Therapy after my breakdown was a ‘happy accident’ – it led me to Celebs Go Dating, says Anna Williamson

SHE’S gone from the bonkers world of kids’ TV to become one of the nation’s best loved-podcasters and a regular on a hit Channel 4 reality show.

But it hasn’t been all plain-sailing for Celebs Go Dating‘s Anna Williamson, 43.

From her early days presenting to youngsters on Channel 5‘s daily morning show Milkshake, Anna has spent more than two decades grafting in the entertainment industry, working through many professional setbacks and even a mental health crisis in her mid twenties.

It was that breakdown while in a psychologically abusive relationship that ultimately put her on the path to becoming a trained psychotherapist and life coach – a skillset she puts to great use in the CGD agency where she helps famous faces like Helen Flanagan, Gogglebox‘s Stephen Webb and Lauryn Goodman improve their romantic prospects.

The Sun caught up with Anna the day after she and podcasting pal Luisa Zissman delivered their game-changing interactive live show.

Over two nights, some 4,000 fans attended LuAnna’s raucous Big Blow Off at London’s Troxy, with music, stories, strippers and naughty games seamlessly blended for a show unlike any other.

It was a career high for mum-of-two Anna, who was awestruck at what the duo achieved.

Speaking from her home, she told us: “I’d like to say it was more of a clever curated plan than the happy accident it actually is in truth. I think the ultimate thread of that is I am really grateful.

“It sounds really cheesy, ‘hashtag blessed’.”

Those looking in from the outside might see her transition from the likes of Celebrity Big Brother‘s Bit On The Side and This Morning agony aunt to podcast queen as a smooth ride.

But Anna had to overcome debilitating panic attacks, chronic insomnia and the inability to eat as a result of her domestic torment, all the while trying to hold down a job on ITV.

Therapy ultimately saved her from the months-long nightmare she’d become trapped in and opened her mind to the profound effect it could have, inspiring her to learn more about it.

She continues: “I’ve always been tenacious. I’ve always had a love of working in entertainment, in broadcasting, but also in therapy, which became again, a happy accident, turning a positive into a negative of having a mental breakdown in my twenties, which then led me to starting to train and qualify in talking therapist, which then led me to Celebs Go Dating, you know, being a psychotherapist, specialising in dating relationships on that show.”

Anna’s father also instilled in her a strong work ethic that laid the foundations for creating her own ‘good luck’ professionally.

She says: “I’ve always had the advice of my father, which was, if you want to do something badly enough, you’ll find a way to do it.

“And I’ve always also lived with the motto that, you know, if somebody’s got to do it, why not you?

“And I really do sort of stand by that. And I mean I’m sure people might look at what I do now and go, ‘God, you know, wow, look at that’, but my goodness, I’ve had 25 years of rejections.

“If we’re doing a sliding scale, it’s one or two yeses versus 200 no’s, but it just makes those yeses even sweeter. And I love what I do, to be honest.

“I’m at a point now where my kids are starting to understand what I do and be proud of what I do and that makes it a cherry on top of the cake.”

“I’ve always been tenacious. I’ve always had a love of working in entertainment, in broadcasting, but also in therapy

Anna Williamson

FORCE FOR GOOD

Mental health and wellbeing have come to the fore in recent years, with more and more focus on it across mainstream outlets.

As a result past stigmas have begun to fall away as the motto ‘it’s OK to not be OK’ has established itself in the national consciousness.

Anna is using her bubbly personality and love of performance to continue changing perceptions of what it is to be a trained mental health professional.

“I think people are always surprised to know that I am a fully trained psychotherapist and life coach and NLP practitioner,” she admits.

“I think this has also been my sort of mission. When I got into the world of therapy, I could have easily just kissed goodbye to broadcasting and TV. But the opportunity came to kind of do a hybrid of the two.

“And I suddenly thought to myself, well, look, you know what it takes to break the mould. You know, you have to really believe in what you do and you have to be good at what you do. And I believe I’m a very good coach and a good therapist in my off screen and off broadcast work.

“And I hope that translates on screen as well. I’ve been broadcasting for 25 years, so I know how to do telly and broadcasting. And I think particularly in this day and age, I’ve always wanted to make therapy and coaching just more accessible.

“We don’t have to be all prim and proper sitting in a white coat behind a desk and saying now, ‘how do you feel?’

“I know those days of therapy are back in steeped in the 70s. Coaching and therapy is a whole different ballgame now. And I think that reflects in the clients that I have, because I am straight-talking, but I come from personal experience, professional experience, and I come from a handful of modalities in professional qualifications to make me a very targeted therapist.”

PODCAST QUEENS

Perhaps the most endearing thing about Anna is her willingness to let her hair down and embrace silliness.

It’s something that resonates with millions of podcast fans and had has resulted in LuAnna achieving four consecutive nominations in the Listeners’ Choice category at the British Podcast Awards.

“We’ve been going six years now and we’re enormously proud that millions listen to us every month,” says Anna.

“I mean who on earth would ever predicted that? Not us, that’s for sure. But we’ve always trailblazed the world of podcasting. We were the first to have toured, we were the first to have done the London Palladium and so we decided we need to keep coming up with new, bigger, better ideas.”

The pair’s relationship is very much a case of opposites attracting and they provide the perfect foil for one another.

“We’re the yin to each other’s yang,” says Anna. “I tend to be the calm, life coach, friend-sitter, agony-aunt and Louisa is kind of that mate that tells you what you don’t want to hear but you need to hear and the combination seems to work really well.”