About this episode
Sonia Beldom is the creator and host of MUMBELIEVABLE is todays guest. This is a podcast exploring the complex, challenging, funny and deeply human relationships between mothers and their children. The show is fast becoming known for its disarming honesty and its ability to move seamlessly from laughter to revelation. Her broadcasting credentials are formidable. Sonia began her career at the BBC, rising from trainee to producer on flagship light entertainment programmes including The Huddlines and The News Quiz. She later became a senior music producer at BBC Radio 2, collaborating with high-profile talent and winning the prestigious Prix de Monte Carlo Award for “Give a Little Whistle” and a silver Sony Award for “Smokey Robinson and Friends”. In television, Sonia has worked alongside some of the UK’s most recognised entertainers, including Victoria Wood, Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkington, Robson Green, Gloria Hunniford and Dame Joan Collins. She is also an experienced media trainer, trusted by professionals who want to communicate with clarity and confidence on air and on camera. What sets Sonia apart, however, is not just her career — it is her story.Raised by a mother whose unpredictable mental health created both chaos and fierce love, Sonia understands firsthand the complicated inheritance many families carry. When her mother was sectioned at 80, Sonia immersed herself in understanding mental health, undertook therapy, and ultimately had a transformative conversation with her mother that reframed their entire relationship. That lived experience now fuels the empathy and insight she brings to every conversation.Trained in neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnotherapy, Sonia speaks powerfully about trauma, resilience, communication patterns and healing. In 2023, she faced her own life-altering diagnosis: an aggressive form of leukaemia. Now in recovery, Sonia speaks candidly about survival, perspective and living with urgency and gratitude. Her story is not one of tragedy, but of courage, humour and hard-won clarity. MUMBELIEVABLE the podcast emerged a few years later after Jeremy Vine invited Sonia on to his Radio 2 show for an alternative Mother’s Day item. What started as a 6-minute piece ended up lasting over half an hour with Sonia taking calls from listeners who recognised a similar story with the troubled and complicated relationships with their own mothers and the feedback was how she coped so well with a difficult childhood. Her blog site crashed with hundreds of thousands of people logging in.Recorded March 2026
