Podcast Summary: The Girlfriends: Spotlight

Episode 15: Jacquie Saves a Hostage
Date: February 23, 2026
Host: Anna Sinfield
Featured Guest: Jackie Davis
Production: iHeartPodcasts and Novel

Main Theme & Purpose

In this action-packed episode of "The Girlfriends: Spotlight," host Anna Sinfield tells the inspiring and adrenaline-filled story of Jackie Davis, one of the UK’s first female bodyguards and a pioneer in the close protection and security industry. The main focus: Jackie’s daring mission to rescue a pregnant British woman held hostage in Pakistan, intertwined with her trailblazing journey through a male-dominated world, her undercover escapades, and her relentless drive for justice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Jackie’s Early Years and Entry into Policing

• Tomboy Upbringing:
  Jackie describes her childhood as “probably a bit tomboyish, if I’m honest” [06:03], encouraged by her father to learn practical skills like car servicing and even building a firing range instead of owning a dollhouse [06:08-06:25].
• Breaking Career Norms:
  Growing up in 1960s Barnet, societal expectations for women were limited to nursing, teaching, or secretarial work. Jackie, however, wanted to be in the police since she was eight, despite never seeing a female officer [06:51].
• First Encounter with Female Police:
  Jackie’s first experience with female officers was when, at age 12, she and friends reported a flasher. The way the female officer questioned her was awkward and memorable:

  “Was it stiff like a ruler or floppy?” [07:31 – Jackie Davis]

• Entry Barriers:
  Women weren’t even allowed to wear trousers in the police force when Jackie joined in 1976. “We had to wear A-line skirts that were really tight, and stockings and suspenders.” [08:12]

Moving Into Private Security & The Circuit

• Joining ‘The Circuit’:
  Jackie left the police after realizing advancement was virtually impossible for women. She was recruited by someone who worked in both policing and private security, bringing her into the tight-knit, global “Circuit” [09:02].
• First Female Bodyguard Experience:
  Jackie was hired to protect the first wife of a Middle Eastern royal. Her presence confused the prince’s security team, who initially mistook her for a prostitute [09:58], requiring negotiation to clarify her role.
• Cultural Dynamics and Wealth:
  Jackie offers insight into the lives of royal wives, high-end shopping dramas, and the enormous wealth on display (“spending 40, 50, 000 per handbag and you’re standing there thinking, that pays my mortgage.” [11:34 – Jackie Davis])

Becoming a Trailblazer

• First Woman on the Course:
  Jackie attended and completed an intensive, six-week close protection training course as the only woman—abseiling cliffs, building rafts, learning unarmed combat, and relentless drills of security maneuvers [12:07-13:29].

  “I didn’t think abseiling or climbing a mountain would have anything to do with close protection...but move forward 10 years, I was really glad I’d had that training.” [13:03 – Jackie Davis]

Life on ‘The Circuit’

• Building Skills and Respect:
  Jackie started out at the bottom (residential security), endured the arduous shift work, but quickly built a reputation for being “fast, fearless, and very smart” [18:09].
• Navigating the Boys' Club:
  She became the go-to woman for agencies needing female operatives, learning to “infiltrate” the old boys’ network [18:23].
• Personality & Soft Skills:
  Jackie notes the importance of being well-rounded—even being able to discuss high finance and politics over lunch with ultra-wealthy clients. Table manners and sophistication are unexpectedly crucial [19:16-19:45].

Undercover Assignments & Bizarre Moments

• Unconventional Missions:
  Undercover work ranged from drugging men to steal documents to infiltrating a group of “ladies who lunch” believed wrongly to be involved in criminal activity [20:55-21:22].
• Memorable Anecdote:

  “You had to be naked and rolled into a carpet while they walked around you chanting...There was two problems with that. One, where was I going to hide the microphone so it could all be recorded?” [21:28 – Jackie Davis]

• Jackie reveals her work was sometimes so immersive she could forget her real name, especially when undercover for months at a time [23:31].

Personal Hardship and Returning to Police

• When Jackie’s mother dies unexpectedly, she must conceal her grief and maintain her cover, forcing her to question her lifestyle and leading to her first experience with grief counseling [23:42-25:16].
• She moves to a “conventional” police job wrangling football hooligans across Europe—a role that even leads to meeting her future husband, the captain of the ferry [25:27-26:17].

Training and Supporting Women in Security

• Mentoring Women:
  Jackie returns to private security and embraces training women leaving armed service—“come on, ladies, we can do this. It’s been a man’s world for so long.” [27:12-27:55]

International Hostage Rescue

• Pivot to Hostage Rescue:
  At a covert operations trade fair, Jackie meets a woman who introduces her to the world of private hostage rescues, leading to undercover jobs as far afield as Iceland, using movie production covers (“I was the locations manager for a new film that was going to be called Rambo on Ice.” [33:07 – Jackie Davis])
• Nature of Hostage Rescues:
  The operations are high risk—there’s no safe negotiation, frequently involving custody disputes, forced marriages, or trafficked children. The job demands extreme due diligence (“We only work for the good guys.” [35:03])

Operation: Rescue in Pakistan (Main Story)

[35:42] - [43:58] The Hostage Rescue

Background and Planning

• Jackie is approached by a mother in Sheffield whose daughter ("Sarah") is being held captive by her husband’s family in Pakistan and is pregnant [35:42].
• British Consulate won’t assist. The mother remortgages her house to fund the rescue.
• The team surveils the location, discovers the schedule of the home, and identifies a 20-minute outdoor window [36:33-37:17].
• Due to monsoon season, their only exit is a grueling 80-mile, 14-hour mountain hike into India [37:17-37:29].

The Break-In

• Jackie sneaks into Sarah’s room, where she is chained to the bed, to reassure her:

  "Your mum sent me. We come back for you." [38:07 – Jackie Davis]

• An unexpected encounter with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (who recognizes Jackie from the UK) triggers an immediate threat; a British contact calls and urges them to flee, as authorities are onto them [38:36-38:51].

Extraction

• The team rapidly changes the plan. They hire a taxi to ram through the villa gates, grab Sarah while she's in the garden, subdue the grandfather, and speed off, dodging police [38:51-40:09].
• They begin their trek over the mountains at night, being chased by the Pakistani army and, at one point, getting caught in crossfire between the army and Kashmiri rebels [40:24-40:50].

The Ordeal and Success

• Jackie describes Sarah’s incredible resilience after months of abuse, rape, and starvation [41:02].

  “She’s three months pregnant, she’s wearing flip-flop type sandals; she’s been raped, beaten, starved for months. And to me she was the heroine...she really pulled it together.” [41:02 – Jackie Davis]

• After three days, the group finally spies signs of India and descends into a town for safety [41:56].
• Jackie secures transport to the airport. There is a tense moment at the passport check before they are finally able to get Sarah on a flight to London [42:52].

Aftermath

• Anna asks Jackie about Sarah and her baby:

  “He’s now grown up. Yep, absolutely fine. They’re absolutely fine.” [43:11 – Jackie Davis]

• Jackie notes recovery doesn’t end with extraction—medical and psychological support is essential [43:31].

Jackie’s Reflection

• Jackie maintains calm during missions, but the danger catches up to her later:

  "Afterwards I'm like, somebody give me a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Because that could have gone really badly wrong. But you don't think about it at the time, you just do what you've gotta do." [43:58 – Jackie Davis]

• She explains her motivation is a sense of justice, especially opposing forced marriage and FGM:

  “My attitude is any child does not have the right to be stolen at 10 and sold into marriage...Wrong. Totally wrong. That’s why you do it.” [44:32 – Jackie Davis] “Justice. I believe in justice. Rather than emotional, I suppose.” [45:18 – Jackie Davis]

Legacy and Mentoring

• Jackie now leads operations at Optimal Risk Group and mentors young recruits, especially women, to learn from her successes and mistakes [45:41].
• She is part of "Wise 13," a network of senior female security professionals who share intelligence, mentor others and support one another [46:04].
• She notes more women are entering the industry every year, but “still not enough” [46:47].

Advice for Aspiring Bodyguards

• Points out the lifestyle challenges: long absences from home, need for a strong support network, and intense fitness/training requirements [47:00].

  “Make sure you understand what the training entails and that includes fitness. Sort yourself out, go down the gym, go swimming, stop eating Jaffa Cakes and McDonald’s.” [47:00 – Jackie Davis]

• Soft skills are far more important than hard skills [47:38].
• Anna jokes about being only 4’11’’—Jackie reassures her, “You’d be brilliant. Once you’ve learned your unarmed combat, you’d be superb, I’m sure.” [47:56]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sexism in police (1976):
  “We weren’t even allowed to wear trousers. We had to wear A-line skirts that were really tight, and stockings and suspenders.” [08:12 – Jackie Davis]
• On luxury as a bodyguard:
  “You become a hotel snob because you’re living in the hotel with them...please, no, don’t make me stay in the Savoy for six weeks...please let me go to Claridge’s.” [19:52 – Jackie Davis]
• On going undercover in the “ladies who lunch” group:
  “You had to be naked and rolled into a carpet while they walked around you chanting...I was trying so hard not to laugh, I really was.” [21:28 – Jackie Davis]
• On rescue adrenaline:
  “Afterwards I’m like, somebody give me a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Because that could have gone really badly wrong.” [43:58 – Jackie Davis]
• On motivation:
  “Justice. I believe in justice. That’s what it is.” [45:18 – Jackie Davis]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:50 | Warning: Swearing and brief mention of sexual assault/violence | | 03:32 | Training scenario—early bodyguard simulation | | 06:03 | Jackie’s childhood and early ambitions | | 09:02 | Introduction to “The Circuit” | | 12:07 | Jackie’s close protection training experience | | 17:16 | Entry-level grind in security (residential team work) | | 18:23 | Navigating the boys’ club | | 20:34 | Beginning of undercover and covert work | | 21:22 | “Ladies who lunch” undercover story | | 23:42 | Jackie's mother’s death while undercover | | 25:27 | Policing football hooligans, meeting her husband | | 27:12 | Training and mentoring women in security | | 31:13 | Introduction to private hostage rescue, Rambo on Ice story | | 35:42-43:58 | Pakistan hostage rescue operation | | 45:41 | Jackie on teaching/mentoring in the industry | | 46:04 | The Wise 13 women’s network | | 47:00 | Advice for women entering security |

Episode Tone

• Bracing, direct, and often dryly funny—Jackie is matter-of-fact about life-or-death situations, with Anna serving as a supportive, often amazed interviewer who draws out the personal and ethical stakes.
• Empowering and inspiring, with a strong undercurrent of solidarity for women breaking into dangerous or male-dominated industries.

For Further Listening

• Previous episodes feature similarly bold women, including political prisoners, activists, and resistance fighters.
• The episode supports Womankind Worldwide, a women’s rights organization.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in true crime, women in action, and stories where justice, skill, and sheer nerve save the day. Jackie Davis stands as a testament to the power of grit, adaptability, and a relentless sense of right and wrong in changing both individual lives and an entire industry.