Nicola Sturgeon Emotionally Recounts Miscarriage on ITV's The Assembly
Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has revealed she broke down in tears while discussing her personal experience of miscarriage during filming for ITV's groundbreaking programme The Assembly. The 55-year-old politician, who led Scotland and the Scottish National Party from 2014 to 2023, described feeling "exhausted and drained" following the intense questioning session.
Raw Emotion and Cathartic Revelation
Sturgeon will appear in an upcoming episode of the show's second series, where she faced questions from an audience composed entirely of autistic, neurodivergent, and/or learning-disabled interviewers. The former First Minister admitted the experience proved unexpectedly cathartic, though she found herself overwhelmed at several points during the recording.
"There were a couple of points when I felt quite overwhelmed," Sturgeon revealed. "For example, when I started talking about the baby I lost to a miscarriage, the tears just started to flow and I didn't think I was going to be able to stop."
The Member of Parliament, who suffered a miscarriage in 2011, spoke about losing the baby she believes would have made her a better mother. She described crying so intensely that she feared being unable to regain composure after answering questions about the painful loss.
A Unique Interview Experience
Sturgeon emphasized how different this interview felt compared to her decades of political media appearances. "This interview was different to anything I've done before - a totally unique experience," she explained. "It sparked more raw emotion in me than I have ever shown on TV before, even in the most candid of the political interviews I've done over the years."
Despite the emotional toll, the former SNP leader found value in the unconventional format. "What I took from it was how cathartic it is to open up emotionally to a group of people with no agenda other than hearing honest answers," she reflected. "There was no spin; just raw vulnerability on both sides."
Sturgeon acknowledged that her political career had required emotional restraint that contrasted with her natural inclination toward openness. "I am someone who naturally wants to wear my heart on my sleeve, but for a long time, my job and the kind of interviews I did meant that I had to be serious and guarded and keep my emotions in check."
Stephen Fry's Parallel Experience
Sturgeon's emotional revelation comes as fellow public figure Stephen Fry prepares for his own appearance on The Assembly. The 68-year-old broadcaster and actor revealed he faced what he described as an "eye-watering" grilling about his sexual preferences during his recording session.
Fry, who came out as gay in the late 1980s and married Elliott Spencer in 2015, expressed surprise at the directness of questioning. "I think the rather eye-watering curiosity as to my sexual preferences," Fry said when asked about the most shocking question. "Not sexuality, you understand - that was understood - but my preferences within that sexuality framework... well, I wasn't expecting that!"
The celebrated presenter compared the experience to his appearance on Celebrity Traitors, noting that The Assembly "just pips it" in intensity. "The Traitors roundtable sees the possibility of mistakenly naysaying, or of being punished, but within a game," he explained. "The Assembly puts one under a microscope for real."
Programme Format and Broadcast Details
The Assembly represents an innovative approach to celebrity interviewing, placing public figures before an audience with specific neurodiverse characteristics who ask questions without traditional journalistic filters. The format has produced what participants describe as unusually frank and emotionally revealing conversations.
The show returns for its second series on Wednesday 8th April at 10.05pm and Friday 10th April at 10pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Both Sturgeon and Fry's episodes promise to deliver the kind of unfiltered, emotionally charged content that has become the programme's trademark.
Sturgeon's willingness to discuss such personal trauma marks a significant departure from her carefully managed political persona, offering viewers a rare glimpse into the human experience behind the public figure. Her description of the interview as "a genuine rollercoaster of emotions" underscores the programme's unique ability to elicit responses that traditional media formats rarely achieve.
