Media & Journalism

De Cadenet Says She Fled UK Overnight Leaving Food in Fridge

Name: De Cadenet Says She Fled UK Overnight Leaving Food in Fridge
Uploaded: 2026-06-18T19:20:00+00:00
Description: De Cadenet described leaving the UK abruptly with then-husband John Taylor and infant daughter Atlanta due to brutal tabloid body-shaming after pregnancy. She abandoned her London home mid-life and fled to Los Angeles permanently, not returning for a decade. The media called her 'Amanda de Flabonnet' and published photos of her breastfeeding without her knowledge.

Begin Again with Davina McCall · The Press Shamed Me So Much I Left The Country | Amanda de Cadenet · June 18, 2026

Begin Again with Davina McCall

The Press Shamed Me So Much I Left The Country | Amanda de Cadenet

"I left this lovely house in Notting Hill with food in the fridge and laundry in the hamper. And I said to him, 'I've gotta get outta here. I can't take this.' And we went on a holiday to LA and I never went back. My house had to get packed up and shipped to Los Angeles. And I didn't come back here for 10 years."

De Cadenet described leaving the UK abruptly with then-husband John Taylor and infant daughter Atlanta due to brutal tabloid body-shaming after pregnancy. She abandoned her London home mid-life and fled to Los Angeles permanently, not returning for a decade. The media called her 'Amanda de Flabonnet' and published photos of her breastfeeding without her knowledge.

About this episode

In this episode of Begin Again, host Davina McCall sits down with longtime friend Amanda de Cadenet for an intensely personal conversation about childhood trauma, addiction, recovery, and reinvention. De Cadenet, now 58, reveals for the first time that she was sexually assaulted at age 14 and placed in state care while simultaneously hosting live UK television, navigating paparazzi intrusion and tabloid coverage throughout. The conversation traces her journey from wild-child TV presenter to married mother at 19, through her escape from brutal UK tabloid culture that body-shamed her post-pregnancy and drove her to flee London overnight for Los Angeles, where she started over anonymously. De Cadenet credits her daughter Atlanta with saving her life by prompting sobriety at 22, and describes getting sober as the dividing line of her entire life. She details reinventing herself as a photographer and interview host, creating The Conversation TV series and podcast to give women a platform to discuss stigmatized topics like postpartum depression, grief, and perimenopause. The episode moves through her recent work as a certified grief counselor following compounded losses including her father's death, and her embrace of attachment-based grief therapy. McCall and de Cadenet connect over shared experiences of addiction, recovery, perimenopause, and the particular vulnerabilities of being young women in the public eye without boundaries. De Cadenet emerges as remarkably self-aware, attributing her ability to connect with anyone—from Jane Fonda to strangers—to lessons learned in a children's home that showed her everyone shares the same human emotional experience regardless of zip code.

Key takeaways

De Cadenet revealed she was sexually assaulted at 14 at a party, kept it secret for years, and only realized through sobriety it was not her fault.
She was made a ward of court at 14-15 and placed in White City Children's Home while hosting live UK television, with paparazzi stalking her.
Brutal tabloid body-shaming after giving birth to Atlanta at 19 drove her to flee the UK overnight, not returning for 10 years.
De Cadenet credits her daughter Atlanta with saving her life by prompting sobriety during pregnancy and keeping her sober to be a conscious mother.
She reinvented herself as a photographer by pitching GQ magazine while appearing on their cover, then created The Conversation TV series to destigmatize women's issues.
De Cadenet became a certified grief counselor after compound losses including her father's death, and now practices attachment-based grief therapy.
She describes life before and after sobriety at 22 as two entirely different existences, with recovery providing the first real agency she ever experienced.