The Lovin Show

From a young age, Areej aspired to become a professional footballer and  succeeded in her ambitions as she is now a part of the UAE National Football Team. During the interview, she expressed how every time she steps out for the national anthem she feels major ‘butterflies’ and the feeling never gets old. When asked about her top two moments this is what Areej had to say,“My two moments is when you score or when your team scores for the national team, it’s such an amazing feeling! And national anthem, when you line up and start singing the national anthem, you get butterflies. I can’t explain the feeling, you get so excited and hyped up.”

An enlightening conversation with Anjaan, who described the REAL meaning of healing. He aims to bring balance and value to people's lives through his work.

The talented Shebani. During lockdown, she recorded, filmed and edited her new single, Higher. Now she's taking a much-needed break. Not *just* a beautiful voice, she's the manager, the admin, the PR.... the creative AND the business. Now, she's sitting back and taking time to concentrate on the music. Her new single Higher is out now. Give it a listen @ShebaniMusic

A strong voice promoting body-acceptance in the UAE, Danae Mercer is responsible for an Insta account with more than 1.2 million followers where she promotes self-love and body acceptance. Her goal is to 'lift the curtain' back on the reality of Instagram and she's steadily growing the largest online community of body-confident women in the UAE.

From meeting Jason Derulo to hobnobbing with Fazza, the UAE is an interesting place to be a magician. Magic Phil, one of the UAE's top magicians spilled the beans on his intriguing career, his new children's book and, most importantly, how to make a straw REALLY disappear

"The reason we're talking about modest fashion today is because of these modest fashion bloggers who catapulted this niche underground trend into this mainstream movement".Hafsa Lodi is a journalist and author of Modesty: A Fashion Paradox and her book is an investigation into the global rise of modest fashion. A style we're used to in Dubai, but in the last decade brands worldwide have latched on, for better or for worse. In this episode of The Lovin Show, Hafsa discusses the broad definition of modest fashion, modest fashion as a movement, why some influencers have made a bigger impact than others and which brands are actually getting it right.

“I know have a responsibility to be transparent with my followers... that it’s not all so realistic”‘Influencers,’ ‘content creators,’ ‘bloggers’...today’s internet celebs: Mr Moudz is one of the OG UAE content creators; starting his career as a buyer in Level Shoes and now a luxury lifestyle content creator who travels worldwide. In the few years since content creators have found mega fame and become household names, Mr Moudz aka Mahmoud has learned to create his own boundaries, choose his words carefully and ensure he shows both sides of his life; the glam parts and the real parts. Move to 21.40 to see The Mr Moudz Zoom Closet - 3 pieces that mean a lot... it’s just as fabulous as you’d expect

‘Virtual training gives you the confidence to follow something on your own”COVID-19 has meant the closing of gyms... but Dubai-based fitness personality Salma Ismail sees Virtual Training becoming the next big thing. She  talked about how she deals with negative body comments, her involvement with the Ramadan Month of Good campaign and training in car parks in this week’s episode of The Lovin Show

Nathan Eccleston was 25 when he left professional football... "I had to make a logical decision rather than an emotional one, against everybody... my mum and dad were like, "you can still play", but at the time I got to the stage where I lost love for the game". With his eyes on a business empire from early on and a move to Dubai in the making, Eccleston is now the co-founder of lifestyle fitness brand Peaches Sport. Hear how he got to this point on The Lovin Show

"I don't think this is for everyone. People think it's easy to just quit your job and follow your passion"Coping with self-isolation, discovering a love for the outdoors, an injury that left her in a wheelchair for four months, how the outdoors became her therapy and ultimately leaving a desk job to follow her passion. Thank you @monkyseemonkydo for sharing your story on The Lovin Show

Now more than ever, we should try and focus on mental health well-being. This week on The Lovin Show we were joined by Ebru Goksu Yildirim to talk discuss recommendations for people isolating alone, how parents can somehow balance their current work/parental/life load and how you can help you community

'There wasn't an "I'm good at this" for a long time actually. I had to try very hard... 'cus everyone's like, 'oh that's the young kid'. Which little did they know I actually took it a little bit further than a lot of the older generation'.Born in Syria, raised in Saudi and one of the biggest names on the local music scene and beyond, it was great to have @MohFlowMusic on The Lovin Show this week talking Faith, his most recent EP and what he describes as an incredible unity among the Dubai music community right now #lovindubai

Kristel Bechara on feminism: "I try to depict women throughout their lives, the experiences we go through, showing her in her diff forms, whether she was in pain, happy, strong, all kind her emotions. Women we are very versatile so this is how I like to represent her and showing her in her different walks of life"

"People are much kinder in Dubai. I've modelled in New York,  I've modelled in Africa it's not as easy as in Dubai, people are much nicer, the fashion industry is good here".' Chanel Ayan broke the mould as the first black model in Dubai when she arrived over a decade ago. Now, she's built a hugely successful career and is proud to live and work in a city which is so open to diversity.

"It's nice to talk to someone I've been in isolation for a couple of days" As the majority of Dubai experiences self-isolation for the first time, The Lovin Show had its first Zoom interview, with Dubai-based fitness expert Rob Sharpe. With an app that encourages home workouts to his name, (@trainsharpe) Rob acknowledged it's a strange cross-over to fully training at home, but it's not all about working out, it's about keeping a routine, staying motivated and staying positive #lovindubai #stayhome

“They say you have to hit rock bottom to get back up. Well, I hit rock bottom super hard. Lost $1.5 million in an investment, my father passed away, lost a love relationship, got diagnosed with diabetes all at the same time….. So I started cramming myself with positive messaging to rewire my brain”. Psychologist Hiba Balfaqih consumed positive content religiously before turning it on its head with her own philosophy, Mind Hacking. Hear her story on this week’s The Lovin Show #lovindubai

Can 5 dominos change your life?Omar Al Duri joined the Lovin Show to talk about RESET, his domino philosophy (and published book) that works as a passport for mental and physical health

When you get a coupon to trial one month at a dance studio... and turn that into your life's work. Pierre Khadra has choreographed shows for MTV, reached the finals on “So You Think You Can Dance” (Arabia) and worked with the likes of Ricky Martin and Andrea Bocelli to Elissa, Tamer Hosni, Nancy Ajram, and more. And now, if you've been to SKY. 20 he's the man that puts those insanely cool, (industry-leading) performances together. Thanks for doing your best to teach us how to whip and nae nae.

Jalal Luqman is the author of a graphic fantasy novel, the pioneer of digital art in the region and he's displayed his work at museums worldwide... but most importantly, an absolute legend to chat to. Had so many laughs this week, come back any time!

The story of how they met sounds like destiny