Diana Vickers is no stranger to a reinvention.
Since charming the nation on The X Factor in 2008, she’s made her mark in music, theatre, and comedy.
Now, she’s taking on the world of podcasting with Just Between Us in collaboration with Metro – a no-filter, sex-positive agony-aunt style show which launched earlier this week.
The concept? Each week, Diana and her co-host, Metro’s Alice Giddings, a bona fide sex expert (‘a sexpert!’ as Diana gleefully puts it), take calls from listeners navigating everything from threesomes and sex parties to cheating scandals and bedroom blips.
And while Alice brings the expert insight, Diana brings the chaos and the laughs.
‘Alice already works at Metro, she’s fabulous and she really knows her stuff,’ Diana explains.
‘She’s the sexpert and I guess I’m the one who doesn’t really know what the hell’s going on. I’m more the messy one—I just react. My advice might not always be the best… so I’m sorry!’ she laughs.
But between the giggles, Diana admits the stakes can feel high when real people are involved: ‘It’s definitely a lot of pressure,’ she says.
‘You’re giving advice that could actually affect someone’s life. I think I’m quite good at it, but I’m always like, “If I mess this up, please don’t come for me.”’
Still, Diana sees the podcast as a space for honesty and solidarity: ‘Dating right now is such a nightmare. It’s exhausting. Hinge, Raya, all of it… it’s just a mess. So I think the podcast will actually be a comfort for a lot of people. You hear someone going through absolute madness and you’re like, “OK, it’s not just me who’s losing the plot over some f**kboy.”’
That blend of empathy and entertainment is already proving effective. The first episode features a jaw-dropping story of a woman who found a condom in her boyfriend’s bed – despite their agreement to be exclusive.
She’s definitely not sugar-coating the current state of modern dating: ‘I do think it’s an absolute nightmare at the moment,’ she says.
‘With Hinge and dating apps, there are so many possibilities, and people get really, really bored and ghost people. And I mean, to be honest, I’ve taken a little break off the apps because I’m knackered.’
Even Raya, the exclusive dating app for creatives, has lost its appeal. ‘Raya is a weird one,’ Diana admits. ‘I’ve actually connected with a few people that I already knew and then we cemented that friendship… But I think mostly it’s a place for hookups, like, nothing serious.’
One guy even messaged her on Instagram asking why she hadn’t matched with him. ‘I thought he looked quite nice, normal guy, so I matched with him. And then he just turned out to be a bit of a dick. Kind of put me off it.’
Diana’s particularly passionate about breaking down shame around female sexuality.
‘There’s still a stigma,’ she says. ‘Men watch porn and think sex is done like that—but female pleasure is more complex. I think it’s really important to talk about it, to be direct, to tell people what you want. I’m quite bossy in that way, and I think that’s the best sex advice I’ve ever been given – just be honest. And if he doesn’t like it? Sod him.’
While Just Between Us might be Diana’s newest outlet, she’s far from done with the rest.
She recently starred in Just For One Day, a musical about Live Aid, and has a TV appearance and a secret stage project lined up for later this year.
She’s also dipped back into music after a break, writing what she calls ‘super gay, super fun songs for the gays and the girlies’.
Still, it’s clear that the podcast has struck a special chord. ‘I absolutely love talking about sex and relationships, especially from a woman’s perspective. I’m such an advocate for women being able to express themselves openly.’
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