Sara Pascoe’s Desert Island Disc choice honours Rotherham singer
What song would you like to hear if you were stranded on a desert island?
Comedian Sara Pascoe is deadly serious for once - and she picked a tune by Rotherham’s own Rebecca Lucy Taylor.
Appearing on Desert Island Discs, Pascoe chose the Self Esteem track “Wizardry” as the final record she would take with her - and explained the deeply personal reasons behind it.
“I really fan-girl love Self Esteem!” she announced.
Pascoe, (44,) spoke candidly about how Taylor’s music helped her through the upheaval of early motherhood.
“When I had Theodore, (now aged four) I did experience a complete destruction-of-self, like, a complete ego-death, who am I, who was I, other than taking care of this person?”
She had been prompted at that early time of parenting to listen to Taylor after seeing people online chatting about Self Esteem and her album Prioritise Pleasure. From there, it became a lifeline.
She started listening to it on the way home from gigs “because it felt like someone was reminding me of the whole life that I had lived beforehand.
“In terms of dating, having feelings, having crushes, and then having times when you don't want anyone anywhere near you and just being a young person living life, navigating things.
“It felt she kept plugging me back into what everyone else was doing, who wasn't at home pumping milk.
“I am so grateful for her.”
Pascoe added that she later saw Taylor perform live at O2 Academy Brixton, saying: “I loved every single song.”
For Pascoe, a familiar face across British television through shows including Sarah Pascoe: Out of Her Mind and Sarah Pascoe's Perfect Woman, as well as her current role co-fronting Zero Stars, the choice reflects the same themes that run through her work - an unflinching look at modern womanhood, from relationships and body image to the often-overlooked realities of becoming a mother.
Taylor, 39, who grew up in Anston near Rotherham, has built her reputation on similar ground.
She has emerged as one of the UK’s most distinctive voices under the stage name Self Esteem.
Her music, including the acclaimed “Wizardry”, confronts self-worth, identity and the pressures placed on women, delivered with a mix of vulnerability and defiance that has struck a chord with audiences across the country.
She is currently back on stage in Teeth ‘N’ Smiles by David Hare, continuing to win praise for powerful live performances that match the intensity of her message.
While Pascoe’s experiences of motherhood - and the sense of lost identity she describes - differ from Taylor’s current path, the connection between the two is clear.
Both women have become outspoken feminist voices, unafraid to challenge expectations and explore the contradictions faced by women at different stages of life, whether through comedy, broadcasting or music.
Pascoe’s desert island choice, then, is about more than a favourite song. In “Wizardry”, she has picked a track that reconnects her with a sense of self beyond motherhood - and, in doing so, shines a light on an artist whose words are resonating far beyond her home town and onto one of radio’s most enduring stages.