TOM DAVIS: I Lost Friends When I Quit Alcohol - But This Is What It Taught Me

0:00Tom Davis: Coming up on Great Company.

0:02Jamie Laing: Murder and Successful, it got rejected by every channel.

0:04Tom Davis: I was the first one, wasn't I?

0:06Jamie Laing: And the risk on that was massive.

0:07Tom Davis: And I've seen a pigeon. It's so pretty.

0:14Jamie Laing: Me and my wife, we'd lost financially, we'd lost our flat. We were like living back on my parents. There's so much riding on that. This is the thing that has to work. And you picked me? That's a bit more. If he fucks, it'll just make it F-S-O-F-F. And if that hadn't worked, I was like, Hi, I'm Tom Davis, and I'm in great company. A boy from Croydon, this is pretty mad. Do you think people have sex with my wife behind my back? No. They do. Here we are, Mr. Wonka, home sweet home.

0:42Tom Davis: Let's welcome a man with whom laughter is contagious. It's Tom Davis.

0:45Jamie Laing: I was probably, at the time, I was drinking four, five, six times a week. I was lost. I was depressed. My wife needed me to be better than that. She needed a guy who's got her back, having grace. and what was truly really a miracle because we'd ruled out being parents. I'm all or nothing to be an all or nothing dad as Tom Davis rather than me not being present enough.

1:04Tom Davis: You're like huge on male friendships.

1:05Jamie Laing: We have this whole rhetoric at the moment of like men should talk but I don't really know what to say. I'm lucky I can text Rom and really text that I won't think there's much to it but he'll click and go, are you alright?

1:16Tom Davis: Did you message Chalamet when he won? Yeah.

1:19Jamie Laing: I don't know if we could use this. He had this weird thing of like...

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2:55Tom Davis: when we did a show together called Murder Insuccessful. It was a BBC3 show. It's now a little bit on Netflix. And it's an improv show where Tom plays a police officer and celebrities come on. They have no idea what's happening, but they also play a police officer and they have to solve a crime. Tom was actually the co-creator of Murder Insuccessful. It is a genius, hilarious concept. If you haven't seen it, go and watch it. We reminisced about the show today. We talk about male friendships. Tom has also quit alcohol, which was kind of surprising in lots of different ways. And he talks about the struggles with alcohol.

3:24Tom Davis: I mean, there is so much going on in this episode. I cannot wait to see. And of course, it's probably one of the funniest episodes we've ever recorded because Tom is this genius, amazing, hilarious self. Okay. So get ready for this. Okay. Now, before we start, if I could just say to you one thing, that would be if you could please subscribe to our show. It means we can keep getting amazing guests, keep making our show better and better each week and keep delivering a free show for you guys. If you can do that one thing, I'll thank you forever. Okay, here we go. enjoy this hilarious amazing episode of great company with tom davis

3:59Jamie Laing: hi i'm tom davis and i'm in great company

4:05Tom Davis: when you do uh a podcast right i don't like doing an intro in front of someone no no no i find them awful because if you had to give me an intro what would you what would you say it's very hard

4:15Jamie Laing: because i i sort of think we've moved away from that but remember that sort of disingenuous way being sort of like roasting someone, but then being affectionate. I think you're actually a very special person to me in my career, genuinely. So I think I'd big you up somewhat. Get out of here, Joe. Every time I see you, I feel very like you've just got a very infectious way. I think it's a very special thing in humanity. If you see you at some point, I look at little pivotal moments of my career. But yeah, when I remember seeing you, I remember being the Wonka premiere, being so anxious. I had so much going on in my head.

4:50Jamie Laing: I was terrified of seeing the film. I hadn't seen it. Everyone else had. And we had this really weird day before. Like, we're all casted together and everyone's going, have you seen the movie? And I'm like, no, I haven't seen it yet. All right, okay. Why haven't you watched it? And I thought, I thought we all just watched it at the premiere. That's what we did. And they're like, oh, no, no, we got sent it. You haven't seen it? And I'm like, oh, fuck. It's like, have I been cut from this film? And then Olivia was like, well, you haven't seen it? You haven't seen it? So I remember being so worried.

5:19Jamie Laing: And then I remember coming down the red carpet and seeing you and Sophie. And you just were like, hey, man, who did you see the film? You're great. And I was like, oh, and it was like, you know, a way off. But just that's a very nice, I think it's a human sort of trait.

5:31Tom Davis: Well, can I say something? I'm going to return the favor. I think you are the funniest person I know. Oh, wow. But hands down funny. And I think there's like different forms of funny. Yeah, of course. So there's like, I think there's funny where people can just be funny with like statements. They can like say funny things. Like, okay, fine, that's funny. You get people who are like funny, like physically they're funny, but you're like, you're generous funny. You make everyone laugh and then make everyone feel funny as well at the same time. And that for me is like the greatest form of like comedy and things.

6:02Tom Davis: So, and I'm jealous because whenever I see you do anything, it doesn't matter if it's your standup, your shows, whatever it is. I see you on like a golfing channel. I saw you went golfing with like Jimmy Bullard. It's like the funniest thing I've ever seen.

6:15Jamie Laing: That's very kind. I just think it's also, it's like, I love being inclusive with it. I think that was the big thing of when we did Murder and Successful. And that was the thing where you were trying, I think everyone thought at the time, there was quite a lot of that sort of mean comedy around. And actually, my thing was always like, how do we get people in to have a laugh and feel funny and give them the confidence to, so my thing was always like, it never really bothers me if I'm the punchline or not. It was just like making, I mean, we set ourselves quite a high bar because you were our first guest.

6:47Jamie Laing: I was the first one, wasn't I? The first guest of the series, yeah. You're the first person who came through it. We'd done like a pilot before and the pilot which we had Connor Maynard, I believe. And it was very different. I mean, that show went on such a journey. I think it got rejected by every channel.

7:04Tom Davis: Are you serious?

7:04Jamie Laing: Yeah, it's insane.

7:06Tom Davis: For people who don't know what Murder Successful was, what was it?

7:08Jamie Laing: So it was like an improvised cop show where you'd have a celebrity guest who would come in, have no idea what we were going to do at all and come in for two days of filming. And we made up like these, you know, murder case. And so our first guest was you. And you're like, okay, this is like, I don't, you know, not like, I remember because I was obsessed with Made in Chelsea. Me and my wife used to watch Made in Chelsea all the time. I remember you said this to me.

7:35Tom Davis: I saw you at an event and you were like, you were like, not even you were like, man, I love you. And I was like, thanks, man. And you were like, I got this show about it, and I really want you to be on it. And I was like, and I had so much imposter syndrome. I was like, oh, thank you very much. It was really good. Oh, touche. Thank you very much.

7:59Jamie Laing: No, it's a really weird thing because, like, I love reality TV, and I love that sort of stuff. And me and my wife would watch it. And I'd met you at a few things. I knew Spencer a bit. Yeah. And I just remember saying, I think Jamie Lang, and they were like, well, from Made in Chelsea, I said, I think he'd be really, really funny. He's really infectious. And BBC Three at the time were like, No ways. No, they were like, we're not sure. And everyone like, you know. No, you can say it. You can say it. No, no, no. They were really worried. They were really risk adverse about having you on there. Some reality stars.

8:25Jamie Laing: And I was like, I just think he'd be really, really funny. And I think he is naturally funny. And I'd met you a few times. We'd been out. And I just thought, I just, there's just something. And I was like, even if he'd like, we'll make it the first one. and me, Andy and James are like, you know, so we sort of, because we were all finding it and the risk on that was massive, not just for you, but for everyone, like because no one kind of knew how the direction we were taking it was going to work. We were very, it was like the nerves of everyone involved. Really? And for me, massive, because I was like, you know, at that time, you know, me and my wife were skin and you're like, you know, you put everything into this show to be a success.

9:04Jamie Laing: You're like, this has to work. and I remember like we got you in that's pressure yeah but the pressure's great and you picked me no no but you're an absolute moron I mean if I'm going to be really honest with you I thought if he fucks it we'll just make it F so far and we'll know what the mistakes are when we get Dermot and Debra in let's get the big answer we'd had like three people because people were really worried about it yeah people three people had pulled out not you like you were always there Greg was there and I think Dermot but then we'd had other people were just pulling out like Deborah was, we got Deborah the day before.

9:38Jamie Laing: Like literally someone else, I wouldn't name them, quite a big star pulled out and said, I'm not doing it. Who is it?

9:43Tom Davis: Peter Andre.

9:45Jamie Laing: Peter would have been great. Peter still thinks I'm a bodyguard. I didn't know. I met Peter Andre. This is a really bizarre story. I knew Ed Sheeran a bit before he got really famous. I used to do a lot of Nando stand-up gigs. I used to host them.

10:01Tom Davis: When he was like 12? Yeah.

10:04Jamie Laing: I was a janitor. school used to walk around when I was cleaning with a guitar you're going to be a star going to pick up the pieces but that's lovely son you've got a future in this game I lost my job because he came to sleep on my sofa we don't think that's right

10:25Tom Davis: he's 12

10:30Jamie Laing: so you

10:31Tom Davis: Peter Andre you used to so I

10:33Jamie Laing: literally so ed would you ed would turn up at these things and and um uh rizzle kicks and you know like up and coming bands and and obviously ed you could tell and i remember he'd been at a few things and we'd met him uh and hung out with him a bit and then um dexter fletcher's had a film brilliant film called wild build there's a premiere yeah and i'm there with ed and uh a team had just come out and people were like all of a sudden so i'm hanging around everyone thinks he's my i'm his bodyguard and Peter Andre was like, um, uh, chatting to me. And I was like, uh, Oh yeah. You, you were there.

11:07Jamie Laing: You had bodyguard. And I'm like, um, no, no, no, I'm an actor. And he went, all right. Yeah. And I was like, no, no, I'm an actor and comedian. All right. I got you. Would you do a lot of it? And he was like, knowing.

11:23Jamie Laing: He's like, um, I've got a tour coming up. If you, I mean, I thought maybe I'll nick a couple of quid just following around Peter Andre. And then I just, and I saw him years later at a thing. And I can't remember who I was with. And he just turned around to me and he was like, hey man, you used to be Ed's guy, right? And I was like, no, I'm an actor. I've now got quite a big TV career now, Pete.

11:49Tom Davis: I think you're popping up on things. And what I liked about that, you kept his slight Australian accent in it.

11:54Jamie Laing: Yeah, no, because over the years it's... It's slightly gone. I can hear the... If I've gone too much... Just proving you're an actor. This is a showreel. We've got this Australian part we need to cast on. I just saw Tom Davis on Jeremy Langs. He sounds like an Australian guy who's been living in England for like 15 years, but I'm sure if he pushed it... He's just really good. Showing it up, showing it up. New Crocodile Dundee.

12:29Jamie Laing: um uh oh my god yeah so i can't fucking no no you were saying someone pulled out yeah so someone pulled out and and we got so so when we came into like that like i remember like film like filming your the two days with you and and like there was so many bits like genuine and it's a really mad thing to say but like when i look back at what we wanted from that show which was just to be funny. It was like, there's no, Was that it?

12:56Tom Davis: You wanted, I just wanted it to be funny.

12:57Jamie Laing: I wanted like, Cause humor wins. Yeah. And also the thing that I love the most and when I watch stuff is just when everyone's being funny and it, and it sings and it's just great. And, and I think, you know, that's all I've ever wanted for my career is I love, I love making people laugh. I've done them no matter what I've done. And, and so, so that episode, we remember filming the two days, James DeFond, the director, like, and all of us kind of like, we were like, oh, like that went really, really well just if you if you go through that episode of like um Jamie it's me like when I'm dressed up as the like and and when we're tied to the chair and you just so many different bits of

13:34Tom Davis: it can I just say that can I say for me like even though you're very kind about like the show being great for me that was like a gateway to everything yeah I'm not even kidding for me I I was a reality star on E4, right? He was just doing, people just thought like, that's just some kid who's just messing around. I went and did Murder is Successful. I went and watched it in the production company's offices. I'm going to watch it with my agent. And I was laughing so much at it, at myself and you, which is kind of like an awkward thing to do. I was laughing so much and I was like, this is really funny.

14:13Tom Davis: When that episode went out, I still get into taxis. I still go to the place and people go man you're murdering a successful episode it's the funniest thing I've ever seen like that it's still not and also just for anyone who's like a big fan of it because it has this cult following right you created and wrote the show from the sort of celebrity whatever you say point of view which I was playing I was playing me Jamie but I was also and the brief was you're going to be a police officer but also can you play yourself and I was like I guess I can do this there is no brief apart from that they were like right Like, okay, so D.I.

14:49Tom Davis: Sleet, it wasn't even Tom, it's like D.I. Sleet's in there, you're going to walk and you're going to talk to him. And I was like, okay.

14:55Jamie Laing: People don't see that, I wish we'd done more behind the scenes. Man, it's crazy. Because you'd have a thing over your head and you'd just be rocked up to a scene, right? You wouldn't have,

15:04Tom Davis: it's like you'd been taken hostage.

15:06Jamie Laing: Yeah, it's very, now I look at it and I think of like, you know, it makes me feel old. But you look at it and think, like now if you're doing that for, you know, you probably like online and through socials, you'd be doing a lot more stuff of like watching your journey go into it. Cause I think that's the thing that people maybe was lost on people at times is that just quite how little there was to go on. And that, you know, I like it, but then it's weird. Cause I've had a break from it now, like nearly 10 years. And then you're sort of, and now we're like, there's a conversation about not bringing it back.

15:40Jamie Laing: Cause I just think I accomplished everything. I think, I think when you're doing, when you're making anything i think like my i've always looked at this this this industry and being like okay how do you do you keep leveling up like when i when we that last series went out i was like this is incredible and this has been an amazing show to make but i've done three years now i don't want to do this for seven or eight or nine and keep on doing the same thing it feels like this has got to a point where i'm really really proud of it and the same thing goes really with like, even with like King Gary, I was like, we'd done like when, when we first went in, we were like to, to BBC, that's what they want.

16:18Jamie Laing: They wanted a prime time family sitcom. And we were like pitching other stuff that was a bit dark or a bit more silly or surreal. And I thought that'd be a cool thing to try and write, try and write something, no swearing and that goes out, you know, for the whole family. And so, but again, you're like, you write something and you go, I think, I think you like I've always tried to go okay how can I do something different I feel very blessed to be in like this industry from the background I come in and like quite how far I've gotten it I feel a surprise every day but I'm like I think in a world I love comedy I love you know I've no massive ego trip to do anything but that and I look at that world and making those things and how do you keep making how do you how could you make that how do you scale up on that idea

17:02Tom Davis: do you think do you think there's like okay in like the entertainment right which is where you can basically like you can tread water yeah which is where you can just keep kind of doing the same thing and you can keep there but if you really want to elevate you have to take risks and you have to change and you have to move otherwise

17:20Jamie Laing: you kind of just keep doing that same and also you got to take like you got to take those risks stand up it was like stand up is the thing that you know pushed me from being on a building site at like 31, 32 to getting into this industry. I'd like, I just was like in a place where I'd done the same thing for a long, long time. I'd had odd jobs here and there that sort of changed up a bit. And I was like, let me just give this thing a go. And the first, you know, the first sort of, you know, I just loved it for a while. I'd never talked in front of an audience before. It wasn't like I came from something where I'd, you know, even at school, I'd not been that person.

17:54Jamie Laing: I was funny. I took the piss out of the joke, but I'd never had like a thing being on a stage or giving a presentation. I was never picked for school plays, or if I was, it was a bit of like a tree. I remember my dad's got a story about I was doing a school play, and I literally was like an essay in a school play. I was like an extra. And I remember... Out of like 20 people. Everyone else had a line. And I was like a sweet seller or something like that, just at the back of the stage. And I'd been standing there as, you know, this sort of play was like, and I thought, Christy, boy. and I leant back and I leant on this bit of scenery and it just goes, and it started falling.

18:34Jamie Laing: It knocks out and it was the whole scenery falling down. And I just sort of like, just stood there like, it's there, yeah. Just trying to smile. Who will buy my... Own your moment, son. Own it. You have a...

18:52Tom Davis: I remember when I was in a school play, we did a school play called Smyke. Smyke. it was called smike and it was like it was like a musical and i played boulder who was like the cool kid yeah yeah and i knew oh yeah yeah yeah yeah they knew yeah they were like they didn't even they were just like god boulder's here

19:17Jamie Laing: just cast that guy yeah yeah the guy smoking outside he won't want to be in a school play what jamie lang cool j even the teachers are scared of jamie lang anyway i remember i had to sing this song which was squeezy had a daughter only

19:38Tom Davis: squeezy had a daughter only four foot five the man you want to see it when she hits the jumble yeah really that a rocket and as i did it i walked down the stairs and my my opening line was like well you think you're sort of kind of cool and i'd point my cane to someone in the audience and i pointed it to the headmaster and everyone went oh and i was like yeah and as i walked down i was so overconfident i started singing the last the last verse first and so I completely rose on stage like this fool lang one of the other guys he was like an extra realised I had done it so he came on and sung he owned it literally

20:32Jamie Laing: I was like

20:33Tom Davis: you little prick

20:34Jamie Laing: like that I've got this I've got this go on Milton

20:41Jamie Laing: and there's one kid at the back going

20:48Tom Davis: so you so you grew up you you didn't do anything not really no my mom tried to put me into like

20:53Jamie Laing: little drama groups and i just i looked like i mean i looked about 25 when i was seven i remember like i remember when i was like a kid and we were playing wrestling we're obsessed with wrestling over the park and I was probably about nine and I was wrestling with some mates from school. You used to go to the park and just wrestle? Yeah we'd be wrestling. Like WWE or like competitive wrestling? No competitive wrestling like WWE like jumping off like the and I remember just I'd got this guy and like a head sort of like full Nelson Holt and this like community police officer ran over and go yeah you get off from their kids.

21:33Jamie Laing: I looked about 30. Just thought it was a bloke who just sort of like slipped in and started grabbing up nine-year-olds. Come on, go for your kid. What are you doing, mate? I'm the same age as they are. How old are you? What, 16, 17? Nine. You pervert. Get off the... Get off the...

21:54Tom Davis: Just kids.

21:58Jamie Laing: Dirty piece of shit.

22:00Tom Davis: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

22:11Tom Davis: you're like huge on male friendships yeah and like just friends just friendships in general and like james to fron who you talk about you know since you're 14 years old yeah right yeah and like i've seen an um an article where you've said uh you you almost get emotional when you talk

22:24Jamie Laing: about him sometimes massively like i think it's i think it's like you know you you feel like that and i think over the last certainly the few last few years we've been through quite a lot together but in what way just the ups and downs of life you know having grace you know from both sides of our relationship you realize how important it becomes to have someone that you can you're on this journey with this journey is not a normal journey and also like and grace is your daughter yeah grace my daughter and and how much like when it comes to sort of dependence on someone to sort of pick up a phone and and actually just be eloquent about how you're feeling i think it's a very interesting thing.

23:00Jamie Laing: I think I have that with massively of Ramesh. I think like, yeah, James and Ramesh, a support network of people that you can text. And I think it's a very interesting thing that we have this whole rhetoric at the moment of like getting, you know, men should talk, men should talk. And that's an important thing to say, but actually when you break it down, the thing is, number one, it's like, I remember talking to a pal and he was going through an awful time and sort of, he says, I keep hearing people saying men should talk, but I don't really know what to say. And actually, when you listen to my wife and her friends talking about stuff they're going through, the eloquent way and the supportive way that women will give everyone a voice piece and they'll give really good advice or they'll turn around and go, oh, well, why don't you try this?

23:47Jamie Laing: It's really, really hard, I think, as a guy to actually open up and be enough emotionally aware that you're letting people get how you're feeling. And actually

23:56Tom Davis: being open with those feelings is really really important mate 100 i got like it's exactly that as men we can talk but we never actually say how we're feeling and you and you never and women because they they gossip to each other in the best way they say they say i'm feeling this i'm feeling

24:13Jamie Laing: we we struggle still i say this to my wife all the time i struggle still with that even though i'm like really you know i'm lucky i have guys around me that we've all sort of come into this world together and i think it's very important i think look i think you know where we sit you know in the world at the moment it things are changing at a rapid like place in in every situation and i think asking people to be able to do that straight off the bat is is actually it's almost unfair you've got you've got to coerce people into going okay look this is how you do this thing this is how you and i think radically asking people to change behavior that has been you know yeah i've

24:52Tom Davis: got but talk with your experience what happened what were you feeling because you obviously because obviously what i'm getting from this right it's like like i know you yeah right as like so fun alpha yeah big you know life of the party make everyone feel great like all that yeah which

25:09Jamie Laing: is a mask that i wore for a long time and i think that was like a thing that you know was the it was an easier thing to be that person like that you know the reason i started stand-up was like i I sort of was like, wow, I'm completely lost. I don't know what I'm doing with this. And to go in to do something, and when you talk about risk, I was like, I'll just try this thing. I'd seen Mickey Flanagan. I thought, wow, he's funny. And I thought, let me just try this thing. I look at it now and think, I was probably at the time, I was drinking four, five, six times a week. I was lost. I was depressed.

25:44Jamie Laing: I think when I look now and look across my mind, I've got certain triggers now that I know in my behavior. And this is the thing. The things where I look at how I'm feeling in the morning, how this day will pan out, how I start the day. And I had to be eloquent with my wife or Rom or whoever just to go, okay, I'm feeling this kind of way. Rom, like I can text Rom a really like any sort of, like a text that I won't think there's much to it. And he'll click and go, are you all right? And I'm just like, we've a very similar synergy in that. wow we're like feel it's very nice it's a lovely thing and that's grown over you know we chat a lot and we you know but i can see the thing that one of the reasons and this is the thing i think with me quitting drinking was i'm not like sitting here going no one should drink it's a really because i you know i had some of my best times yeah stories i have now about you know drinking and ending up like spending a month in las vegas when i went for a week um and partying for a month and like i did fucking insane things i'd end up you know just you know on a greek island after going out in sutton for a few pints like i fucking loved it and i loved the fucking madness i loved the craziness of of alcohol and being around and the camaraderie of the lads and the chaos yeah the man yeah and the way that it makes you just yeah forget everything else and also like i was good to be around i wasn't like like you know but i also was like during like covid and things i started to like see certain behaviors and how I was the next day, how I was feeling.

27:15Jamie Laing: And the day after that, and then like leveling up on drink or whatever, I was like, Oh no, no, I'm, this isn't, this has stopped becoming fun. And like for me, and certainly when I knew I was going to be a dad and I, I, you know, I'd sort of, you know, we'd ruled out being parents. Like we, you know, we were sort of like, that was not gonna through like one thing or another. We were like, this isn't going to happen for us. And I'd sort of, and I, I'd not dealt with that. I don't think in a particularly good, brilliant way, I'd sort of fallen back into old habits. And then...

27:45Tom Davis: Of just drinking.

27:46Jamie Laing: Drinking and also just probably working too hard and look at now.

27:50Tom Davis: So covering up for everything. Yeah. Covering up. Yeah, and again, you put on a mask

27:53Jamie Laing: and you're like, oh, no, it's fine. I'm cool. You know what? I didn't talk about that really enough with people at the time. And me and Catherine talked about it, obviously, and we almost kept like a private council and it wasn't really too after that you're opening up. And actually, I'm like, wow. I didn't, you know, I didn't really, I sort of just let that sort of eat away at me. And I thought once we, you know, we went through this, you know, having grace and what was truly really a miracle. I know every child's a miracle. And I'm really like conscious when I talk about this because we tried for seven years to have children and that never went for us at that time.

28:30Jamie Laing: And I remembered like every time you go into like a family party or you see friends, oh, you know, we're a kid. we're going to yeah and you there's a bit of you so happy for that person but also you feel crushed so whatever i'm talking about as i try to be conscious the fact that this it doesn't work out because you've been on the other side yeah and it and she was a miracle like you know that everything from from the woman who got involved as a surrogate to to having grace i then was like as a man and as a dad that i want to be and this is that's and this isn't to cast any you know especially on anyone who you know because it's some people have got a handle on that stuff for me i didn't i was like if i'm all or nothing that's just who i you know and the better of all or nothing is to be an all or nothing dad as tom davis rather than being an all or nothing you know drinking and and and her sitting there you know me not being present enough what what was the moment for you when you

29:21Tom Davis: were really struggling and perhaps feeling depressed and realized that you were drinking was there a moment that was it was it when your daughter was born or was there a little bit before

29:29Jamie Laing: that we're like something needs to change here i think before i kind of just do you know what i was like um we were it was it was the the euro tournament um we played in england to play i think we got we got through to the final we lost to italy and i went to like every game i i got i got quite a bad alcohol poisoning but i also was like i knew that i was i sort of saw i don't know i saw it for what it was there was like a lot going on for me at that time and i think um i was like the people I was just surrounding myself with weren't I wasn't necessarily like oh okay these are like whole this isn't a wholesome surrounding for me I was like I'm having the same conversations but I'm not I'm not articulating any of the stuff that I'm going through right now I'm not talking about any of the things I'm going through I'm not talking about any of my feelings I'm turning up you know I'm chatting about you know whether I think Harry Kane's the best forward in the world you know and there's a lot going under the bonnet but I'm not really here chatting about the any of the stuff and I was going through a lot at that point and you didn't even feel like there was space to do that no no and also i just those people around there's nothing to take away from because they were like you know my mom has a great thing is um you have friends for a reason friends for a season friends for life and at times you need people to be around to to be around for that moment in your life because that's what you need sometimes you don't need deep chat it's a very that's the other thing it's like yeah sometimes you're not ready sometimes you just need to laugh a little bit of steam and just you know have a have a laugh with your pals that's important too but i think that at that point i was like i was i was just drinking yeah and i did this um sky who was like i'd asked me to do like after the i think we played denmark in the semi final we're playing hitley in the final and uh i did this interview about the game and i was still drunk i hadn't slept i couldn't stretch and when i look back at this interview i'm so like i look fucked and i do this whole big thing where i'm like um we'll smash italy like italy won't want a bit of wembley when it's rocking and gara southgate obviously italy i was getting trolled by italians for months afterwards but i look at i looked at that person i was like oh god like you weren't impressed no and i just was like um you know and and i think i look i thought my wife needed me to be better than that at that time my wife didn't need tom to be coming on hungover and tom to be preoccupied but this this she needed a guy who's present and a guy who's there and a guy who's who's got her back and and so originally i was like okay you know grace we born and and you know you're going through at the moment it's an amazing time it's a magical time but it's tiring and you're trying to work out you you know no one's you know everyone's giving you information you're trying to best you can navigate like okay i'm going to take this bit on all that and i thought drunk me he's not gonna be able to do this you know um so you know give it six months and in those six months i was fortunate enough to to do certain things and and that in that time as well like it was insane really i was filming wonka i'd started to go back into doing stand-up because i was i'd missed it so much i was like at that point yeah but that's kind of now weirdly how my brain works best if there is loads going on and i'm like focus i'm hyper focus on this and this and always making sure you're as present as you can be for your family but I was like so I got into six months and I was like wow I've like you know I've done this thing there's Wonka I've written a tour I've written you know some TV you know some pilots here and there and

32:51Tom Davis: you saw the amount of stuff that you were doing

32:53Jamie Laing: yeah and also I'm like

32:55Tom Davis: feeling better about yourself

32:55Jamie Laing: yeah feeling better as me and feeling and look that isn't an answer for everyone because it is like it's very like like I say kind of all or nothing but you're you know that's a big move to make but after six months and that becomes a year and she's four now and like do you know what every now and again you might just go yeah i'll have a i'll have a glass of wine with my wife on a special occasion because i'm not in a place where i go because now i think i've got a level on it and going but actually quite a lot of the time i don't want that glass of wine

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34:38Jamie Laing: so where did you grow up uh around like sort of the sutton area sort of that yeah so it's sort of south south sorry south south london surrey sort of borders but parents together yeah yeah man nice you know what i look it was a very happy household i was very blessed that was the thing where i look and i had two parents who worked very very hard you know constantly um mom was a nurse my dad was a mechanic and and i look back now and sort of i was terrible at school i was like not like i was naughty and i was loud and you know i was just oh yeah i'm dyslexic and uh at add but you know i look at you know wasn't diagnosed so i was i mean and then at

35:18Tom Davis: that age you in that age when you're not it's so weird when you're not feeling like when you're not achieving academically and i didn't by the way achieve until murder and successful

35:27Jamie Laing: I was an awful I was awful at everything I tried I'd come home and small dreams I remember wanting to be a bin man and when people go did you always want to be a comedian I'm like the fucking the idea of being me wanting to be an actor I remember I wanted to be a bin man I remember seeing like you know like the dream I used to see like on like a sort of whatever Wednesday Thursday morning you'd see them on a bin lorry picking up the bins all having a laugh I thought that feels like good that's what I'd like a bit of that

35:54Tom Davis: but wait What did that make you feel?

35:56Jamie Laing: I was watching them. I liked the camaraderie of it, the banter. Thinking, that looks like fun. And when I left school, I remember my dad knew someone who worked on The Dust. And he said, if you go down to the pub, have a chat, he'll say that you're interested in working. And I went along, and I was so keen. You fucking Nepo, baby.

36:23Jamie Laing: I get it. I was so keen. I was so keen, like, so overly sort of, like, trying to abandon. This guy's sitting there. I could see, you know, so he hasn't really got much personality. And, like, he's just looking at me going, and I'm going, oh, I mean, yeah, the thing I really want to get into this business for is, and he's like, oh, mate, you're fucking doing. And I waited for, like, about two weeks. I said, have you heard from him yet? And he went, yeah, no, no. He said that you're a bit overly keen. Give it a couple of years. And, yeah, so I didn't get a job on the bins. and fell into buildings and laboring.

36:58Tom Davis: But you left school, no GCSEs? Nothing. Nothing?

37:00Jamie Laing: No.

37:01Tom Davis: You're smart.

37:02Jamie Laing: And you are smart. But also I think there's a lot of people like that. I think that's the misconception of like, academically I was not. There were certain things if I turned my attention to it, I was probably, you know, be better. But I sort of, I think there was two things going on. Number one, I sort of like playing the clown and messing about, but also number two i never really wanted to ever ask for help so i think if that if i was struggling with stuff i'd never ever go i'm struggling with this if i that's why because i think you know what if yeah embarrass me don't want to feel stupid i think like i think that my mum used to go and go look he's a he's a smart kid but he's just he's struggling with this this and this and they were all just like well no he's silly he messes around and no one ever really delved that a little bit deeper and i think when i look back i think if there was if i'd been a bit more eloquent or if I ask for help a little bit more.

37:51Jamie Laing: And I think it's a good thing in life. I think that we're at a place now where that happens. My daughter's four and they're already picking up on stuff and they're coming to us and you're like, okay, cool. Let's try and do something about that. And I think everything that happens to you early on in your year, your life, that's your go-to. So if you're told you're not good enough or you're not going to amount to anything at a very young age, that usually is something that sticks in your head. so when you like you're doing especially when you're doing this for a living and you're going up for auditions or you've written a script and things don't go your way and that is just natural that's going to happen but a lot of the time that can then if you if you if you've had like a good schooling a good grounding you can then be like okay cool i'm going to go again but if you're if your formative sort of like relationship with rejection is something you sit there and go no that's me i'm not good i'm driving thinking it was just someone better i was probably good but that person was better and you can rationalize it but i actually think my go-to and that that's the thing now where you're like your go-to was fail yeah yeah and like i'm just shit at this i'm not very good that's that's why i stopped stand-up for like six years i didn't do i wouldn't go on

38:54Tom Davis: stage yeah so the mindset is is that if you've been told as a kid that you're not good enough therefore you're going to you know and in the sort of least like offensive way i hope you're going to go for low-hanging fruit yeah because then there's no way or feeling there's no you don't have to have the anxiety about feeling the rejection because you think well i'm going to be

39:12Jamie Laing: rejected and it's a weird thing of you know even down to like you know when i was on site so you don't just want to put your head above the parapet and become like feel stupid you don't want to get things wrong it's a very interesting thing of like and it was really when i got into this industry and i started actually realizing oh okay i've like failed at so many different things i've like you know like you know things that i've gone right okay i want to try this thing and i'm making light of the bin bin man thing but that's what i thought as a kid i'd really like to do that you know and you know building sites and whatever i'd done i'd failed at quite a lot of different things so when i got into this industry and i was like okay like failure is like it never occurred to me really that i'd ever really be that good at something like stand-up or comedy i was just i was funny and i'd have a laugh with people would be you know but and it's the ultimate risk and it's so

39:57Tom Davis: reactive yeah it's the ultimate you know straight away if it's worked or not yeah i mean yeah like

40:01Jamie Laing: straight away yeah and it is like but then what happens is inevitably you get to a place where you're like oh shit the pressure now is ramps up because at first when i did it i was like okay this will probably just be saying i was not very good at and then i just loved doing it i was going out and i'd work all day on site and then i'd go do gigs and evenings and you know travel around a bit more and then get better at it and it was really never i never saw it as like oh this will be my career this will this will just be a hobby that actually gives me something more in life than

40:31Tom Davis: just it just it was just yeah but that is also because in a way you're protecting yourself yeah because then oh that failure is going to come back so i'm just doing this as a hobby because if i felt like it doesn't even matter because i can go back and do murder and successful series

40:43Jamie Laing: one car i was still out selling t-shirts at festivals and markets and yeah because i wasn't like i was like there's so much riding on that and if that hadn't worked i was like i'd have just i probably would have just quit at that point i think genuinely i think me and my wife had been in a situation where you know we'd had like we'd lost financially we'd be i'd sort of had my pants pulled down by someone who was looking after my finances. We'd lost our flat. So at that point in our lives, we were living back on my parents. We were living in a box room. And Murder and Successful generally was that thing of going, OK, look, there's more to this.

41:18Jamie Laing: This is the big risk. This is the thing that has to work. Because otherwise, I don't really know where this is going to go.

41:28Jamie Laing: Otherwise, I'll be a laborer. I'll sell a teacher. I've always been able to sort of put myself into something but I that's and I remember sort of having to say to my wife like you know it's unfair it's maybe selfish of me to have this dream of like okay I'm gonna do this and you know she's working two jobs at the time and you're like okay so that was riding on it and then you know you get to a point like stand-up for example I I like stand-up I was a and now I'm back at that place but I loved it I loved it more like it was the one place i felt weirdly like at home i was like and then when the pressure ramps up and you're you're doing more more like when i watch other people around me uh who were just fucking brilliant but yeah and obviously the likes of who like i think like rom katherine ryan beckett ian sterling you know people i love and good friends of mine now and and they've always been very happy for them but i i really felt like i was like wow they i just looked at everyone else and fucking you know, they're all so much better than I am.

42:25Jamie Laing: And I'm like, and also I was like, they see, and they probably weren't, they probably were going through the same thing. But I think for me, I was like, I remember like, if I had a gig in the evening, I wouldn't eat that. I was so anxious. I was so like fucking worried about it backfire. And the pressure I put on every, I could be doing a gig in front of six people and above a pub. And I thought, if this goes badly, that'll be it. I'll be out of the industry. Are you serious? So pressure every night.

42:49Tom Davis: It's like, every night was leveled up. Yeah, yeah.

42:51Jamie Laing: And I think I stopped really going, who I don't really know who I am doing this now. It wasn't like, it was so clear when I first started. I was like, this is who I am. This is what I want to do. And over time, that gets chipped away at and then you start losing that sort of vision. And it wasn't really until, you know, sort of Rom kind of sort of bullied me back into going like, no, you need to, you'll regret it if you don't. And Flo, who...

43:16Tom Davis: You stopped the stand-up because you just felt like...

43:19Jamie Laing: I didn't think I was any good. I genuinely... Why didn't you feel you were good? I just, Never thought it was like, I have this now. I text like Romo, I text Flatt. You know, I'm very open about that. What do you say?

43:30Tom Davis: When you text Romo, what do you say? Honestly.

43:32Jamie Laing: I'm like, that doesn't feel like, it doesn't feel like it's good enough yet. I don't think I'm being good enough. I don't think I'm being like, I'm very, look, behind all of this, I sort of go, I think I'm being lazy or I think I'm not pushing myself to a limit where I think I'm being better and I can get better and better. It's very like, it's a good thing, the competitive nature of our industry. And I think the level of standup in this country is phenomenal. You look around at people who are coming up and that's inspiring, man. I look now and think, wow. And also like, there's a lot of people out there who are killing it without the luxury that we had of television or the luxury of panel shows or finding your voice a little bit more.

44:16Jamie Laing: And there's just incredible acts that are just like, wow, that person is just, so you can either look at that and go, oh, okay, well, I'm here now. And I'm going to chill with that. And I'm going to relax with that. Or you can be inspired by these people and go, wow, how do I, yeah, how can I let myself push myself being inspired by people coming through?

44:36Tom Davis: So you stopped it because you were like, I just don't think it's, I'm not going to reach a height that I want to do.

44:40Jamie Laing: No, I stopped it because I was like, it just wasn't good for my mental health. It wasn't good for me. I would come home and I'd be in, you know, if I didn't think, you know, and I just, and I had, like I say, people around me then at that point. this is pre-Oli and pre-flow. Like a, you know, sort of quite a negative force within my career at that point. I'm not going to get into sort of naming people, but I think when I'm at my best on stage is when it's slightly shambolic and the wheels fill. That's what Murder and Successful is. It's like the wheels could come off at any time. And I'm very honest about that.

45:10Jamie Laing: And when I started stand-up, that was ingrained in me, the self-deprecation and the silliness and like, oh shit, I fucked up a joke. Let me just go back. And like, I just thought that people did that.

45:19Tom Davis: Because that is your, that is your, that's your goal.

45:22Jamie Laing: And then all of a sudden that was getting, I was told that was not good and that wasn't transferred to television. And that was the thing. So I started second guessing everything really. And I was like, okay.

45:30Tom Davis: And when you're on stage second guessing everything, what does that feel like?

45:33Jamie Laing: Well, you just crumble. Yeah. You crumble and you start getting so in your head about things being perfect. And it sounds a really weird thing to say that, but I think stand up when it's at its best is kind of imperfect. I think it is just. And you're loose. Yeah. You're loose and you're present. I think that's a really, it's the most important thing. so in the last tour i was i'd come back to this and i was like and i was loving it but i would be like i'd do this whole thing where i'd be like oh we haven't sold any tickets and so and so and i'd be really self-deprecating about stuff and flow would be no you have like your tour selling well it's a debut tour you know and a lot of people didn't know the journey a lot of people didn't know have any realization i had been a stand-up i had that is how i got here it was

46:13Tom Davis: like the thing that that's such a true example of success right you know we watch and you watch david beckham scoring the goal against greece right you see that and think oh and you you see i don't know fucking steve jobs without you no one sees the back history no no one sees the years of graft you know moving back in with your parents being on the dole having nothing you know being screwed over here working grinding grinding grinding they suddenly see you on stage go where is a comedian you're like oh fucking yeah but it's also grafting for for the last 10 years to be here in front of you guys.

46:44Tom Davis: And you have to almost remove ego in those situations.

46:47Jamie Laing: I think ego is the killer of everything. And that's the weird thing as a stand-up is that I think ego, I think Bill Bailey said it better than me, but I think you have to always know that you're the lowest thing in the room when you're doing stand-up and comedy. But also you've got to know that everyone's there to see you. So there's a sort of weird status. So you have to kind of, I think it's very important to have people around you and keep your counsel in the fact that the people who tell you, I always think like, I saw it happen to people where I'm like, oh, they've stopped listening. And I think actually the most important thing is like, I have no doubt that Ollie, I'm close enough to, or Flo certainly, and has done, will tell me that's not good enough.

47:28Jamie Laing: And that's what I want. That's important in life though, to have that. And to accept that. My wife's like that. My wife is brilliant for that. Really? Yeah. There's no, like my wife is the most honest person. There's no bullshit feel with her. She would say like, I don't, we talk about every job that I'll take, the jobs that I don't, the jobs that I do, the things that I, you know, she'll go, I think you could have done this better. And that's the conversations I want to have. I think that we all should have that. And we shouldn't be scared of someone, criticism, and I've had that most of my life for different things, like, you know, academically, sport, whatever.

47:58Jamie Laing: But actually, someone being constructive and saying, oh, you know, you could try this or do this. Or I didn't think that was necessarily you. I think that's a really important thing. And I think once you close yourself off to people telling you or giving you advice and saying, you know, and and if it comes from a place of compassion and goodwill then you have to be open to it and i think that's the thing that we we misconstrue and and and we live in a world now as well that you know it's a slightly weird tangent but i was talking about my wife this morning about like social media and we kind of see the we're in it with you know and i think people are now trying to be a bit more open with it like and who they actually are but it's there's such a wet weird way of like you know you think going back to our parents generation it was a very easy thing to just you know you knew bob and val down the street you know someone might have a cousin who's who's got a fucking you know aston martin but like for the most part it was just the very people very close to you and then you had celebrity and then you had people doing but actually the people that you in the grain day to day with were kind of on a level yeah and everyone was you know oh wow they went to fucking mallorca last year maybe one day but do you know i mean but it's like you know and there was a little bit of aspiration yeah we now live in a world where everything is so open the world has become so tiny that we're all just constantly and and naturally as human beings we start and we comparing ourselves i mean it's an awful thing like you do to compare yourself constantly so like i i use the analogy of like matthew mcconaughey right i think mcconaughey is just about the most perfect human being right he's fucking handsome he's got shit together he's fucking quite humble you know how can i compare myself to him yeah i i started listening into his he's got a fucking one of those calm tapes I don't know if you've heard it

49:35Tom Davis: I used to play it every night

49:37Jamie Laing: yeah no I did but I'd get halfway into it go you've never struggled sleeping you cunt you'd be sitting lying there and he'd go and he's humble but he'd go how you doing are you alright there are you sleeping are you relaxed I've just done a Oscar winner film but I'm oh fuck off mate fuck off I just got turned down for six lines in the new fucking mary poppins movie how can you compare yourself how can that's not on him that's on me that's a comparison he's trying to help out he's gonna hey hey tom have a listen to this i'm like how about

50:12Tom Davis: bollocks mate how about fuck off with the new tour do you love that the fact that you're like

50:26Jamie Laing: you're back on stage doing yeah i love it man it's the best like uh you know it's the best thing and And it's free and you have like, you know, in everything else that you do, you're like waiting constantly to, you know, you do a TV show, you're waiting six months for it to come out. You do a film, you're waiting a year, maybe 18 months for it to come out. Like stand up, you're on the stage. And also you can just go, fuck it, I'm just going to throw this in. I'm just going to do it. Yeah, and I can throw that in. And also...

50:50Tom Davis: Rather than hitting your mark and looking down this lens, it's like so free.

50:53Jamie Laing: And also like, I enjoy people. I enjoy being around. Like even before I ever did this for a living, i i used to enjoy chatting someone i was that lunatic did you go and chat to people on tube on a bus i remember like um coming back on night buses and just getting sing-alongs like yeah i was pissed when i was drunk i just used to love yeah like that's your stand-up yeah yeah but you get on and everyone's you know the camera everyone's on this fucking thing you're eating your kebabs and someone you start singing and and you know you're those annoying people that are just having a bit of a laugh and having a bit of a and i think and even now i love because you get a buzz out of making other people are interested i think it's the thing that we misconstrued that's why i do this because people i love people when you went yeah but that's you have like you know and seeing you on set and being around you you're always chatting to people i think that's one of the things that's so interesting about you as a person is that whenever you're seeing you you're never sort of aloof or you know you're always chatting you're and i think everyone would say this in anyone you know i know who's worked with you and working with you i think you can't and you're you're always chatting to everyone it's not just a thing where you're like okay like i i think myself whenever i'm in just in life i think i hate it when someone will go uh i was gonna come up for a picture and if i'm with my kid mate you know but i'm this is the job this is what we do and i start getting anal and fucking pricky about it but actually just having conversation and talking to people most people's lives are a lot more interesting day to day than did you um did you message chalamet when he won yeah did you actually yeah i did yeah

52:30Jamie Laing: i messaged him i um no you didn't because you did wonka with him so we we this is a really so you messaged chalamet this i don't know if we could use this because i yeah but oh yeah boy we can he's i'm gonna tell you right that i had no expectation what a huge star when we did one he was obviously a big star then but not as big as he is now but like he's got bigger and bigger but so we had this weird thing where me and him were like the first two people i think like like we were doing rehearsals together and we'd hang out with paul king and we meet him just very much like yourself like we hit off a really fun relationship like where we joke and laugh a lot of the time we just have banter like we had there was this awful dog that was not my dog in the film who's like the the biggest ego is this dog and i used to just do the voice of the dog and so it's like i was writing his autobiography and it'd be like um i remember the third day of the shoot i turned up and chalamet wasn't off book as i ate my 15th sausage of the day and me and and we'd fuck about with this this dog um but we we'd have like really good banner and he used to you weirdly and i didn't want to say it at the time but he had this weird thing of like, so you said about pictures, he used to take weird pictures of me, like in my outfits and send them to me.

53:54Jamie Laing: He just used to take pictures of me. It's what I do to you. I like taking pictures. No, yeah, but that's Tim. And then, so I messaged him and said... He took a photos of you and you sent a fire emoji back. So you can see that I'm very much more invested in this relationship than it is. but I said my word mighty supreme is a work of genius fucking smash it congrats on everything and he just in capital letters said thank you Tom and then I sent him about eight messages he's very sweet I'm just thinking about this new bit of work

54:27Tom Davis: if you were ever in England would you like to hang up

54:31Jamie Laing: saw you in London did you know now I got your attention

54:34Tom Davis: did you read this

54:37Jamie Laing: fucking script this whole piece of shit So you're getting into executive producing now, mate? What do you think of this shirt? You're probably inundated. You seem like you've got your shit together. I'm just going out for a day with the missus. Do you think I'm too old to wear a tracksuit top? Just me and Marty Supreme merch. Oh, God, this guy. This fucking guy. But yeah, I found him to be very lovely. I had so much fun with him. And like I say, he was very, yeah, just a good guy to be around. I think that of a lot of people. I think you can...

55:24Tom Davis: People are great when you start. If you're one of those people who are open to have conversations, you find that people are just wicked.

55:31Jamie Laing: Yeah, but also, I think it must be so hard to be a prick. It's effort. It's got to be effort. If you're a very infectious guy, but if you walk up to someone and go, hey, man, how are you doing? And your response is, oh, nice one. Hello, mate. Your response is like, what do you want? What do you want? That takes effort. Not to mirror someone's happiness. To just go, I'm going to respond like a prick. I'm going to be mean. And then you have to go into your train and go, I wish I'd been nice. I wish I'd said hello. He was so fucking fragile.

56:05Tom Davis: you don't you told me this so you said the story of your style once where you got on the tube oh my god girls got on no i was i was going to meet him and i'd run for this tube and i got on

56:22Jamie Laing: and it was really hot day you know the truth and i was sweating i was like uh and you know like that sweat i'm sort of like yeah and it stank a bit on this fucking tube it really stank it was like and i was like and i think so lowly of myself that i was like you know i just got out of the showers i let's check that's not me could be me i could have like within five minutes of sticking over it tom ford still reek a bit so i'm like that subtly trying to sniff myself and i looked

56:51Tom Davis: down the carriage and this woman's going and everyone else like anyway and now it's like

56:58Jamie Laing: really sweating i'm like my back's where i've got that little bit of like sweat that goes between your ass cheeks a little line um and these mean girls get on no no you know like yo you know like when you're at school like boys would pick on you a bit and yeah it might beat you up but girls would say like there's something and it would just stick with you it would just be with you forever even as an adult you'd be out on a date 20 years later and say just go uh god no well this kid these kippers and i said what are you talking about kippers kid called you it fucking 20 years ago what was that supposed to mean do you know claire sanders it's just triggering and these girls got on and they were all sort of like these girls get on and they're all like sort of like quite like loud and this one girl sort of like like probably alpha in the group she's drinking a frappuccino and she goes, it fucking stinks on here.

57:56Jamie Laing: It fucking stinks. And I'm like, oh, God, like, yeah, my ego, I can't take this. I'm like sort of trying to sort of make myself look small at six foot seven, drenched in sweat now. And she's got this little mate who's sort of like a little sidekick. You've got someone who's not even the main character in their own life. She's just always going to be Casey's sidekick, always just going to be, oh, yeah, Casey and Claire are coming around. Claire's never got her own storyline. And Claire's just, Claire's going, it does fucking stink. Someone stinks on here. And she starts going, who fucking stinks?

58:31Jamie Laing: Who stinks? And people are looking away. I'm like, don't look over here. Please, Claire. She clocks me. And she went, oi, Casey, Casey. And they point over at me. And this girl just looks at me cold in the eye, real cold. And she goes, oi, mate, you fucking stink. and everyone on the tube just starts laughing

58:57Jamie Laing: three stops before my actual stop i had to get off i'm ostracized thrown off and i think it's not even fucking me stinky's still on the tube

59:12Tom Davis: that new thing yeah we've got it the drop by gnc bringing you all the newness that matters handpicked by the pros who actually know what's up and what's proven to work. We keep you on top of the trends and dialed into what's next. Whether you're crushing it at the gym, leveling up your game, or thriving every day, The Drop by GNC is where the latest solutions in health and wellness land first. Non-stop innovation and fresh finds daily. Explore what's new and what's next on The Drop by GNC. Okay, I have to tell you, I was just looking on eBay where I go for all kinds of things I love, and there it was.

59:47Tom Davis: That hologram trading card. One of the rarest. The last one I needed for my set. Shiny like the designer handbag of my dreams. One of a kind. eBay had it. And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you get your windshield wipers? eBay has all the parts that fit my car. No more annoying. Just beautiful. Millions of finds, each with a story. eBay. Things people love.

1:00:16Tom Davis: I could chat to you for hours I just want to say anyone go to your stand up watch your show get your tickets follow you see everything you do because you're you're a rare talent truthfully you're so funny and caring and everything man I appreciate everything

1:00:31Jamie Laing: I need to by the way Candy Kittens are a big do you know what I mean mine and Rom's only argument was over Candy Kittens

1:00:35Tom Davis: what did you argue about

1:00:36Jamie Laing: what did Rom say no Rom's upset we're both upset anyway we're doing Judge Romesh And so he had some candy kittens in his room, right? And we came into a chat about the show, and there's just this bag of candy kittens that are, like, unopened. I'm pretty fucking addicted to candy kittens at this point, but I'm obsessed with them. And I come walking in, and I open the bag of candy kittens and start eating them as he's talking. And then he just looks at me and goes, really? He's going to walk in someone's fucking dressing room and start eating their candy kittens? And we had this two and four, but it was kind of like the only time there's been any animosity.

1:01:10Jamie Laing: between us. Like two co-kids just arguing over the last line. You sniff that last line. You think anyone else wanted it? It was mad all over the candy kittens. Well done with that by the way. It's a beautiful thing.

1:01:26Tom Davis: Listen we'd like to end the conversation with eight questions. Quick fire. Are you ready for this? What's a saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up?

1:01:33Jamie Laing: What's meant to be won't put a shut up pass.

1:01:36Tom Davis: Nice. What scares you most about yourself?

1:01:41Jamie Laing: oh my god I'm a hypochondriac I worry about 20 forms of cancer every day I'm terrified of fucking yeah I'm just worried about being ill best compliment anyone's ever given you oh um I don't know I think you know what I think like I had another podcast not so long ago and um in that podcast my wife wrote a thing in a book uh to to me and I you know I was very worried like she she it was a surprise gift but she talks it to me I'm going to write something in this book and I don't know what to say. And she was like, yeah. And I was very like, kind of like, yeah, don't worry about paying. Don't feel the pressure.

1:02:18Jamie Laing: And I didn't think she'd done it. And then on this podcast, it was Davina McCall's podcast. Davina read it out. And at that moment, I was like, yeah. And I think it was, you know, I worry a lot about, are you a good enough husband? Are you a good enough dad? That's the thing, right? That's what we're all trying to be. And yeah, she sort of, yeah, she was very sweet. And she said that everything, I hope the version of me is enough. And that is, so that's probably the one

1:02:40Tom Davis: man that's the greatest yeah that's the greatest yeah when was the last time you cried

1:02:47Jamie Laing: my daughter's obsessed with horses like obsessed like worry for me it's like fucking really gonna have to start doing arena tours um gotta fucking pedal some more tickets um uh she's obsessed with horses and so uh we um so we went to Vienna for her birthday this year we're like we're gonna go and watch these the Spanish riding school I don't know if you've ever seen it I haven't seen it So it's like dressage. And I mean, probably too highbrow for her. When I say she's obsessed with horses, I probably sort of like required too much. We're going to Vienna. An hour and a half seeing everyone's dressed in tuxedos.

1:03:21Jamie Laing: I've got this little kid going, what the fuck is this? There's horses. But we had this mad situation where our flights got cancelled. So we had to fly to Brussels. And I'm like, it was almost like saying from 90s movies, we will get to Vienna. getting bumped from flight to fight and then they lost my case so i'm in the same fucking clothes i was in the day before i've done like 18 hours on a flight i'm stinking a bo but i'm like well get to the bloody horses uh and my wife's sort of going oh god is this worth it and i'm like you know and um and when the horses came out and they're doing you know to the music my daughter's just so elated and excited and she's just like she can't contain it and i remember i looked at and then looked at my wife and that's the time I was like just this happy moment of going okay this is this is kind of cool she's like she's enjoying that moment yeah yeah it's just like all of this has been you know the fact I'm sitting in a pair of sore pants it isn't worth it I mean I did have this American woman behind me theatres and this sort of shit isn't for TD oh no it's not for me bro because of the height because of the height so I sit down and this woman goes oh great oh great and her daughter's like oh mum and it's like you know Oh God.

1:04:31Jamie Laing: Like, you know, and I sort of turned around and go, I'm sorry. You know, I'm like, so I shrink down in my seat. So I'm literally sat like that. And I can't, like, you know, I'm at a weird angle. My hips clicking. This woman's going, I still can't see her. I was like, you fucking can. You lying, but I'm lower than anyone else on the fucking row. I'd like the daughter who goes, oh man. And then my daughter just, lucky enough, 40 minutes in went, oh, I've seen this now. So me and her left and went and just, played downstairs but yeah but that was the last time who was your first

1:05:05Tom Davis: celebrity crush? oh wow

1:05:10Jamie Laing: I think probably I don't know Sam Fox maybe I remember my cousin had a picture

1:05:16Tom Davis: Sam Fox

1:05:17Jamie Laing: Sam Fox on his wall I mean this is going back a while I remember just always cheekily looking like the poster would see you go in his wall and he was he's a bit older my cousin Paul bless him and he was a bit of a gauge He was working on the sites at that time. And you go in this sort of room and it's the smell of brew. And you bowl in and it's just sort of, as you close the door, there'd be a picture of Sam Fox behind you sort of looking. And you go.

1:05:43Jamie Laing: Exactly. That picture's hands in her jeans. It's like reading a comic just every now and again, like photographic memory. Make sure I saw that. get it in your head remember remember remember remember I've got it as a back piece now I've been toad on my back I'll never forget Sam

1:06:08Tom Davis: what's your guilty pleasure? I think

1:06:10Jamie Laing: I think I love just shit reality TV I love like Below Deck it's so good also but now I don't know when you're younger I have a weird like you think when I watch Below Deck and I'm like I feel creepy you're sitting watching stuff and you're like I wonder if they'll get together that's a weird thing that'd be sitting like just watching some people be free and drunk and kissing oh no you did that in real life they shouldn't be doing this real life in a bar leaning there going oh they look like they're going to have a kiss I probably have got to leave that behind at some point soon what turns you off oh wow I think like an alpha a sort of aggressive nature.

1:06:55Jamie Laing: I think like,

1:06:56Tom Davis: I'm kind of with you on that when it's over,

1:06:58Jamie Laing: but intolerance as well. I think intolerance is, I think like, it's a very strange place now. I think like, I think the thing that social media has killed more than everything else I think is like, I think discussion is good. I think, I don't think there's a problem with it. I think that people should discuss things. I think sometimes we maybe overarch that, but I think actually what's happened is that we have all this more, so much more information at our hands, but actually like with things like the pubs dying and people not being out and socializing. Yeah. And actually being sociable and being around.

1:07:27Jamie Laing: Like I look back at the days of working on a site and being around different people. People have this idea of like what building site is, but actually it's a very diverse place to be. Yeah. And you have people with different opinions and actually thrashing it out face to face and talking about it can enlighten you into going, oh shit, you know, and you can take that on board and you can take it how it is. And I think now we live, you know, we live in a place that's very seemingly like, you know, open and, but actually people close themselves off more to discussion. And I think that's a, and I think it can become toxic and it can, and that, that for me is, and that isn't just a one-sided thing.

1:08:04Jamie Laing: I think intolerance happens across the board. I think where you look at it and actually I think, you know, where we're looking at things now, I think, you know, I'm not a particularly political person, but I look at it and think at some point we have to look at it and go, what is just, just like what is being decent from across the board like you know we elect these people to look after us as people and that we put our faith in it it's a bit like a babysitter really and you just have to look at and go like at what point when does things you know and and when do things start getting a little bit better and when do things and that is just across the board that's not casting any dispersions i just think i just look at and go there's just so little hope and I think hope is such an important thing for young people.

1:08:48Jamie Laing: I think like when I look at and you chat to young people and you just, I just think like, just like, just trying to have somewhere and someplace where it just feels like, okay, that's, that's, that things are going to get better.

1:09:00Tom Davis: 100 % man. I love that. 100%. What turns you on?

1:09:04Jamie Laing: I think laughter. I think being around people, I think fun. I think just having, I think, you know, my favorite things with my wife are sitting and having a laugh together and taking the piss out of things and just having a joke together. I think it's an important thing. And I think nothing is better than the first time you can, you meet someone in a friendship basis or, you know, whatever. And that person's funny and they make you feel like, great, this is going to be.

1:09:29Tom Davis: I had an NCT class, like a parents class. I met this guy called Joe and I was like, I like, it was so funny. I was like, I love this guy.

1:09:35Jamie Laing: That's. Love this guy. I will say, by the way, school mums, like at the gates are so much funnier than dads. Are they really? School mums are so, yeah. there's a there's a there's a level like with the dads it's great because you actually weirdly start building up but the mums are instantly funny i think yeah they take the piss they just have a joke and and yeah i feel like there's i don't know it might be too general but i just think in my experience i i look at it and just think oh no they're there they've got the banter straight away 100 what do you like most about yourself uh my nose i don't know i i uh it's very hard not to sound like a prick but i think that i i enjoy being i'm a friendly guy i think that's it i think the thing that i'm of an interest in people i like having a laugh and i think that that is all that's really the only thing that i got you know when you're sort of like shuffling through wherever we come from the the factory in which we're plonked onto earth uh i missed the queue on quite a lot of stuff but the one thing i did get was was in it you know and i find like i think some people read it wrong but i find making a laugh at yourself and joking i don't necessarily have that thing of going like i don't take myself ever so seriously i think that's kind

1:10:45Tom Davis: of that's probably the thing that i yeah bonus one yeah what was it like kissing olivia coleman

1:10:53Jamie Laing: amazing she made it very easy i mean we had uh olivia coleman weirdly like yeah she's such a special oh my god like you talk about like very special human beings and i've been very blessed to meet a lot of them but Olivia Colman is just just as a performer a huge like so like like you she's just so much fun to be around she's so funny but also like I was going for a lot of that time when we filmed that movie and she was like like a rock and there's a sort of bond and a friendship that's still here there and that's a very special thing and again going back to that thing like that friends for a reason friends for a season uh and I needed someone in my life at that point who was like someone I could turn to in a moment.

1:11:37Jamie Laing: And Olivia was that person. So whether I was going to chat to her again much, I'm internally grateful for that.

1:11:44Tom Davis: Last bonus, snog, marry, avoid, Romesh, Rob Beckett, Joe Wilkinson. Shag, marry, avoid.

1:11:49Jamie Laing: Shag, marry, avoid.

1:11:49Tom Davis: Yes, you have to shag, Romesh, Rob, or Joe. You have to marry those two.

1:11:53Jamie Laing: I think the truth is I'm almost married to Romesh anyway. You're going to marry Romesh? I'd have to marry, yeah.

1:11:58Tom Davis: Who are you going to shag?

1:11:59Jamie Laing: I mean, can I just have Joe and Rob at the same time? I couldn't avoid everything. That's just going to be such a horrible trip. I have to send Rob home and then go, I can't do this, Joe. You get sorted. Let me run down. I'll make a couple of cars and a squash and I'll get Rob back in. Or you and Rob just fuck and then I can watch.

1:12:22Tom Davis: Tom, we love you. Thank you so much. You're the best of the world, man. Appreciate it.

1:12:30Tom Davis: Tom, wow, what an episode. Honestly, maybe one of the funniest episodes I've ever recorded That story of him on the tube is honestly just genius I hope you guys liked it as well Tom is going on tour so you can go and watch more of him on stage Now, I really would like to know what you think of the show So if you can leave a comment and let us know what you think of it I'd absolutely love that We have so many other shows like this with other comedians Like Joanne McNally, Catherine Ryan You can just go and see all of our library and go and click on one of those episodes Because they're equally as funny And of course, we're going to be back next week for another episode of Great Company.

1:13:29Tom Davis: We keep you on top of the trends and dialed into what's next. Whether you're crushing it at the gym, leveling up your game, or thriving every day, The Drop by GNC is where the latest solutions in health and wellness land first. Non-stop innovation and fresh finds daily. Explore what's new and what's next on The Drop by GNC.