We’re inundated with tips and hacks promising us the answer to better wellbeing – especially at this time of year. For broadcaster, author and barrister Rob Rinder, however, it’s very simple…
“Above all else, it’s about remembering that the one thing you can’t replenish is time, so being incredibly mindful about how you deploy it. Looking at the buffet of what’s in front of you and thinking, ‘Right, what bit of time am I going to carve out that’s going to be sacred, and how will I use it, who will I share that time with?’
“I think that above all else is the key ingredient to wellbeing,” says London-born Rinder, 46.
Known for appearances on shows including Good Morning Britain, Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby, and Rob And Rylan’s Grand Tour (they’ve just been in India filming for the second series), his broadcasting career initially took off with ITV reality court show Judge Rinder – that ran from 2014-2020 and saw Rinder oversee hundreds of real-life disputes in a courtroom-styled studio.
His legal expertise still weaves through other aspects of his work, including his bestselling novels The Trial and The Suspect (due out in paperback in February 2025). And Rinder recently put his barrister robes on for the cameras once again – to star in Quality Street’s Christmas campaign, where new recyclable paper tubs go ‘on trial’.
It’s a light-hearted nod to how strong the nation’s opinions can be when it comes to our beloved festive traditions, such as the family tub of chocs.
“To be clear, the metal tubs are still available,” says Rinder. “And the paper tubs have no impact on the shelf lab or taste of the chocolates. But it’s fascinating just how much this is part of the grammar of Christmas, it really does seem to have polarised people’s views!”
While he’s all for replacing plastic packaging with eco-friendly paper, Rinder can see the appeal of a proper metal tin for stowing away odds and ends.
“It doesn’t matter how, as I am, obsessed you are with being really neat and tidy and not hoarding stuff – a Quantity Street tin? You open it and you think, ‘Right, there’s my whole life from 1995’,” he quips.
The Jewish writer and presenter, who is also currently starring in a panto production of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, is “mad about Christmas”.
“It’s coinciding with Hanukkah this year, which is great,” he says. “It’s the one day of the year where there’s just the best ‘worst’ telly on, diets don’t count, and you can completely eat yourself into a carbohydrate coma, fall asleep with a loved one in that delicious way, wake up, fart, and then eat again!”
He is also a sucker for the sentimental side of the festivities and “all of the faith stuff, across the board”.
“I just like the idea of focusing people’s hearts and minds around something really positive, and the general message of hope,” says Rinder. “Which I understand sounds slightly sentimental, but actually, I think it’s the best and only time of year where it’s completely forgivable to be sentimental.”
One thing he isn’t down for is new year resolutions.
“I think new year’s resolutions are generally bollocks!” he exclaims. “Why is January so special? It’s probably the worst month to make a resolution – it’s dark and cold – what a horrible time to be thinking about doing anything… I think we need to rethink the whole concept.”
Plus, Rinder is already devoted to his fitness regime, which is also front and centre of his self-care priorities.
“Exercise [is an] absolutely sacrosanct hour of the day,” he says. “Because there are so few things we can cross off our lists – it doesn’t matter what job you have, it’s just never finished. But to be able to have something in a day that’s finite and done, crossed off, really does elevate your serotonin levels, it’s a little endorphin whack.
“I work out at least four times a week – and it’s not about how I look, it’s about that sense of crossing something off the list and having that moment of time that’s just for you.
“Usually first thing in the morning, I go to Barry’s [Bootcamp classes] or cold swimming I’m really into as well. It’s been life-changing going to the lido in Gospel Oak [in North London, where Rinder lives]. It’s heaven, there’s nothing like it. I absolutely love it.”
He also tries to “stay off social media as much as is humanly possible – which in my case is relatively easy, because I give my undivided indifference to most people’s views who I don’t love”, he notes.
“In terms of unwinding, often I’m not great at that. I find it in moments. For instance, my holidays are really sacred and safe places, where I might get up every morning and go on a really long run, often in the heat, obviously carefully, and that for me is a sense of replenishing.”
He took on Marathon des Sables earlier this year – the gruelling seven-day, 250km run across the Sahara Desert (he was part of a team raising money for the Army Benevolent Fund).
“I loved it, and I’d like to do that again,” says Rinder. “But wherever I go, at some point in the year, I’m going to find a desert and go walking into it.
“I find that deserts, more than anywhere else in the world – because there’s so little there to look at really, apart from the colours and the range of light – it [pulls] you totally inwards. It forces you to think of nothing but the breath, which is amazing and genuinely profound. So, I will be finding some sort of race or event where I can spend time alone in the heat [putting] just one foot in front of the other.”
Quality Street has teamed up with Rob Rinder MBE to preside over the hottest ‘case’ of the festive season: the trial of the new Quality Street paper tubs – available at selected Tesco stores across England and Wales.
