The faith of radio DJ Clara Amfo

Clara Amfo is a British broadcaster, best known for presenting her BBC Radio One shows. In 2015, Clara took over from fellow Broadcaster, Fearne Cotton’s slot on the radio station. In somewhat of a full-circle moment, the two sat down together on a recent episode of Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast to discuss Amfo’s career and personal life learnings.

Born and raised in Kingston upon Thames to Ghanaian parents, Clara has five siblings and studied media arts with professional and creative writing at St Mary’s University College. As well as being known for her radio shows on BBC Radio 1, the 41-year-old has also won the Glamour Award for Radio Personality award in 2016 and has interned for Kiss FM and worked as host of the weekend breakfast show Radio 1Xtra.

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At the time of taking on Fearne’s show, Clara had received some tough personal news about her father, who was an NHS biochemist. On the podcast episode, she shares: “My dad…died like two months prior, and there was a lot going on. I think I was genuinely grateful for the commotion and the madness [of work] because it kind of kept me focused in my sort of grieving process, and even though obviously I was heartbroken and terribly sad… it was a weird… temporary fix for what I was going through.”

Clara shared on the podcast that depression was a big reason why she decided to leave her Radio One show in 2024.

Clara shared on the podcast that depression was a big reason why she decided to leave her Radio One show in 2024. “I’ve dealt with deep, deep, deep depression in my life… Particularly, the start of 2023 I was in the flipping trenches… I was burnt out, I wasn’t taking care of myself properly, I think I was a bit sort of overwhelmed by I think life’s… injustices… And I took some time off of radio and had to have a little reset. That’s actually when I decided I was going to leave my show at the time.”

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Expanding further on her decision to leave, she said: “I’m passionate about what I do, but I never want to resent anything I do…I never want anything to feel like it’s being forced or that it’s a chore, and I wasn’t feeling that way, but I want to be able to listen to music as a fan always, rather than as a business. I want to be able to speak to people without thinking, ‘gotta get that viral interview clip.”

I have come to the belief that happiness is a choice

Touching on how she manages to stay grounded throughout the turbulent seasons she goes through, Clara shares her approach to happiness. “I have come to the belief that happiness is a choice and that’s not to say force it because if you’re having a rubbish day, you’re having a rubbish day and life is life. I’m not about deluding yourself into everything is perfect in the world. But whether it’s the smallest thing of… I caught my train this morning for my commute, or I had a funny text exchange with my mate… It feels so minor, but I do think it helps. Because when life is rubbish and you can’t see a way out, you want to think about those moments.”

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Regarding Clara’s position on faith, there isn’t much documented about her being a Christian; however, in an interview with Stylist magazine, she mentioned the faith of her mother, a care worker. “My mum is a very traditional Ghanaian matriarch. She sees the world through Christian eyes.” In a The Times article, she mentioned that she did attend church holidays in Little Hampton.

However, whilst there may not be much public knowledge about Clara’s faith, her attitude towards happiness is a biblical sentiment that relates to scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”. We can choose to be grateful in every season we are in.