JUDI Love says new Prime Minister Andy Burnham must seize his opportunity to bring the country together.
The comedian tells us: “We’re so divided at the moment – and we need unity and love. We need a PM to come from a place of compassion, or we’re going to lose the one thing that we still hold dear, which is being in Great Britain.”
As Mr Burnham sets out how he hopes to tackle Britain’s cost of living crisis, 46-year-old mother-of-two Judi, who grilled his predecessor Keir Starmer on Loose Women, adds: “People just want to feel seen. They want to live comfortably, with their family and loved ones.”
“They want to feel, if they’re in a position of difficulty, like they have somewhere to turn, because right now, people feel like they have nowhere to turn.
“It’s easy for people to push a narrative of separation and blame on others, but we need unity. Really, we all want the same thing: happiness, contentment, joy and a healthy life. I mean, we are in a state where theUK has high rates of child poverty.”
Judi, who has been a regular on the Loose Women panel since 2020, knows what it’s like to struggle.She has single-handedly raised a son and daughter, now grownup, and also earned a master’s degree ins ocial work while parenting, following a Community Arts Practice degree years before.
She studied for both at the University of East London, and the institution made her an honorary doctor of arts in September last year. Now the telly star has just launched The Dr Judi Love Award with UEL.
The scholarship is intended to provide financial help to students from low-income backgrounds, single parents and carers. Calling it a full-circle moment, Judi says she understands how hard it can be to pursue your dreams when you’re struggling to get by.
She says of her own academic career: “For me, I was nervous, questioning if I was doing the right thing, but I knew I wanted to be in further education. I did a Social Work degree and Community Arts Practice degree at UEL and loved them both.
“My gosh, the balancing act with two kids was hard work. But ‘I can’t do this’ wasn’t an option. I do remember my daughter watching me write, and times my son would wake through the night, and I’d hold him and type at the same time. But I always knew I was doing it for me and them. Then, they saw me graduate – and that was a beautiful, proud moment.”
Recalling tough times, she says: “Parenting is not for the faint-hearted! As a single parent, knowing that all the responsibility and every single decision is yours… well, it brings a different pressure.
“Managing unexpected things – like health, housing, and financial obligations, sacrificing and struggling, feeling like you’re never on top of things – it was, and is, scary.”
Not only has she gotten by, Judi has soared. She was on season one of Last One Laughing with the likes of Roisin Conaty and Jimmy Carr, and has added new dates to her current sellout stand-up tour, All About The Love.
Unsurprisingly Judi, who was pictured last year with Usher after a gig during his tour, says we should never lose our sense of humour, no matter what life throws at us. “In the world we’re living in now? Laughter has never been more key,” she says.
“It’s so important to find a common space, things we can all have a giggle about. Comedy’s like great food – we’re all gonna enjoy it, no matter what our taste is.”
See www.uel.ac.uk/judi-love-award for more. Applications for the scholarship close on 23 August.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
