S11 EP11: Barry Hearn

21:01I mean, he works out. but from that day I left happier than he did because I knew I'd found out what I needed to find out this kid's all right he took a couple of real heavy digs early doors he didn't go down he didn't cry he didn't get upset he dusted himself when he came again which is all you can ask for in life you know life full of inevitable disappointments to have the recovery rate is important to go again and again. You two are walking illustrations of that. I mean, now you're superstars. You're all over the bloody place. I can't turn on the telly about seeing none of you. But it wasn't always like that.

21:40No. What people don't see, they don't see the sacrifice. They don't see what you have to go through. And I knew what Eddie was going to have to go through because he was always going to be Barry Earnson, Silver Spoon, whatever. And people with jealousy would always have that reply to him. So he's going to be under the cosh. So you better be ready for it and you better be resilient and you better be ready to go again. And that's what I found out he was capable of and he hasn't let me down since. Do you think your daughter was under less pressure because of a different gender? No, no, no. I mean, obviously she runs all my TV platforms around the world.

22:14She's ex-Sky. She was the first woman producer of Premiership Football on Sky. She's in her own way, but she's not a salesman. She's not a bullshitter like me and Eddie. You know, she's an academic. She's more like a mother. And the most important thing in her life, which forever will be treasured, is the fact she's got two young children. You know, she turned out to be a really nice person. She's probably my most senior person on our Matrim Foundation, which looks after lots of different things in a quiet way. And she's perfect for that role. She doesn't – when we did the Netflix documentary, the three people that refused to go on it were my wife, no surprise there, Katie and my daughter-in-law Chloe they all said too intrusive we want to keep our life as private as we can and we respected their wishes yeah Eddie and I looked at it and said this is an opportunity for a company that's been hugely successful to get even more notice and PR and awareness created around the world which is why we went with Netflix because of their global exposure I've watched all of it and it's incredible documentary because I know I'm a massive boxing fan and darts and snooker and everything you do and you've blown it up now to this like billion dollar company so i sort of knew it all but then the way it's been produced it means if you don't know anything about the sport or don't know about you and eddie it's almost like a really good reality show but there's no fake structured stuff because the world of darts snooker and boxing is so mental anyway yeah it's interesting you because you are my prime customer rob aren't you really Absolutely.

23:45Boxing snooker darts before, you know. I had you when I said hello. I find it interesting the way clever people, you know, we spend a long time with that Netflix documentary. Do we want to do it? Do we want that intrusion? Because it was like a year, year and a half where you're mic'd up nearly all the time. Did it affect the way you reacted? No. Initially, for a little bit of time, you think they're there. But it's amazing how quickly it passes where you don't even know they're there, even when they're there. Yeah. You know, so you get into it. But we also took a decision. I mean, it was a split decision on the board to do it at all because of the intrusive nature.

24:23What we all said is if we're going to do this, we have to do it completely transparently. Yeah. We have to be honest with it. So we're not going to have rehearsals before we film things like that. You know, just going to be us, because when we talk about projects and things like that, It is like a succession style. Succession was loosely based on the Murdochs. And this is a little bit of the story of the old grey-haired geezer that's come into his cell by day. That's to pass the bat on to young people who may not necessarily agree with what the old geezer did, even if they're wrong. And that has to be natural.

25:02And the most pleasing part of it was I didn't feel any of it was – I've watched the whole lot, and I won't say I enjoyed every second, but it didn't come across fake it came across that doesn't and we are a strange family built on very competitive dna and that competition runs into our personal life our private life and even our business life we are one of the great losers we will have disasters and brush ourselves down and go again because this in our nature that we don't get beat yeah we might lose the old battle but we're never ever going to lose the war.

25:37Josh Widdicombe:Was there ever a point when you thought, why are we fucking doing this? Was there like... Both of them. Both of them. But that's the best bits probably, isn't it? I remember going home one night, I jumped in the bath and I went, oh, oh, and I put my hand there. I thought I was still mic'd up. And then you look back and you go, why did I do it? Why did I do that? It was just so natural. Yeah. I mean, there's lots of things I would change to make me look better or sound better or, you know. But then you think, that's not really me. No. The whole point is for people that don't know, I'm nowhere near as famous as Eddie.

26:12I mean, Eddie's a brand more than a personality. But for people that didn't come across us, here we are. And the great thing about us, and I love this, is I mean, we have been somehow or the other successful, really successful. If you ever set yourself a target, we've smashed that. And you know what? we don't give a flying whatnot, do we? And I think you two would understand that because if you don't have that attitude, then you're not yourself. Yeah. And if you're not yourself, what you're trying to sell is not real and therefore it doesn't survive the test of time. And it would apply to you two as any characters, you're both characters, but the fact that somehow or the other with your limited ability, both of you have been successful.

26:56That's more of a miracle than even naturally. I always say that. Everyone goes, what's your ambitions? I went, I've overachieved already. I'm done now. I don't need to. Such a good attitude to have. You know, what's your ambitions? I tell you, everyone asks me, where do you want to go from now? You know, you've got the company to this value. You're going to do that. I said, I just want to be the best I can be. And would you ever walk away, Barry? Yeah, of course. Nothing is final in life, is it? The only thing final is death. I'm doing a right good job at cheating it at the moment. I don't know how long I've got.

27:27I keep playing with heart attacks and things like that. But so what? If you can't do nothing about it, I don't ever worry a second about anything because I'm a fatalist and I believe the man upstairs will just say, Oi, you, up here. But whilst I'm waiting for that, I'm not going to let it affect my life at all. I'm going to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, all the bloody time. And I've earned the right and anyone who don't like it can do one. There's an amazing moment in the documentary, and it's not a spoiler because it's very public about, you know, Mattram's sold bits and stuff like that.

28:02There's a moment where Eddie's been working on a deal with Turkey Al-Asheikh, who runs the money from Saudi Arabia, and he's putting on these boxing events, and you've not really had much dealing with that. You've let Eddie crack on with it. And there's a moment where Eddie swaps seats with you ringside, Ben Eubank, the kids fighting at Tottenham Stadium, and 30 years before, you'd put their dads on in that stadium, and now your son, while you watch their son, puts you next to one of the most powerful people in the world who is desperate and wants to buy the company you started coming from nothing in Romford to now sat in Tottenham Stadium.

28:37And what I found amazing was, because obviously you're very charismatic and you laugh and joke and stuff like that, but you're obviously, you know, such a whip smart business person. But when you sat with him and you go, no, Eddie runs all the business up, you can just see you lasered in. And we, as a viewer, got to see Barry Earn actually at work, Not telling us about his work, but at work, which is such an amazing insight. And I find it so inspiring to see someone that's gone on that journey to get to there and is now negotiating. When you talk about parents in hell, I don't even know if you two will understand this.

29:09My business is like a child. Okay. And when you talk about parents in hell, it applies to business as well. This business has been my life as well as my two kids and my wife and my family. So when we talk about selling stakes in it, looking after it, I'm a custodian of my business, which is my life. And I'm responsible not just for myself because I'm okay. There's some very little can hurt me other than death. But when I'm talking about a business, I'm talking about people I employ that have done a fantastic job for me, which you'll see that in the documentary. But there's a lot of them. But more importantly, I talk about the thousands, tens of thousands, hundred thousands of sportsmen and women around the world that have ability that I never had that I'm in awe of and I want to do well and I want to grow and I want to be you know as much as I like making a load of money because it's a game each year I try to earn more than I did last year it's just a game it doesn't affect me at all because I'm happy just going fishing with a can of worms it don't make no difference I'm happy where I am I'm in a plateau but what I do love to see is all of a sudden Luke Littler coming from nowhere and earning millions of pounds and spreading the gospel around the world.

30:25You can do it. Don't matter who you are. Don't matter where you come from. Don't matter what your mum and dad did. It's down to you, son or girl, whatever. And that's the feeling I had when I started businesses. This is just down to me. And I like that challenge. And frankly, you've got to be prepared to take a few slaps along the way. Not every crowd you entertain will like you.

30:47Josh Widdicombe:As someone who's observed all these sports people, whether they're darts, snooker, boxing, do you think there is a type of parenting? Do parents often the same type or does it not have that much effect? It varies. I mean, some parents go from living their life through their son. In other words, he's achieving more than I did. And in a way, that's quite restrictive. Not necessarily pleasant. Other people go exactly the opposite way and say nothing to do with me. and just leave it to a local trainer or whatever. Yeah. And other people become an integral part of it without taking away the power and the pleasure of the individual for his achievements, for the sacrifices they're making.

31:30You know, I always think someone like Steve Davis, his dad, for example, you know, he was absolutely there every moment of every day, coaching, talking. But when all the fanfare came about and everyone was slapping ass on the back, he was not to be seen. It wasn't his role. And people like that I respect a lot. Is it hard as a promoter or manager, like with these athletes, where you can see that the parent's involvement is actually a little bit toxic and takes away and drains the athlete? How do you manage that? I never used to manage it at all. Well, now I just tell them the truth. Listen, you know, you're not good for your son's career or your daughter's career.

32:10You've got to back off. and if they don't like it, I've always got the pleasure of knowing I told the truth, which is what I would always do. So I don't really take into account. I'm not brutal about it, but most times, you know, you see it a lot in football where so many managers or agents are the dad. I mean, maybe they're the best in the world. I don't know, but I want the best in the world for everything that we're associated with. And it's not necessarily me because I'm not the best in the world. I have my moments where I have good ideas, but I have a team of people that interestingly have all come through Matrim, and you'll see on the documentary, from 15, 16 years of age, 18, 19 years, 20 years of age, they are today the senior management of Matrim.

32:53We don't bring in outsiders, we train our own, and we've got a whole range of kids that have learned the hard way. I don't make too many comparisons between our business, but if you haven't done, they always say, and especially in the comedy business, if you haven't done the Northern Circuit or something like that, you haven't died in Oldham, then you're never going to be ready for the Palladium or whatever. You know, that thing about experience. Yeah, it's true. And it's like when people join Matchroom, they think, oh, we're the biggest company in the world, most exciting. They got the shittiest job for two or three years where they're watching endless TV programmes to make sure no one swears, writing down the music for the music credits, you know, doing the really cups of tea stuff.

33:36Frank Smith, who's like, you know, head of boxing, started out at 15 doing teas and coffees and worked his way up. And he only got in because he was cheeky to Eddie at a charity do where he was getting people to pay him for a raffle. And he said, you've got a Bentley out the front. You should be paying more than 20 quid. And then Eddie did and took him on board. Like, oh, you obviously see talent in young people. You see talent in people and it comes from different ways. I mean, you know, you don't want the same type of talent. You need a variation of people in your business. And I've got a mixture of the, you know, when I say cheeky chappies or whatever, I always say to my senior board when I talk to them is, just show me enough street.

34:14I want some street in you. I don't want Harvard. I don't want university degrees necessarily, although I appreciate they're tough to get, so well done. I need commitment and passion. I need to see a sparkle in your eye, much more than a sparkle in your pen. I don't want to know that you know what happened about the Greek invasion of wherever. I want to know, can you get out on that street and sell and produce and create and you make sure that no one gets in your way? Are you capable of that? So I need commitment more than anything else. And sometimes, I mean, we've had people that joined us and early doors have said, have I really got to work this late every night?

34:57It's the moment they say it, we say, look, let's just terminate now because it's never going to change. Some people are destined to be nurses and vicars and doctors, priests. That's a calling. We're destined to be showmen. And this Netflix documentary, I think, captures that. It really is, sadly, as my wife would say, the reason why we exist. We can't do what you guys do. We can't be the front man. She's not good enough to do what you do. I hate having to admit that to you two. And what we can do is make sure that you get, I'm not saying you in particular, I'm sure you've got agents or whatever, we can make sure you get the most money.

35:40We can commercialise you. We can spread your image. We can do things and create stuff around you that's beyond most people's comprehension. You know, I took Steve Davis, one of the most boring people in the world, and made him into a superstar. Why? Because I just said he was boring. And people thought, oh, that's original. in the age of narrative, don't we, where we have storytellers. We're not just putting on a show. We're telling a story, which means inevitably expand the criteria for the characters, make people involved with them. So in darts, you say, why is it every darts player's got a nickname and an entry team?

36:18It's part of the process. Why did Nazeem Hamid come in on a floating carpet? Eubank came in on a Harley Davidson. and it's part and parcel of the process of telling the story which makes people interested enough to follow it and then subsequently either watch it on TV or buy a ticket to come and see it. Game over.

36:39Josh Widdicombe:Did you know Sam's Club isn't a store? It's actually a club with cool finds and like a whole community. It's a club. Of course, Jason. It's in the name, Sam's Club. Oh, yeah. Come join us. Sam's Club. Hear that? That's now Crispy and McCrispy Strips meeting creamy Caesar sauce. Sounds extra crispy. Caesar sauce at McDonald's for a limited time.

37:11What would you say, Barry, to like a young kid, like from a Brunford council estate to try and make it like you did? Is it like, what advice would you give to a young kid? I say the same to kids all the time, all over the country. Be the best you can be. Don't leave anything on the floor. Don't leave anything on the table. I said to my son the other day, Eddie, you know I love you. I said, but if I ever, ever see you walk past a£10 note on the floor, I'll cut you out of my will. And he said, I would expect nothing less. Perfect. My project, my son, my project, is a statement of my real success in this world.

37:50And the great thing about it is the benefit is you don't fear death. at all. Because as far as you're concerned, and this will be the case for you two, you live on through your children, through the values you've given them, the creation of where you are, because they are really your projects, just that you two haven't got the balls to mention it. And what's your situation with your grandkids

38:12Josh Widdicombe:in the sense of... I am Baza. I am Baza the all-conquering. Are you as harsh with them as like Eddie and Katie with the sport and stuff like that? Because Eddie always said you never let them win. On January the 2nd, this year, is one of the big sporting occasions of the world. It's massive. One of my grandchildren will be playing me at golf. Right. Level to the death. Level. No freebies, no gimmies, nothing. He's nine. Why that date? Why that date? Because we're on holiday together and we fix it in advance. Right. And the psyching out starts now. He sends me little stories all the time. Bazaar, I'm coming for you.

38:55I'm coming for you. He's nine years old. His dad was a golf pro, a club pro, but a scratch golfer. And this kid is, he's eating 50 golf balls every day before he goes to school, things like that. He's got a lovely swing. And he might beat me at nine, but I would die rather than give him a shot. You know, we used to play table tennis with the kids all the time, with Eddie's two girls. They used to be in tears. Baza, you don't give us a point. I said, I'm never ever going to give you anything. Because when you do win a point, when you do one day, which you will beat me, you will have earned it. And that will give you a different feeling in your body than someone who's given you something.

39:37Because if you're waiting in life for people to give you, you might have a long wait, girl. What we don't do in the Hearn family, we don't wait for people to give us things. We go out and create things. It's an amazing life lesson, but it's so funny that they're seven

39:49Josh Widdicombe:when you're selling them this. Say he beats you on January 2nd. When he sinks that putt, how are you going to react? I will be proud of him and I'll be happy of him as long as I can look in the mirror myself and say, I did the best I can do. My ability is limited. I ran marathons all over the world. I never won one of them, but I did the best I can do. And that's all I ask. That's just common sense. It's reasonable, isn't it? We all want to be scoring the hat trick at Wembley. a very small percentage of people will ever play at Wembley, let alone score the hat trick. So we always want to be the best we can.

40:24I'm still playing cricket for the Essex over 70s. I'm tough to get out. I'm tough to get out because I'm not there just to have a game. I'm there making a statement. I'm still competitive at my age. Come and kill me if you want me. But you've got to come. I think every day means there's new challenges. Every morning I wake up and I'm excited. My heart rate goes up. What's today? Well, talking to you two is one of the low points of the day, but, you know. At least it gets rid of one of the contractual obligations from Netflix, though. It ticks boxes, but, you know, if I'm going to talk to anyone, I'd love to spend more time with you two because you've got a bit more idea about where I come from and working class people.

41:02How did your wife deal with you being so competitive with the kids? Did she understand your thought process or did she think you were being too harsh? Yeah, my wife is old school. She knows that you can't just be soft with people because then they build up. And we're more concerned about it. I don't think this world's not a particularly nice place. And there's a lot of jealousy out there. There's a lot of bad people. And you've got to make sure you can stand up for yourself. And it's going to be tough. It's tough in the real world. And in a way, you don't want your kids to live in a real world, but then they've got to be prepared to live in a real world.

41:35You know, it's that balance where you want to give too much, But then the danger is you spoil them and that may spoil their life. And I was always very worried about that with Eddie and Katie. But then they worked out both of them. And I think, you know what, it's in their genes. They're going to be OK. And hopefully my grandchildren will be the same. And their children. And my job is done to make sure that they're secure, which was the whole reason I started working in the first place. I can survive on nothing. I mean, I'm just saying. But you want some security for yourself and your family, don't you?

42:05And that's the most important thing.

42:06Josh Widdicombe:What do you do with your family at the weekend if you're relaxing with the grandkids then? Would you, are you playing games and stuff like that? I can't imagine you just putting your feet up. Well, we go fishing. I mean, I've got a little lake, we go fishing. I took my two youngest boys, I gave them their first all-nighter for carp. We stayed in my little hut. Talk to me about the all-nighter, what's that? All-nighters go, you go there in the afternoon, you fish until it's dark, or you can fish through the dark. Fishermen will understand. An all-nighter is when you fish all night. You know, it's pretty basic.

42:36And in the morning you have a bit of breakfast. What's the fun bit about fishing at night compared to just doing about eight hours in the day? You can't see what the bloody hell you're doing when you've got fishing. That's more fun. That's a surprise. Well, we tend to sort of go up to a certain time and then I secretly turn off everything and get them to have a couple of hours, Kip. Yeah. And then we start up again at dawn, five o 'clock in the morning. Oh, bless them. And watching kids' faces, when you see a kid's face when they caught a fish, it's just, you must take your, I don't know, how's yours?

43:05I've never been fishing ever. Me neither. Rob, you haven't been fishing? I've never fished in my life. That's so off-brand, Rob. Rob, next year, one way or another, you are in Sports Stars Challenge on ITV fishing. You don't get any money as a charity do. You will catch fish and it will change your life. It's unbelievable.

43:22Josh Widdicombe:What is it that changes your life, Barry? It's just the mind. Is it just the mental space? Yeah. I mean, we don't get time sometimes. Pressure doesn't worry me and work doesn't worry me, as you know. But I don't get time. where there is nothing going around my head. I go fishing. I take a notebook, and every now and again, I go, write that down, and I go back to it afterwards. Most of my big events or most of my good sporting events or different things have been created while I've been fishing, when there's no text, no phone calls, no grief, no aggravation, just me and the fish. And by the way, it's called fishing.

43:58It's not called catching. If you catch, that's a bonus. but fishing allows you to understand your environment it teaches children concentration because you don't get them straight away you've got to be patient yeah and it teaches them that you've got to pay a little price in some way for achieving any objective and fishing does that for me and it would do it for everybody else i remember i took aj fishing once he'd never been fishing before yeah and he got about i don't know five pound carp on and he was i'm sure he'll forgive me for saying he's like a little baby what do i do what do i do what do i do it's monster geezer that smashes people to bits and you are petrified of a fish who weighs five pounds you said it saved you fishing how did it save you because there's plenty of times when things go bad and there's plenty of times when you have to keep things to yourself and you compartmentalize your problems and you don't let it affect your life, but it will one day.

44:57But the release for me is just going away and just thinking. Is that almost your therapy, would you call it? No, it is a therapy. People don't understand that you have to concentrate, you have to give a little bit, but you're also, you're quite at peace with the world. It taught me that. I went to Iceland a few days ago, a few, no, two weeks ago. It was like an SAS training camp. I mean, I've never been so tired in my life. But I caught one fish, a 16-pound salmon, on the fly, and it took half an hour to bring it in as it rushed from one fjord to the next. And it was just the greatest sensation of feeling.

45:36You can't even describe the pleasure. And I had three days there where I was, I mean, I'm 77, boys. I was battered. I was battered. You know, I was nearly crying. I can't tell you how old I felt. but I have half an hour that even now, I think we should all have little compartments in our brain that we can turn on off and on. Yeah. All the shit people we put in a bad compartment we never visit, all the good people in the other ones, and the good feelings and the bad feelings. And if you can have memories, and children are a big part of those memories, when you do have a bad day, just sit still quietly on your own and just think of something good.

46:16So the last thought you have at night, every night when I go to bed, my last thought is I'm padded up and I'm walking out to the cruise and there's a geezer waiting to bowl to me and I take my guard which this season has changed from middle and leg to middle don't ask me why and before he bowls the first ball I'm asleep Wow he's perfect contentment I've yet to face a ball

46:43Josh Widdicombe:in my dreams I think of all the people we've interviewed you're the only one that's smiled throughout just total Why wouldn't you? Yeah I had the greatest life. I mean, I don't know why I've been chosen, why I've been blessed. All I'm going to say is thanks a lot, mate, because it hasn't been wasted on me. I'm appreciative. I love my life. I mean, the fact that every day there's an event somewhere that I've got something to look forward to, and I'm thinking, oh, what starts this week? English Open at Brentwood. Yes. Oh, blimey. Next week, another European tour dance event. Oh. Oh, this Saturday coming, big fight in Ireland.

47:22Oh, come on. Imagine having a life like a little kid where every day is Christmas. You've got Barry Hearn. Every day of my life is Christmas.

47:30Josh Widdicombe:What do you think of Steve Davis' music career, Barry? Dreadful. I can't stand it. But he's my mate, so I won't ever knock him. Do you know what it does? Music to Steve Davis is fishing to Barry Hearn. Really? It saved his life as well. No one wants to watch it. I've listened to it. You don't care because you're in your own world. And my world is perfect. And the world we really live in is not perfect. But my world is perfect because it's Barry Hearn's world. In Barry Hearn's world, do you ever get down and then you go to fishing to process it? Or do you never feel down? I never feel down. No.

48:06No, because every day is an opportunity and every hour is something to change. And also, I'm not going to give anyone the pleasure of getting me down. I get things that frustrate me and things that annoy me, like a little spark. I've never been a moody person. I'd rather sort it out straight away. Yeah. I'm not going to have things hanged. I'm not going to have baggage. I can't change certain things in life. I understand that. But walking your daughter down the aisle, did you get emotional? Would that make you emotional, that kind of stuff? Oh, mate. Listen, I cry at a lassie movie, me. I mean, I'm a soft touch.

48:36So, yeah, so you can, it's not like sometimes these sort of, if I could categorise you as a hard-nosed business person, you have to feel like they don't engage with it at all, but it feels like you're fully engaged the whole time feeding it all? I think the thing is, and it's good news for you two guys because it's your business, but we should all laugh a bit more, shouldn't we? Yes. I mean, at the end of the day, when it does come, you know, I mean, I'm going through a stage at the moment where every week I'm hearing about a friend or someone I've known that's passed because just the age, you know, you're going to miss people, but you've got to realise that is the journey we're on.

49:09So once you've accepted that, then the job then is just to make the most enjoyment out of the journey you're on, isn't it? Yeah. Or is it to waste your whole life and just sit there moody and feeling shit?

49:22Josh Widdicombe:That's where I've been going wrong. That's where I've been going wrong. You needed this chat, Josh. I just want to enjoy my day. Yeah. And I enjoy every day. And if I don't, I'll stop what I'm doing. I'll do something else because I'm not here to waste my time. I don't have time to waste. And I think I've had that attitude my whole life. And it's good. It makes me more productive. This is a bit of a curveball. Do you believe in aliens? Yes. I'm a mathematician. There's no mathematical reason why we should be so different. There are trillions, if not more, stars out there. I agree. And it is impossible to believe that we are the only universe that endures life of some description.

50:03I'm not saying they look like us. I'm not saying they look like, you know, what comes out on a TV show. That's exactly what Josh said, because before we did this, we were chatting about something and there was a newspaper report about UFOs and we said we've got Barry Earne coming up I wonder if he believes in UFOs I just believe in the mathematical certainty of life

50:20Josh Widdicombe:I said you're an accountant you'll believe in the statistics now Josh absolutely I hate being so predictable but I'm just a boring chartered accountant final question Barry we always ask everyone and what's one thing about your wife that she does as a parent that you're in awe of and you think she's amazing I couldn't have had kids about her and what's the one thing she does that slightly annoys you and if she was to listen she'd go you might have a point there the one thing she does is honesty she is absolutely black and white honest most of our difficult decisions in the family are discussed at dinner and we had that great one where after 19 years of owning Lake Norian I said I've got an opportunity to get out it's like an escape as well from lower league football because 19 years is a sentence you don't get time off for good behaviour I said what do you think you know we've got an offer to go I've done my time Eddie said you know what dad when you win away from home there's nothing quite like it is there I said right that's one that says keep Katie said dad we love you but don't die and leave this club round our neck I said right that's a sell and Susan was sitting at the end Eating her dinner, she just looked up and she went, get rid.

51:42That was it, two words. But the one thing, nothing upsets me. When you've been married for 55 years, I've been with that woman, she was 16 and I was 18. She's seen the best and the worst. But I find, she says I am superficial because I love everything about me and my life and every day is wonderful and all that. And she's a bit more like, her glass is half empty. Yeah. You know, she'll do something really, really well. She loves horses and she has, you know, she'll win a race somewhere and I'll go, it's fantastic. She'll go, well, it wasn't really a big race. You know, that awful stuff. I'm like, with me, maybe her world is right for her.

52:26But for me... Maybe that's why it works. And you've been together 55 years. Well, I mean, we're totally different, obviously. I don't think she particularly likes me, but she's bright.

52:38Josh Widdicombe:Barry it's been a joy thank you so much always good to talk to you too on Netflix I think 17th of September it's out The Greatest Showman The Matchroom it's really good even if you're not into sport and it's an amazing sort of reality show on top of that so yeah it's really good and we've got to get Susan on it for series two surely you've got no chance mate really she bred the winner of the Ascot Gold Cup a couple of years ago and everyone come rushing over because she's a small breeder to talk to her she just went nope I don't talk this is like the TV he talks and she just walks off he's never going to spend any time with you two mate you've got no chance perfect ending Barry thank you what a character they don't make him like Barry Earn anymore yeah I'm desperate to find that he's lying I genuinely think he believes it all what you see is what you get or what you hear right see you later mate