Jade Edwards On Mental Health & Life After Racing | BTCC

Jade Edwards shares her experiences of racing, social media pressure and life after the BTCC in a thoughtful conversation for Mental Health Awareness Month. The former British Touring Car Championship driver and current ITV presenter reflects on the challenges of stepping away from racing and the struggle of finding a new identity after her driving career. She explains how joining the ITV punditry team helped her rediscover her place within the motorsport world. Jade also opens up about the realities of being a woman in motorsport, the effect online abuse and hateful comments had on her mental health, and why she found herself wanting to switch off from social media completely. The conversation also touches on the wider impact of online negativity within the paddock, including the abuse faced by former team-mate Nic Hamilton, and the importance of recognising the effect words can have online. She also reflects on her proudest achievement, reaching the BTCC through years of hard work, finding sponsorship and building her own profile. Mental health continues to be an important conversation throughout sport, and the BTCC remains committed to helping create an environment where drivers, teams, staff, volunteers and fans feel able to speak openly, seek support and support one another. This interview is part of an ongoing Mental Health Awareness Month series, with more conversations from across the BTCC paddock coming throughout May. If you’ve been affected by anything discussed in this video, organisations such as Samaritans and Mind can provide support.