Welcome to the Experience is Everything podcast
Saga’s podcast lets national treasures share what they’ve learnt during their amazing lives.
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Saga’s podcast lets national treasures share what they’ve learnt during their amazing lives.
Sometimes there’s nothing better than putting on your favourite podcast and switching off from the world for a while.
Whether it’s while you relax on holiday, back at home on your morning walk, or sitting down with a cup of tea, listening to a podcast allows you to become part of a new community and hear stories or opinions you may not have encountered before.
In December 2025, Saga launched our first-ever podcast, Experience is Everything where we sit down with national treasures and household names to talk to them about the lessons they have learnt in their lifetimes, with many surprising, comical and moving moments along the way.
Guests so far have included Paul Merton, Tony Blackburn, Sir Trevor McDonald, Professor Tim Spector, Alex Kingston and Johnny Ball with all of them opening up about their personal and professional highs and lows.
On losing his second wife Sarah and the healing power of comedy
“She died on a Monday and on the Sunday I went down to the Comedy Store show, which I normally did. I didn’t go on stage as I knew that would be interpreted as a bit callous. But I wanted to be amidst people that were laughing.
“I wanted to be in a laughing environment. And I was, and that helped. And then three weeks later, Have I Got News For You came along again. So I did that. Now, I could have said, ‘Oh, you know, I know I don’t want to do that.’ But if I’d sat at home watching somebody else do it, that wouldn’t have helped at all.
“And the powerful thing about laughter is when we’re laughing at something, whatever it is, everything else goes for that moment. Mortgage problems, worries about children, how are you going to pay the gas bill. For that moment of pure laughter, the only thing you’re experiencing is just pure laughter.”
On begging first wife Tessa Wyatt to take him back live on air
“Why did I do it? No idea. It affected me, but it affected me badly, because getting divorced isn’t a happy thing. And, my wife, she threatened to walk out on me and all the rest of it, and eventually she did. I was taking a lot of Valium at the time as well, just to calm myself down.
“But I don’t know. I just talked about it on the radio and nobody seemed to stop me… I got a lot of letters at the time from people who were also going through a divorce saying how nice it is to hear somebody talking about it. But I shouldn’t have done it. It just went on for too long. And it was stupid.”
On how she coped when her first husband Ralph Fiennes left her
“Looking back now with hindsight and with age, he was a young man doing what young men do, which is they have to sow their wild oats. I was really quite naive, and for me, I guess I just thought, ‘Okay, I’ve fallen in love. This is the man of my dreams. We’re going to marry, we’re going to have children, we’re going to be living together forever.’ Because that’s sort of how I imagined relationships were and, and we were very young.
“So I think in the end, the reason why is just that he wanted more experience. I was totally content with being in that relationship, having children at some point, and that would be my life. But fate has other plans. You never know what your future is going to be until you can look back on it as I am now, really.
“I sort of felt when I came through this… like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and that’s actually quite a good thing to feel, and that you are stronger, and that this heartbreak, or whatever this horrendous situation is that you found yourself in, that you’ve been able to remove yourself from and survive actually makes you stronger as a person.”
Catch-up on all the episodes so far on Experience is Everything.
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Dame Prue Leith talks about her secret to staying young and why she’s finally slowing down at 86.
TV’s Dr Hilary Jones on why he wants sweeping reform to modern healthcare.
The actor bids farewell to Downton and looks forward to his starring role in a new West End show.
The TV historian on overcoming a difficult childhood and what it was like to appear on Celebrity Traitors.
The wildlife filmmaker on his close call with a polar bear and why hanging out with lions is less scary than driving in the UK.
The Irish author, 62, on escaping the news through writing, staying sober and scrolling the internet for pretty things.
The actress opens up to Jenni Murray on Saga's podcast Experience is Everything.
