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Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball
Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball

‘Too Fat, Too Thin, Too Outspoken’: You Can’t Win As A Woman

July 29, 2026

Summary

⏱️ 11 min read

Overview

Alex Jones joins Zoe Ball on Dig It to discuss the challenges of working motherhood, the scrutiny women face regarding appearance and aging, and life with three kids and numerous pets. They dive into debates about Botox, the treatment of the new Prime Minister's wife, and the impossible standards women navigate. Alex shares updates on her Georgian house renovation, garden plans, and the chaos of summer holidays while her children attend theater camps.

Working Mum Life and Summer Holidays Chaos

Alex arrives for the podcast armed with Factor 50 sunscreen as makeshift foundation and minus a working phone after a rushed repair job during an England match. With three kids starting their summer holidays just as she returns to work, she navigates the juggle of camps, childcare, and the emotional whirlwind of end-of-term events that leave parents exhausted and bank accounts empty. The timing couldn't be worse, but such is the reality of working parenthood.

  • Alex arrives with no working phone (only rainbow stripes visible) and wearing children's Factor 50 sunscreen as foundation
  • Her kids are livid that she has to work on their first full week of summer holidays
  • End of term is like an Olympics for parents with constant costs - £20 for trips, outfits for assemblies, school fairs
  • Teddy (9) and Kit (7) are attending a Matilda musical theater camp, though Kit was conned with promises of "a bit of football"
  • Alex swapped her work Fridays to attend the boys' performance at the end of camp week
" It's like an olympics for parents that period is like this there's just like cash going out the bank because it's like they need this 20 pounds for the trip now they need this outfit for the school assembly "
" The juggle is real isn't it the juggle so it was supposed to be I was supposed to work this Friday and then the following Friday off so I've swapped them so I can go to the performance "

Childhood Memories and Parental Guilt

The conversation touches on the unique guilt working mothers carry, with reminders of missed events that children never forget. Despite being present for the majority of moments, it's the absences that stick in kids' memories. Alex reflects on wanting to hold onto time during holidays while Zoe shares that her son Woody still mentions swimming galas she missed decades ago, highlighting how one missed event can outweigh countless attended ones.

  • Working mums sacrifice certain bits of their kids' lives and children remember what you missed, not what you attended
  • Zoe's son Woody (25 going on 26) still brings up swimming galas she missed, even though he hated swimming
  • It's like receiving 80 brilliant messages but only remembering the one bad one - kids focus on the minority of absences
  • During holidays you just want to hold onto time watching these fabulous little bodies grow
" You didn't even like swimming but he still to this day it's like well you were never at my swimming galas "

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