{"success":true,"data":{"id":"7a229997-7f98-41cd-9031-117c4fb3a67b","title":"Miquita Oliver apologises to Fearne Cotton: ‘I was awful about her’","summary":"US Edition Change Support Now × \"Clear search box\") Custom Search Sort by Relevance Date NewsNews World CupWorld Cup SportsSports CultureCulture LifestyleLifestyle MoneyMoney TravelTravel PremiumPremium More More Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the si...","content":"US Edition Change\n\nSupport Now\n\n[×](javascript:void(0) \"Clear search box\")\n\nCustom Search\n\nSort by\n\nRelevance\n\nDate\n\n*   News[News](https://www.independent.co.uk/us)\n\n*   World Cup[World Cup](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup)\n\n*   Sports[Sports](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport)\n\n*   Culture[Culture](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment)\n\n*   Lifestyle[Lifestyle](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style)\n\n*   Money[Money](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/money)\n\n*   Travel[Travel](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/travel)\n\n*   Premium[Premium](https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium)\n\nMore\n\nMore\n\n### Thank you for registering\n\nPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in\n\n# Miquita Oliver apologises to Fearne Cotton: ‘I was awful about her’\n\n## ‘Miss Me?’ co-host was emotional as she explained how she’d realised the press treatment she received in her early twenties made her resentful towards other women\n\n[Roisin O'Connor](https://www.independent.co.uk/author/roisin-oconnor)Wednesday 22 July 2026 04:58 EDT\n\n*   Copy link  \n*   Bookmark  \n*   [Comments](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/miquita-oliver-fearne-cotton-feud-apology-b3019287.html#comments-area)Go to comments  \n\n## Bookmark popover\n\nRemoved from bookmarks\n\nClose popover\n\nPowered By\n\n10 Sec\n\n1.4K\n\n0\n\nFearne Cotton reveals real reason she left BBC Radio 2\n\nNext video in\n\nNext\n\nKEEP WATCHING\n\n### Your support helps us to tell the story\n\nFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.\n\n**Your support makes all the difference.**\n\n[Miquita Oliver](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/miquita-oliver) has issued an emotional apology to [Fearne Cotton](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/fearne-cotton) over an incident she said she has felt “ashamed of” for a long time.\n\n[The _Miss Me?_ co-host](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/miquita-oliver-bankruptcy-tax-bill-b2732887.html) spoke about her regret over calling Cotton a “she-devil” back in 2005 on a recent episode of her podcast with Rizzle Kicks star [Jordan Stephens.](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/lily-allen-quit-miss-me-reason-miquita-oliver-new-host-b2826551.html)\n\n“Basically when I was 20 I did something really awful that I was really ashamed of for a long time,” Oliver, 42, said, explaining that she’d given an interview to _NME_ in which she made disparaging remarks about Cotton.\n\nAt the time, Oliver was known for hosting Channel 4’s _Popworld_ as well as _T4,_ while [Cotton](https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/lifestyle/fearne-cotton-vatican-guard-sistine-chapel-video-b3016484.html)fronted popular shows such as _Top of the Pops_ and on [Radio 1](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/radio-1), having started out as a children’s television presenter.\n\nIn 2005, Oliver was sacked from her BBC Radio 1 gig after being asked by _NME_ how she would improve _Top of the Pops_, to which she responded: “Get rid of the she-devil Fearne Cotton.”\n\nUndo\n\nUndo\n\n[](https://www.travelzoo.com/gamclick)[Save Up to 35% on Myrtle Beach Hotels — Dates Open Into Next Year Visit Myrtle Beach | [Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)[Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)](https://www.travelzoo.com/gamclick \"Save Up to 35% on Myrtle Beach Hotels — Dates Open Into Next Year\")\n\nUndo\n\n[](https://www2.dogdentaltruth.com/cid/7013w000002T0t7AAC)[Vet Says This Is The Safest Way To Help Clean Your Dog’s Teeth (And It Only Takes Seconds)Dr. Marty | [Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)[Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)](https://www2.dogdentaltruth.com/cid/7013w000002T0t7AAC \"Vet Says This Is The Safest Way To Help Clean Your Dog’s Teeth (And It Only Takes Seconds)\")\n\nUndo\n\nopen image in gallery\n\nMiquita Oliver apologised for her 'unkind' comments about Fearne Cotton(Getty)\n\n“I wasn’t very nice about her at all, I was awful about her, and I was fired from Radio 1 because of it,” Oliver told Stephens. “We didn’t like each other – I don’t even think she didn’t like me, but because I’d been so awful about her, I think she stayed away from me.”\n\nA few years later, Cotton began dating Oliver’s _T4_ co-host Steve Jones, meaning they would see each other often: “We were civil,” Oliver said. “It was a little bit uncomfortable but it was OK.”\n\nThe pair then apparently went for some time without speaking, until Oliver received a message from Cotton in response to an episode of _Miss Me?_ with former co-host Lily Allen.\n\nDuring the episode, Oliver recounted how she had been treated by the press during her television career, revealing that media outlets frequently compared her negatively to other female presenters, using insults such as “fat” and “dirty”.\n\nCotton apparently told Oliver that her comments had resonated with her and that she had gone through similar experiences: “Having awful things written nearly took me down completely and I’m still trying to overcome the aftermath today.”\n\nMiquita Oliver told her co-host Jordan Stephens how the press used to make cruel comments about her(YouTube/Miss Me?)\n\nReading Cotton’s message, Oliver continued: “I just wanted to say thank you for opening up about it, I guess you always assume it’s only you who they picked on but there’s so many of us. Powerful clip all round for me to see. Sending love, Fearne.”\n\nOliver said it made her realise that the press played a role in her feelings towards other women: “They used to call me ugly and dirty and fat, and I saw [Cotton] as what a TV presenter should look like, clean, thin, groomed, and she scared me… She made me feel like I wasn’t in the right job and I shouldn’t be there.”\n\nGrowing emotional, Oliver said that this wasn’t Cotton’s fault, but “that s*** makes you turn on each other, so it was really good for me to realise why I did that, why I felt that way about her. It was unkind and it wasn’t me.”\n\nFearne Cotton apparently praised Miquita Oliver for her ‘powerful’ comments on how the press treated women in the Noughties(YouTube/Fearne Cotton's Happy Place)\n\nOliver said she had thanked Cotton for her kind words and joked that fans would see her on the presenter’s podcast, _Happy Place,_ next year: “Me and Fearne Cotton are fine.”\n\n_The Independent_ has contacted Cotton’s representative for comment.\n\n[In a candid interview in 2024](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/fearne-cotton-tv-radio-anxiety-b2559454.html), Cotton said she would not return to live TV or radio for “any money in the world”, citing the anxiety her earlier career had given her and comparing the entertainment industry to “a pit of lions”.\n\n“I’d get a week down the line and go, ‘I feel ill — I can’t do this,’” she [told _The Times._](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/fearne-cotton-i-couldnt-do-live-tv-or-radio-today-for-any-money-in-the-world-0krlb8tzb)“I got to the point where I just thought, ‘Why am I doing this to myself? Am I that desperate to be seen or heard?’”\n\n“I’ve learnt that I couldn’t do live radio or TV today for any money in the world,” she said. “The thought of going on to someone else’s platform [with] that level of risk and judgment, and that element of the unknown? My nervous system can’t take it — it’s absolutely shot. Putting myself in that is like putting me in a pit of lions.”","source_name":"The Independent","source_url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/miquita-oliver-fearne-cotton-feud-apology-b3019287.html","url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/miquita-oliver-fearne-cotton-feud-apology-b3019287.html","author":"Roisin O'Connor","author_name":"Roisin O'Connor","published_at":"2026-07-22T08:58:30.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-22T08:58:30.000Z","image_url":"https://static.the-independent.com/2026/07/22/7/31/MixCollage-22-Jul-2026-08-49-AM-6715.jpg","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":6,"word_count":1138,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}