Star of Netflix's GLOW and singer-songwriter Kate Nash says the way festivals are booked needs to fundamentally change if women are going to get the representation they deserve.
Kate rose to fame in the mid-'00s with her singalong indie pop that was tinged with an Estuary accent – everyone has almost definitely sung along to the famous line: "You said I must eat so many lemons, 'cos I am so bitter" in 2007's 'Foundations'.
Fast-forward over 10 years and Kate has crowdfunded her latest album Yesterday Was Forever along with trading tough words about the way labels "f**k you over" having previously revealed that she was dropped via text message.
Recently, one of Kate's earliest supporters, Lily Allen, went viral after flagging the lack of female artists playing Wireless Festival, while Haim sacked their tour manager after being paid 10 times less than a fellow male headliner.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Kate explained what she thinks the industry needs to do better in representing women on festival stages.
She said: "It's got to be the people booking the festivals – I don't know this as fact, but I would imagine it's predominantly male bookers, and maybe it's a case of naivety, because they may think they're trying to put on that act that they want or relate to, and they're just seeing men.
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"And I think that's why we need diversity in all areas of power. There's a lot of talk at the moment of having diversity in film critics. We need women of colour, we need gay people, we need other people that aren't straight white men in these roles.
"If you've got more female, diverse women in these positions, then they're going to be booking more diverse women and the line-up is going to become more equal. Whereas if you continue to just have one type of person in charge of everything, I think they're going to stay the same."
Kate also opened up about the challenges of crowdfunding her fourth album: "It's definitely been hard, but I think it works for me right now. I think it's still important to have my own control, I guess, being able to decide what I want to make.
"It feels a bit like a meat factory for popstars at the moment to try and figure out – it's hard work, but I think it's worth it for me."
Kate also plays Rhonda aka Britannica in Netflix's smash-hit '80s female wrestling series, GLOW. The new season is set to feature a #MeToo-style storyline and lands on the streaming service on June 29.
Kate Nash will play the Festival Republic stage at Reading Festival on Saturday, August 25 and Leeds Festival on Sunday, August 26. Head this way to buy tickets.
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Laurence Mozafari (he/him) is a multi-award winning journalist, editor, and presenter. A former Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy, Laurence previously held roles as the site's Editor, Deputy Editor, and Associate Editor focusing on news, social, and video. Laurence hosted the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Peaky Blinders in 2019. He also hosts his own podcast production, Time of My Life, where he interviews fascinating elders about their life lessons, including Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason, Star Trek’s George Takei and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh.
Laurence was named Editorial Director – Youth Audience at Reach in early 2025. Prior to joining Digital Spy, he was previously at Bauer Media working as Digital Editor of Heat magazine's website Heatworld.com, and has also worked at and written for Sky, NME, Q magazine, Grazia, Closer, FHM and dedicated careers website GoThinkBig. He secured a first-class BA journalism degree at Staffordshire University, along with several NCTJ qualifications, and now has 14 years' experience in digital publishing covering TV, movies, music, gaming, tech, showbiz, and travel.
Laurence has been a broadcasting contributor on television and radio, including KISS, Heat Radio, BBC Radio London, Radio 5 Live, and BBC Breakfast.
He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities teaching journalism, including City, University of London, Nottingham Trent, Staffordshire University and London Metropolitan. Laurence has won numerous awards in his journalism career, including the BSME Talent Award’s Best Deputy Editor, the PPA's 30 Under 30, and the New Editor and Editor of the Year at the AOP and BSMEs. He led Digital Spy to win PPA's Digital Content Team of the Year twice, along with the British Media Awards’ Brand of the Year in 2021.
Laurence joined the committee for the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2022 and was named vice-chair in 2025. He has since hosted panels with CEOs of Immediate Media and the Media Trust at the PPA Festival, as well as presenting his own radio show on Green Man Radio at Green Man Festival in 2022. Laurence is also a Brits voting academy member.
Laurence has been lucky enough to interview numerous celebrities, actors, and musicians throughout his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger loved his hair, Jimmy Carr loved his coat and Antonio Banderas gave a shout-out to his mum. Laurence has covered set visits for The Witcher on Netflix and Marvel’s Inhumans, he got Daisy Ridley to do a Chewbacca impression and loves Marvel, PlayStation, Glastonbury and craft beer. Linkedin
