Her life outside of The Traitors looks very different
@BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
The Celebrity Traitors star Charlotte Church went viral last year after a sound bath left Alison Hammond in giggles – and although many viewers shared the laughs, the Welsh singer has now broken her silence on the moment, admitting ‘It really p***ed me off.’
Sharing her spiritual side with the world led to the viral moment last year, during which Charlotte appeared on This Morning to host a five minute sound bath (a therapeutic practise that involves immersing oneself in deep sound vibrations). Intended to be relaxing, the experience was anything but. Host Alison Hammond was seen bursting into fits of giggles, later saying, ‘I’m so sorry… I feel like I was being rude.’
The clip went viral on social media, with many fans since branding it one of the show’s ‘golden moments.’ However, when recently speaking on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, the singer revealed that the humiliating moment ‘touched a deep wound.’
Charlotte said, ‘That p***ed me right off. I’ve met Alison Hammond a number of times and she’s a wonderful woman. I think that part of it was a misjudgement on my part to go, let’s do a five minute sound bath on national TV. That makes loads of sense. Yeah, let’s go for it.
‘I think that what annoyed me more than anything else was that then I’m given the opportunity to display this amazing art of sound healing or sound ceremony, or however people want to describe it, and then it’s made a figure of fun. That really did actually touch a deep wound for me. I was like, “Ugh, I really like you, Alison, but f*ck you.”
‘Because it reminds you of all those other times that you felt you were made fun of’, Elizabeth then observed, with Charlotte replying, ‘Yeah, totally.’
She’s currently on our screens as one of this year’s Faithfuls in The Celebrity Traitors, but when she’s not digging her own grave in the Scottish Highlands, the singer’s life looks very different. Here’s everything we know about Charlotte Church – including her activism, her witchcraft retreat, and why she’s given all her money away.
Who is Charlotte Church?
Charlotte Church is a Welsh singer songwriter, best known for songs including ‘Crazy Chick’ and ‘Call My Name.’ Most recently, the star took part in The Celebrity Traitors alongside the likes of Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and Celia Imrie.
During the opening episode, Charlotte didn’t hesitate getting stuck in. After celebrities were told to start digging through their own graves in search of shields, the star immediately got down on her hands and knees while wearing her floaty white dress. Now that’s a woman on a mission.
©BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Is Charlotte Church a Faithful or a Traitor?
Right now, the Charlotte is a Faithful – and she’s very happy about it.
She said before the show, ‘I am really hoping to be a Faithful. I really don’t want to be a Traitor. Certainly not at the beginning. It depends what happens in the game but I think that I’m a Faithful through and through. I think it’s because I don’t like the idea of deception or lying.’
How old is Charlotte Church?
Charlotte was born on 21 February 1986 in Cardiff, Wales. Currently 39 years old, she’s also an emotional and sensitive Pisces!
How old was Charlotte Church when she became famous?
Charlotte’s career began when she was just 11 years old, after singing ‘Pie Jesu’ over the phone to Richard and Judy on This Morning. The moment landed her an invitation to sing at Rupert Murdoch’s wedding, going on to release her album Voice Of An Angel at 12 years old. A collection of hymns and songs, the album reached No.1 on the British classical crossover charts.
Leaving school at 16 to pursue a career in music, Charlotte later reinvented herself as a pop princess in the early noughties. Her Platinum selling album Tissues and Issues was released in 2005, featuring the hit song ‘Crazy Chick.’
Is Charlotte Church married?
She is indeed! In 2017, Charlotte married her partner Jonathan Powell, who is also a singer/songwriter. Three years later, they welcomed their daughter Frida.
Of course, long-time fans of the star will remember her relationship with rugby player Gavin Henson. Dubbed the Posh and Becks of Wales, Charlotte met Gavin in 2005. Together for five years, the pair went on to welcome a daughter named Ruby in 2007, and a son named Dexter in 2009.
The pair later split in 2010, shortly after getting engaged.
Charlotte with her ex, Gavin ©Leslie McGhie/WireImage
What is Charlotte Church’s net worth?
It’s certainly not shabby. According to online reports, Charlotte was once worth an estimated £25 million following the success of her albums.
The star recently opened up on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day about being ‘taken advantage of’ in her early career. Locked into contracts signed by her parents when she was just a child, the singer revealed how her family were ‘green and naïve’ about the music industry. At one point, her then-manager was taking home a whopping 40% of her earnings.
While she’s still estimated to be worth an impressive £9m, the singer revealed last year that she is ‘no longer’ a millionaire, downsizing her mansion to a semi-detached house. Explaining she’d ‘basically given all my money away,’ Charlotte said, ‘What I feel most privileged about are the experiences I’ve had, with lots of echelons of society. From the tippy top with extraordinary wealth and powerful people, all the way to living down the docks around people living with drug addiction. I’ve had an embodied, lived insight of the human experience, which has fed my compassion for people.’
Does Charlotte Church practice witchcraft?
From sound baths to magic mushrooms, Charlotte’s certainly in touch with her spiritual side.
In spring 2023, Charlotte launched her ‘wellness sanctuary’ named The Dreaming. Situated in the Welsh countryside, the retreat runs several different experiences, including one titled ‘WITCH.’ The five day retreat is hosted by author Tree Carr and Charlotte Church herself, welcoming ’17 souls ready to embody their magic through rituals, nature, and deep witchcraft practices during the Waning Gibbous Moon phase.’ Sign us up.
Opening up about the retreat, Charlotte told the BBC, ‘I host groups of people going through sometimes quite emotional, transformational experiences.’
It certainly sounds magical, but it won’t come cheap. Prices start at around £1,199 per person, and can reach top ends of £3,000 (although there is a ‘pay what you can’ option for those on lower incomes who would love to attend.’)
What did Charlotte Church say about magic mushrooms?
Speaking of herbal alchemy, it’s time for some psychadelics.
Speaking on Elizabeth Day’s podcast, Charlotte recently revealed that she’d ‘dabbled in ‘plant medicine,’ admitting, ‘I’ve had a number of very transformative experiences with ayahuasca and with magic mushrooms, and I think that it’s really incredible what we are learning now from the neuroscience perspective of what psychedelic medicine can do to us and help us with, particularly in terms of our mental health and also our trauma, the traumas that we are carrying. I found my experiences to be revelatory, to be hard.’
©Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA
Is Charlotte Church an activist?
Ever since appearing at the Leveson Inquiry in 2012 after becoming a victim of phone hacking, Charlotte has been consistently outspoken about political issues.
She’s openly condemned ‘fascists,’ as well as voiced her opposition to austerity at rallies in Cardiff. She’s also publicly supported causes including Welsh Nationalism, Palestine, and campaigned for Jeremy Corbyn.
Another topic close to Charlotte’s heart is education – one she’s so passionate about that she even funded her own school.
In 2019, Charlotte set up the Awen Project with her husband Jonathan Powell, having won a legal battle against neighbours to transform her mansion into a private school. Described as a free-to-learn centre where ‘every participant has an equal vote in what they learn,’ the website shares that the school is open Monday to Thursday, from 10am to 2pm. Offering up to 16 hours per week, it’s expected that students continue their learning with homeschooling around this.
Was Charlotte Church involved in the Leveson inquiry?
From a child star to a teenager, Charlotte experienced intense press scrunity.
In 2011, Charlotte testified in the Leveson inquiry, after both she and those around her found themselves victims of phone hacking by the News of the World.
Stories landed in the papers that Charlotte assumed had been leaked by her friends, with News of the World also reporting in 2005 of her mother Maria’s attempted suicide. When she was in her first trimester with her daughter Ruby and had not yet told her parents, her pregnancy news appeared in The Sun.
After testifying, Charlotte accepted £600,000 in damages and costs in settlement of a lawsuit arising from the News International phone-hacking scandal.
Bravely speaking on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, Charlotte recalled how her family priest was targeted by media. ‘They hacked Father Richard’s phone. I mean, it was literally everybody who knew us in Cardiff. It was all of my teenage friends. It was all of my teenage friends’ Nanas. It was crazy.’
She added, ‘When the police first came to us with the Leveson Inquiry and such, we were one of the first families they came to because our names appeared so regularly on all of the private investigator’s list. We were particularly targeted. Even dear old Father Richard.’
How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Charlotte Roberts is a writer at Grazia UK, specialising in SEO. She spends her days covering everything celebrity, culture, and entertainment – from film review roundups to cast explainers.
