How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Every success story you've ever been told is incomplete. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is the part they leave out. Each week, Sunday Times #1 bestselling author Elizabeth Day sits down with someone extraordinary - and asks them about the moments that didn’t go according to plan and how these failures shaped them. Kate Winslet on body image. Malala Yousafzai on rewriting her story. Pamela Anderson on refuting shame. Phoebe Waller-Bridge on creativity. Salman Rushdie on survival. Emilia Clarke on fame. What happens when the people you most admire stop performing and start telling the truth? Five hundred episodes in, we're still finding out. With sold-out nights at the London Palladium and Sydney Opera House, millions of listeners worldwide, and a British Podcast Award to its name, How To Fail is one of the UK's most successful podcasts. And yes, we're aware of the irony. Pick an episode. Start anywhere. An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment production. All guest booking is manag

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Every guest on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

324 guests, ranked by how many people never want them back.

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Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan - ‘Had I known what it involved, I can’t say I’d have gone into politics’ · Jun 2024

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Sally Phillips
Sally Phillips - ‘I saw Colin Firth and thought - he’s mine!’ · Apr 2025

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Salman Rushdie
ON WRITING... With Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro · 3 episodes

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Samantha Irby
S8, Ep2 How to Fail: Samantha Irby · Jun 2020

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Sara Cox
Sara Cox - ‘it made me feel a bit of a failed mum’ · Jul 2024

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Sara Pascoe
ON BABY LOSS… With Sara Pascoe and Trinny Woodall · 2 episodes

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Sebastian Faulks
S1, Ep2 How to Fail: Sebastian Faulks · Jul 2018

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Self Esteem
S13, Ep6 How To Fail: Self Esteem · Feb 2022

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Sheila Hancock
S15, BONUS EPISODE! How To Fail: Sheila Hancock on stage-fright, self-doubt and being a wartime evacuee · Dec 2022

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Simon Callow
Simon Callow: ‘Scottish reeling almost killed me.’ · Feb 2025

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Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell - ‘I often think: what gives me the right to judge people?’ · May 2025

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Sophie Ellis Bextor
🎤 How To Fail LIVE: Sophie Ellis-Bextor on surviving ladette culture, toxic relationships and finding a room of her own · Dec 2022

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Sophie Habboo
Sophie Habboo - I Wish I Had More Boundaries · Apr 2026

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Sophie Willan
Sophie Willan - From Foster Care to Alma’s Not Normal · Dec 2025

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Suzi Ruffell
Suzi Ruffell - ‘I didn’t know I was gay until I saw Titanic’ · Jul 2025

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Tom Daley
S15, Ep10 How To Fail: Tom Daley, the Olympic diving champion on his fear of mistakes, body image and perfectionism · Nov 2022

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Tom Kerridge
S7, Ep4 How to Fail: Tom Kerridge · Jan 2020

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Tony Robinson
Sir Tony Robinson - ‘I learned comedy as a defence mechanism’ · Aug 2025

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Tracey Thorn
S4, Ep3 How to Fail: Tracey Thorn · Apr 2019

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Vanessa Feltz
S15, Ep1 How To Fail: Vanessa Feltz on divorce, body-shaming and Big Brother breakdowns · Aug 2022

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Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Williams - ‘It would be hard to be married to me!’ · Jul 2025

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Will Young
Will Young - ‘I like to talk about it because I survived it’ · Apr 2024

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AJ Tracey
AJ Tracey - ‘Buying my mum a house will always be my proudest achievement’ · Jun 2025

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Adam Pearson
S7, Ep7 How to Fail: Adam Pearson · Feb 2020

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Adrian Dunbar
S10, BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Adrian Dunbar · Apr 2021

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Alex George
BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Dr Alex George · May 2021

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Alex Hassell
Alex Hassell - Rivals, Rejection and Taking Acid at Alton Towers · Dec 2025

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Alexandra Burke
S10, Ep3 How to Fail: Alexandra Burke · Feb 2021

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Aline Brosh McKenna
Aline Brosh McKenna - The Rom Com Queen Who Wrote The Devil Wears Prada · May 2026

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Amy Jackson Westwick
Amy Jackson Westwick - I Was A Magnet For Narcissists · Apr 2026

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Andy Burnham
Prime Minister Andy Burnham - ‘I’m a better politician for having failed.’ · Aug 2026

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Andy Cohen
ON PARENTING…with Andy Cohen and Caitlin Moran · 2 episodes

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Angel Strawbridge
Angel Strawbridge - No Regrets · Jun 2024

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Ashley Walters
S13, BONUS EPISODE! How To Fail: Ashley Walters · Mar 2022

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Bassel Deeb
A How to Fail Miniseries: Bassel Deeb · Dec 2020

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Bella Freud
ON FAMILY DYNAMICS… With Bella Freud and Danny Dyer · 2 episodes

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Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler - Her first ever podcast interview · May 2024

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Camilla Thurlow
S6, Ep1 How to Fail: Camilla Thurlow · Sep 2019

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Captain Sandy
S18 MIDSEASON BONUS! Captain Sandy from Below Deck on surviving addiction, pirates - and reality TV · Oct 2023

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Caroline Stanbury
S14, MID-SEASON BONUS! How To Fail: Caroline Stanbury · Jun 2022

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