Jake Humphrey is hopeful Lewis Capaldi’s Netflix documentary will act as a reminder to people that chasing money and fame doesn’t make your life easier.
The presenter, who yesterday announced he was quitting BT Sport after a decade, has been on our screens for a quarter of a century but only now feels useful, thanks to his High Performance Podcast.
In it, he and psychologist Damian Hughes look into the lives of world-class performers – the common thread is you aren’t born to succeed and once you have, all your ills won’t go away.
This was apparent on Lewis’s documentary How I’m Feeling Now, which exposed his mental health struggles as he tried to write his second album after becoming one of the UK’s most successful singers and breaking the US.
Jake, 44, said: “It should act as a really good reminder for people that, please don’t think that fame and money and success removes all of your fears or all of your worries, or makes life easier. If anything, it can make life harder.
“We shouldn’t be chasing money and fame. We should be chasing an inner happiness, an equilibrium, a satisfaction.
“We had Tyson Fury come on the High Performance Podcast and share a very similar message to that – his happiness comes when he is in the ring and his fear is not being in the ring.”
Jake had his own mental health issues and gets his fair share of trolling given the former Formula 1 presenter changed lanes from TV presenter to self-help guru – currently taking the High Performance Podcast on tour, which comes to Glasgow’s King’s Theatre tonight.
In March he went viral after posting about his morning routine including 5am starts and writing a planning list.
He said: “None of that information was new. People have been talking about the power of getting up early forever. I talked about world class basics, well, they were shared with us by [former Scotland rugby coach] Ian McGeechan, who was the coach of the British and Irish Lions.
“And I think he’s a pretty decent person to take life advice from.”
The podcast is listened to by two million people a month and aims to help people get control of their lives, take responsibilty for their situations and show them how to look for happiness.
Guests have included Hollywood’s Matthew McConaughey and boxing hero Tyson Fury as well as football legends Frank Lampard and Alex Scott.
The podcast is also another platform allowing men a space to be themselves without fear of ridicule.
Jake said: “I get a fair amount of criticism on social media for various things that I do. But one thing people have never had a pop at me for is being brave enough to talk about my own challenges with mental health.
“I think the guests who’ve joined us, from Max Whitlock, Tyson Fury and Mark Cavendish, have spoken about how success doesn’t make them any happier, and that there are some really serious mental health challenges that come with their life that they’re living.
“I want people to hear men particularly talking like that, and I would encourage anyone reading this or listening to the podcast to keep on reaching out.”
Jake is proud of the people who have messaged him to say the podcast helped them to admit they had an issue.
He said: “For me, it’s the first time in my whole life that I actually feel useful.”
Raised in Norwich, he described himself as “Mr Blend into the Background” who was shy yet has gone from CBBC to sport, presenting Formula 1, the BBC’s Euros and Summer Olympics and BT Sport. On Sunday his TV company, Whisper, which he co-founded with ex-F1 driver David Coulthard, won a Bafta for their BBC women’s Euro BBC coverage.
Jake said: “I grew up believing that there were successful people and then there were people like me.”
He didn’t play sport at school or do drama. He was “never the kid picked for anything”.
He was shy and “unsuccessful with the opposite sex”, with a first girlfriend at about 16. He said: “I was Mr Blend into the Background. Just totally normal.”
He ended up in television because he failed his A-Levels. He went back to school to redo them and a letter came from a local TV channel looking for a politics students to help out.
Jake said: “Even then I didn’t feel like I was destined for anything special because I knew that my television career had only happened because of failure, because of a mistake and a bit of luck.”
After making a showreel he got a job at CBBC and became friends with Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton.
Fearne too has found a different path. Her Happy Place is a well-being app, podcast, book and this year a festival.
Jake said: “We speak to each other all the time about how we’ve both found our purpose in life. For her, it’s Happy Place. For me, it’s High Performance.”
Starting out in TV, Jake spent time in Glasgow when he presented The Saturday Show. He said: “I used to come up to Glasgow every Thursday, stay in a hotel on Argyle Street, go out to Cleopatra’s for a few drinks or the Garage.
“Before that I used to stay at Crieff Hydro when I presented Rule the School (which was made at Kilgraston School).
“Scotland was central to my children’s BBC career. I owe it an awful lot and I feel a really deep connection with Scotland.
“I really can’t wait to be in Glasgow for our live theatre night.”
The father of two, who lives in a Norfolk village with wife Harriet, explained the message of High Performance isn’t to make you successful but a tool so whatever happens, you feel OK about it.
He said: “It’s about empowering us to realise the importance of our reaction. I lost my gran at a young age to suicide.
“I was bullied at school and changed schools. I got fired from McDonald’s for a lack of communication skills. All of those things, I had to be responsible for how I dealt with them, and that’s a big message on High Performance – life is full of things that are not your fault but they are all your responsibility.
“I think once we realise that we have a responsibility to respond in a certain way, then I think it’s really empowering.”
The Glasgow show will include guests, Owen O’Kane, writer of Ten to Zen, and travel writer Jacquelyn Armour.
Jake has advice for anyone wanting to be high achievers. He said: “Catch yourself when you talk negatively to yourself. Being kind to yourself is where it all begins.”
● Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes are at Glasgow King’s Theatre tonight on the High Performance Tour. thehighperformancepodcast.com/live2023
