's most-passionate football fanatics, who love creating content about the beautiful game on their social media channels, have been selected to battle for a coveted role as a BBC Sport contributor. Co-hosted by ex-Premier League player Troy Deeney and leading football YouTuber James Lawrence Allcott, the series sees the potential pundits whittled down through a series of high-stakes tasks, to see who will make it all the way to the final whistle and emerge victorious. All episodes are available now on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport YouTube. Watch Last Pundit Standing on BBC iPlayer Follow for more
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Strictly winner Ore Oduba opens up on self-discovery after tragic death of sibling
Strictly Come Dancing 2016 winner Ore Oduba has opened up about the heartbreaking death of his sister, and his deeply painful loss changed his entire outlook on life Sports broadcaster Ore Oduba has opened up about the heartbreaking death of his sibling, Lola, admitting that the loss of them changed his whole outlook on life. The BBC Sport host, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 alongside Joanne Clifton, revealed how his family has had a "really difficult year". Speaking on John Reynolds' Extraordinary Life Stories podcast, Ore, 39, spoke about his deeply personal and painful experience of losing his sister. He explained: "I wasn't prepared to lose my sister. She's been with me every day since. "My sister's non-binary, they told us in their goodbye letter. They've been with me every day since. What my sister did in choosing to find peace in death that they couldn't find in life - that was strength, that was courage, and that was brave. "And having gone through the last four or five years of their life and hearing about these troubles they were dealing with physically and emotionally. And actually, my sister did more living in the last five years of their life than in the previous 32 and still made a decision that they couldn't carry on in this world. "What they did for all of us in those last weeks, that's given me the strength every day. And my responsibility now is to carry that legacy, because nothing is hard compared to what my sister went through." Ore's sister, Lola, sadly died in April this year, a year after the presenter divorced from his wife of nine years, Portia Oduba. Ore said how his sister's death gave him a completely new outlook on life, adding: "We don't know when our last day is, and the truth is there isn't time, there isn't time. So I'm going to make the most of every single second I've got left. "I can't say enough, when you've been through something that puts life into perspective, your whole outlook changes. None of this stuff matters, John, none of it matters. But you can wrestle what is really important back before it's too late." Ore showed his support on social media for Lola earlier this month, revealing his sibling identified as non-binary, using they/them pronouns, towards the end of their life. He began: "Lots of people have been asking about the rainbow in my bio... some will say I don't need to explain myself (and they'd be right) however in this case I'm happy to share my why. It's maybe not why you think." He continued: "I've mentioned before about the longer you can withstanding a storm the closer you are to your rainbow. I'm so glad to have grown monumentally through a truly difficult, stormy period in my life. the colours of my rainbow look very bright today. "But in losing my sister in April the symbol of a rainbow has brought me closer to them in the times I've needed it desperately. My sister was very proudly black and very proudly queer. "Definitely an ICON to me and so many of their friends and family. In the last year of their life they identified as non-binary. My pride for them knows no bounds. "Despite doing a whole lot of living in their latter years, my sister spent much of their life in shame and humiliation of who they were. In so many ways, my sister's death gave ME a gift of life. "Having realised I'd lived the majority of my life for the attention of others, often suppressing my authentic self, my sister gave me the wake up call to live my life fully and express myself wholeheartedly. And that is what I plan to do. It's certainly the version of me I want to mirror for my children." Ore then addressed his sexuality, writing: "So am I gay, as someone keenly asked me on insta yesterday. No, not in the traditional or sexual sense. "But if 'coming out' is about shedding a former self to put forward the new, truest version of me, without the shame, the hiding, without the second-guessing whether any decision will make me happy rather than how others perceive me, how I cheerlead others with kindness and compassion, with occasionally quiet, or loud, flamboyance, depending on the mood, and a big dollop of camp then HALLELUJAH - count me in!"
