Mrs Hinch's emotional reason for turning down TV career

Mrs Hinch has no plans of building a star-studded TV career, telling Yahoo: "I find it very daunting."

Sophie Hinchliffe, 34, shot to fame as Mrs Hinch, dazzling everyone with her top cleaning tips after she set up her Instagram account in 2018. Her popularity snowballed between then and now; the home influencer has amassed a following of 4.8million and her latest project has seen her launch a Mother's Day Edit with Not On The High Street supporting small businesses.

It's no surprise that TV bosses have been keen to sign up Mrs Hinch to TV shows from Strictly Come Dancing to Dancing on Ice. However, Mrs Hinch ruled out branching out a TV career in the near future because she finds it "very daunting".

She told Yahoo: "Do you know what I am so blessed to have been asked to do so much TV. And it's mad, really, especially for shows that you've watched since you were a little girl, you know? And you're like, 'Well, imagine me on that!' But for me, to be perfectly honest, I find it very daunting. And I feel like until I'm in that mindset where maybe I don't worry as much, maybe it'll be an option that I could go and try it."

In 2019, Mrs Hinch initially had plans for a regular slot on This Morning alongside then hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby but then she got pregnant with her son Ronnie. More recently, Mrs Hinch was on our screens in September last year when she starred on her close friend Stacey Solomon's show Sort Your Life Out for a special episode to help transform a messy home.

Admittedly though, her past experience on TV has left her "worrying for weeks". So now when it comes to choosing her career path, the down-to-earth mum-of-two decided to put herself first. "I've dabbled in a couple of situations where I more or less had to be on TV," she said. "And yeah, I would worry for weeks and weeks and weeks for that one moment and I feel like sometimes you've got to put yourself first."

While a TV career is not for now and doesn't appeal to her, Mrs Hinch didn't rule it out forever and she encouraged others to follow their dreams. She elaborated: "I understand that TV is great for potential fame, or it's great for more people to know who you are or get your face out there. But if that's what you're looking to do, then incredible, blooming go for it and do what you can. But if you haven't got that aim it, it doesn't appeal as much. Who knows? One day, maybe I will say it doesn't matter."

Mrs Hinch's anxiety

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Mrs Hinch has always been open about her emotional struggles with anxiety. "Initially I was thinking, 'What's wrong with me?'" She said. "Why am I worrying about something that might not even happen?"

The Instagram star said her battle with anxiety has been all-consuming at times and even stolen moments of happiness from her but she found cleaning took her mind off things. She added: "Some days it really, really, really consumes me. I just get so frustrated. I just wish I could take it away because sometimes anxiety does steal your happiness, doesn't it? When you're trying so hard to feel that happiness but you can't help it."

She went on: "Cleaning for me has always been a little something where it took my mind off things. It wasn't so much of me needing to clean, it just took my mind off things. I'd get my mop out, get my cloths out, put my music on and my mind was all of a sudden on task rather than worrying about everything else."

Through her book signings and Instagram DMs, Mrs Hinch instantly connected with her followers who felt the exact same way as her. They are the people who changed her life, she said. "So it was nice when I went started my Instagram and people were saying, 'I watch your stories to switch off' and 'I suffer with anxiety'," she explained. "And I was thinking, 'Oh, my God, That's what this is like.' It's awful at times and you get what I call a nervous gut."

She added: "What was a huge, reassuring moment was when so many of my followers said they felt the same. And when I've done book signings, I've met thousands of followers that said, 'Soph thanks'. And I've said, 'No thank you.' We are normal, we just worry because we care. I don't think I've ever said it doesn't matter in my life."

Being a mum

It is no secret that motherhood is central to Mrs Hinch's life. She lives at her beautiful Essex home Hinch Farm with her husband Jamie as well as their two children Ronnie and Lennie. Totally candid, Mrs Hinch proved she is just one of us as she shared her own experiences of motherhood. She said: "I don't have any time anymore, I don't know what sleep is."

She further explained: "I have a really close group of friends and I was the last one to have a baby so I used to hear all these stories. I used to think, it can't be that bad, I'll get some sleep somehow. That is not the case! I feel like I've been hit with a tonne of bricks but you wouldn't change it for the world.

"It's the crazy journey of parenting, isn't it? To say I find it easy every day would be a lie. At the end of the day, we all have our ups and downs and we're trying to navigate through this. I'm certainly winging it and just doing my best."

Juggling being a working mum is hard work, even for the social media sensation. "You get that mum guilt don't you?" She said. "You try to do everything to work as much as possible to build these dreams for your children or to show them what a working life is like. But then at the same time, you want to be there 24/7."

Mrs Hinch added: "I always like to let my followers know and keep them sort of in the loop with the fact that I'm very, very lucky and very blessed that I get to work from home. It's collaborations like Not On The High Street that allow me to still work from home, support others and have a career that I love and enjoy. Also, my career is cleaning, so I get to clean my home at the same time. I think my followers appreciate that."

As a parent to her two boys and having a close bond with her own mum, working with Not On The High Street on a Mother's Day edit was really special for Mrs Hinch. She said: "I get some people say, 'God you're with your mum a lot.' I'm like, 'Yeah I am.' Why not? I'm hoping I'll have the same with my boys as I grow up. So being able to do this Mother's Day edit is amazing. It's been a crazy journey but I'm very grateful."

"I absolutely like to support Not On The High Street and feel an instant connection," she said. "This edit focuses on Mother’s Day so it supports mothers but also role models in your life. We’ve got so many things in the collection from jewellery, personalised mummy and me items, cute kitchen accessories. They are meaningful, one of a kind sentimental gifts. They’re pieces that I’m proud of."

Mrs Hinch's future plans

Mrs Hinch has had great success but she has no plans to do more - she would be very happy to just continue doing what she's doing. "We've got lots planned for the next year and I'm very excited," she said.

She added: "To be able to share the Not On The High Street edit is incredible. I'm very, very lucky so hopefully it continues as it is. I'm gonna sound mad but I don't want more. I just want to keep doing what we're doing and having fun with it but also helping small businesses and changing lives with it if we can. Let's have fun and make a difference."

Of the secret to her success, she told Yahoo: "If you asked me to do it again, I couldn’t. I don’t know what the answer is to how to create what’s happened. This crazy journey has been incredible and I’m so grateful."

Mrs Hinch and Not On The High Street have joined forces to launch a curated Mother’s Day collection, featuring a heartfelt selection of gifts made just for mums to show how special they are, all while supporting small businesses. Discover the collection here.

Read more

• Mrs Hinch: 'My most treasured item is the dining table my dad made' (House Beautiful, 7-min read)

• Mrs Hinch thanks fans for kindness after opening up on autism diagnosis (The Independent, 1-min read)