Bella Mackie

Mackie is the daughter of Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian, and Lindsay Mackie. She grew up in Kentish Town, North London, where she lives to this day.^[1][2][3] Mackie began her studies at university, but withdrew for mental health reasons. She had dealt with anxiety, agoraphobia, panic attacks, and OCD since childhood.^[4]

After working as a journalist, Mackie's first book Jog On is a non-fiction account of how running helped her to alleviate mental health problems.^[5]

Her second book, How to Kill Your Family explores funny ways for women to kill people in an attempt to subvert the attention given to men who murder women.^[6] An adaptation of the book was commissioned by Netflix in 2024, with Anya Taylor-Joy attached to star.^[7]

Mackie met her first husband at age 28, but they divorced less than two years later.^[8] She took up running in the aftermath of her divorce.^[9] In 2018, Mackie married Greg James, a DJ on BBC Radio 1 and television presenter.^[10][11]