World Champion – About Gail Emms
Gail Emms is a British badminton player who has achieved international success at the game’s top. A badminton player since the age of four, Gail was first chosen to represent England in 1995 and regularly played for her country ever since. Along with partner Nathan Robertson, she has been World Champion, No. 1 in the world rankings at mixed doubles, European, Commonwealth, and All England Champion, and Olympic silver medallist in Athens 2004. Since retiring from the game after the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Gail has proved herself as a talented and versatile sports presenter, including stints on Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC 5Live, Channel 5 and “A Question of Sport”, “Fighting Talk”, amongst many others.
As a highly successful professional badminton player, Gail has honed her self-motivation skills, and she is an excellent and enthusiastic motivational speaker.
The Gail Emms Interview
What has been the most rewarding part of being a themed month presenter at StolenTime?
The most rewarding part of my stay has been motivating guests. This hasn’t just been about beach fit classes and helping them get fit but also about listening to their needs and figuring out how I can help. It has meant adapting my beach fit classes to suit their specific goals, discussing psychology and mindset from my Olympic journey when they’ve shared challenges they’re facing, and teaching the fantastic sport of pickleball. Some guests have never played, and I’ve loved seeing their enthusiasm — especially when they try to beat me!
What is your favourite dish at StolenTime
The fish!!! Oh my goodness – insane. So good. Catch of the Day!
What is your favourite Go-to Smoothie
I like the smoothies with the cacao in!! They are my favourite!
Can you share a bit about the activities you’ve led here at StolenTime and how they engage guests?
Monday through Friday, I ran ‘Beach Fit,’ which involved 8 exercises performed in 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off, completed in 3 sets. The workout included upper and lower body exercises, such as squat jumps, press-ups, tricep dips, mountain climbers, and some abdominal exercises.
In the afternoons, I played pickleball with the guests, teaching the game to beginners and organizing matches for those with more experience.
In the evenings, I gave motivational talks about my Olympic journey and on becoming World Champion and even brought along my Olympic silver and World Championship gold medals for the guests. Some guests even tried them on for size.
What has been your favourite part of staying at StolenTime, whether it’s the setting, the people, or the experiences?
It has been a combination of the setting, the friendly staff, the St. Lucian people, the spa, the beach, the food, and the activities—all rolled into one. There is a sense of peace here and a feeling of family and togetherness. I was worried I would feel lonely, but I haven’t felt that way. I have made friends for life.
StolenTime is about helping guests reconnect with themselves and others. How do you personally find time to reset and recharge here?
I have travelled independently, which has been a reflective time for me. I am not usually on my own for this amount of time, but it has shown me that I needed to do it for various reasons. I have so many roles and responsibilities at home that I had forgotten I needed time to heal, grow, and think about my next chapters. The gardens and the giant Samaan tree have been instrumental in helping me with meditation and reflection, and I feel excited about my upcoming projects.