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Even a cursory glance at Gaby Roslin\u2019s dayglo Instagram feed tells you everything you need to know about the effervescent 59-year-old\u2019s tortured state of mind. Luminous lime, canary yellow and retina-burning tangerine outfits abound, encasing the Duracell bunny-esque former Big Breakfast presenter, who famously once mimed an orgasm on morning TV with When Harry Met Sally star Billy Crystal.<\/p>\n
Ecstatically evangelising about the publication of her new ode to joy, aptly entitled Spread the Joy, she\u2019s no less optimistically technicolour on Zoom.<\/p>\n
The natural successor to her star-studded podcast, Reasons to be Joyful, and subtitled, \u201cSimple, practical ways to make your everyday life brighter\u201d, her new book is a down to earth guide to accessing happiness. \u201cI\u2019m not preaching the gospel,\u201d insists Roslin, who made her first appearance as the chirpy sidekick of the then unknown motormouth Chris Evans on Channel 4\u2019s ground-breaking breakfast show in September 1992.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no bible. I\u2019m not bullying you to do this or do that and I\u2019m absolutely aware that life is very, very tough for most people right now. This book is just about little things that are free to do, that anyone can try, to just make their day a little better.<\/p>\n
\u201cCritics might say that it\u2019s trite or that it\u2019s not terribly intellectual, but it\u2019s not supposed to be. It\u2019s a handbook about feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book, inevitably coloured pink, yellow and orange, features a eulogising forward \u2013 \u201cGaby Roslin, essential for your five a day\u201d \u2013 by former Take That star Robbie Williams, who she\u2019s known for more than four decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobbie was a guest on my first TV show Motormouth when he was only 16, and we\u2019ve been friends ever since,\u201d Roslin explains. \u201cI know his mum and dad and he\u2019s a really good lad, so I asked him to share a quick quote for the cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he\u2019d come back with a couple of lines like Matt Haig or Zoe Ball or Judi Dench did, but I was totally blown away by what he wrote. It was so sweet of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Gaby Roslin recalls recreating raunchy scene with the late Paul O\u2019Grady<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether Roslin\u2019s guide is more sweet than saccharine, is up for debate but it\u2019s undeniably uplifting, and even the grouchiest curmudgeon couldn\u2019t fail to be elevated by an hour in her glass-half-full company. So, what has sparked this relentless, unyielding positivity?<\/p>\n \u201cMy mum died when she was very young,\u201d says Roslin, who shares her 22-year-old daughter Libby with first husband, Colin Peel, and 16-year-old daughter, Amelie, with her second and current husband, David Osmon. \u201cAnd when she died, I realised I was never going to apologise for enjoying life again, and it did make me feel better, but not different about life, as I\u2019d always been happy about life since I was a child.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just meant I never had to apologise for being happy again.<\/p>\n \u201cI love life and some horrible things have happened in my life, but I know that life is short, life is precious, and I know that any moment of joy is precious, so I want to make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Since leaving the Big Breakfast 27 years ago, Roslin has enjoyed a successfully eclectic career, from hosting Children In Need and The Terry and Gaby Show with broadcasting icon Terry Wogan, presenting radio shows on BBC Radio London and Radio 5, and even starring on the West End Stage in When Harry Met Sally and Chicago.<\/p>\n And pivotal to maintaining her positivity has been her policy of surrounding herself with similarly upbeat people. \u201cChris Evans texted me last night and I love him,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s in a really good place. He\u2019s really happy. His wife Tash is gorgeous, and I absolutely adore him. As for Terry Wogan, he was unique. There was never anyone like Terry before Terry and there will never be anyone like him again.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just incredible and so naughty and cheeky too. He just made me laugh so much.\u201d<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n The star has also been mindful to keep negativity at arm\u2019s length in a notoriously shallow and back-stabbing industry. \u201cI think recognising negativity and toxicity gets easier with age and you can realise when there\u2019s negative people around that you don\u2019t want in your life, because it\u2019s about them,\u201d she sighs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about you. They might not be very nice to you but it\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about the stuff that\u2019s in their world and in their life.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re not interested and they just want to be nasty about other people then I don\u2019t want to be around them, but I will always try and talk to them to find out what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Talking sensitively and empathetically has always been central to Roslin\u2019s appeal and her new book encompasses many tenets of cognitive behavioural therapy, so it\u2019s unsurprising to learn that she has considered taking her gift for sympathetic communication further. \u201cI have thought about being a therapist, yes,\u201d she confirms with a smile. \u201cEven when I was 12 on the bus to school people would tell me things. People have always used me like a therapist, and I\u2019ve always been fascinated by psychotherapy.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have said to me, \u2018Why don\u2019t you do a course in it?\u2019 but I love my work and I love my job, and I was never very academic at school. In the past I\u2019ve looked up courses and considered doing them, but I\u2019ve got a family, I\u2019ve got three jobs, television, radio, podcast… I write, I come up with programme ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cSo yes, it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve thought of, but therapist or not, anyone could come and talk to me, and I\u2019ll talk to anybody. I don\u2019t have the answers, but I will try and help.\u201d<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> And her communication with strangers is often as physical as it is verbal.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to be spontaneous as often as possible, whether that\u2019s choosing a new sandwich shop to get your lunch from or just interacting with people when you might not normally do that,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n \u201cLike the time I was on the Tube and this stranger started singing Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi. I slowly joined in with him first, then a few others joined in, then before you know it, we all stood up and sang it together. There was no head banging but everyone sang with huge smiles on their faces. Then we drew up to the next station and everybody applauded. It was a moment of spontaneous joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Roslin is also partial to wishing fellow commuters \u201cgood morning\u201d when she can \u2013 \u201cthey\u2019re more reciprocal on the edge of London than the centre,\u201d she confirms \u2013 and whenever she\u2019s in the West End to catch a show, she makes a beeline for a road called Chitty Street.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as I\u2019m on that street, I\u2019ll break into a chorus of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and without fail a random stranger will join me in song.\u201d<\/p>\n On rare occasions she\u2019s also been known to attempt the Dick Van Dyke airborne ankle tap manoeuvre too, with varying results.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done it with Bonnie Langford who is a very dear friend of mine, and she\u2019s much better at it than me but I\u2019m improving.\u201d<\/p>\n The central thread running through Roslin\u2019s book \u2013 and indeed her life \u2013 is the power of positive mental attitude and it\u2019s something that\u2019s been sorely tested in the last 18 months, following the deaths of two close friends. Former Big Breakfast colleague Paul O\u2019Grady \u2013 in those days in his Lily Savage drag queen incarnation \u2013 died of a heart attack in March and journalist and campaigner Deborah James died of colon cancer in June 2022.<\/p>\n But both, insists Roslin, lived life to the full to the very end. \u201cI saw Deborah just a couple of weeks before she died and she was in the garden, very weak at that stage, but she still had this zest for life and Paul was the same, but that\u2019s why we just have to grab every moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lost far too many people by the age of 40, so we need to just embrace life and emotions and reject repression. If you want to sing in the street, do it. If you want to cry, do it. If you want to jump for the sake of jumping, do it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about reconnecting with your imagination and rediscovering your inner child. Life is short. So let\u2019s make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/79\/590x\/secondary\/5011515.jpg?r=1697231789933\")
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