S11 EP27: Jo Whiley

26:51And they really like each other, like the four of them. They're each other's best friends. Have you got a WM WhatsApp group? Oh, there's loads of different ones. Oh, is there ones where some people are in and some people are out? I know, definitely. There's a siblings one, which when I found out about that, I was like, sorry? Can Dad and I not be part of this? What do you say about us? We'll make this WhatsApp group fun. I've got loads of memes. What are you saying about me in that siblings group? That's all it is. I reckon if you read that siblings group, it would probably be the worst day of your life.

27:22It would destroy me. Oh, it would destroy you. It would destroy me. Oh, my God. What the house rules then with people, obviously, like, there's three of them living there, well, four of them with the boyfriend, and you've got a 33-year-old that obviously comes and goes as she wants, but then there's a 17-year-old where there's sort of ground rules, and I imagine the ground rules for the 17-year-old a lot more lenient than they were for your eldest. There are no rules. We've never had rules. Well, I imagine if I asked her eldest, she would go, the 17-year-old gets away with murder compared to me.

27:52I don't think so. I really, really don't think so. I kind of want to go and get her now to have her in here and she can join in the conversation. Or we wait till this goes out. That sibling's group's going to be flying. Oh, I know. They were like, you're doing that show. What are you going to say about us? I was like, I will say nothing bad at all, honestly. No, India would probably definitely say that, Well, everybody says that because Coco's my youngest and my baby, obviously, yeah, they probably do think she gets away with murder. But I think they've all got away with murder all their lives.

28:20I'm now paranoid about what I'm going to say. Oh, no. Well, you know, you can only say the truth. At what age do you start charging them keep? Okay, that's the thing. Because India went to college. She went to Falmouth and had a really great time. Two of my kids went to Falmouth, so we know it quite well. it's a really nice place yeah did they stay there after uni no well India just keeps returning she loves Cornwall so much because she had such a great time and Cass loves it down there as well so yeah it's a really nice place so but when she came back we've got these little like stable blocks and so she'd stayed in one of the flats for a while and she was kind of commuting and we did charge her rent and that did not go down very well and I don't think we're ever ever going to be allowed to forget that okay and it was it was kind of it was a difficult thing in in Stephen mine's relationship because I would have let her stay there for free.

29:10I can't bear the thought of charging our kids to do anything at all. Whereas he was like, no, we must be grown up and we must charge rent. So now India will never, ever, ever let us forget that at all. But the others have never been charged rent? Not yet. No. No. None of the others have. That's the problem. This is why India's got this massive chip on her shoulders. How long was she paying rent for then? Oh, I don't know. I don't know. A couple of years. I don't get involved in the money side of the family talk. A couple of years. But she's now living there rent free. So it's all fine. We're redressing the balance.

29:39I imagine that, Jo, you were paying it into her account as she was paying it out because you felt so guilty. Yeah, me. Yeah, I know. I do have that arrangement. I'm so like that. And you and Zoe Ball have got a podcast, which is gone huge. Yeah, no, it seems to be doing all right. Yeah. People seem to be quite liking it, which is good. It's filled a hole, which didn't exist, really. which is, it's really honest in the sense of you're both at a certain time in your life that I don't think is talked about much in podcast, which is kind of, well, difficult to put a label on. Go on, Josh. What are we?

30:15What are we? Go on. Let's do this. The stage of life. The late 20s. Is it late 20s? I think it is. A woman of a certain age. That difficult 30th birthday coming up. It's always a little bit of a head fuck. Fuck, 39 again, I think it was. Yeah, all these people who are 39 again and who are having to deal with everything that's kind of chaotic in life. So the kids growing up and how you deal with that and then trying to grapple with aging and how you look, how that changes and your body, how that feels. And then your parents and then work and your friends and people dying and people being bored.

30:53It's like all the crazy chaos of life that you have to deal with. You have no choice. And we just discuss that. I don't think people have heard you and Zoe talk about that kind of stuff because obviously on the radio shows, you're really talking about music in depth or like, especially with Zoe on the breakfast show, it's like get everyone up and excited for, you know, for work and school, jolly, jolly, jolly. Whereas, you know, some of your clips, I've seen some of this stuff and it's like really honest and some of it's quite like heartbreaking stuff you talk about, but it's really important things to chat about.

31:19But like, did you feel comfortable being that honest at the start or did it feel a bit different? Because, you know, you don't really, like you say, You never even used to talk about having kids at the start of your radio. I think we had the same thing, didn't we, as well? That we got more and more honest as we felt comfortable with it. I think neither of us had ever done podcasts. We didn't listen to podcasts at all. So we didn't really know what we were doing. We were just sitting... That's not very rude of you. We've been plugging away for years, Joe. Legacy media, legacy stars just jumping on the hot battle wagon with all their towers of woe.

31:55guilty. Listen, Zoe asked me if I wanted to do it. And I was like, yeah, I think so. Everyone keeps saying I should do a podcast. And you're basically, you're sitting in your room in your house, aren't you? So you feel really relaxed and you don't, you don't actually think that I think for about the first two months, I didn't actually think anyone would listen or watch what we were doing. So I was just talking to Zoe. And then it was only when people kept saying, I think you might've mentioned me in your podcast the other day. My 90 year old neighbor, Roy, I was saying how we have these parties that you know never stop and go on all night and i said oh i so i worry about my neighbor roy because he's 90 years old and then i went to visit him when it was his birthday and he was like i hear you talked about me on your podcast about the noise that you make and keep me awake all night i was like oh shit there is that feeling that you are just talking to a mate and then i know this sounds like kind of naive and glib but it is still a surprise when people have listened do you know i mean people have heard what you've said about them i think I don't know.

32:50It's just, it's very easy to open up. And obviously, because I've known Zoe forever, and we've had very similar lives, and we've got similar stuff going on. There are differences. I've kind of got a lot of chaos because the kids are around. And it's, I don't know, I was hearing you talk before we started to do this. And life is just so busy, isn't it? It's really manic. And trying to keep your head afloat when everything else is going on is quite hard. And Zoe lives in a city, because I'm in the countryside. So our lives are kind of parallel, but also quite different. So we've just got loads to talk about.

33:18So are you proper middle of nowhere, Jo? Well, we're outside of Milton Keynes. We're near Silverstone. We're kind of in, it's not in the middle of nowhere, but it's far enough away. So were you ferrying your kids a lot when you were a mum, like of younger kids before they could drive? Well, to school and to clubs and stuff like that. Yeah, because you have to, don't you, when you live in the countryside. Every party, every party is about half an hour away. So you're like, oh, of course, I'll come and pick you up at two o 'clock in the morning. That's absolutely fine. So do lots of that. That's what we have to do.

33:47We're a bit further out. So it's like, it's fine because the school's like 25 minutes away, which is sort of fine. But then if a party or an event's happening like the other side of the school, because obviously people live, however, in a radius of it. It's like you could be looking and staring down the barrel of like 25 minutes to the school, another 25 minutes past. You're like, this is a 50 minute journey here for an hour and a half party. Yeah. Oh no, you write off your evenings. Like it gets to the weekend. You're like, oh yeah, well, what will I be doing? Will I be watching TV? No, I won't be watching a film.

34:13I'll just be trying to stay awake and then I'll go, I'll be going out at one o 'clock. But you do it. If you choose to live in the countryside, then you tend to, you kind of have to do that. I think I'll be fine with that, really, because I like a podcast. I like a drive at night. Boxing finishes at about 11. I jump in the car and go and pick them all up. I've got no, I'm quite looking forward to that, actually. How old are your kids? Well, they're 10 and 8 in a couple of weeks. 10 and 8, OK. But yeah, there's a lot of ferrying going around. Like I said, you know your podcast and you've been a bit more honest and stuff.

34:40Have the kids complained about anything you spoke about and you've had to take out or have a longer chat with them about it? because obviously you're talking about everything. Yeah, no, Jude complains that I don't talk about him enough because he quite likes attention. He's my writer. He's the artistic, creative one in the family. So he's always like, I don't think you've mentioned me yet. Coco is obviously quite, you know, she's a 17-year-old girl and she's around a lot. So I'm constantly talking about her. The other day we had a party and the kids were just carrying on. It was half six in the morning.

35:09Did you see it? This sounded like, Jo, the drama you went through in your own head is exactly how I would have lived it as well. Yeah. What happened? I've not seen this. So where we live, we're in a barn conversion. We've got a little shed, which we call the Minuscule of Sound. And that is where people, the kids take over and they DJ. You know, there are lots of budding DJs in my family. So they'll DJ and it'll go on all night long. It'll finish at about seven o 'clock in the morning. And when I get up in the morning, there are just bodies all over the place. And there's been general carnage. It's a bit like Glastonbury after Glastonbury has been packed away.

35:42There's just, it's everywhere. and it got to about six o 'clock and I was I was like be the cool mum be the cool mum don't go downstairs don't shout but there were a few voices that were just so loud and I kept thinking oh my god you slept at all by this point I slept yeah I slept for a little bit but then they just kept waking me up all night long so then I had to go downstairs put some clothes on for the for the sake of the kids and I was trying to be so nice about it and I was like hey guys could you just kind of calm it down a little bit and then the next day Coco was like my friends are terrified of you now.

36:13How could you have spoken to them like that? I was like, oh my God, I could have spoken to them so much worse. I just wouldn't enjoy the feeling of having to go down and be the party pooper. Like I said about my neighbor, Roy, they live really close by and I was really worried. I'm always really worried. And I'm the only person who worries. Nobody else worries at all. Steve, my husband, is as deaf as it could possibly be. So once he's gone, he's gone. He doesn't hear anything. I'm the one with the conscience who's worried about the neighbors. So one time, the minuscule of sound, it was really kicking off and you could just hear.

36:42It was like a rave, like, like literally like a rave. And people from miles around were going, oh yeah, they're having another party. And, and it got to about five in the morning and I just went downstairs in my pants and I walked into the minuscule of sound and I just screamed at everybody, can you just turn this music off? And all I could see was India's new boyfriend at the time, just staring at me looking like the most terrified person in the world. And he was like, yes, we'll turn it off Miss Wiley. And that was my, that was probably my, my worst parenting moments like of losing it yeah and i didn't want to be that person but then i turned into that person yeah i mean 7 a.m the week in the shed with the music because the sound travels in the countryside it does no it does just the bass does roy say it's too loud has he ever complained thankfully roy is deaf and he said he just takes his hearing aids out so it's okay now oh so you're making the disabled person adjust are you yes

37:38oh roy seems like he's pretty chilled oh he's great no i love roy he's very he's really good he's very chill i never really bothered with neighbors when i lived in the city because everyone moved too much there was too many of them but actually in the countryside it's quite nice chatting to the people that live nearby you see i always worry i don't want to be that person who the taxi driver is going i had that joe wiley in the back of my cab the other day bitch i don't on that i'm tormented by that as well joe because what i'll do in cabs i know this is like um awful celeb chat but because i don't want to be asked about what jimmy carr is like or why i got into comedy all the usual questions that you ask i go front foot if i think they're going to talk to me and just start asking them lots of questions that's a good technique yeah musical taste i always do that yeah do you yeah which bands do you like and then you don't really have to speak then because they just talk for the whole of the journey so that's quite useful oh yes that's good get something they're passionate about if they've got a football team air freshener i'm away yeah exactly just ask what i think that isn't really good oh west ham aren't doing very well are they and then i can just look at my phone absolutely i don't know if i've told this before josh i was in a car once and you know if you do lots of tv shows they normally use one or two of the same companies so you get reoccurring drivers or different companies i was in a car with a bloke once and I was chatting to him he went you're actually all right you are I went oh thanks when why'd you say that he went well a couple of the drivers think you're a prick

39:09Jo I feel you're on my side of the people pleasing uh starter I am until someone makes my tea wrong and then and there's some something happens inside me and I'm like the incredible hulk and I hate it about myself and this is one of the things that the kids take mickey out of me for all the time um but yeah if someone makes makes me a milky tea i'm just like okay don't say anything don't say anything about your tea then joe it's basically hot water you get the tea bag you dip it in you take it out pretty quickly after about three seconds and you just got a tiny dash of dash tea i think they call it like a great tea a strong tea no no it's not strong tea joe how would you feel if someone removed the tea bag with their fingers oh i wouldn't mind that as As long as it was only in there for a certain amount of time.

39:51You grubby music lot. You're all in caravans backstage, dipping your fingers in everyone's PG tips. You've got a fist in your fucking twining. I don't care. Jo Wiley's real, Rob. She lives in the country. Absolutely. She's birthed a cow, probably. No, I was going to say, when people do talk to you, when they do recognise you, because I do quite a lot of swimming and open water swimming sometimes, And I really like the fact that nobody cares whether anyone is naked or not when you're getting changed. You know, if you go in a lake or a river or something like that or a Lido and then everyone goes into the changing rooms.

40:27I was in Brighton at the weekend. We went to the Lido there. And it's like men and women and they're all getting changed at the same time. And there's this like nobody particularly cares if you're trying to put your pants on. What's this sex place you're at? The way men and women are just getting naked together. If people are swimmers, they just don't care. Rob would like the exact part. Have you got the what? Three words. So you don't have to say anyone. Certainly, sir. Come in and get changed. I want everyone to like me. That's absolutely fine. Not a crossword. So all the open water swimmer crew get naked, just all genders.

40:59Yeah, they just kind of get changed in little tents. And you carry on talking. You're like, oh, you're crossing the channel and you're doing this. And everyone's just showing all their bits. And sometimes people do recognise you. And sometimes I'm thinking, I probably shouldn't be in this kind of state really talking to people. But it's fine. Nobody particularly cares. I can't believe I found another reason not to do open water swimming. So you're in this impromptu tent to go in the lake or wherever. You're getting changed and the man's getting changed. Now, will the man turn to put his trunks on so you just see his bum or is he just full bush?

41:31Yeah. No, it's not full frontal. It's normally bums that you see. Bums. I think face on bums is, but face on is just too relaxed. That's too European for me. what's your attitude in a gym changing room rob in terms of is does this make me a prude but i will almost put the short say i've got a towel on yeah i'm almost putting the shorts over the towel and then having to pull the towel out of the shorts no that's too much no you're just drawing attention to yourself yeah that's mental the message you're putting out is like look at me i'm too awkward and i'm too embarrassed and i've got something of a complex about my body I've been putting that message out for 18 years professionally, Joe.

42:13Look, I don't wander around naked, but I'll stand in front of the locker, facing the locker, stripped down with my bum facing the room. Yeah. So people see my bare bum. You could potentially get a profile shot of my dick if they crane their mitts. Which I'd say is the worst angle. A terrible angle. The side on. And obviously it's been cold. Yeah. In Japan, they're all naked in the toilet. We went swimming. My kids had to go in a separate one. because they're girls. And if you're over six, you can't go in with your parent. But all the men were just walking around completely naked and going in this onsen thing, like there's a jacuzzi thing and like a steam room.

42:52But I couldn't believe how bald all of the men's bodies were, apart from some of the biggest badger bushes I've ever seen. And I've been around the world. I couldn't believe how thick and dense the pubic region was compared to no hairy chests, no hairy backs. But then massive bush. Massive. Yeah, I was expecting sort of fairly low-key pubic area. Is that genetic or is that... I didn't ask. You know, there's a language barrier. We're both naked. It's a tough... You're trying not to look. I just point at the bush and go, how? Why? But yeah, it was mad. Joe, would you ever... This is a question. So your kids are at uni or got jobs?

43:32No, I'm going to ask you a question that's related to this. I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus and say that some people do do this. Would your – what was your husband's name again? Mark, was it? Steve. Steve, sorry, sorry. Steve Morton, come on. WM's. Steve Morton. Would you ever, if he asked, shave his back in the garden? No, I don't touch his body hair at all. Who did that? Oh, okay. Tell me the story. It's not a one-off. Oh, I think. I see. So Lou regularly does this for Rob. shears him like a sheep in the garden. I've got a really hairy chest and a hairy back. Quite minimal pubes.

44:10The complete opposite of the Japanese. So, no, I get hairy back. I shave my own chest because it gets so thick that the T-shirts get a bit bouncy. It looks like a sort of, you know, like that extra level of padding on a mattress, you know, the little mattress topper. So I shave my front and then I can't get to my back. Lou does my back. And we normally do it in the garden and the wind just take the hair. Like a sheep being sheared, yeah. You've got a hairy back. Me? No, Steve. Well, you can answer as well, do you? Is that why you're going full front at the open switch? We're looking for exclusives to clip up for Instagram.

44:45We can do what you say. As far as I know, I do not have a hairy back. Hairy toes, but not a hairy back. Is it because it's been shaved or you've never had one? Waxed. Me and Rob have heard a rumour around Radio 2 about your hairy back. And we thought we'd just bring it in subtly into the conversation. I really, really hate. In India, we'll always veet Steve's back. Like if we're having a party or if we're going on holiday, he's always like, Indy, can you do this? And she wasn't there. So you are farming that out to the poor girl that you're charging rent for. Yeah. So which one's veet? Is that?

45:21It's a cream. I've done it before, but it's stings. And then you basically put the cream on the back. Then you use a bit of plastic. So it's like a waxing. No. There's a chemical in it. The hairs fall out. Oh. And you scrape it. It's like a foamy chemical that just burns the hair off and then you just scrape it off. But you can't ever get rid of the foam. It stinks. I don't know whether you will. It stinks so badly. It really stinks. No matter how much they say, it's fragrance. And has he got patches or is it a full sort of, sorry, I don't feel like Steve's, we're giving a lot of Steve out there.

45:47In patches, I think Veet's quite good. But if you're doing a whole bag. I fear Rob's back is such a problem that it would overpower the Veet. It's not a problem. Lou did it before I went away, six weeks. So it's once every six weeks, Lou needs to shave my back. But in winter, sometimes we stretch that out a bit because it's too cold to go in the garden. Could I just say the way you phrased that, once every six weeks, Lou needs to shave my back. Puts it on Lou. It should be, once every six weeks, I need my back shaved and Lou does it for me. Not, once every six weeks, he's desperate to shave my back.

46:18He actually needs it. He needs it. How far down your arms? Because this is what I'm always intrigued by. I sometimes watch from a distance, but how far down your arms do you go? Because that's always the point that Steve's like, should I go any further? What should I do? So you've like got a weird, like non-hair t-shirt situation. So I've got like a little bit there, but like that is quite minimal. So it's just a quick little, little trim up. Oh, there's the kitten. There's the kitten. So I haven't got really hairy arms. It's a little bit there, but the back, again, if I don't shave it, the back gets bouncy on the t-shirt.

46:48Your kids must have so much fun. I like bouncy castle on my back. Let's go and bounce on daddy's back. So India does it for, have you never done it for Steve then? No, no, I wouldn't. You're just not into that. It's disgusting. No, it's disgusting. Podcasting, yes. And Lou doesn't want to do it for Rob. I always say, look, I'm happy to return the favour, Lou. If you need anything to trim in, I'll go down there and get it done. He never takes you up on it. He never takes you up on it. I can trim, I can wax, I can V, whatever you need, babe. Whatever you need. Jo, have you enjoyed joining the world of podcasting?

47:19Yeah, I have. Yeah, yeah. Because you meet a whole, a much wider amount of people. For some reason, everyone wants to talk to me now when I go out. Maybe because I'm giving so much more of myself in the podcast. I think it feels like people know you, not you, one. People know you so much more through the podcast than they would if you're, you know, saying, here's the new song from Fontaine's DC or whatever. Do you know what I mean? No, absolutely. I think I found that definitely is that actually the more you give across of yourself, actually it's not exposing, but actually it's quite endearing maybe.

47:52Well, you're sharing experiences, aren't you, that we're all going through. So people love to just come and chat about whatever they're going through that you've talked about on the podcast. So it's been nice. It's been really good. Apart from hairy back, seems to be only me. Can't wait for that conversation to come up when I'm in the supermarket next time. I think Steve will say to you, well, how come Lou does Rob's back, but you won't do my back? It'll be a firm fat no. Really? Never going to happen. Well, that little beard trim, it's a bit of fun. It's quite mindfulness. It's like adult colour and inbook.

48:22India likes doing it, so it works. Okay, fair enough. Rob, also I've got a voice note from Lou, and I'm going to say it. I'll save it for the one where it's just us, but she doesn't like it as much as you claim she likes it. I don't claim she likes it. It's a necessary evil. I don't like dragging three bins of cardboard out every other week because she's been shopping again. But I love her and I do it. Oh, hello, Victor Meldrew. I don't love it, but I do it. Oh, Joe, with your kids and music, because I think that's a real, it's a thing you can share with you. Like even like we were listening to the new Taylor Swift album when we were driving yesterday.

49:01And it's really nice to share that with my daughter who's singing along. And that's a real touch point. Do they have the same taste in music as you or have they kicked against you and your indie sensibilities? No, no. India went through the Spice Girls when I was. Obviously, you can imagine I'm on the evening session and India's obsessed with the Spice Girls. and that was quite a difficult one. I had to go to an evening with the Spice Girls. I think we sat next to Richard and Judy at the thing and I was obviously sitting there like hiding behind my fringe hoping that nobody would see me. So the Spice Girls was a difficult thing but I've come around to quite like the Spice Girls now in hindsight.

49:34Yeah, I think I like the Spice Girls. Yeah. I do. But no, not really. No, we like the same kind of music. We went to Taylor Swift. Did you think it was a bit long? There was one album that she did. Was it Folklore or there was... No, I love The Hour in the Middle because you had an opportunity. You knew you weren't going to miss anything good. You could go to the merch for the kids, get drinks for the kids, whatever it is. I had an hour to myself. I am all for that hour in the middle. That hour it should go, look, if you're here with someone and you're not into this, fuck off now. You're not going to like it.

50:07You won't know any songs. Do a bit of admin on your phone. I wish you just said that. I went, look, basically, fuck off now. Come back an hour. I'll do all the ones you know. You probably saw Steve in the merch queue because he disappeared for about an hour and came back with like armfuls of T-shirts. My thing about concert music is I just wish they were honest about what's happening. You know what I mean? Like with your fake on cause of coming, you know, cause you know, they're going to come back on again. Cause they've not done that song. They released the lineup. That's a weird doorbell, isn't it?

50:32Sorry. Sorry. I'm the only one in. I fancy musical. Oh, he's gone. He's gone. Yeah. Cause I think I love what Oasis did where they said it started that. That's when cast are on. That's when they're on. We're on here. This is the songs. See you later. How much more fun is that? Cause then you can pick a song to go for a piss in. I know. Which ones? Okay. You went to Oasis. Yes. At what point did you go for a piss? Well, no, I went for a piss in between the interval. Cause I knew there was that, you know, they go off, not the interval, the waiting for the encore bit. I had a quick piss then, but there was a song, what was the song that I thought was one of the Noel Gallagher ones that I was like.

51:06Sorry. You didn't like it? No, it was amazing live, but I was a bit like, Half the world away. Josh, what was Noel Gallagher's section of Oasis? There was a song that I thought was going to be shit live, but was. Little by little. Yes. Little by Little live was amazing. I was like, oh, it's a bit nothingy, that song. But that was one of the biggest songs when we were there. Yeah, that caught me by surprise. I've never really liked that, but it was a real moment. It was the only one they did that was post Be Here Now as well. It's like he's gone, that's the only song since 1997 that I'm proud of.

51:36No, but I think he knows it works with a big crowd. Yeah, it does. It's one of them ones through experience he's gone that always smacks, even though it's not one of the most famous ones. Do you talk to musicians about parenting? Like, would you like, if you were like, you've got, I don't know, Richard Ashcroft in or whatever, would you be like, how's the family? Is it or is everyone too cool for that? No, no, no. In fact, I did that exact thing a couple of weeks ago when he was in session. Yeah, because our kids have grown up. It's really quite sweet now because the kids are kind of similar ages and some of them have met at various festivals and things.

52:05So, yeah. And it's always interesting to talk to them about how they are because you get, this is why you do this podcast. You get a different side of people, don't you? Yeah, totally. I remember interviewing Noel and him talking with so much pride about Anais and her being a photographer at the time. And it was just really lovely just to see a nice soft side of Noel. So, yeah, because you can't keep up that act of that nonchalant megastar music genius where it's like, well, that is the real thing that brings everyone back down to earth, whoever you are. He can't go, she's not as good as me, which is his stock response to everything else.

52:39I imagine Noel Gallagher's shit at photography. His massive boomer leather case on his phone. He's getting lots out of it. He took 30 incredible photos in the 90s. And ever since then, he's been struggling to match it. It's more difficult now because the people that I'm interviewing, invariably, are the same age as my children. So now I'm the tip of the two. I can't kind of go, well, how's your child? Are you getting enough sleep? Yes, exactly. Don't let the pressure get to you. Is someone looking after you? Who's looking after the numbers? Yes. That must be so hard because I think in music, it's a much bigger thing where these megastars at 17, 18, earning all this money.

53:14And then you see them walk into a room and you must be able to judge now if they're being looked after properly or there's those leeches from the music industry all over them. And is it hard not to just go, I don't think they've got your best, you need a breaker, they're working you too hard or, you know. Oh no, I definitely have those conversations. Just like, my main one is normally, has Elton John phoned you yet? Is Elton looking after you? Because he seems to be this kind of, this godparent that's coming to so many people's lives, just checking out that they're okay, like lowly young. I was worried about her, but apparently she's living at his house, so that's okay, with Sam Fender.

53:46She fainted, didn't she, on stage? Yeah, yeah. And then Lewis Capaldi, obviously, he's famously, you know, had troubles and stuff like that. So it must be so difficult to have that much attention. Oh, my God, nightmare. But people like Lily Allen and Amy and Adele, when they were starting out, they had the same thing, and no one really talked about it. Like, there wasn't that much care about people's mental health or the pressures they were under. You just had the NME. Can you imagine? Yeah. Did you, because I did a thing and there was an actor and they had an entourage and I would have turned up for this either on my own or maybe with my PR who I'd have thought, why are you here?

54:26And they had an entourage of 21 and I wanted to say to them, you are paying for this. Yeah, I know, I know. Please understand. They're not here as mates. You have got 21 people on your payroll for a promo interview. At best, they're all on the train. Yeah, yeah. Or worse. They've all got their own Mercedes driving them over. Yeah, I know. Jo, it's been a joy speaking to you. Your podcast, do you know what? People think that there's like established, there is established podcasts, but once every kind of six months one breaks through and becomes part of the kind of main furniture podcast, Dig It has done that.

55:04I'm very pleased because uh because you know you and Zoe are very nice people and also um crucially you know it got us two free guests to promote and that is that is very difficult for us we always end on the same question Rob would you like to do the final question yes now what is the one thing that Steve does as a parent that you think oh my god you're amazing incredible so lucky to have you as my kid's dad and what's the one thing he does for you go don't really like that that's annoying and if you stop that I'd appreciate it and if he was to listen he might also go yeah she's got a point there the thing i love about him is that he's massively exuberant and we call him disco steve because he brings a party to every gathering wherever we are if we go out for dinner if we go any any time anybody comes around he just has so much energy and so much charisma and um he's just like a big kid and i really love that because i i quite like taking a back seat and i'm happy for him to just shine and entertain everybody and that that's why we work but you know the kids love him so much because he's so much fun what do i not like about him it's the back isn't it it's the back it's the back it's the heavy back no it's the selective hearing it's the oh no he can never find it no now i've started a list he can never find anything ever anywhere where are my pants where is my phone where is my breakfast anything and everything he cannot find it and i would just literally just pick it up and just go here it is and just give it to him straight away.

56:30Does he ask you for it as well? Does he ask you where it is? No, he's very, very loud. So he just, he doesn't ask. He just stomps around the house in a very loud voice, just going, where is my phone? And so I could do without that in my life, but otherwise he's brilliant. I tell you what he never loses, the life and soul of the party. Disco Steve, our DJ until 7am, popping around Roy's to take his hearing aids off. Take these off, son. You too, because your kids are younger. I'm almost envious of you because you have so much ahead of you like the them growing up i love every different stage of being a parent it's just so much fun and i'm at the stage now which i also i really really love but it's my kids and they've now got partners so they've become part of our extended family as well so it's like the family just it grows and it grows and kids as well and yeah not far off god i can't wait i really can't wait but it's just like this this party that gets bigger and bigger and bigger with more different interesting characters coming in all the while.

57:24It's just the best thing in the world. You've got four kids. If that, like, you know, if you say all of them have two each, it's a lot of fucking babysitting, aren't it? Oh no, I can't wait. They'll be coming into Radio 2 with me. In telly in the boat. No, this worked for me when mine were young. I'm bringing the telly. Uncle Dermot's going to do a dance for you. Uncle Dermot's dancing. Is there anything else, Sean, to promote apart from the podcast? Is there anything else? Oh, 90s anthems. You could mention that. the gigs that I do. This sounds like my scene. Talk to us quickly. When I'm not doing my show Monday, Thursday, then invariably on a Friday night, I'll be somewhere in the country doing the 90s anthems.

58:01And that's really taken off as well. Like the podcast, it's just hit a nerve. And there are so many people who grew up listening to Pulp and James and Oasis. Oh my God, inject it into my veins. So how does it work? Talk me through. Is this like a sort of a theatre that we would do, that kind of gig? Rob, she's doing similar theatres. So you're doing the G Live. You're doing Cambridge Corn Exchange, York Barbican, Cliffs Pavilion Southend, all the ones we know, Rob. And they're seated. Are they seated downstairs and upstairs? It varies. It's better if they're not seated because everyone dances.

58:34They take the seats out, so everyone's dancing. Brilliant. It's quite a show. We've got massive screens and lots of effects going on. It's really, really brilliant for nostalgia. We show loads of old videos and TV stuff. Intercut with the music. Why did we waste time talking about your podcast? to your kids. I want it in 50 minutes of this chat. Josh will be there at the AG Live. Excellent. The cheese and grain in Frome. I'm going to be there on Friday. They are ravaged. That's sold out, Joe. That's sold out. I know. But don't worry, you're coming back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been there like every year for about the past five, six years.

59:08Actually, you're coming back the following October, so it's difficult. I won't book it in quite yet because it's difficult to know what I'm up to on the 2nd of October, 2026, but you know. But I can put you on the guest list anytime. It's fine. You don't have to get tickets. Oh, thank you. Do you ever do Exeter? No, we haven't done South... Have I done Exeter? I'll speak to my agent. I'll speak to this boy, Steve. Do you ever do London? We're trying to get a London date in. I'll see if I can make that happen for you as well, Rob, so it's nice and easy for you. Or Bromley Churchill. Never played there.

59:36Never been asked to. They're really, really fun nights out. People just reliving their youth. That's what it is. With the mates that they used to go to uni with, they kind of get together, have massive reunions. My bars apparently sell more than most people's. Do they? There's so much money spent at the bar. Yeah. That's why I keep getting asked back. Oh, my word. They love a drink, those 90s kids. Oh, my word. There's a Spotify playlist on your website. I'm going to listen to that while I work this afternoon. Okay. Enjoy it. Cheers, Jo. Take care. Bye. Jo Wiley. There we go. I love Jo Wiley. She's nice, isn't she?

1:00:10She looks and sounds exactly the same as when I was 10.

1:00:17Not me when I was 10. No, no, you're different now. Yeah. You're a different beast. You're all man. I didn't look like Joe Wiley when I was 10. That would have been quite an option. Same colour hair. You was very blonde. I was very blonde. She's kept her blonde. Different voice, though. She's got, you know, the perfect voice for radio. Would you say she's husky? And you've got the perfect voice for a cartoon character. Tell that to my fucking agent. Well, you do old Big Lizard, didn't you? I do old Big Lizard, yeah. Is it called Big Lizard? It is called Big Lizard. Yeah, Big Lizard, yeah. It feels like Big Lizard is me getting something wrong, like...

1:00:49Yeah, yeah. At least Godzilla, Rob. Yeah, yeah. I was in Godzilla, yeah. Jurassic Park 3. Josh Whittacombe does the voice of Godzilla in Godzilla. Spread it round. Josh, you're going to be all over that 90s show, aren't you? Oh, God. If only she was coming to exit. Now, the London-centric media, Rob. Don't get me started on the London-centric... The phone's near you, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Go there. Yeah, I will. When in from, that's what I'll say. A little time. Oh, that's good. I can't believe I've never done that as an opening joke in Frome. When in Frome? See you next week, Josh. Bye.

1:01:30Hello, Parenting Hell listeners. Recognise that voice? Yes, it's Josh Whittacombe here.

1:01:38I have got a new podcast, Josh Whittacombe's Museum of Pop Culture, And I'm going to say it, I'm about 85 % sure you're going to love it. Here are the reasons why. Number one, I'm confident if you're listening now, you don't hate me and possibly think I'm funny. Number two, I'm confident if you're listening now, you like podcasts. Number three, I'm confident if you're listening to me and Rob, you prefer pop culture to people talking about things, let's be honest, boring things like history, economics or politics. I know I do. And that is why I made this podcast. I wanted a show that tells the stories I love from popular culture in the way other podcasts do for drier topics.

1:02:15See above. Basically, I wanted a podcast that realised Milli Vanilli were more interesting than Elizabeth I. Join me as I give the definitive, or at least the funniest, takes on Mr Blobby. When Ghostwatch convinced BBC viewers ghosts were real. When a band burned a million pounds for a laugh. The Spice Girls, a truly catastrophic Spider-Man musical with music from U2. and David Hasselhoff, Baywatch and his part in the fall of the Berlin Wall. All of them are real, by the way. Either you know what these things are and you're about to learn far more about them than you ever realised you wanted to, or you don't and you're about to be introduced to some of the maddest things in modern or ancient history.

1:02:53Stiffnecks will learn, loose necks will laugh. New episodes available every Wednesday and Saturday. Perfect to fill those gaps between your weekly doses of parenting hell. So go on, you might as well listen, subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts now. Museum of Pop Culture with me, Josh Widdicombe Available everywhere on the 1st of January