S11 EP10: Rick Astley

21:59By the time she got to be four and five and going to, you know, nursery and school and the rest of it, I was still kind of famous. You know what I mean? A dinner lady might go, oh, you know, that's your dad, whatever. But I wasn't famous in the sense of like, if we went up to the local shops, Andy the Green Groser knew her was. People knew her was. Of course they did. Because four or five years ago, I'd been having some pretty big hit records. But it's really weird, that fame thing, I think, where it sort of dies really quickly, but it also kind of sort of stays there forever. that fame of like nonsense fame has sort of gone but someone will still spot you I mean you guys have it all the time I'm sure you think yeah not a single person oh hang on a minute yes he's just clocked me do you know what I mean it's like the stock market it goes up and down for example I did that last one laughing show where they put posters everywhere because it was Amazon it was on every bus stop every train and in that few weeks it was non-stop with people coming up to me but then when that advertising campaign it went back sort of normal or a bit and not that much where it's like it all goes up and down but do you guys not feel that today it is different because obviously when i was having my hits way back in the day social media didn't exist the internet didn't exist and so trying to vie for being this month's place on a bus poster or whatever was a massive different thing and today it's like you wake up in the morning and whenever you turn you look at your phone let's say you're bombarded with so much stuff that it's like you know what i mean yeah i'm trying to deal with kids there's been a point when you're

23:26Josh Widdicombe:essentially beyond mrs thatcher you would have been one of the most famous people in the uk do you know in about 1987 do you know i mean i think that summer and that winter yeah obviously because obviously never going to give you up came out in august or whatever copies did that sell sort of over the years and gone on now i'm not sure but i got an award for five million singles in the u.s recently in the u.s yeah yeah so i don't know what else it did but anyway it was a big deal for you know the 15 minutes that you get and i enjoyed some of it i did enjoy some of it most of it if i'm really honest i just felt this is happening and i'm just kind of like following it really i'm not really in it i don't think and i think if i would have been in a band i would have enjoyed fame more i think yeah it's not just you on your own and i didn't develop a character my name is rick astley even though it sounds like a pickle factory waterman said past these pickles yeah i did enjoy parts of it but i also feel a lot of it wasn't me really it was just like i'm seeing that guy but i'm not sure it's like the first video i've said this before you know you go along to a video shoot no one's got a phone where you can film stuff anything being filmed was a freaking event in 1987 yeah i'd never seen a film camera never mind a 25 film crew do you know what i mean and all the rest of it and you shoot this video in clothes that you brought yourself a bit of denim love, stripy t-shirt, otherworldly, because it's not really you.

24:51You look at the thing like a week later, whenever they put a thing together and look, because again, you couldn't look at it. You looked at it a week later, you know, you just go, is that me? And you go, well, I don't know. That is you dancing around in front of a chain link fence in West London while some blokes screaming out the top window, will you shut the fuck up? I'm on night. And that's had a billion views on YouTube.

25:12Josh Widdicombe:Yeah. Yeah, yeah. A billion. I know. So when you then step away from it, you've got a kid who's four or five. Are you literally a kind of stay-at-home dad in that situation? I was to some degree. I mean, I'm not going to lie about this. I wanted to be at home anyway because I've just spent the last five years trolling around everywhere. So I wanted to be at home. We had a lovely home, and I did take our daughters to school sometimes and pick her up, obviously, and do lots of dad things that most dads, certainly then and even today don't get a chance to do because we were in that transition period where lots of mums worked in 1987 of course they did but i mean now now it's like you can't afford to live if both of you aren't working full on all the time you know i mean i have the time so which is i'm a little bit um older than your daughter but like there was never a dad picking up no just stick the knife in i'm a little bit older than your daughter but like there was no dads picking up do you know what i mean so you must be one of the few dads that was there really yeah well i mean to be honest i lived in richmond which is obviously a beautiful leafy suburb there were quite a lot of media type people there who and some famous people obviously and all the rest of it who didn't have like you know normal hours and all the rest of it yeah and proper jobs yeah but don't get me wrong we had an au pair and we had different au pairs obviously throughout you know amelia's upbringing but the weird thing is you see when i was a kid my mom and dad divorced like i said and we went to live with my dad i think my mom basically had a huge breakdown.

26:40I didn't know what that was. It was just my mum kind of wasn't really there some of the time. But she's dealing with grief and, you know, losing a child. She's dealing with so many things, so many things, all kinds of things. My dad basically got a, I know this is, you know, Mary Poppins, whatever, but we got a housekeeper. Yeah. Lovely, lovely woman called Mrs. Hill. She didn't live with us. She just lived down the road and she, but she was there before I woke up. My older brother, Mike, you know, we were still little kids and she was there when I came home from school and made us some tea and all the rest of it and there was a female presence and the house was clean and the house was this because my dad had a little business and he was out the door early and he was home late sometimes and everything so I grew up in that so for me the idea of having an au pair yeah and I'm from a very very working class town and all my friends are working class so I grew up as that being kind of normal yeah and so I didn't have any hang-ups about saying no we've got an au pair she lives in it's like yeah my wife is working wants to work wants to devote to that.

27:36And obviously she spent a lot of time with Amelia and she wasn't on a nine to five. So she could take her into school, pick up all kinds of things. I think that is, if I could say anything about the parenting that we went through, one of the absolute luxuries was that the fact we didn't have nine to five jobs. Well, I didn't have a job. I didn't have a job full stop. We had a Walt Disney of a life, I think, in terms of being parents. We really did. I don't feel guilty about it. I just feel very, very lucky.

28:02Josh Widdicombe:Well, I think particularly considering the childhood you had, the difference of that, you can appreciate it a lot. Yeah, I think I had some very odd things with my dad. I mean, I didn't speak to him in the last 25 years of his life. We'd fall out off and on, and so would my other siblings with him and stuff, because he was a very unusual man. And I think he would probably be diagnosed with bipolar or something. And he had a lot of struggles and a lot of problems and everything. And the reason I can say this is because I'm not here to promote this, by the way, but I did an autobiography recently.

28:32We'll mention that. All right, well, so I laid it all out there in terms of my life and everything because I wanted to because my thing was about how do you become a pop star? How do you actually get so far down that line of wanting to get on the stage and do that? And I think it's because of your childhood. I think most of our shit is because of what happened in your childhood. This isn't the reason I became a drummer in a band. I was already a drummer in a band. But I once had a bit of an altercation with my dad one morning because he was never vying up with us. He was just very, very angry and miserable a lot of the time and upset.

29:01and we had a bit of an altercation one morning over nothing. I didn't even know what it was for, but I was on the floor at this point because he kind of knocked me to the floor. And then my next eldest brother, Mike, came out and he had a great big bread knife and he put it against his throat and he said, if you move, if you move, I will fucking end you right here. By this time, I'm on my feet as well. Anyway, I made it up with him after that, believe it or not, but we did. And it was just a weird thing. It was that my brother, Mike, my brother, Mike, by the way, is a chartered accountant financial director.

29:31Oh, one of the good guys. I'll give you a number, Joe. Anyway, so did he put the knife to your dad or to you? To my dad. To your dad, because he was pushing, yeah. It's a long story. Anyway, the point I'm raising is, and I don't feel in any way sorry for myself, I think a lot of those experiences that I had as a kid are what moulded me and what made me and gave me quite a lot of determination of, like, that's not the life I want. I don't want that. And my dad, bless him, had just freaked out that morning, I think. And my brother Mike, bless him, had just said, no, enough's enough. He's not that kind of a guy.

30:00I think he just flipped. And I think they both did. And it was a flag in the ground of like, this is changing. Life is changing after this. And it sort of did. I think it steeled me to go, I don't want that. I want a different life to that. I never want that to happen. I never want any of that. And like I said, you know, I'm super, super, super proud of my brothers and my sister because we've all got kids. We've all got families. We're still here, you know, and we haven't done any of that shit, you know, so.

30:27Josh Widdicombe:And when you met a lot, obviously you're meeting loads of musicians of that era and later on. Do you think there is like a thing where a lot of them have got trauma in their childhood or something they want to come? If I'm honest, yes, I do. Let's not even start with you lot. We're the worst. Oh, we're taking that as rad, Rick. We're taking that as rad. Again, I also think it doesn't have to be at knife point. Yes, of course. You know what I mean? And that was a one-off. That wasn't a regular. that was extremely a one-off right sometimes certain friends i've had over the years and also friends kids who've grown up in a very very privileged scenario either because yeah their parents made money in music or film or media or what have you or because from other stuff and we've talked about especially when some of them have wanted to get into music and be musicians and stuff and some of them have struggled a bit kind of saying like i don't really know because i'm not from a working class background and i didn't have to struggle to get a guitar and i'm like fuck that yeah if you love playing it you play it and if that's what your calling is and your passion is you go for it because the world doesn't have to be a dickensian you know i went up cold fucking chimneys too it doesn't have to be like that you know what i mean and i think well no one chooses how they're brought into the world and how they're raised so they shouldn't be judged for it it's just absolutely in my book it's called a class act it was all about that in comedy there's a lot of like middle class and upper class people yeah and would go to like eton for balding school and then go to Oxford.

31:54I didn't go to Oxford. No, that's not it. Or Oxford. But dropping your kid off at seven to boarding school, that for me is way worse than being a working class kid. And also when I came up, I had no expectation. So no one expected anything of me. Whereas these kids have had everything. The weight on their shoulders from the family and friends is unbearable. I agree with that thing about the weight on your shoulders as well. Because obviously if your dad's mum had done incredibly well doing something, whether it's working in the city or design or, you know, singing, whatever it is. It's like, okay, follow that, you know?

32:26And I think the generation below my generation, definitely, and maybe the one below you guys, I'm not sure what generation, but there's a part of something. It's just going to be harder and harder and harder. And so I think it was a naive sort of period of time in the 80s, to be honest. I think if you look back at a lot of music and a lot of stuff that was going on, nobody done a lot of things before. Nobody done certain things. MTV wasn't around until whenever it was, I don't know, 84, 85 or whatever. I don't know when it came along. There's just so many things changed, I think, in music and the way that people promoted music and therefore the way they made it as well.

33:01And I think, I don't know, I wouldn't want to be starting out right now. And our daughter is very musical. She's got a really great singing voice. She's musical. She knows what's what, but she never wanted to do that. And obviously she probably could have got into the film business to her mom and all the rest of it and mom's friends and stuff and i don't think she ever wanted to do that either and she's actually a believer and i don't know again it's like you know how do you get to that she's a garden designer she studied art she still does art projects every now and again and different things she has a little business and that's what she does and that's how she's moving in the world the weird thing is my dad had a little garden center so it's jumped a whole generation because i love gardens i like looking at gardens but i'm never going to work in one because i did a lot of that yeah and it's too much from your childhood you know i've watered enough plants and moved enough grow bags and it's that and the other and you know do you think your childhood obviously shapes you for good or bad but i think as well it doesn't all have to be like i say it was a one-off moment the bread knife thing and some people have moments where every morning is a bread knife thing and some people have days when basically something's gone on in the family or a parent was made redundant or there was an accident or just the dynamics of a family can affect how you're brought up and the need for attention you've got and stuff so like with comedians performers and stuff like that it's not that it was all horrendous and traumatic but certain moments in your childhood can propel you to want to do stuff and maybe you know like for you as well you want a much calmer measured childhood for your daughter as opposed to what you had and then you've really and by having that career bake that you know i don't how did you deal with that from an ego point of view you were this mega star that you felt that take that were coming in and you couldn't really compete and now you're just this guy that's sort of doing the school pickup and people are half recognizing your ego must have suffered at points during that yeah i think it probably did but i also feel i have a weird relationship with my ego if i'm honest i really really do i've got one obviously you'd never make a record you'd never go on a stage if you didn't but i think bizarrely I think I've sort of, I don't always have it in check, but I have it in check most of the time.

35:11I don't have it in check when I'm about to perform or when I'm going to do something like this, which whether we're going to let the audience in on this, it is a bit of a performance. Nobody does this. This is not a normal thing, right?

35:21Josh Widdicombe:We don't Zoom most Mondays at 10am, Rick. No, no. So there is an element of like, we're working, we're on, we're doing our thing, right? But obviously towards like walking to the stage, I sort of become, I don't mean this is pretentious, but I've sort of become somebody else. And I am me. I am me. And I talk to the audience from here and I've seen to them from here, definitely. But I'm sort of going like, well, come on, shoulder pads, here we go, let's have it. You have to, because otherwise you can't go on and be like totally yourself and be like, I've just driven from Sorrento, I'm fucking naked.

35:53Exactly. Yeah, so I have got an ego, don't get me wrong, but I also, I really liked the sort of come down really of just going to leave me alone. Did you feel like you'd already proven something? No, I don't really feel I've proved anything. to be honest, in that period of time with the 80s and everything. And obviously Stock Hake and Waterman wrote Never Gonna Give You Up Together for my big songs that were big in America and all that. And then I wrote some songs which Waterman really loved, so they ended up being singles. And we had hits with them in America as well and blah, blah, and all that.

36:20But I don't feel – I never really felt like an actual musician. I never really felt like a real that's what I do. Like I said, I felt like this guy who was kind of chasing it and behind it all the time going, I'm not sure exactly who he is. He's sort of me, but I don't know if he's really me. and I've kind of felt a bit more like that in the last 10 years like I said because I'm 59 now which is terrifying but there you go I'm so anyway when I turned 50 I thought you know what I've been doing quite a lot of gigs one way or another I've been doing a lot of like sort of rewind gigs with a lot of artists from my period and stuff like that where you just go and sing your hits yeah 40 minutes and you're off really good fun and I really loved every second of it but I just thought you know what bugger it I'm just going to make a record for me because I want to just prove to myself what I can do.

37:05So I just started making a record at home, made it in my garage, did the fiend tune. I played every instrument, did everything. It was just me in the garage doing this thing, right? So I made a record. My wife started managing me around that time. He said, I re-signed with my old label. And we put it out and we had a number one album with it. That's mad. Yeah. And we sold tons of physical copies because even nine years ago, older people liked a physical copy. So we sold bucket loads of them. And the reason I'm sort of bragging about that is I've sort of felt more like a musician in the last 10 years than I ever did back in the 80s.

37:42Because I sort of look at the band and Simon, our drummer, counts the song in, and I'm like, yeah, I did that. It feels like I'm about to play something I did. You know what I mean? Even though I wrote some of the goddamn songs that we still sing to this day from the 80s, but it was in a bubble. It was in this weird sort of like, I was young, you know, as a kid. Yeah, but how old were you, Rick, when you got signed by the... I was 19 when I signed, 21 when the first record came out. Your baby, you know. Yeah, yeah. And also, to be fair, I was so lucky to meet the Stock Hickin' Walkman guys and so lucky that they wrote Never Gonna Give You Up because it's just been a game changer all my goddamn life, right?

38:17It still is to this day. But it also, it came with the sticky end of the stick sometimes as well. Do you know what I mean? Because you wouldn't be aware of this. Ask your older relatives. they dominated for quite a period of time they were massive yeah and but it was also music press fucking hated them yeah like hated them and instead of going like we don't care we're just doing what we're doing Pete would rail against that so he'd go right we're going to make a record with a journalist and we're going to make a record with a fridge right we're going to make a record with a do you know what I mean it just whatever and it became a little bit of a sort of a nonsense at times you know they made some great records spin me around to this day is one of my all-time favourite pop songs when it comes on.

38:59I hear that tune, and I made tea on that album, by the way. So I hear that record, and I just think, that is just a monster record. It just sounds amazing. You should basically be a candidate for, like, one of those fucked-up pop star people, really, considering you was 19, you went through all of that. Then it all changed a bit with the bands coming in and you took a career break. But you seem really measured about it, really sort of calm and in control and happy. Was you treated well and you were quite lucky with that? Or have you done a lot of work to get to this point? I've done a lot of therapy.

39:27I have done a lot of therapy, yeah. And that wasn't just over, obviously, the five years and what had gone on in music and everything. It was kind of, as I said, what led me there and what leads everybody there, I think. But also, yeah, it was sort of trying to unravel a little bit of that and who am I? Because I think, you see, I know you guys as well, obviously, make videos of your tour and then that goes on Netflix or it goes on whatever. I get all of that. But we were like this sort of promotion machine, if you know what I mean.

39:52Josh Widdicombe:Yeah. The end of the 80s in real pop music was like, again, you know, I flew every day. Because you couldn't do what you do now. If you're Dua Lipa or Sabrina Carpenter or something, you can just do Instagram posts. You can just do TikTok. Yeah, I mean, those ladies work like no one I've ever seen, to be fair. But they don't have to be on Going Live and then be in Munich and then be in Copenhagen or whatever. No, I remember once, actually, just to – we were in Australia, funnily enough, and we were doing promo in – let's say it was in Sydney, and we had to go to Melbourne to do this thing. And they said, we're going to put you on a regular plane, but then you'll walk off the plane and get into a helicopter and it was one of those bubble helicopters as well where you could see through it.

40:29And I was fine with flying. I was like, this is great. You know, I was absolutely fine with it because we're going to get you on this sort of TV show. It was like these mad things that we've got to get rid of. Two TV shows in a derrera. And they got me to this TV show and basically the guy just sat me for five minutes. So I just stood there just looking at him going, you fucking... And I didn't say it, but that's what's on my face because I've just flown, you know, what would be a 10-hour drive. I was into flight no time. Got on a blena. What a wanker. Got off, walked down the steps and walked over to a helicopter.

40:58Bye, everybody. And got into a helicopter and went to this other TV show basically for the guy to take the piss off. But anyway, yes, there was a lot of stuff that you had to do back then that you just perhaps do in a very, very different way today.

41:11Josh Widdicombe:And now, your tour is on sale now. It's April 2020. Wow, you segued into that one. Yeah. April 2026. So it's on sale now. Yeah. Like you are, But in the last five years, one of the most iconic Glastonbury performances was you on the pyramid stage. Thank you. You've become a kind of, I imagine you'd hate this, a national treasure, Rick. I would love that. I want a badge that says national treasure. Never mind. Yeah. But like you've been re-embraced in the way you went away and then you've come back. Yeah. You have reformed. Yeah. That Glastonbury in particular, I think, was a bit of a moment for everyone who's...

41:50Was your daughter there? Yeah, she was there. She was steaming my trousers at the back of the stage at one point. She gave me a really good bit of advice because she's been to Glastonbury loads of times and I'd never even been. And my wife and I went out. We were first on 12 o 'clock pyramid stage. So that's terrifying anyway. Walked out there. Nobody in the audience just thought, oh, my God, this is going to be a disaster. So this is half an hour before, you know. Went back to the dressing room, getting the suit on, all the rest of it. And my daughter just said, look, whatever happens, just go and enjoy it anyway.

42:20your band's up there you love your band you love working with you'll be fine just go and do it and I think she sort of knew because she's been so many times she knew they'd sort of come and I didn't know that and so by the time we walked up there we were having a Jaeger at the side of the stage as we do Is that how you start every gig? Every gig Is that a new thing have we always done that? I've done it for more than 10 years we've got her on Jaeger machine put the right temperature and everything comes in its own flight case anyway so we walked out And it was just mad. It was just this huge audience that had rolled out of tents and sleeping bags.

42:54And I don't know how they got there, but they got there. And it was just absolutely amazing. And then I don't know whether you guys know this, but I then went and did a set with Blossoms.

43:01Josh Widdicombe:I was at that, Rick. I was at that set. It was one of the best hours of my life. You doing the Smiths with Blossoms. Oh, my God. I had the time of my life. So did I. Would you have, in 1987, thought, do you know what? There's going to be a point when I am 100 times cooler than Morrissey is. We can't even get into that. That's a different world age. I think the beauty of it is... It's true, though, isn't it? We've still got amazing quips, though. Yeah, the hairline's outrageous. You're fucking smashing it there, Rick. The beauty of that is, I think, is that for me, was that I'd loved the Smiths since I was a teenager.

43:35My brother Mike got me into them. And you're from the Northwest, right? Yeah, I'm from close to Manchester, yeah. And I think... But that wasn't it. It was just they were something else. They were just completely something else. They were unique in every sense of the word, musically, lyrically, performance, everything about them so different and i loved them and then i met blossoms and we sort of chatted a bit and all the rest of it and i threw this thing at them because we were talking on their podcast actually about music from manchester and i said look in another universe before i pop it i want to go and do a night where i just sing smith songs because i just want to do it and they got back to me a little while later and said well we thought about it and we'd like to be the band we'll be the band so we had a little rehearsal i shed a few tears i think one or two of the guys and the band did at the rehearsal because it was just unbelievable.

44:20It was just like, what is going on? They're younger than my daughter. For me, that was part of why I felt it was so amazing because they, obviously, have got this deep, deep love of that music. You were there then, Josh. The audience was from older people, older than me even, to teenagers. And it was a total sing-along. Do you know what I mean? It was like... A wash of love and amazing gorgeousness. And it was just amazing. And so that weekend for me was like completely bonkers. And I felt that all the people who've sort of been helping me get my shit together over the past 10 or 12 years as well and doing all the work behind the scenes and everything to get things to happen and to be visible and to actually have a record that people might.

45:01I know you didn't because you're too young, but people who would go, oh, my God, that dude's got a record again and actually go and buy it, you know, was amazing. It was almost like box tits. Thank you very much. You know what I mean? And it was just. Will you be doing any Smith songs on tour? No, because I think it's its own universe, that. And I don't know whether we'll ever do it. Would you do it again? I would do it again. I would, I think. But I think also, I mean, Blossoms have had an amazing sort of 18 months. And they are now Marko Gary, which I think is the best one they've ever made.

45:30I think live, they've just gone up totally into a totally different level. They're just a different animal, I think, these days. It's not like either of us needed to do it. It wasn't like, certainly didn't do it for money or anything like that. There was no money in it. It wasn't about that. It was just about doing it. It feels like you coming out as a guest on their tour could be the one, just doing one song on the tour in London or wherever. Listen, I go to every gig they do, to be honest, if I could, because they are amazing. If you've not seen them, by the way, make the effort. They're really, really good live.

45:57They're just so great records. Of course, they make great records, and that speaks to themselves. But I think if you go and see it live, you just see something else. It's a different beast altogether, I think, today. Also, can I say how much I love the title of your autobiography, just called Never. Boom. So good.

46:15Josh Widdicombe:It's so good. It's a great picture as well. So that's available to order now off your website, rickassley.co.uk. So where are you playing? We are playing Glasgow Hydro, Newcastle Utilita Arena. Is that how you pronounce that? She's knocking arenas out for fun. I know, I wait till the end. Wait till the end. Belfast SSE, Dublin A3 Arena, Liverpool MS Bank Arena, Manchester Co-op Live, Leeds First Direct Arena, Bournemouth International Centre Cardiff Utility Arena Nottingham Motorpoint Arena Birmingham Resorts World Arena and London the O2 Get in Yes And is that your first arena tour? I've played pretty much all those arenas not done the O2 on my own before I've sung at it a bunch of times with different charity things No, I've played all those arenas probably three times already in the last ten years I've got a number one album, mate I've got a number one album I love it I love it I've got a number one We're living in the age of Rick Astley Have you been to the Oasis, Rick?

47:10Josh Widdicombe:I went to see them in Manchester. Absolutely incredible. You know what I really loved about everything, about all of that, was they just didn't mess about. They came out like they'd been sleeping in a fridge for all these years and just went, we're having this and so are you. Boom. And then they played all the songs everybody wants to hear. Yeah. There was none of that sort of like, oh, right, they've got back together. Listen, I'm sure they're going to make pots of money and I hope they bloody do. Yeah. It didn't feel like that for a split second. It felt like this just needs to be done and finally we're doing it and whether they're going to go on doing it, who knows?

47:50It kicked off and it never stopped. Sorry, have you been?

47:53Josh Widdicombe:Rob, as I'm going in September. Oh my God. It's so good. It was so good and they didn't fuck around. They played all the songs everybody wants to hear. It was really efficient and they weren't so tight and on it. So good. And they looked like they were loving that. Noel looked like he was loving doing his guitar. You know, they were enjoying the actual performing part of it. And you know what, as well? I mean, there was 80 ,000 people for how many goddamn nights they did in Manchester. And it felt like quite a lot of love going on. I'm sure there was a few moments out in the back of the river.

48:21But there was no agg or aggression. There was no agg. The audience, we're all in the mood for it. I saw some of Richard Ashcroft as well, who's incredible. Didn't get there to see cast, unfortunately. But I'm going to try and go again in September, so I'll go early next time. It was just really good. Just really, really, really good. If you want another injection of musical gods in your veins, on sale September 5th, Rick Astley, April the 10th to April the 25th, arenas all over the country. It's been amazing, Rick. Thank you so much. I'm not 100 % sure the Oasis mob are going to be coming to my gigs, but you never know.

48:51You never know. You never know. You never know. Now, Rick, we always finish with the same question. This question is, what's the one thing your wife does as a parent that you're in awe of and like, oh my God, she's amazing. I'm so lucky to have a child with her. And what's the one thing she does that frustrates you slightly. And if she was to listen to the show, she might go, yeah, he's got a point there. Oh, my word. OK, there's so many. Oh, I'm going to get emotional. I'm going to have to hang on to this. She's made our daughter what she is. And without her, God knows what she'd be. As simple as that.

49:26Josh Widdicombe:That's the best answer we've had to that. I presume you mean that as the positive. Oh, do you mean what? She's been fucking up gardens in Copenhagen for years. That's fantastic. And I think the only thing I wish she could do is just fucking look at a watch at some point and go, oh, yes, we are leaving at this time or that time or whatever. Rather than, you know, she's got a very liquid view of time. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. She's probably a physicist on the slide. But anyway. And you're very much wheels up at 3 a.m. from Sorrento kind of guy, aren't you? You don't make it from Sorrento to freaking Copenhagen if you don't have a, you know.

50:04Do you know what I mean? You won't believe this, by the way. In an hour and a half, I'm going to Stockholm. You're going to Stockholm? Oh, yeah. He loves it. He loves it. Oh, wait. What are you doing in Stockholm? Some friends, but actually, you know, this is an aside, but I'm going to end up doing a bleeding TV show tomorrow night because some friends of ours know some of them. And this woman said, oh, would you get... And I'm like, really? I'm like, I'm kind of on holiday. Do you know what I mean? Are you singing or just guesting? Yeah, I'm going to sit in and chat and I'm going to go and sing with the house band.

50:38I'm going to go and sing Never Gonna Give You Up, obviously. But it's like, I'm coming on holiday, but it'll be great, to be honest. And I'm so looking forward to it. We've not been up to Stockholm for ages and we've got some really, really good Swedish friends who lived in London and all our kids kind of know each other and blah, blah, blah. And so I'm looking forward to it. And now I'm doing a bleeding TV while I'm there.

50:56Josh Widdicombe:Do you get bored of singing? This is the last question. Go on. How do you feel when you sing? Because I often think this about like U2 or the Rolling Stones and stuff. How emotionally invested is Bono when he sings The Streets Have No Name when he's sung it 2 ,000 times? Well, to be fair to the two gods of music you just mentioned, they've got a few. They've got a few songs. But there's still some that they're playing every night. And they're also, believe it or not, older than I am. But I also think they've got a much broader canon to use that word to say, like, with me, it's kind of like, if I don't sing Never Gonna Give You Up, there's trouble.

51:31So I can't ever do a gig without doing that. whereas they could leave Streets of No Name out of a set and sort of get away with it. I'm sure people would be like, what? But they could get away with it. So I view it very differently to, I think, a lot of people. And I kind of think the only reason I get to do most of the fantastic stuff I do in my life and I've done in my life, I'm lucky enough to do those things, is because of that goddamn song. So I'm singing it. And whenever I do a radio thing and they kind of like apologetically say, oh, we're going to start, we're never going to give you, I'm like, get it on.

52:02because that's the only way people connect the dots and go, oh, that guy. I think you're a fool to yourself if you run away from things. All right, not everything in your past, but things that have put you where you are today, you've got to acknowledge them because otherwise everyone else is. You're the idiot if you're pretending that's not why you're there. I mean, I still get shouted at me. Are you going to eat chicken next to a bin tonight, Rob? Because I did one Instagram video of eating chicken by a bin. I just have to accept that, Rick. I understand you're playing. That's who you are. That's who I am.

52:32I'm a bit more proud I'm never going to give you up than eating chicken out of a bin. As you should be, Rick. As you should be. There's levels.

52:39Josh Widdicombe:Rick, thank you so much. It's been a joyous speech. No, thank you. I really enjoyed it. It's been good. Good luck with the tour.

52:46Rick Astley. Sorry, I just had a quick sniff of albos oil. Yeah, no, you have a sniff of albos oil. All blocked up. I've still got sinus problems. Rick Astley, everyone. I loved him.

52:57Josh Widdicombe:He's such a nice bloke, isn't he? And so, interesting and switched on and honest because it's weird, when you first do it it's always a bit sticky at the start with whoever you interview because we're on Zoom and we're chatting and stuff and I do think, especially someone like Rick will think all their comedians are just going to try and take the piss out of me and then as soon as they know we're not and we're normal people then he lets his guard down but that was great loved him, loved him go and see him on tour, all the arenas in April 2026 he's smashing it isn't he? Oh my gosh Imagine earning all that money from never going to give you up and knock out your own album and still sell at arenas.

53:31Oh, unbelievable. Go and see him. Go and see him. Buy the book. Buy the book. I'm going to get the book.