From BBC and ITV to regular slots on Loose Women, journalist and presenter Charlene White has long been a familiar face on our TV screens. For her job, it’s important for her to stay on top of the year’s headline moments, but for White herself, she’s already ticked off a number of milestones throughout 2024.

Speaking on day two at Stylist Live, White had one clear standout moment of the year: her book, No Place Like Home. “To be honest, I don’t often get crises of confidence,” she says. “I normally know exactly what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and I always know I can do it. But when I wrote the book, I had a crisis of confidence. I missed three deadlines, and I was basically pushed into a corner by my publisher, who said: ‘Tell Charlene that we need it in 10 days or we’re cancelling the contract.’”

However, a successful career in journalism has helped White to thrive under pressure. “I shut myself away and wrote it. It is by far one of the most important things that I have ever had to do – 75,000 words is a lot of work; I genuinely couldn’t believe it when I finished it.”

When the book was ready to be released into the world, she couldn’t help but feel a level of fear. “I didn’t expect [fear] or really know how to deal with, but the reaction it’s getting has been really positive. I would absolutely say that was my highlight of the year. We feel funny sometimes about saying this about ourselves, because, you know, we’re British and we don’t like doing it, but I am really proud of myself.”

To help get the job done, White relied on a curated playlist, which included the likes of Little Simz, Fleetwood Mac, Beyonce and Bob Marley. “Music has been a part of my life forever,” she explained. “I grew up in a house of music, and that holds me and produces creativity.”

As for the book itself, expect a beautifully written and thought-provoking exploration on the concept of home. The idea for White came while filming the ITV documentary Empire’s Child and visiting a Tonga mountain in Clarendon. “That’s when I found out there’s a tiny patch of land that my ancestors bought when they became free slaves,” she explains. “The genealogist told me that my need for more is taken from that moment right up to the point when my grandad made the decision to leave Jamaica and move here. 

“I’ve been travelling to Jamaica my entire life, but suddenly knowing about this patch of land, something physically took over me. My body almost crumpled; the tears kept flowing and I suddenly felt this connection to Jamaica more than I’ve ever done before.

“It got me thinking about what home means to different people. I want to explain to people – those people who, for instance, say that I ‘don’t belong here’, despite the fact that I was born here – that no one has the right to tell somebody else where they can call home. We should not allow anybody to have the right to be able to make us feel that we don’t belong. We belong wherever we feel we belong. Home can be whatever’s here, and no one has the right to tell us otherwise.”

Images: @shotby_farheenxo