Fearne Cotton has said she wants to say goodbye to ‘shame, guilt and worrying whether I’m likeable in 2026’ as she shared a candid New Year’s message.
The TV presenter, 44, took to her Instagram with a video sharing her plans for New Year’s Eve.
Speaking to her followers, she said: ‘So I was meant to go to my mate’s party tonight, but as you can tell from my bright red nose and beady eyes, I still got the lurgy. I feel dreadful, so I’m not going anywhere.
‘But here’s what I’m going to do instead.
‘New Year is a funny one, obviously because we think we’ve got to come up with this big list of things that we want to do next year, and things that we don’t want to do next year.
‘That is almost an impossible task because although I think we do have autonomy over many of the outcomes in our life, there are obviously lots of things that happen that we have no control over whatsoever.
Fearne Cotton has said she wants to say goodbye to ‘shame, guilt and worrying whether I’m likeable in 2026’ as she shared a candid New Year’s message
The TV presenter, 44, took to her Instagram with a video sharing her plans for New Year’s Eve
‘So, instead I’m going to write a list this evening, of how I want to react to things, because that’s the kind of control that I do have.
‘I want to react to things honestly, which means obviously I got to worry a lot less about being likeable. I want to react to things without guilt, because it’s fu**ing pointless.
‘I want to react to things without shame, because it feels horrible, and gets me nowhere.
‘And I want to react to things from a place that lacks ego, because I think my ego makes me defensive and cold-hearted… Which is not good.
‘So that’s what I’m going to focus on tonight, whilst I’m lying in bed, with a heated blanket, feeling dreadful.
‘But whatever you’re doing, Happy New Year.’
Alongside the post, she penned: ‘Full of lurgy, full of contemplation.
‘This heavy cold is forcing me to do very little which I’m not good at.
It comes after Fearne recalled being sacked by Simon Cowell and revealed the incredible gift Sharon Osbourne gave her when she left X Factor spin off show, The Xtra Factor
The star fronted the show for one series in 2007, later being replaced by her friend Holly Willoughby
‘In 2026 I want to say goodbye to shame, guilt and worrying whether or not I’m likeable. A big challenge perhaps but a worthwhile one. You?’
It comes after Fearne recalled being sacked by Simon Cowell and revealed the incredible gift Sharon Osbourne gave her when she left X Factor spin off show, The Xtra Factor.
The TV presenter fronted the show for one series in 2007, later being replaced by her friend Holly Willoughby.
While walking her fans through her wardrobe in an Instagram video posted in August, Fearne said she was ‘essentially sacked’ from the series but did get a Prada handbag from Sharon.
She began: ‘I’m doing an awkward amount of name dropping here but you want to hear the stories don’t you?
‘This bag was given to me as a gift by Sharon Osbourne after I finished Xtra Factor a million years ago. And I essentially got sacked from… anyway I got a bag out of it.’
Fearne showed off the hot pink designer clutch bag that was still in it’s box before going on to rummage through the rest of her wardrobe.
Fearne who has now turned her back on broadcasting in favour of her wellness brand Happy Place, found fame on CITV and CBBC before going on to Radio 1, Celebrity Juice as well as briefly fronting The Xtra Factor and Love Island.
Fearne pictured with Brian Friedman, Simon, Dermot O’Leary, Sharon and Dannii Minogue on the show in 2007
Speaking to The Times last year, she said: ‘I’ve been sacked a million times, I’ve been sacked and not told I’ve been sacked. You just turn the telly on and someone else is doing your job.’
‘It’s all a big game. You’ve got the Monopoly board out and you’re moving around [trying to] dodge the danger.’
Elsewhere, Fearne recently admitted struggling as a single mother has reduced her tears following her split from her husband Jesse Wood.
In her most candid interview since the breakup of her decade-long marriage, the TV presenter admitted that some days she is left ‘crying in her car’ as attempts to juggle the pressures of raising two young children single-handedly with her media career.
‘I’m just dropping lots of balls constantly and never feeling like I’m doing anything particularly well,’ Fearne told Women’s Health magazine’s new podcast, Just As Well.
Reflecting on what it’s like to be a single mother, she said: ‘We’re just juggling so much, it’s so full on and I’m dropping balls left, right, and centre in all the basic ways.
‘I had nothing the kids liked for breakfast on Monday, nothing. I had cereal, but no milk. I had butter, but no bread. I tried to make pancakes, I had no maple syrup. It is like an absolute s**t show.’
Fearne continued: ‘So I’m just dropping lots of balls constantly and never feeling like I’m doing anything particularly well. But enjoying most of it. I would say enjoying most of it.’
The veteran presenter announced she had separated from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood, last December after 10 years of marriage.
