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When thinking about the things we’d take on a desert island, we’re slightly embarrassed to admit that our phone is the first thing that comes to mind. Practicality then reigns supreme with sunscreen and a boat rounding out our three options. But Vick Hope is decidedly more sentimental than we are. Her desert island must-haves include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Half Of A Yellow Sun” book, her mum’s okra soup, and her fiancé, world-famous DJ Calvin Harris.
“When I hear this question, I always think, why don’t people just take their partner? That’s the whole point! We really love spending time together, so that would be ideal,” Hope tells POPSUGAR. She adds they would keep themselves entertained using shells and coconuts to make music. Now that, we’d like to see.
Having just been on her hen do, rumours are circulating that Hope’s wedding is imminent. While notoriously private, with details of the big day kept under wraps, we can’t help but notice Hope’s stunning engagement ring: a standout emerald-cut on a yellow gold band. This significant diamond sits perfectly next to her stacks of other Pandora pieces.
The award-winning BBC Radio 1 presenter is Pandora’s newest UK ambassador, which makes perfect sense considering Hope has been wearing jewellery since she was just a few months old. “In my mum’s culture, in Nigeria, when a baby girl is born, she gets her ears pierced on the third day, and when a boy is born, he gets circumcised,” Hope explains. (We certainly know which route we’d rather go down!) “They wouldn’t do [the ear piercing] in the hospital [where Hope was born in the UK], which is what usually would happen in Nigeria as soon as you’re born, so we had to wait a few months,” she says. “I had a pair of little gold sleepers for the first few years of my life, and I guess that was like my introduction to jewellery. I’ve always loved it ever since.”
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Hope’s flawless style has long been on our radar. From her show-stopping red carpet outfits at the Brits and the BAFTAs to her off-duty looks pairing high-end with high street separates, her wardrobe has consistently been featured on our moodboards. And that includes her accessorising. Her hands are covered in metallic bracelets and rings, including pieces from Pandora’s three new lab-grown diamond collections (launching 31st August online and in-store).
“I’ve been layering gold and silver pieces recently,” Hope shares. “It’s not something I’ve thought of before, but it works really well because [these Pandora pieces] are so dainty. You kind of can rip up the rulebook around diamonds a little bit.” And it’s this refusal to live life by style boundaries that has made her a modern style icon.
“One of my favourite things about fashion and style is playing with it . . . It’s not because you have to look a certain way for anyone else, the realisation that it’s for you is so liberating.”
“I feel like I was when I was younger, I heard so many rules; you can’t wear red and pink, or if you’ve gone for heavy lip, you can’t do a heavy eye, and you can’t show your legs and your shoulders. But actually, as I got older, I realised why? Says who?” she says. “Literally, I think one of my favourite things about fashion and style is playing with it and knowing that you can do whatever you want because it’s a bit of fun. It’s not because you have to look a certain way for anyone else, the realisation that it’s for you is so liberating.”
Although, Hope does have some self-imposed quirky guidelines that she lives by when choosing what to wear: The Three Princes. “Prince number one is like actual Prince [the Purple Rain singer]. I love the flamboyance, the textures, the velvets, the silks, the deep colours, and all the gold,” she explains. “Prince number two: The Fresh Prince. I love that kind of preppy, retro sportswear look that’s vibrant and often incorporates African prints with a vintage vibe as well. And then Prince number three is any of the, you know, fancy Prince George’s, and that’s where you get a very tailored, crisp look with an espadrille or a plimsoll.” Weirdly, we get it.
While her Three Princes might be her unofficial style guide, there’s another “P” that helps her keep her very busy work and social life in order: post-it notes. As well as hosting not one, but three BBC Radio 1 shows, she presents the “Women’s Prize for Fiction” podcast, and “Vick Hope’s Breakfast Show” on ITV. “My mind is full of so many things – I’m planning a wedding at the moment as well – so I swear by to-do lists. Every day in my i-Cal, there’s a to-do list for the day, and I’ve got files with lots of dividers to organise, and post-it notes . . . there’s a lot of post-it notes,” she says.
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While writing things down may be the best way to organise a busy work schedule, talking to people is how Hope manages her mental health, as well as not sharing too many personal details on social media. “My private life is my private life,” she says.
“There is no better feeling than getting stuff off your chest. I’ve often, in the past, been someone who holds a lot of things in and feels like, ‘oh well, no one’s gonna understand, I don’t want to burden anyone with my worries’,” she says. “But when you’ve got friends and family and your partner at home, communication is the most important thing. When you talk through what you’re going through, like a problem shared really is a problem halved. It’s so important to talk and I mean that on every single level, that’s always gonna be my mantra.” And it’s a mantra we can certainly get on board with.
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