S10, Ep12: Fatiha El-Ghorri, comedian

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:07I'm Grace Dent and this is Comfort Eating from The Guardian A podcast where we pay homage to the lesser celebrated foods in life Because even as a restaurant critic I believe the food that matters most is often that snack you cobble together when you're curled upon the sofa Each week, I ask my guest to lift the lid on what comfort foods have seen them through their lives. Because you can tell a lot about a person from what they eat behind closed doors.

0:44Hello friends. This morning, I am putting together out my mirror a look, makeup-wise, that I call the CBA. It's a can't be arsed. You know, the thing is, at one point in my life, I used to do the whole works, all bells and whistles at once. This is when I was a much younger woman. This new CBA look only has about three stages. It takes 95 % less of the time. First of all, we do a tiny bit of foundation, mainly just to cover spots. We go in with a statement lip in some kind of red. it's got to be that immovable lip ink that stuff that won't come off even if you go into a full snog not that i do and then to finish it all off a big pair of glasses okay grace dent is ready for the day because i'm expecting a guest and i suspect that she has a similar forthright approach to the things that women are meant to do.

1:50It's Fatia L. Ghori. Fatia is one of the funniest people on our screens at the moment, absolutely hands down, from her stand-up on the likes of Live at the Apollo, acting roles in shows like We Are Lady Parts and Mr. Big Stuff, all the way to her infamous grillings as one of the cast members of Taskmaster Season 19 earlier this It is safe to say that Fatih is winning the hearts of the nation. Fatih is Hackney, London, through and through, still living in the borough where she grew up in. Her mother and father moved to England from Morocco before Fatih was born. And her Moroccan heritage plays a huge part in her life.

2:32And I'm hoping in the kitchen too. Fatih is Muslim. Her hijab has become somewhat of a trademark look. and her faith is certainly not off limits when it comes to her stand-up where she covers everything from dealing with stereotypes to dating as a Muslim. So I'm looking forward to hearing how her faith influences her fridge and what kind of thing Fatih is chowing down on when no one else is watching.

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3:40Fatih Al-Ghari, welcome to Comfort Eating. Thank you for having me, Grace Dent. Are we both doing our phone voices? Yes, this is how we make our living, by speaking like this to gullible men. You were on our screens last year as part of the Christmas special of the Great British Sewing Board. I thought maybe that you were a hobby kind of girl. one week maybe crochet the next paddle boarding i've heard that actually though you're like me and your true relaxation is on the couch watching trash now i i have a theory that we all have a place that we go to a surprising place we go to i've said before mine is uh dr pimple popper I love to watch Gunge pouring from a strange space.

4:36Are you not into it? No. What are you watching? I love like Trash, like Love Island. Okay. Married at First Sight. Right. The Ultimatum. Love is Blind. Right. So what you like is people who have given almost their entire personal life and mental health to a television company. I mean, married at first sight, my mother, absolutely, God rest her soul, loved married at first sight. It was like, it was so intoxicating to her. The idea where they put the two of them in a tiny little flat. Yeah. Like a tiny little flat and then they have to deal with each other, you know, kind of farting and all that.

5:19Because you're right, it's really exposing. And these people don't realise how exposing it is. They think, oh, I'm on TV, I'll be able to handle it. I'll be like, no, no, no, no, no. Your true self does come out. and that's what I like because I'm single as well. I like watching and being like, oh my God, you know, I've had that issue before. You can relate, it's relatable. And I don't know why I'd want to relate to Heartbreak. Do you like Australian married at first sight? That's the best one. Yeah, that's the best one because they don't mess around. They're just like, listen, mate, I love you.

5:53That was the best accent in the world. I don't know where that was from, actually. I don't even know who you were offending.

6:01Fatia, it's time for us to share some food. I don't know what's underneath this tea towel. I ask every celebrity guest who makes their way to East London to bring me their ultimate comfort snack. This is your beacon in times of need. I want to know what you pine for after a long night standing on a slightly raised plinth with a microphone. or maybe you've just been horizontal watching Australians fight with each other over affairs of the heart there is no judgment here what is under the tea towel please reveal your snack

6:38so I have brought I hope you like this I have brought cheese and tomato pizza right hang on We've got a big cheese and tomato pizza. There's herbs on here. So that just looks like mixed herbs. There's nothing. Is there anything special, fancy? Only that it's thin crust, but nothing apart from that. Just cheese and tomato plain. This is my favourite. And then we've got two cans of ice cold Coke Zero. Ice cold Coke Zero. Let's get involved. Hang on. tell me about this when do you eat this is this for your dinner so anytime really sometimes i have it for breakfast it just depends but i love it i love it's one of my favorite things i just because i love bread i love cheese hello cheese and tomato pizza do you know what i mean right now this pizza is cold yeah but i love it cold that's my favorite i love whenever i order pizza i always order extra and then i get and then whatever's left over i'll put it in the oven just so like the bugs don't get it.

7:45And then, do you know what I mean? Not, not, not to like, the oven's not on or nothing. I leave it in the oven and then in the morning I'll have it for breakfast. And that's my favourite thing. Does it make you feel kind of safe and warm? Mm-hmm. You know when you're like, ah, like that. I feel like that now. It's so nice, isn't it? And I get thin crust, then I can eat the whole thing. If it's thick, then I don't end up eating the whole thing. Sometimes it can be too bready and you have to eat it slice by slice. You know, like some people put two slices together and eat like that. No. Why are you doing that?

8:18That's a sandwich, not a pizza. You have to eat it slice by slice. Where do you get it from when you're at home? So usually there's a pizza hut at the end of my road. It's within walking distance, but I'm so bad. I still order it. I'm like, can you bring it to my house, please? Can you look them in the eye when you open the door? Yeah, I go, oh, sorry, I'm really sick. I'm really sorry. Thank you. Do you go?

8:44did you drag one leg behind you she gets me I put my hijab on really haphazardly and pull out some a bit of hair and I'm like please sir they walk it over that's how close it is I'm like listen you're getting a tip so relax yeah and then yeah order it from there or sometimes I order it from a local one it just depends sometimes I change the toppings as well depending on what I fancy Sometimes I'll have like, one of my favourite toppings is like tuna, pineapple, sweet corn and onions. Garland. It's so nice. Do you like pineapple? I love that pizza. Oh, that's the best. Tuna and pineapple on a pizza.

9:27It's like a little secret, isn't it? It's like a taste of the sea. Yeah. It's glamorous. It's understated. It's deluxe. It's chic. Yeah. But yeah, it does. it divides the crowd that it does people don't like pineapple on pizza but i think it's great especially if you like with tuna like you said you get the salt and the sweet do you know i mean together i think it's so nice i like the fact that like deep down though they've got that tuna out of a massive tin from costco haven't they it's just like let's not just think about that

10:09you are no stranger to a podcast you hosted the bbc's not even water a fun guide to ramadan for anyone with questions about the month of fasting for muslims which i want to ask you about in a moment but generally speaking how is your faith defined how you think about food i would say things have to be halal so like the meat has to be halal and there can't be like any alcohol or anything so that influences it so like if i went to somewhere like wagamamas i can only have like the fish okay or the vegetarian which is okay but like sometimes you want the meat i'm I'm like, sometimes I'll be like a nice meat brisket, but it's not halal.

10:54I'm like, damn you. Damn you. And then the next, I'm like, okay, that's fine. I'll just have the fish. And then I go home and call trading standards. Do you get straight on? Exactly. I try closing baths. This is it. I'm like, they didn't wash their hands. I saw flies on the table. I'm like, the waiter made eye contact. Closing down and stuff. So that's the way my faith. And then I have my culture and tradition. So I'm Moroccan, born and raised in East London, but also Moroccan. And I speak the language. I can cook the food. I visit there. I've got family there. I go there. I used to go like two, three times a year.

11:32Now I'm so busy. I just about see my bed two, three times a week, let alone, do you know what I mean? Going abroad. So, and food is a massive thing for us. It's like a family, you know, like we come together at dinner time, sit together, eat, talk about our day. it's not really about the amount that you're eating or what you're eating it's just us all being together it's like it's a real everything's around food like if the postman knocks my mom's like quickly put the tea on and I'm like he's just delivering a letter she's like yes but still you know like that kind of thing but what is that about giving and wanting to give people things wanting to feed them wanting to put something into their mouth what was that about I think it's I think that part is faith related because in Islam it does say like to be good to your neighbors.

12:22And then we also charities, one of the pillars of Islam. So you're always trying to do like charitable things. We have two Eids in Islam. We have the first Eid, which is after Ramadan. And then we have the second one, which is the Eid of Sacrifice. And on that Eid, we sacrifice like livestock, but you share it with people around you. You don't keep it for yourself. and I remember once being in Morocco and it was that Eid, we were celebrating that Eid, this guy knocks on the door and I'm like, what do you want? I'm at the window going, yeah, what bruv, what? And he's, I was like, Fethad is not London, but anyway, and then he was like, oh, do you have any meat?

12:59I was like, do I look like a butcher? Are you mad? Get out, yeah, I'm giving you three seconds, all this. And then my aunt's like, Fethad, what's going on? I was like, this guy's coming up begging for meat and she's like, where is he? I was like, I told him to piss off and she's like, bring him back bring him back and then she had meat ready so we have like all these she makes all these little packets and leaves and if anybody knocks she just gives it and then I had to go outside and go please sir please I'm really sorry can you come back I've got a bag of meat so there's like all this like charity and giving and sharing even if like like once my mum was cooking like this really nice soup and the neighbour came knocking on the door and she goes this was in London and she goes oh that smells really nice I was like yeah and and she's like oh what is it i was like it's a soup is that it and i slammed the door in her face and then i went upstairs and my mom's like who is it and i was like oh it's the neighbor and she's like what did she want and i was like she asked about the soup and then she was like what did you say to i said i shut the door in here what's she asking what we're cooking what's her problem and all exactly and my mom was like no fatihah she's pregnant that's probably you know she's got a craving go and then she made me take a bowl over and be like i'm so sorry have you had to apologize to all of your neighbours at some time.

14:08It's time to see a pattern here. So I got him in a headlock. But after that...

14:21When I'm listening to you speak, what I love is, and I find it so fascinating, is at one point when you're talking, you remind me of pre-fame Adele, right? Before Adele got all smoothed out. there's that proper London right and then we kind of turn a corner every now and again and we're like in Morocco right and we're like so Morocco there's just these two amazing things happening together is that happening with food as well do you think when you when you were growing up yeah for sure like at home we always ate Moroccan food always and my dad used to always say to us like at home you're Muslim and Moroccan and outside you're Muslim and British yeah and the only time we ever had chips was at school like chips and beans would be at school and pizza but at home we always had Moroccan food but we would have like snacks you know like ice cream that you know sweets and all that kind of stuff and I do have my fate like my sister's kids they're like where's the Yorkshire pudding I'm like it's July why are we eating Yorkshire's in July like what are you doing wait until christmas they're like we want a roast i'm like you lot i'm dropping you at buckingham palace because i don't know who you are and stuff so it is but i'm british and moroccan do you know what i mean both of those and i love things like jacket potato

15:50ramadan yes the ninth month in the islamic calendar is a holy month for muslims worldwide for anyone who isn't sure what are the rules around food during Ramadan so you can't eat from sunrise to sunset and it's for 30 days you cannot eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset can you see what's fizzing around my eyes can you see the question well hang on a minute know not even water yeah that's why not even water people ask that all the time i'm like no but i don't mind like i'm like at least um but yeah not even water no liquid but do you know why they do ask that because i think that anyone that was brought up in christian faith and they know about lent right and up until then we thought that was a great sacrifice right but like for 40 days you maybe like gave up haribo yeah so when when you guys are just giving up eating right the thought that you're not allowed to have not even water we just can't cope with that at all and i think we maybe a lot of us come from a culture that if we're not sipping from a two liter bottle of water at any time we're going to turn into a raisin and maybe put in the recovery reposition so anyway so how do you find Ramadan and are you kind of like one of those people now just very accomplished and you know what you're doing yeah it's it is difficult the first few days because your body has to climatize but I've been doing it for like over 35 years so like I'm used to it I love it it's a real cleanse of your mind body and soul there's a real alignment and during Ramadan I have this soup it's a Moroccan soup it's called harira and it's got like like 11 things in it's got meat veg everything is so wholesome so tasty and I have to have it every day for 30 days because I don't know that if I don't have it then I'm like what is going on first thing in the morning no you have it when you when I break my fast okay before sunrise I'll just have like water and a yogurt or something like that and I'll wake up two hours before I have to start stop eating and just sip and sip and sip once you've broken your fast it's about sipping if you down it if you just drink really fast like water you just wee it out so that's to keep the water in your body you just sip sip sip amongst your friends is there like a ramadan hierarchy of people that do it properly and then other people that you know full well are like chugging three protein powder shakes before five o 'clock and then just going to bed for the day there are the ones that like message you like two minutes before we have to stop eating going what time is it do we stop eating today i'm like boy piss off i haven't got time for this shit

19:01when the month's finished, you celebrate Eid, right? And I'm coming at this from someone from like a Christmas perspective. Like, are we talking about a big heaving table? Yeah.

19:16And all your family? Yes, we all go to my mum's. Is everyone on best behaviour or is it like Christmas where there's like a little bit of like kind of... Yes, it is. It's like, okay, we're going over there, but like don't mention these three things. Yeah. it is like that you know like in christmas i don't know like your nan gets drunk and starts like swearing at you and being like you're a paleo why are you not married yeah are you a lesbian these kind of questions sitting there with your little plate of food happy holiday we have the same thing at eat as well my nan does the same thing she's like fatiha you look like a mushroom i'm like what the hell but she's not drunk she's just a bitch do You know what I'm saying?

19:57You can't even blame the Bailey. I'm like, you are just an A grade bitch. So we do have those things. What's on the table? Tell me some things. If you were going to throw down one of these spreads and people are coming over, what's on there? So we would probably have two or three courses. We have like couscous, which is like the couscous and then the meats and the veg. There's so much in it. We have like squash, carrots, cabbage, meat, chickpeas, all this. But my favourite is like chickpeas and cabbage. Those are my favourite. And I always say to my mum, put more extra. I like it. And my sister, who's a psychopath, likes a full tomato.

20:36Who eats full tomatoes? Are you a rabbit? Do you know what I'm saying? Like, why are you eating that? I have heard, and this might be lies, that, you know, talking a Christmas dinner, you are actually a fan of a Brussels sprout. I love Brussels sprouts. That's why I think I love cabbages as well. I love Brussels sprouts, man. They're my favourite. I eat them like Maltesers. I'm like, they make you fart, but I like that. I do. That's cleansing. I'm so glad. Darling, you are the first, the first person on comfort eating that's brought that up before I've brought it up. I felt for 10 seasons like a savage.

21:13I've had like Paul McCartney's daughter, the gorgeous Mary McCartney sat there and she's like, I love sprouts and I was like did you not say they make you a bit windy she's like oh that's I've never experienced that I thought what like it's like how because there's this idea that you all have them and sit in a very small room yeah your face is like a huge part of your comedy you've came in here today wearing a glorious maroon and brown hijab and as your profile rises we'll talk about Taskmaster in a bit it is becoming somewhat of a trademark and the comedy circuit I'm really fascinated by this it's this really daunting place for anyone especially if you're not like anyone else that dresses like you and what I keep thinking every time I see you go on stage and storm it I've watched so many YouTube clips and I think does the hijab make it harder or easier to walk out and deliver that first line because I'm really on the fence here if I had to guess so when I'm doing a gig so look for example if I'm gigging in a pub or something like that or a bar or like a members club or something like that before I go in I'm always I always have to talk to myself even to this day and I'm like that's how you have a right to be here you've come here to do a job ain't nobody gonna tell you shit you have a right to exist you are okay the way you are don't take any shit like yeah just do your job so I have to have this little pep talk before I go into anywhere and I always tell myself I'm like they're gonna stare because there's not gonna be anyone like you in there so and they're gonna stare at you and that's okay they're doing that because they're interested don't let that okay kind of knock you down but if anyone starts shit like we'll have it do you know i think i'm kind of used to it now i just i'm like i'm gonna go out there and do my job but that's why i'm so aggressive as well on stage but that aggressive is real like if you if you want to fuck around we will fuck around like do you know do you know and there is a lot of power with what i do and the way that i look you know and there's also a lot of pressure you know you're breaking down these stereotypes you're bringing people if i can just get one person to think differently if i can just get someone maybe that's ignorant or racist to think oh do you know what that girl was all right like maybe what i'm thinking about the rest of that community is not the it's not the correct thing do you know what i mean just to like shake their brain a bit i love that presence that you have on stage of just part of it is kind of very catty big sister aggression which is an energy that I really enjoy having too I love the fact that you are so respectful when it comes to your face but I've also read that you have been banned from the mosque not one time not twice on three separate occasions would you like to explain yourself yes that was not my finest hour i love the fact that you've started looking at me now like you're in police questioning i enjoy it i enjoy that when i really i like they just i don't yeah i just don't tolerate nonsense and i used to go to like i don't care where it is i'm like oh you want some you'll have some then let's have it so i used to go to this mosque they used to have a sister circle like every Sunday it would be like a girls group and we would go and talk about faith and sorry just the thought of like honestly sister circles making me it's giving me a cold sweat already do you have to sit and listen to everyone just moaning well that's and I was it was a little bit like that and I was like hold on a minute I've come here to learn to talk about faith and to learn and that's why they didn't like it and they would be like can you be quiet I'm like can you fucking be quiet they're like excuse me i'll run the group i'm like i don't give a shit what you run this is a public mosque this is god's house i'm all like they're like oh my god i love the fact that like even though you've got a beautiful uh hijab on i can still see your neck like changing like like that because this is it because you know i think as women like suddenly the arm starts kind of yes hang on so the first time um you cause a ruckus uh at the sister group yes what's the second time again there i can't believe they let you back in did you have to wait until it was a different person oh no i just went back in there and then you could see them be like and i'm like to you and all this i know i was just propaganda and i didn't like some of the things they were saying was a bit judgy like you can't if you're going to give religious advice you have to be really knowledgeable and the first thing is to be like non-judgmental and stuff like that and i just think some of these people do it just for the sake of it i don't know for like what's that word like men do it a lot for like like make yourself feel better to make yourself look good so they can go down and kind of tell everybody instead of talking about faith they're actually talking about their own opinion exactly exactly and this is what some of those women were doing so when I saw that I was calling it out I'm like listen I'm not an idiot don't think like I know what I'm talking about I've got knowledge like I just don't throw it in everyone's face or try to be better than you or anything like that and the first part of it is just being like non-judgmental and um being accepting and and pulling people towards you rather than pushing people out and they didn't like that they were like do you have a qualification I was like excuse me can you even read like i'm beginning to see now why you actually why they why you only lasted five minutes the second time you know like speaking of conflict like you've said i got married i got divorced i got married again and then i got divorced again and the moral of that story is never challenged me brilliant look you joke about relationships you talk about dating a lot in your comedy is that the stone cold truth when it comes to relationships do you think like just don't challenge me no no i love it look at your little angelic face she's that's why i get away

27:44that's why i get away matters to other people's ideas honestly no that's yeah what yeah i just get away matters i'm really fascinated i've i've been married and I've been divorced but like I I didn't go and get married again and divorced because by that point I understood what the heck I was getting into I realized it was a legal contract yes what happened like the second time like you just the second one was a mistake it was rushed for sure I just wanted to feel loved again and well I never felt loved in the first one but I wanted to be loved and like accepted and chosen and I think he gave me that but it was all like whirlwind but you know you can love someone but not be able to live with them do you know what I mean the same way with our siblings and family and stuff like that and I think that was like that with with him your mother your mother sounds like a formidable presence can you talk me through the conversation when you went in the second time you've decided to get divorced she was when i went out the second time she was like oh my god i you see i tell you you'll never get married so yeah she they were like she was like oh why can't you just try well let's try this let's try that and stuff and it wasn't a lot of people think muslims like forced marriages the pressure to divorce no divorce is allowed in islam is allowed it's the it's the tradition it's people's culture and tradition that make it taboo it's not the faith itself okay so for her she was just like you know parents want to see you settled and they want to see you happy so that was her problem it was like well i don't i'm worried what if you don't meet anyone what if this what if that kind of thing and i was like no look this is the right thing for me would you do it again get married i don't know man it would have to be someone super special like to do it and would you marry anyone from comedy no i would rather marry my first husband again than marry someone from comedy no comedians are insane i would never and also you should never shit where you eat do you know what i mean because then if it breaks down then it could become it can become problematic and you know what i mean

30:16It was after the second divorce that you got into comedy. You signed up for a comedy writing class. Things took off for you. Your show, Cockney Stacking Doll, won the Leicester Comedy Award for Best Debut Show in 2023. You're now head judge for the BBC New Comedy Awards. Of course, a career in comedy. It means touring the country. You have to become a bit feral, a kind of nocturnal animal. you're at the mercy of whatever dinner usually the promoter gives you so like what is the worst thing you've been served so far chips that have been warmed up and then left to die and then re-warmed up and then given and i'm like you people have lost your mind if you think i'm gonna eat that and either you get some proper food or i'm gonna go out there and speak arabic for 20 minutes and we'll see how this gig goes down i'm always threatening to ruin gigs i'm like oh it's really oh okay one time i did a muslim gig and they were like some muslim gigs are just similar to like usual gigs it's just that there's no swearing no sexual innuendo and it's usually like family friendly it has to be and i and i went there and they were like oh we we don't have um the money but we'll feed you and i'm like do i look like i need more food like i need my money otherwise I'm going to go out there and do 20 minutes on anal and the woman's heart literally exploded in my face I was like you think I'm joking with you watch I was like what you think I don't care watch and buckle up exactly this is going to be quite a 20 minutes get the money oh my god and then they're like oh my god yeah the money's here sorry there was a mistake I'm like damn right there was a mistake and i'll have that food as well so it's just what bad food habits have you picked up on the circuit wh smith's in a service station four o 'clock in the morning what you're having like about you know the grab bags of like mccoy's salt and vinegar those are my favorites those or prawn cocktail i love like walkers prawn cocktail walkers are my favorite any of those maizey crisps you know the ones that like stick in your teeth like the cheese ball monster munch those yeah get your fingers in a traffic jam and someone inevitably catches your eye i love the fact that grab bag is just a way of saying four times the amount of crisps that you actually need because we start you're not going to stop no i know that's why i try not to get like family bags you know you know like the big share because i'll just eat the whole thing like what is that and they and they do it on purpose you know they don't fill it up all the way because they know you're just gonna eat the whole thing so usually they'll always be like a mcdonald's or something open like some fast food so have that and i'm obsessed with you know like coming home late there's i've got a local you know like the greasy chicken shop that you know where they don't wash the food or their hands like those are my favorite places

33:35look we're recording this in my living room in east london very ideal for you you've had to travel in from also east london you're a hackney girl born and bred i'm going to take you back to those early years just tell me a little bit about young fatia like little girl fatia what is she like like so when we were growing up my dad used to say to us like don't speak english at home he's so we so we got the dialect fluently and stuff like that and then when i went to school i didn't realize and then when i went to nursery and then the teacher started speaking english and i looked up at my mom and i was like what's she saying i don't understand and my mom's like this is not our country and i was like what so that yeah and that was and that's always stuck with me because I always you know like Moroccans will be like you're not Moroccan because you wasn't born here and then the Brits are like you're not British I don't care if you're born here look at you and stuff like that so I've never felt like I've got a place yeah anyway so school was really tough because they knew and it was like I'm born in 81 so like it was it wasn't as mixed as it is now there's maybe like five ethnic kids in the class how does that affect you when you're like so you get to school and it suddenly dawns on you that you know your mum's saying this isn't this this isn't our country you have to learn English yes do you think that this is why you are how you are now as in you you know you take no prisoners because you were put in that position for sure I think maybe that's something that developed as I grew up but when I first started like I was so excited to see the other kids and play with the other kids and stuff like that it was really hard like teachers not understanding when you want something or or you know and just shouting at you and I remember once like kicking the you know like when kids swing their feet and it bangs on like a piece it was like a piece of wood we were sitting down doing like story time and I was banging and the teacher was telling me to stop it and I didn't understand what she was saying she just dragged me and I was like what is going on so it was really like isolating but I loved I was a kind child but I just didn't take shit like I did try to drown a boy in like a nursery or something and I got in big trouble for that my mum was she was always like sometimes she would get to the door and they'd call her back and be like she slapped someone come and take her home I was like oh always you and I'm like and stuff like that where did you try and drown him like in in we had a little pond in us in our school and it was it wasn't nursery it was like maybe I was like five six something like that and we had a little pond those tag poles and we were doing a project and we had to take our wellies off and they filled my wellies with tag poles and I was like I'm not having this I just grabbed the boy under the water and all these kids were screaming I was just like I'm trying not to laugh but you put tag poles in your wellies I mean that is very provocative but that but joking aside that's you as a how old six yeah something like that your father passed away when you were six but clearly he has a huge impact on your life still yeah what memories do you have of your dad so when we were younger he used to read us stories so he would go and lie in the bed and then me and my sister would go and sit next to him and he'd read us stories but the only reason why we loved it is because at the end of he'd give us a rollo so like this was the only thing and so he would tell us I don't even remember he would be telling us stories about like his childhood and all this kind of stuff he did in Morocco because they him and my mum grew up were born and raised there in the town that our family is in now that we still go to now and then they got married and they came here and they had me and my sister so the rest of my siblings were all born back in Morocco yes used to tell us stories and then like give us the roller at the end.

37:30And that was just the best part. But I did used to like the stories. It was nice. I love the fact you don't remember anything about me. You're just that chocolate caramel joy at the end. We do have a picture of how I speak. We've got loads of pictures of family and stuff, but there is that one of me and him. And he's like telling me a story. We're lying like side by side and he's telling me a story. And that's the way I see him always. I love hearing about your family. I was saying you're like a set of comfort eating record in that. You're one of 13. Yeah. Siblings. Yeah. I mean, we've had some, you know, people on here, just actual just pretenders from Ireland.

38:10They've come in here and went, I'm from a big family, the six of us. And I've went, that is quite a lot. I was 13. I mean, especially because after your dad dies, your mum raises nine of you who were still at home as a single parent. Nine people for dinner. That isn't dinner. That's like a restaurant service. In fact, there are small plates restaurants in Hackney that have to serve less people. What is mealtimes like as a kid? busy lots of food everybody wants something different my mom's like running around doing this that the other sharing each other's food fighting while my mom's in the kitchen finishing your food and going let me have a bit more of yours that can have another fish finger and stuff like that would she put it all down on plates and you divide it all up or is that too dangerous yes she did and everyone had their own plate and then you would just take what you wanted but then sometimes it depends because then we would fight a lot and then she would do it separately and after my dad died that's when we started eating things like oven pizza fish fingers oven chips and stuff like that so it was like amazing we'd have like for breakfast eggs and fish fingers i was like best meal ever and she would make bread as well homemade bread all the time like she'd make it like three four times a day when you've grown up in a house and there's that many of you siblings as you go out into the world do you still have that kind of feeling of terror when food gets put down and like in a shared in a shared group do you start kind of thinking there's not going to be enough or like you know do you start getting territorial do you ever stash food in places like kind of go and put some under your bed because you're scared someone might take it no no it was all about sharing and also like if say like if I if she gave me four fish fingers and I was saying to my sister I'll give me if you give me another fish finger I'll give you a bit more of my eggs or I swap a toast with you or something like that my mum be like no just eat what you have what's on your plate and that's enough for you you don't need to be eating someone else's and everything was very fair like if we had dinner and say like my brother was at work or something she'd leave him a bit and no one was allowed to touch that it's like this is your brothers nobody's touching it everybody's eating here that's it i'm fascinated about there being 13 of you nowadays though right is there a whatsapp group of just the siblings no is there separate whatsapp groups for one the ones that you like best and get on with and do you ever use it to talk about other siblings yes there you go there you go like you can't know you can't name anybody me my younger sister we we always message just privately we're closest and we were the two that were born here we message privately all the time and so you're screenshotting other people's messages you're screenshotting what's wrong with her how what does she mean she wants two extra of tomatoes this time it's all that kind of stuff and then we have like nieces and nephews and you know in groups with them as well do you remember everyone's birthdays or there are just sometimes you just no i only remember the ones are the ones i like and stuff other than that i'm like whatever man you're old who cares So cold.

41:44In common show-pist parlance, you are booked and busy. 2025 has been the year that you starred on Taskmaster. You have won a gazillion more fans through that. Now, your castmates were the housewife's favourite, Matthew Bainter. Just ageing like a fine wine. Wow. Stevie Martin, Jason Manzoukas and Rosie Ramsey. Now it has been heralded as one of the best seasons ever. Right. This is what I want to know. I know you'll be honest with me. Is it as fun as it looks or has it got moments where you just actually want to get in a fetal position and go, what the hell? Why have I agreed to do this? Please let me go home.

42:34No, it's really fun. Because when you're doing the tasks, you're on your own unless you're doing the group ones. Okay. So you don't see anyone else. You don't. Even when on the day we do the group ones, I didn't even know the other two were somewhere else in the house. They were just like, Fatia, we're going to open this door. You walk out of here, turn left. I see two people. I'm like, what the hell is going on? And they have them in like different places around the house. With that fetal position thing, when you're like, oh no, somebody shoot me, is when you do the studio. and then you see how other people done tasks and you're like oh shit like oh god he done it in two minutes i've done it in two hours yeah and it's like oh no why didn't i look there and then you start having all this regret and going oh you're so dumb why did you not do that why did you not do this and so yeah that's when it's like is there like a taskmaster meal time where you all sit together yes well when you're filming yeah there are the tasks there is we always have you you have an option there were some times where I just sat in the room on my own and ate only because I was like tired or because I was going through a breakup when I was filming it like the week before I was like was this another marriage just like oh so you didn't marry this one well done well so did you not have time the taskmaster came up I was like I'm sorry it's gonna have to wait and then he was like I don't want to be with you no more and I was like okay so that was tough and and so So there were some times I just wanted to sit in the room on my own and like cry.

44:02They were so nice about it. There were times in between takes I was just going in the room and crying because I just had to cry it out. It was really hard. Really, really hard. I love that you told them. I know this. I love you told them. I don't tell. I wouldn't have told them that I was anyone that I was going through a breakup. I would have literally just sat. I would have cried in the bathroom with the door shut. Then came out and went, I'm fine. everything's fine like that's so brave to say that I just I guess I wanted to tell them because they had to keep on redoing my makeup and then also I didn't want them to think I was crying because of the tasks or like anything like that so that was the only reason why I told them other than that I'm very you would never know I'm like you know when the duck underwater and it's you'll never know what's going on in the other side I could be having a total breakdown and I'll go you know I'll leave here and lick the pavement and you'll never know that I was absolutely crazy while I was sitting here with you yeah yeah you've written a book it's out in 2026 it's about young girl getting her first hijab of course you've written lots of comedy how easy was it writing a book bruv let me tell you let me tell you I was crying because I'm not an author do you know I mean i'm not a writer i wrote the whole thing myself i didn't have any like ghost writers or any of that madness like i wrote the whole thing on my end because i think you know no i know i just it was really the hardest thing i've ever done it was so difficult i just wanted to like yeah it was a lot of tears a lot of like oh god i've written a few books and there's always a bit where you just wish that you could just kind of get hit by a car or something like not not really bad not dead yeah but just so you could go i can't do the book yeah my arms in a sling anything to get away from that yeah it's tough people don't realize how tough it is and and i don't know i think even if you are academically inclined or whatever i think it's still a lot it's a lot you know it's exposing yeah so hang on there's a main character called aya yes that's my niece's name she learns wearing a hijab has some perks i have to ask you be honest what is the best snack you have ever hidden in a hijab the best one i was gonna say probably a mars ball where would you put it just in between you can put anything underneath here so hang on so you're using your chest as kind of and i do that I do that but then you've got then you've got the hijab on top yes so no one can see so you can just it's like a secret pocket this is it do you know like you know as you know we put things in our bras all the time and it's the same but I just have the hijab to cover it so you can't see shit so and then because of that I can get lots more in there as well I can get crisps I can get my phone anything when they're like no phones I'm like what phone I left mine at home you know and it's and i'm like but just this home if we ever film anything together i'm standing with you the whole time because i know for a fact you've got pringles down there somewhere at some point exactly fatty algori yes thank you for coming for eating with me grace then thank you for having me

47:36This episode is produced by Jack Larramond. The executive producers are Lucy Greenwell and Grace Dent. The music was written by Axel Cucutier. Mixing and sound design was by Solomon King. If you love comfort eating, then go and leave us a review. And you can follow or subscribe so that you never miss an episode.

48:10Transcription by CastingWords