From getting a big break at age 16 as a U.K. talk show presenter to hosting the Lifetime interview series The Conversation, Amanda de Cadenet has done it all. Now the mother of three is returning to her live-TV roots with a brand-new talk show, Undone with @AmandadeCadenet. Ahead of tonight’s premiere on Lifetime, we turned the tables on the famous interviewer to get the scoop on the series, as well as her thoughts on a few other topics that left us feeling all the girl power vibes!
Can you tell us about the show?
It is current and topical, it’s current events, it’s news. And it’s all through a female perspective, which is my perspective (and my team, which is 99 percent women). So we just collectively wanted to create a show that presented a female point of view because, quite frankly, outside of the news arena there is not a woman—other than Chelsea Handler—who fronts her own late night entertainment show.
Why did you want to do the show in a live format?
The thing that I love about live is that you get what you get. You know, it’s a very real experience.
Can you tell us about who will be on the show, or is it a secret?
I’m really excited about my guests. I can’t tell you who they are yet. Some people I’ve interviewed before, and some I’ve never interviewed.
Who would be your dream guest?
I really want to interview Beyoncé. I think it’s really interesting that she has become this kind of poster woman for modern feminism, and I’m curious as to what her philosophy and her point of view is regarding feminism. That’s just one of the reasons. You know, she’s a working, married mother and I’m always curious how women who are managing those three roles not only have time to get their hair and their nails done, but, you know, just how they manage to juggle it all.
If you could ask Beyoncé one question, what would it be?
You know, I really don’t know. Well, maybe I would ask Beyoncé if she really does have more hours in the day than us.
What do you think is the importance of female friendships?
Oh my god, female friendships are everything. Female friendships have sustained me from my earliest days as a child. I think that the friendship that women share is so powerful. In fact, there’s nothing quite like it. People talk about mother-child bonds, but I would argue that female friendship bond is also in a league unto its own. You can love your girlfriend—I mean in a platonic sense—in a way that is sometimes more powerful than the man you’re married to. You can have a sense of loyalty and commitment and compassion and empathy and understanding—at least I feel like that—and I know that a lot of my girlfriends also feel like that. We really value each other and rely upon each other and call upon each other in good times and bad times.
Who is your role model?
I’m really interested in older women, to be honest, because they have lived a life that I’ve not yet lived. So I really want to learn from them, and I think culturally we tend to dispose of women once they get to a certain age and they don’t look a certain way.
If you could give one piece of advice to young women, what would it be?
You are the most important thing in your life. Put yourself at the center of your life. Do not put a lover, do not put your looks, do not put your career, do not put your family, put yourself—the whole person—as the most important. Value yourself more than anything. Everything else will come from that. Your family, your career, your friendships, your lovers. If you do not pay attention to you and really develop who you are, you will be reliant on all those other things to identify who you are, and that’s a very dangerous place to be.
Starting tonight, the series will air Thursdays at 10 p.m. live on Lifetime, so to tune in for your fill of girl talk and pop culture!
Plus, click here to see Beyoncé’s best on-stage moments with Jay Z.