Mollie King on the best board games and Xmas songs for the festive period

Let's spread joy and kindness

Welcome to Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed, a place where each month Mollie King shares her round-up of the things bringing her joy in these strange and uncertain times. Check back each month for uplifting music, self-care tips and, hopefully, a smile being put on your face.

With Christmas just around the corner, it seems that most people have their trees up and decorated, and any moment now we'll spot the first brave person to sporting the best Christmas jumper. But fear not, if you’re anything like me (I seem to have picked up the nickname ‘Last Minute Mol’) you still have time to get that something special for a loved one or surprise someone and really make their Christmas! It's probably time to get a wriggle on now though and I'm finding myself already constantly checking for the 'Fastest Delivery Option'. How has it come around so quickly? With that said, I very much am on time with one thing, and that’s my offering of all the treats I've found this month in the form of music, TV, fashion and beauty, so let’s get on our merry way with that!

Music

December is always an exciting time of year for music. The big guns drop their albums and the big predictions are made on who’s set to have success in the year ahead. This happens in the form of the BBC Sound Of... list, which has previously tipped artists like Billie Eilish, Ellie Goulding and Adele. Having been on the voting panel, I was delighted when it was released earlier this week and featured some of my favourite new voices who I’ve mentioned to you on here over the past few months. Three of my favourites are Baby Queen, Mimi Webb and Lola Young, some of the best voices in pop right now. If you’ve got even an inch of ‘pop geek’ in you (I have more than my fair share) then make a note of these names, as I predict we will be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

Singles

Let’s talk about the singles you should be adding to your playlists right now, and kick off with a festive one. Recorded earlier in the year, this song has brought us a collaboration of two of the biggest and best songwriters of our time. The almighty Ed Sheeran and Elton John have come together to sprinkle a dusting of Yuletide magic on their new release Merry Christmas. Rather surprisingly they revealed that despite all of the huge Christmas hits out there, none have this title. Hard to believe isn’t it?! But I’m not one to question either Elton or Ed. Presenting me with everything I look for in a Christmas hit - bells, lyrics about gathering around the tree and filling up your glass - this song, with the ever recognisable voices, is sure to be a song we will be hearing for years and years to come.

No one could have predicted this next release. It was recently revealed that pop heartthrobs Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello had decided to end their relationship after two years together, even surviving the dreaded lockdown, which I think we all can agree was probably the most intense time for all relationships. However, last week, off the back of that news, Shawn revealed he had written what he’s calling ‘an open letter’ about his current break-up from Camila, stating he felt strongly that he wanted to share this with the world. It’ll Be Ok is understandably a very personal song to him that really pulls on the heartstrings. As someone who loves nothing more than a good old pop star romance, I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of them together... there’ are only so many times we can watch the Señorita music video to get our Shawn/Camilla fix.

Album

Elton John is everywhere at the moment. There's the Christmas single and also his lockdown project he's called The Lockdown Sessions. With such a huge list of collaborations it’s no surprise Elton has secured a whole host of exciting names to sing alongside him; Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj and Charlie Puth to name just a few. His collaboration with Dua Lipa saw him top the charts back in October with their track Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) and I’m pretty sure his recent release with Ed Sheeran could be heading in the same direction too. The more I read about this lockdown project the more I’m starting to think me crushing through Netflix possibly wasn’t as productive as I thought it was at the time.

TV

It’s been a huge couple of weeks of comebacks for some of the biggest streaming shows and I’m delighted that two of my personal favourites are back. Netflix’s Selling Sunset, yes a lockdown find for me, has had fans all over the world hooked again with the realtor's continued drama and I’d be lying if I told you it took me more than 3 days to binge-watch the entire thing. n fairness, the episodes are pretty short (not long enough in my opinion!) and they’ve only given us 10 of them. Criminal, I know.

Returning for its eleventh series is the hugely successful Curb Your Enthusiasm. As a show which is often extremely close to the bone, I think it’s either a love or hate situation for people. I fall into the former category. The American sitcom follows one of TV's most successful writers of all time, Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld, in his daily activities which often see him getting situations wrong and accidentally causing offence far too often. Set in LA, it always books some of Hollywood's biggest stars for cameos, with this season alone boasting Lucy Liu, Vince Vaughn and Woody Harrelson. If you’re after something a little bit ‘out there’ this holiday, look no further than our good friend Larry!

Lifestyle

With the party season well and truly upon us, I’m well aware that I can get really run down and often forget to look after myself. Since finding what I can only describe as the dream combination of Hair and Energy help from JSHealth (which as you can probably guess looks after my energy levels and my hair), I haven’t looked back. I had seen so many influencers raving about the vitamins and supplements and their various different formulas, like the Skin and Digestion or the Vitality X + Collagen powder, it seemed like everyone was talking about this brand. I’m not usually one to follow the hype, but after reading fantastic reviews I decided it was time to give them a go. Months down the line I too have been singing its praises. Especially this month when it feels like there are really not enough days to get everything done and wrapped up before Christmas, literally and metaphorically, these vitamins have given me the extra boost I’ve needed. If your energy levels, skin, or perhaps digestion habits aren’t sitting right with you at the moment I would suggest giving these a go. I’m pretty sure you won’t look back either.

Christmas specials

I’ve been getting in the festive mood by playing lots of board games. My Radio 1 co-host Matt Edmondson is board games obsessed, and this month I went to his house to play some of the latest and greatest for this Christmas. Rather excitingly, Matt has invented a few of his own games and we played his new one Ansagrams. It’s a brilliantly simple, but ridiculously fun game where you take it in turns to be the quizmaster. Each card has five questions and you have to write down the first letter of your answer, which leaves you with five random letters. But the twist is that you have to unscramble them, countdown-conundrum-style, to make a word. The quickest player to solve the Ansagram wins, and being as competitive as I am, I took it all very seriously. If you’re looking for a stocking filler or something to play around the Christmas table this year, I can’t recommend it enough.

If board games don’t feel quite romantic enough to put on your Christmas list, how about adding one of my new jewellery favourites, La Grotta Collective. This independent British jewellery brand has just launched their new collection Barely There that's right up my street as I always opt for dainty, subtle pieces. Whether it’s solid gold, freshwater pearls or diamonds you’re looking for this Christmas, this collection offers everyday pieces that you never take off. Each piece is named after women in history who have done incredible things but have often been overlooked. This is certainly a collection I really love and I'm now hoping that my fiancé Stuart actually does read this column as he says he does.... we shall see.

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Mollie King rose to fame as one-fifth of the multi-platinum selling girl band, The Saturdays. The last few years have seen her become a Radio 1 DJ, present across flagship TV shows and a campaign in Parliament.

During her time in The Saturdays, the group sold over five million records worldwide, achieving 13 Top 10 singles and five Top 10 albums. The band also embarked on four nationwide tours and had three primetime TV series, including Chasing the Saturdays for E! which aired in over 40 countries.

In 2018, Mollie turned her hand to presenting and after guest presenting for several weeks on Matt Edmondson’s Radio 1 show, she was offered a permanent role at the station. The duo began hosting the Matt & Mollie Weekend Breakfast show and 2021 moved their new afternoon slot. Mollie also presents her own Friday morning show Best New Pop, sharing music from her most loved genre. After only six months into her role at Radio 1, Mollie won the silver award for ‘Best New Presenter’ at the 2018 ARIA Radio Academy Awards.

In addition to Radio, Mollie has also guest presented This Morning several times, including a month-long stint in the summer of 2018. She’s covered the entertainment slot on Lorraine, and guest presented on Blue Peter. In 2019, Mollie hosted The Greatest Dancer podcast for the BBC. She also presented the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, alongside Greg James and Maya Jama, which aired on BBC2. Mollie also took part in the 15th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, making it all the way to the semi-finals.

Away from her TV and Radio work Mollie writes a weekly column for Marie Claire magazine, ‘Mollie’s Feel Good Feed’ and has worked with numerous brands including Estée Lauder, L’Oreal, Amazon, GHD and Aspinal of London.

Mollie is a proud ambassador for the Dyslexia Association, a learning disorder she was diagnosed with as a child. Mollie is very passionate about campaigning for early diagnostic tests in schools, as well as funding to support children through education with Dyslexia and spoke about this in Parliament in 2019.

Mollie is also a Born Free anti-captivity ambassador, has worked closely with the charity Mothers2Mothers and traveled to Ghana in 2014 with REDD charity to help raise awareness and funds for HIV.