This Mornings psychotherapist pair reveal to Now which celebs theyve cured of phobias and how they make their marriage work
This Mornings resident psychotherapists Nik and Eva Speakman have helped dozens of celebrities, including Holly Willoughbyand Vicky Pattison, to overcome phobias and issues not to mention ordinary people whove been told they will never be cured. The show recently won a gong at the National Television Awards, so it must be doing something right. Here, Nik,55, and Eva, 47 who live in Rochdale and have two children, Olivia, 20, and Hunter, 11 talk about their amazing miracle cases, working on This Morning and how they cured a lady who was scared of Simon Cowell
Youve helped so many people on This Morning over the past seven years. What is it you love about the show?
Nik: Its the best daytime show. It offers so much support and advice across so many areas.I was at a charity function recently and a man thanked me for saving his life. I told himI didnt recognise him. Hesaid: You dont know me, but I decided to kill myself. I dropped my wife and daughter off, I went into the house, I had my last cup of tea and I put This Morning on. You were working with someone and you cured them. I realised then that there was hope for me.
Eva: It doesnt get any betterthan that.Is it true you helped Holly Willoughby cure her fear of ghosts?
Nik and Eva are happily married with two kids
Nik: A fear of ghosts is unusual and yes, we did work with her on that. But actually, she was more scared of flying. Holly was ona kids show years ago and she went on a plane for it. They turned the engine off and she had no ideait was going to happen. Anyone in that situation would be completely terrified.
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Eva: We helped her and she flew a few days later. She posted on Twitter that she was over it.
How can people cure their fear of flying without spendinga lot of money?
Nik: You have toput things into perspective. If someones scaredof flying, theyshould download this amazing app called Plane Finder. Youll see the sky is full of planes. You have to ask yourself: Why?
Eva: If your phobia were justified, wed all be fearful of flying, so what you have to do is change your perspective. You have to ask how many of your flights got there safely? The answer is they all did.
Has Phillip Schofield ever asked you for help?
Eva: No. The only thing hes ever mentioned is that he hates the scraping of cutlery. We were talking about Im A Celebrity and the one thing he cant stand is the scraping of metal when theyre eating on the show!But hes never asked for help.
Last month on the show, you helped Stephen Day, who suffered from PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] and was having terrible convulsions
Nik: Stephen was challenging, because numerous health officials had told him he was incurable. We saw him having fits and hed tried to kill himself three times last year. Knowing hed got that low was a lot of pressure but after a 50-minute session with us, he was cured. It was so emotional.
Eva: We all cried.
Whats been your most rewarding case?
Eva: Those inthe emergency and armed forces stand out. Itsnice to give something back to the brave people protecting us.
Whats the most bizarre phobia youve been asked to cure?
Eva: There was a lady on This Morning who had a phobia of Simon Cowell! She worked in Tesco and she would get really edgy when it got to going past the magazines.
Nik: Watching The X Factorwas horrendous for her. EvenI was thinking: Really? But it turned out that her father had this look when she was littleif anyone did anything wrong. And hed recently died and she was grieving. So when Simon did the same look on TV as her dad used to when they were in trouble, she linked thatfear to him.
Eva: We managed tocure her and they broughtout a host of people in Simon Cowell masks!
Are phobias irrational?
Eva: Having a phobiaisnt irrational. The fearitself is irrational.
Is there anything youhavent cured?
Nik: No. What we do is change peoples perspective. We provide people with new evidence to get them to change how they think.
Have you got any phobias?
Eva: Both of us had phobias in the past. I had a fear of heights and spiders.
Nik: I had a fear of cockroaches.
Eva: We worked on each other to get rid of them.
Nik: And now weve got spiders and cockroaches as pets!
Vicky Pattison has creditedyou with changing the wayshe feels about herself. She said she didnt feel she deserved to be loved
Nik: Her management arranged for us to meet with her but she didnt want to come along!
Eva: Shed had a late night and all she wanted to do was sleep. She had a bit of a barrier up.
Nik: I remember her saying: How long am I with you? We told her it was three hours. She said: I tell you what, let me have a sleep for three hours.
Eva: We said: Give us an hour and tell us what you think then. Within an hour, we were the best of friends.
Whos been the most challenging celeb to work with?
Eva: Vicky was a lovely challenge because she changed so quickly.
Nik: [Strictly Come Dancing champion and TV presenter] Ore Oduba was challenging. He was standing in for Phillip on This Morning and was nervous. We had 15 minutes with him and he had to prep for the show at the same time.
Which celebrity would you love to work with?
Nik: Id love to work with Lady Gaga. She recently said shed been suffering from PTSD. We knowshe can get over it.
The Speakmans wants to work with Lady Gaga
What can people do about eating too much if theyre trying to lose weight?
Nik: You need to set a goal. Just saying: I want to lose weight, wont work. You need to say:By June, I will have lost 2st. Suddenly you have a clear plan.
Eva: Keeping a diary is great. You can write down your goals, what youre eating and when you plan to exercise. That way, its like an appointment. Nobody overeats because they want to. Its important to look at why. It could be loneliness, for comfort or if you feel bad about yourself.
Why are people addictedto sugar?
Eva: Because it gives you an increased level of feelgood endorphins. Were always seeking to feel better and we become addicted to things that give us an unnatural high.
What about partying toomuch how can people tone down their drinking?
Eva: A big factor is your friendship circle. If youwant to curbyour party lifestyle and someone phones you, tell them you loveyour nights out but youre restricting them. And if they phone, dont answer the call,as theyll talk you into it!
It can be easy to feel like youre not enough in this day and age. What are your tips forself-confidence?
Nik: You need to take stock and look at how far you have got. We often forget where we started in life. We also compare ourselves to others. But if someone started their journey two years ago and youve only started this week, then youll feel a failure. Instead, you need to say: I admire that, and set itas a goal.
Eva: You should also look at who made you feelthat way and do they have a valid point. If you have people who love and care for you, you should feel proud thatyoure loveable.
Would you mindif your children went into showbiz?
Eva: Olivia and Hunter are such positive, well-balanced and kind kids. Whatever makes them happy, well both support them.
Do they mind you being on TV?
Eva: No, not atall. Theyre both very supportive.
Nik: Our mission is to make a big difference. Were working with Amsterdam University at the moment to get our therapy [Schematherapy] recognised.
Youve both got long, blonde hair. Do you coordinate styling?!
Eva: Nik recently had his hair cut.
Nik: I got a big thumbs-up and then I started growing a beard and got massive thumbs-up!
Eva: Hes looking really good.
Youve been married more than 20 years. Whats your secret?
Eva: We laugh a lot. We do heara lot of sad and emotional stories, but the ending is brilliant. Sharing that is fabulous.
This Morning is on ITV at 10.30am on weekdays.Visit itv.com/thismorning
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Nik and Eva Speakman: 'We don't coordinate our hair anymore!' - CelebsNow
