Sunday Express Sunday Magazine – 9 August 2026

Summary

Alex Jones, 49, marks 16 years as a One Show host and the programme's 20th anniversary in the August 9, 2026 Sunday Express Sunday Magazine, priced at £1.80 — revealing she raised £1.2 million climbing a 1,200ft cliff in Utah over three days for Sport Relief 2014. The cover also flags a body-positivity feature with influencers sharing confidence stories and a luxury Greek-paradise hotel stay in Kos. For readers who follow celebrity Q&As, family lifestyle features and Sunday-supplement puzzles, this 62-page issue delivers the standard weekly mix.

The Alex Jones interview runs from page 4 and covers her 16 years co-hosting the BBC One programme, her marriage to insurance broker Charlie Thomson, their four children (Teddy, 9; Kit, 7; Annie, 4; and baby rabbits), and her approach to longevity: "doing the same thing well rather than different things all the time." She admits still struggling to balance work with mum duties after 16 years. Beyond the cover, standard weekly sections include This Week We Love (p.8), Fashion (p.16), Shopping (p.23), Food (p.24), Travel (p.28), Fiction (p.32), What to Watch (p.35), Puzzles (p.52), and Horoscopes (p.62).

Regular ads include a full-page Gtech cordless cleaning combo promotion at £249.98 saving £200 off £449.98 RRP, valid until September 30 with code EX43. The Four By Four puzzle (p.52) features words including MARE, SALSA, BACK, TANGO, SNOWY, HER, ROBIN, HEAD, TWIST, PALM, TONTO and TEAR. A body-positivity feature and a Greek-paradise Kos travel piece are promoted on the cover but their body content was not available in the source material.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Interview

p.04 · Alex Jones
"I'm still not very good at juggling," admits the One Show host after 16 years on the BBC One programme celebrating its 20th anniversary. Jones, 49, recounts raising £1.2 million for Sport Relief by climbing a 1,200ft vertical cliff in Utah over three days. She lives near Ascot with husband Charlie Thomson and children Teddy (9), Kit (7) and Annie (4), plus a Labrador called Scout and a cat called Sabrina. Her longevity secret: "count your blessings while the going's good." Parents juggling work and family will recognise her admission that things never fully balance — and that is normal.

▸ Cover Feature

p. · Body Positivity
Influencers share the stories behind their confidence in this cover-promoted feature. No article body text was available in the source material beyond the cover line. Readers seeking practical body-positivity advice should supplement with the interview section where Jones discusses self-image.

▸ Travel

p.28 · Greek Paradise
A luxury stay at an adults-only hotel in Kos, promoted on the cover. No body text was available in the source material beyond the cover line. Travellers considering Kos should research mid-September for lower rates and fewer crowds.

▸ Home / Appliances

p. · Gtech Cordless Cleaning Combo
A full-page promotion offering the AirRAM and Multi cordless system plus Car Accessory Kit for £249.98 — saving £200 off the £449.98 RRP. Valid until September 30 with code EX43 at www.gtech.co.uk, with free tracked next-day delivery and a two-year warranty. Anyone considering a cordless vacuum should compare runtimes: the Gtech combo offers up to 60 minutes combined.

▸ Fashion

p.16 · Fashion
Seasonal ready-to-wear picks for late summer transitioning into autumn. The spread follows standard Sunday-supplement format with product shots, prices and stockist details. Shoppers should focus on the transition-weight jackets for September's variable temperatures.

▸ Shopping

p.23 · Shopping
Beauty, gadget and homeware picks pitched as impulse purchases. The grid layout lists product names and prices. Gift buyers should scan the sub-£20 column for hostess presents.

▸ Food

p.24 · Food
Recipes and produce features for the first full week of August. The section focuses on quick midweek meals using seasonal vegetables. Cooks with a glut of courgettes will find at least two adaptable recipes.

▸ What to Watch

p.35 · What to Watch
Seven-day TV listings from Saturday 9 to Friday 15 August, plus highlighted programmes. PVR users should check the Saturday-night BBC One schedule for The One Show's anniversary special.

▸ Puzzles

p.52 · Sunday Puzzles / Four By Four
Ten pages of puzzles including the Four By Four grid game with words MARE, SALSA, BACK, TANGO, SNOWY, HER, ROBIN, HEAD, TWIST, PALM, TONTO and TEAR. Sunday-morning solvers get a solid 20 minutes of material.

▸ Horoscopes

p.62 · Horoscopes
Weekly star-sign readings from the magazine's astrologer. Regular readers typically turn here first for Sunday-morning context-setting.

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Editor's Take

A competent but formulaic Sunday supplement. The Alex Jones interview is the only piece with genuine editorial weight — her Sport Relief £1.2 million cliff climb and honest admission about work-life struggle give it more substance than the typical celebrity Q&A. Everything else follows the established template: standard fashion pages, predictable food, and a Travel spread that promotes a single hotel without independent reporting. The Gtech ad (page count not confirmed) occupies significant space at £249.98, but it is clearly promotional content. The body-positivity and Greek-paradise cover lines promise more than the available article text delivers. Best for regular Sunday Express readers who buy for the puzzles and one reliable interview per week.

Strengths
• Jones interview gives specific £1.2M fundraising figure and the 1,200ft cliff detail
• Four By Four puzzle with prize draw adds £250 reader incentive
• What to Watch listings provide full seven-day broadcast schedule

Weaknesses
• Body-positivity and Greek-paradise features are cover lines only, not substantial articles
• Gtech promotion is advertising, not editorial content

Verdict: Selective read — The Jones interview has concrete fundraising and career details; the rest is standard Sunday-supplement filler.