Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-201820 Nov 2016

Nicola Adams

Kirsty Young's castaway is Nicola Adams. She made history when she won the first ever Olympic gold medal in women's boxing at London 2012, retaining it in Rio 2016. She is the first woman fighter to hold European, World, Commonwealth and Olympic titles.

Having watched classic Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard fights on TV as she was growing up, she entered the ring for the first time at a working men's club when she was only 13. When she was 14, her mother contracted meningitis and for several months Nicola looked after herself and her younger brother. She turned to acting in order to help fund her boxing training, appearing as an extra in Coronation Street and Emmerdale. She first represented her country when she was 18. In 2009 it was announced that women's boxing would feature for the first time at the London Olympics, although before her selection for Team GB she fell down stairs and had to recover from a fracture in one of her vertebra.

In 2012 she topped The Independent newspaper's Pink List of the most powerful LGBT people in public life, was made an MBE for services to boxing in 2013 and received a 'Paving The Way' award at the 2016 Mobo awards.

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

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Episoder(126)

Sara Khan

Kirsty Young's castaway is Sara Khan.A British Muslim human rights activist, she's the director of Inspire, a counter-extremism and women's rights organisation which she co-founded in 2009.Born in Bra...

26 Jun 201635min

Barrie Rutter

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor and theatre director Barrie Rutter.He is the founder and artistic director of the touring theatre company Northern Broadsides. There was nothing in his background ...

19 Jun 201633min

Warwick Davis

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor Warwick Davis.His career began thanks to his grandmother who heard a radio advert calling for short people to be in the latest of George Lucas's Star Wars films. H...

12 Jun 201635min

David Nott

Kirsty Young's castaway is the surgeon, David Nott.He works across three London hospitals performing general, vascular, trauma & reconstructive surgery. In addition, for the past two decades, he's spe...

5 Jun 201636min

Professor Louise Richardson

Kirsty Young's castaway is the political scientist and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University Professor Louise Richardson.She was born in Ireland, is one of seven children and has gone on to have an int...

31 Mai 201634min

Berry Gordy

Kirsty Young's castaway is the producer Berry Gordy.He founded the Motown record label and his musical empire made worldwide stars of Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Jac...

22 Mai 201634min

Inga Beale

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the business woman, Inga Beale.She has been the CEO of Lloyd's of London since January 2014 and was the first woman to hold the post in the 325 years since the ins...

15 Mai 201636min

Tom Hanks, actor

Kirsty Young's castaway is Tom Hanks.From 'Big' to 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Captain Phillips' to 'Apollo 13', his long and distinguished film-making career has brought him multiple awards and many pla...

8 Mai 201647min