Giovanna Fletcher has no issues with her sons wearing dresses: ‘Who cares?’
Giovanna Fletcher attends the gala performance after party for “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” to celebrate the musical’s return to London at @sohoplace on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Nimax)
Podcaster and mum-of-three Giovanna Fletcher has said she would have no issues with her sons wearing dresses as she encourages them to express themselves.
Fletcher, who is married to McFly musician Tom Fletcher, launched the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast following her own experiences of motherhood. The podcast, following on from her book of the same title, sees her talk about motherhood with other celebrity parents.
The author, who won I’m A Celebrity in 2020, has three boys with her husband: Buzz, Buddy and Max.
Fletcher, 39, plays villainess Miss Hedge – a bigot who mocks Jamie’s dreams of being a drag queen – in musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, a role she said she’s “absolutely loving” as she’s never played a villain before. She has other credits in West End shows 2:22 A Ghost Story and Ivanov.
Back in 2011, BBC Three released a quietly subversive documentary called Jamie: Drag Queen at 16.
It told the story of Jamie Campbell, a teenager from Bishop Auckland in Durham who delved into the world of drag with help from his supportive and loving mum. Campbell’s story went on to be turned into the smash West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – it has also inspired a film adaptation.
Speaking of her role in the camp musical, Fletcher told inews that it has sparked conversations in her own home.
She said: “My older two [Buzz and Buddy] saw the show in Southampton and Max is coming to see it in London.
“They’ve been asking loads of interesting questions about drag queens, about whether they’d be allowed to wear dresses… All my boys currently have long hair. At some point they might ask for it to be cut. Who cares?”
Fletcher shared that Buzz enjoys dressing up and is inspired by his favourite films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Ghostbusters.
She said: “We’ve rolled with it. If we go out, it’s not a big deal if he’s wearing a top hat. He’s expressing, and he isn’t bothered by what other people think, so I hope he manages to keep hold of that for as long as possible.
“I think the world would be a happier place if everybody was able to retain a little of that.”
In 2022, Fletcher spoke to Olympic diver Tom Daley and his American filmmaker husband, Dustin Lance Black about their decision to start a family on her podcast.
Daley said: “Lance and I had lost so many people in our families and there was something about surrogacy that we were drawn to that just meant that we could pass on the people that we’d lost.”
