Ellie Kildunne (Part One)
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What is the episode’s introduction and who joins Emily and Ray on their Yorkshire walk?
And whoever's in the goal, by the tenth goal, has to bend over and the ball gets kicked at their bum. And now I wanted to be that person.
I'm not surprised. I've never played in red arse.
We loved it. I love it.
This week on Walking the Dove, Rae and I headed up to Yorkshire to take a stroll with England rugby star and World Cup winner Ellie Kildon and her beautiful Cocker Spaniel cross Otis.
So before we met Ellie, Ray and I spent a bit of time exploring the Yorkshire Dales. I won't lie, some of the sheep looked a little confused by him. It's almost as if they were trying to work out which flock the Ewok belonged to. But I have to say, we completely fell in love with Yorkshire. So if there's any farmers up that way looking to hire an unfeasibly small silent Shih Tzu as a sheepdog, don't hesitate to reach out. We met up with Ellie at her parents' house and then piled into her Land Rover and headed to a very picturesque spot for our walk to have a good old chat about everything. From her childhood growing up in Yorkshire where she demonstrated a natural gift for rugby from a very young age but constantly found herself being the only girl on the team.
And we also talked about the struggles she had academically when her rugby career really began to take off and she found herself in the surreal position of having to juggle A-levels with playing for England. Ellie also opened up to me about getting diagnosed with ADHD and how she's learned to channel some of the intensity and hyper-focus that comes with it into becoming the player she is today.
And it turns out she is quite the player. She told me what it felt like to finally lift that World Cup, how overwhelmed she was to be nominated for Sports Personality of the Year, and what it felt like to be immortalised as a Barbie doll.
i should also say that if you want to find out more about ellie she's written a really gripping and fascinating memoir called game changer so i really recommend giving that a read ray and i really enjoyed our walk with ellie she's incredibly easy to talk to and impressively honest anyone that can admit that they have 32 000 unread emails is frankly my kind of person and by the way i'm currently at 19 000 ellie but she's also a very inspiring person to spend time with. I'd like to say that some of her drive and determination rubbed off on Ray.
I mean, I'd like to say that, but given that he spent the entire journey home sleeping on a silk pillow and demanding to be hand-fed cheese, I'm not holding out too much hope. I really hope you enjoy our walk.
Here's Ellie and Otis and Ray Ray. Come on, Raymond. I'm going to warn you Ellie, Raymond is very slow.
That's alright. Yeah, but you're known for your speed. Not when I'm walking, I'm a stroller, not a strider. That's what I always say to people.
Where is he? It's only because he's got little legs. I know, but so have I Ellie, so you're going to have your work cut out. Come on. Come on Raymond. There he is. We've got a bit of speed on him now. So Ellie, this is such a joy to be here. Thank you so much. Thank you for making the trip. Because Raymond and I, because of this, I mean, we were thrilled to get to meet you because we're huge fans, but we've managed to also get in a little mini break to Yorkshire.
Yeah, I know. It's nice. I've fallen in love. I'm in love with it here. It is nice. It's nice when it's calm or weather like this. Yeah. It can get a little bit blustery at times, but people are just nice. The views are nice. It's like fresh air.
And we're in sort of, what's the exact location we're in at the moment? So we're at East Riddleston Hall in Riddleston. This is Riddleston Hall. Let's have a look. And this is, oh, I'm seeing a bit of a National Trust logo and that always bodes well. This West Yorkshire manor sat at the heart of a thriving farming estate. So we're in Riddleston Hall. And your family home is not too far from here.
No, it's five minutes in the car. I used to come down here when I was a kid. But yeah, I haven't been down in ages, but it's really nice.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the episode’s introduction and who joins Emily and Ray on their Yorkshire walk?
0:00–5:52
2
How did Ellie’s childhood in Yorkshire and her early love of animals shape her sporting path?
5:52–11:21
3
What impact did Ellie’s ADHD diagnosis have on her focus and performance on the field?
11:21–17:06
4
How did Ellie experience winning the World Cup, being nominated for Sports Personality of the Year, and becoming a Barbie doll?
17:06–23:04
5
What role did family support and her parents’ home play in Ellie’s development as an athlete?
23:04–29:49
6
How did Ellie navigate the transition from school to elite rugby, including her debut for England?
29:49–38:25
7
What mindset does Ellie use to handle failure, pressure, and the fear of looking foolish?
38:25–45:26
8
What are the key take‑aways from part one and what can listeners expect in part two?
45:26–50:05