Clara’s Verdict
Ruth Langsford is one of those broadcasters who seems to exist permanently on your television, warm and unflustered, asking the questions you actually want answered. When she wrote her first book, there was always a risk it would feel like an extended promotional interview – a greatest-hits reel rather than anything genuinely revealing. I’m relieved to report that Feeling Fabulous is rather better than that. Narrated in her own voice, it arrives as something closer to a long, candid conversation over tea – honest, occasionally surprising, and delivered with the kind of self-deprecating humour that makes you warm to her even more than you did before.
At just over six hours, it’s the right length. She doesn’t outstay her welcome, and she doesn’t pad. What you get is a woman in her sixties reflecting on a life that has contained real joy, real loss, and real reinvention – without ever becoming mawkish about it.
There is also something worth noting about the timing of this book. Langsford wrote and recorded it during a period of considerable personal change, and that context lends the later chapters a weight that purely retrospective memoirs sometimes lack. This is a woman reflecting on her life while still living it, and the difference is palpable in the audio performance. She’s not delivering lessons from a position of settled resolution; she’s sharing what she’s still working out. That honesty is what makes it worth your time.
About the Audiobook
From rebellious schooldays through to early television work, Strictly Come Dancing, and the deeply personal territory of family and grief, Langsford structures the book around the experiences that have shaped who she is. She is candid about her close bond with her late sister Julia, and about navigating life in the public eye during private upheaval.
The central argument of the book – that it’s possible to find your way back to feeling fabulous, whatever that means to you – could easily tip into the formulaic. But Langsford earns it. She’s not prescribing a routine or a ten-step programme. She’s sharing what actually worked for her, which is a more useful thing entirely. There’s warmth here, but also rigour. She’s been through things that required more than a positive mindset to survive, and she doesn’t pretend otherwise.
The book was described by the Daily Mail as “uplifting”, which is accurate, though it undersells the emotional depth that surfaces in the later chapters. Published by Hodder & Stoughton and released in February 2026, it’s very much a book of this moment – one that speaks to the generation of women who came of age watching Loose Women and who are now navigating their own second chapters.
The Narration
Ruth Langsford reads her own book, and the result is about as good as self-narration gets. She knows exactly when to let a joke land and when to let silence sit. Her voice carries the warmth you’d expect, but also – in the more difficult passages – a quiet resolve that feels completely unforced. There’s no performance here, which is precisely the point. When she talks about the things that have been hard, you believe her, because you can hear it.
For a book built on personal intimacy, having the author at the microphone is the right call. Anyone else would have introduced a layer of interpretation that would have diluted the effect considerably.
What Readers Say
Feeling Fabulous holds a rating of 4.3 out of 5 from 131 listeners on Audible UK. The response has been notably generous, with many readers citing the book’s emotional honesty as its greatest strength.
Anne Powell, who awarded it five stars, wrote that it “inspired me as an older woman that life is for living” – and that her only complaint was wanting more pages. Lesley found it “very honest and quite uplifting,” and several reviewers noted that it arrived at exactly the right time in their lives. There is one recurring caveat worth mentioning: Loose Women devotees who have followed Ruth’s television career closely may find some ground already familiar. One reader noted precisely this, though still awarded four stars. It’s a fair warning for the most dedicated fans, but for everyone else, there’s plenty of new territory here.
Who Should Listen?
This audiobook is ideally suited to women in their forties, fifties, and sixties navigating change – whether that’s bereavement, reinvention, health challenges, or simply wondering what the next chapter looks like. It would also appeal to anyone who has ever admired Langsford on screen and wondered what she’s really like when the cameras stop.
If you’ve been putting off buying something for yourself that might actually help you feel better, this might be it. You can listen to Feeling Fabulous on Audible UK – grab your copy here and start it tonight.
