In short
Zoe Ball discusses parenting across two children, especially tiredness, boundaries, emotional connection, and managing teenage years; she also talks about her career shift, sleep, and her gardening-led podcast.
Guest backgrounds
Zoe Ball is a British TV/radio presenter (Radio 1/Radio 2 breakfast shows; Live and Kicking). She has two children: Woody (about 25, an international DJ) and Nell (15). She co-hosts a podcast, Dig It, with Joe Wiley.
Key claims
Breakfast-show tiredness is worse than the first year of having a baby because baby sleep never “catches up,” while radio can include afternoon naps. Kids’ “party years” vary by school cohort, and she doubts the idea that teens drink less. She says her children are “empaths” who care deeply about friends and can absorb others’ moods. She and ex-husband Norm maintain a “kind” co-parenting setup inspired by Norm’s family, keeping both sides together for major events.
Notable examples
Woody’s Glastonbury set (playing “Greenpeace tree”) moved her group to tears; Woody texts “when you get there.” Nell still climbs into bed for comfort, but Woody refuses to sleep in the same room. She describes pregnancy weight gain and returning to work quickly for career security.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOListener Interaction
0:57 to 1:23
Hosts read a listener's message about parenting struggles.
“Right now, get up to 15 % off select storage solutions.”
Listener Interaction
2:09 to 3:19
Hosts read a listener's message about parenting struggles.
“right gabriella can you say bob beckett bob beckett good girl can you say josh widdegum What does we do?”
Tiredness and Parenting
3:19 to 4:04
Hosts discuss the challenges of parenting while tired.
“You're throwing shit at the other kids talking.”
Guilty Pleasures and Snacks
4:04 to 6:28
Discussion about favorite snacks and guilty pleasures as parents.
“Well, I think I'd actually blast through.”
Late Night Treats
6:28 to 8:30
Hosts share their late-night snack preferences and habits.
“But if I'm off the fucking hook, I've got a massive bowl of milk.”
Anticipation for Guest
8:30 to 9:56
Hosts share their excitement for the upcoming guest Zoe Ball.
“Tonight, I'm going to have a bowl of shreddies.”
Zoe Ball on Parenting
10:44 to 14:01
Zoe Ball shares insights on her parenting journey and experiences.
“You've got to remember, I'm sort of two generations above you.”
Navigating Parenting Expectations
14:01 to 18:22
Discussion on the challenges of parenting, including setting boundaries and managing expectations.
“It is good to go to sleep and not drink on a weekday and be a good parent.”
Watching Woody DJ
18:54 to 21:31
Emotional reflection on watching her son Woody perform as a DJ and the pride it brings.
“From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it.”
Parenting Through Separation
21:31 to 24:07
Insights into parenting during and after a separation, focusing on communication and relationships.
“Yeah, I think until that point, I'd probably massively failed as a mother in the fact that I was always working.”
Show all 27 chapters
Creating a Supportive Family Dynamic
24:07 to 28:00
Exploration of maintaining a healthy family dynamic post-divorce, emphasizing collaboration and support.
“An empath, I think, is someone who is very much sort of feels the mood of other people around them and reacts to that.”
Navigating Co-Parenting After Divorce
28:00 to 29:08
Learn how to maintain a positive co-parenting relationship post-divorce.
The Transition of Parenting Teens
29:08 to 31:14
Discuss the challenges and changes in parenting teenagers compared to younger children.
“I've got an exciting bit of news for you, Zoe.”
Coping with Kids' Independence
31:14 to 34:00
Explore the bittersweet experience of children growing up and seeking independence.
“the last couple of months for a number of reasons, have slept with one of our daughters and it's absolutely sending us insane.”
The Struggles of Parenting and Work Balance
34:00 to 35:59
Learn about the challenges of balancing work commitments and parenting responsibilities.
“You must have been asked, the two of you, even to do deaths.”
Transitioning to Podcasts and Their Appeal
35:59 to 37:57
Discover the allure of podcasts and how they can foster connections and friendships.
“It's been a month or two, hasn't it, by now?”
Lighthearted Conversations About Chub Rub
37:57 to 41:25
Engage in a humorous discussion about body image and the issues of chub rub.
“So you were chatting about chub rub with Jo.”
Support and Clothing Choices
42:00 to 43:15
The discussion explores the concept of support in men's clothing and humorous takes on fashion choices.
“Can I ask a question, though, as a woman?”
Support and Clothing Choices
43:20 to 43:48
The discussion explores the concept of support in men's clothing and humorous takes on fashion choices.
“Sierra has all the best active and outdoor brands for the super athletic stuff, like running gear for cruising up the trail.”
Pregnancy and Work-Life Balance
43:48 to 46:43
Zoe shares her experiences balancing pregnancy with work, discussing societal expectations and personal challenges.
“Can I ask a question that, I might say vaguely relates to the topic.”
Sibling Rivalry and Family Dynamics
46:43 to 48:37
Zoe discusses her children's sibling rivalry and the dynamics of their relationship.
The Importance of Sibling Relationships
48:37 to 49:29
Zoe reflects on the value of sibling support through personal experiences and familial strength.
“But tenure, it's such a hard age gap because Woody would just have to let her win everything for the first 10 years and then he's 20.”
Future Generations and Family Legacy
49:29 to 53:10
The hosts discuss hopes for the future regarding their children's lives and families.
“Like there's like a motherly energy that comes from you as well that sort of comes through.”
Television and Family Projects
53:10 to 56:01
Zoe shares insights on working in television with her son and thoughts on family entertainment.
“Oh, yeah, I don't know if I'd want to leave the kids for that long.”
Reminiscing About the Past
56:01 to 56:59
The hosts share humorous stories about their past experiences on buses.
“And we were near the end, but I'd fall asleep on the bus.”
Parenting Insights from Zoe Ball
57:00 to 58:31
Zoe Ball discusses parenting strengths and challenges with her partner.
“I always say to my fellow who works in the industry as well, I'm like, so many ****.”
Zoe's Upcoming Show and Q&A
58:32 to 59:13
Zoe Ball shares details about her podcast and engages in a light discussion.
Transcript
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1:31hello i'm rob beckett and i'm josh widdickham welcome to parent in hell the show in which josh and i discuss what it's really like to be a parent which i would say can be a little tricky so to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern day parenting each week we'll be chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping or hopefully how they're not coping and we'll also be hearing from you the listener with your tips advice and of course tales of parenting woe because let's be honest there are plenty of times when none of us know what we're doing hello you're listening to parenting hell with right gabriella can you say bob beckett bob beckett good girl can you say josh widdegum What does we do?
2:21Try again. Josh Whedagam. Josh Whedagam. Yes, that's good. Well done. Is that a South African accent? Is that a South African accent I can hear? No. Originally from Birmingham, now Yorkshire. Hang on, roll back. Blair again. The mum's definitely South African. Maybe she doesn't know. Right, Gabriela. Not there. Can you say Rob Beckett? Rob Beckett. Good girl. Can you say Josh Whedagam? what does me do try again yeah try again right South African she's South African yes that's good well done yes that's good well done no my ear's not working this is my three-year-old daughter Gabriela she seemed to quite enjoy doing this at some point I will have to stop listening to your podcast with her in the car hopefully not just yet though I actually hate listening to other people's children at the start of the podcast but if you can't beat them join them thanks to the pod it's always nice to hear we're all muddling through together from Holly and Gabriella.
3:18Oh, we're not muddling through together. You're throwing shit at the other kids talking. Fair enough. No one likes other people's kids. I mean, that's an absolutely fucking wild way to start a podcast, Josh. What? You're just... You're tired. Tired. Luckily, we've got Zoe Ball, who dealt with tiredness her whole career. She knows her way around a bit of tiredness, mate. I know we spoke about it before, but do you think you could ever do the breakfast show? No. You're just not a morning person. I'd be fine doing it and getting through it. Yeah. But the rest of the day, you will feel jet lagged.
3:50Yes. For five years. For five years. I've got no interest in feeling like that. You would have your head in your hands at one minute to six. And then the producer would go, you're on air. And you'd be full of beans. Well, I think I'd actually blast through. I'd actually get up. I'd have a shower. And I think what would happen is I'd actually at 5am or whatever go, do you know what? I feel fine. I've had six hours sleep. I feel fine. and then oh my work's done oh my work's done at nine yeah it was my work's done at nine and then i'd finish at nine and at three minutes past nine i'd go why do i feel so sad i don't want the rest of the day because i'm just trying to stay up and i want to eat sugar to get through and i'd feel it would be like having a young child forever what is your little josh widdakombe treat if you're gonna go to the shops and get some little sweeties to watch a film or something what you're doing do you know what i've really got into recently rob this isn't sweet i've got obsessed with shreddies okay well like frosted shreddies no cool's not straight shreddies i'm a shred head yeah okay fair enough you're waking up and having shreddies you know i'm not waking up and having shreddies rob when you're having shreddies after the kids are gone to bed it's a treat yeah but what weird milk real milk yeah yeah cow milk semi-skimmed cow tell me so you're on the cow but that's your treat is that's like your sweet treat thinking about it now i'm going i can't wait for it later right so the kids are away and you and rose are in a hotel somewhere and they're not going to do shreddies are they because no but you're all snowed in right apart from you can literally walk across the road there's a petrol station with all the normal petrol station sweets and crisps and stuff like that what are you getting and then you're going to go back to the room and watch a film in the bed.
5:37Fizzy water. Fizzy water, okay. So you're asking what chocolate bar are we getting? No, I'm asking you, you could get crisps if you want, you could have chewing, you could get ice cream there, you could have... I wouldn't go ice cream. I'd probably get a whisper. A whisper and a fizzy water. If they've got apple ties, I love that. Oh. Do you know what it is? I always think people change as they get older, but I think I've worked out there are just people that act like they're a nan now yeah and that's fine and you love those little bubbles in your mouth what are you getting from a petrol station that's so young and happening and cool you're getting a bottle of prime i'm i'm having a fanta twist zero fine fine you've had a fanta twist no i don't it's too sugary for my taste and don't say there's no sugar what i mean is like it's too sweet for my taste i'm having that and i'm probably having um steak mccoy's maybe some scampi fries which i enjoy a little squares there you go you relax it into it and then chocolate wine i love a ferro rocher i might have a little pint of milk sorry you're accusing me of being a grand and you're having a ferro rocher i think you've got a fucking bowl of shreddies dry not even frosted come on no no no for them steak mccoy's they're fucking sad little weak tongues wouldn't deal with that fucking crinkled Ridge telling me a nan's chomping through that gummy gummy gum gums no they're sucking on a whisper and choking down some fizzy water I love a whisper fucking great it melts in your mouth you've got to be sat there in an old people's home sucking on a whisper because your teeth don't work and I'm going to be next to you fucking mumbling on Ferrero Rocher edges Ferrero Rocher is an old person snack let's put a vote up on our Instagram what's more old person whisper or Ferrero Rocher you're struggling with a Ferrero Rocher if you ever want to do the impression of Josh Riddick we go for a rocher right if you want to be a Mancunian do avocado for a rocher yeah for a rocher I think it's an old person snack I'd say it's one down from an after 8 no but I do think an after dinner treat at home a bowl of normal shreddies is mad so what are you having at 10pm yeah and Lou goes well when I'm being good nothing I'll have those 10 calorie jellies and then protein yogurt with strawberries cut up into it, a little sprinkling of granola and honey.
7:58That's my healthy little go-to. I think we've done this before. But if I'm off the fucking hook, I've got a massive bowl of milk. And in the massive bowl of milk, I'm putting all the different types of cereal I've got. I'm talking cornflakes, that weird mess of stuff, mess of Sunrise the kids had. I've got this protein-packed cinnamon hoops. I've got protein-packed chocolate hoops. I'm crushing up for a Rocher in there. and I'm also putting a big fucking spoon in the Nutella and then shoving that in the fucking bowl and mixing it all up and getting it down my gob while you're there sucking off a whisper.
8:31Come on, mate. Live. That sounds awful. Tonight, I'm going to have a bowl of shreddies. You're warm out. Do you know what I think's overrated? You've got the tongue of an evacuee. I think dinner's overrated. I was quite happy to have a bowl of shreddies I have every night. You can't just eat shreddies every night. I know. because society says I can't and so I don't. You're shreddies for dinner. Why don't? Toast for lunch, porridge for breakfast. Because you're not meant to. Okay, but if you could, you'd have shreddies for dinner. Toast for lunch? No, I'm not having toast for lunch. Toast for breakfast?
9:02No, I don't have toast for breakfast. Well, you're not having toast then. I'm not having toast. You love toast. I know, but I'm on a shreddy kick at the moment. Yeah, but you put toast on your off menu. You're not having toast at all all day. No, not at the moment. You've gone off toast. I haven't gone off toast. Well, you're not having it. You're not on it. You must be off it. You don't have to eat everything every day to like it. I haven't gone off pizza, but I'm not having that today. Do you know what? Because this is recorded before Zobel. We'll ask her what, uh, opening question. What's your late night treat?
9:34And it ain't going to be dry shreddies. Exactly. Anything you want to ask Zobel before we interview her? No. Well, I'm interested, obviously, her son's become a DJ. Yeah. That's quite exciting. I think she does Gogglebox with her son, doesn't she? Yeah, his name is Woody. Is it Woody? Woody Cook. Yeah. And she used to host Live and Kicking and the Radio 2 and Radio 1 breakfast shows. I bet she still knows the Live and Kicking phone number. That's a good question. Do you know it? What's happened to Trevor and Simon? 081-811-8181. Who's Trevor and Simon? Trevor and Simon used to do the comedy sketches on Live and Kicking.
10:09They were fucking brilliant. We don't do duvets. I don't know that. Oh, for fuck's sake, turn that off What happened there? You know what's happened there, your iMessage went off again No, that's not my iMessage, it's a different sound What's it saying? Updates available It doesn't need to tell me that, with such Yeah, you can get frosted shreddies now You bought an old c*** Do you know what, we have got a bag of frosted shreddies But I, um, too much for you I bought by mistake and I've opened them I just think, I don't want that Have one tonight and blow your socks off No, it's too much Your tongue won't know what's hit it I'll get a painful tongue probably Here's Zoe Ball Here's Zoe Ball Welcome to the show, Zoe Ball Hello, boys We're very excited to have you, Zoe We've wanted you for ages Yeah Well, it's quite a thing for me Because all my mates are like crazy super fans of your podcast And to talk about you in Ceph No, podcast is quite a new thing to me, Josh I will freely admit I, apart from newscasts, I don't listen to a lot of podcasts.
11:14You've got to remember, I'm sort of two generations above you. You're here to promote one, Zoe. I am here to promote one. Look, I'm not really into them, but I've got one. Like me and my ice cream machine. No, do you know what? It's all new to me. I quite like watching the clips on Instagram. You know, I'd still use a fax. If I was allowed, I would still be using a fax and an old-fashioned type. What would you fax? What would be the first thing you faxed if you'd allowed to fax? I would fax my agent saying, why the hell am I doing this podcast? No, I wouldn't have. Well, thanks for joining us, Zoe.
11:48Oh, you know I love you. You've got two kids, correct? Boy and a girl? Yeah, well, as far as I know, I often joke with them. I'm like, well, there's also Roger who lives in Tennessee. No, there are just the two. There are just the two. And you know what? If we hadn't mucked about so much, I'd love to have had more. But I feel very blessed to have a boy with a girl Woody is going to be 25 Oh wow I know, it's amazing But in my head you're 25, Zoe That's one of the problems And you're still using fax machines I'm so excited I am permanently stuck in the early 90s Isn't that a thing where you sort of see yourself as a certain age?
12:30I mean I don't feel 28 I feel that's my attitude of sort of being one. And the best years of your life, although I think they are still to come, boys. That's what I'm hoping for. I think everyone has an age that suits them. I think, Josh, your age really should be about like 58, 61, around that. It's younger than I expected you to say. I don't know. You just have the air of a cup of tea and a biscuit and a sit down. And you've always wanted that, even when you were young. There's the tea. There's the tea. Yeah, yeah. And what's Zoe's age then, Rob? Well, 28. Would you say 28? 28. About 28, I think.
13:02What's yours Rob? I think mine's going to be about 41 And I'm a couple of years off that What's going to change in the next two years? I feel like a youngish uncle It's my sort of Peak age As in the youngish cool uncle Or the youngish Oh no he's here again Don't get stuck next to Uncle Rob He's been brought in for questioning by the police Again that uncle I feel like I'm that uncle that isn't cool but if you ended up sitting with him at a restaurant for a family do, he'd understand the things you're talking about. Yeah. But may not necessarily be in them, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. It would actually be a bit embarrassing because he'd try and join in.
13:44Well, that's always going to be the danger of me at 41 as my eternal age. But then at 28, your eternal age, aren't you too tempted to carry on the night out and stuff like that, Zoe? That is a 28-year-old. Yeah, that is the danger. The danger is no boundaries. I had no boundaries at 28 and that is something that you learn. As you get older, it's like, oh, it is good to have boundaries. It is good to lower your expectations. It is good to go to sleep and not drink on a weekday and be a good parent. So, yeah, I think. How old were you when you had kids? So I had Woody when I was 30. I just turned 30 when Woody was born.
14:22He was born in 2000. And it's sort of when you look back now, you know, that's exactly when you should be having kids in your late 20s, 30s, because your body's ready, you've got the energy. But it was a bit of a shock. I was the first of my mates to have a kid. Were you doing the Radio 1 Breakfast Show? I'd left the breakfast show, the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. But, you know, Norm was DJing all over the world. Life was pretty hectic and Woo was born into that. And we weren't ready. And he, I call him Rave Monkey. He was born into that world and he has taken the battle in love with it. but I don't necessarily think that raising a child in that chaos is a good idea.
15:03Were you like going to Ibiza or whatever and he'd come along and it would be a bit like family on tour? Yeah, we'd go. In fact, we'd just been to Ibiza this year and all our friends who'd been going for about 30 years and our kids have all grown up together. There's new generation of little ones and we're all together. and it sort of blows your mind. You're like, oh my God, yeah, 25 years ago. And now the kids are going out and I'm getting up and picking them up. Oh, wow. You know, Woody was in Yishwaya and somewhere else. In fact, Woody was supposed to come out for a week and ended up coming out for 36 hours because he'd come straight out of Boomtown.
15:41And it's like, of course he's not going to make a flight on a Monday or just come straight out of Boomtown. So what you're saying is, you know, raising a child in the 90s when you're 30, He married to an international DJ. Had no impact on him as an adult. Absolutely zero impact. Yeah. It's actually went the other way. He rebelled, went the other way. We used to joke. We're like, oh, you know, maybe he'll become a physicist. I was like, of course he's not going to become a physicist. He's going to be a lunatic raver. More of a chemist, I imagine, in our view. How do you find, like, that kind of...
16:14Are you giving, like, be careful when you go out, be careful when you go to festivals? Yeah, of course I am. And he just looks at me. He did say a couple of years ago, because those first initial years, he was in one of those years at school. And apparently you occasionally get those years in school where the kids are full on party. And then you get a year that are quite chill and quite quiet and quite studious. I mean, all his friendship group are full on and they are amazing. And I adore them. And they've sort of all grown up around us. but yeah it was terrifying as parents and we'd we'd be calling each other going well i'm worried about you know what he's doing where he's and he'd just look at us and go you can't talk you too i know what you did but it is worrying as a parent when you know things have changed since we were young and we you two might be different but i never rang my parents to tell them i was okay i never rang them to say i'd landed somewhere or somewhere in a car full of lunatics you know driving back from Wigan, go, I remember driving back from a gig once and the person driving said, who's driving the car?
17:17And thinking, my God, we're all going to die. You know, we're terribly irresponsible. So when you're then telling your kids to be responsible, you know, they look at you and you say, but once you've got your own kids, you say, one day you'll appreciate why I'm so worried about you. I've got this plate in the kitchen that says, text me when you get there it's like just let me know yeah you're alive and Woody will do that thing he'll wind me up would he live with you no no he lives in Bristol with all his mates they're all brilliant and they're all DJs and creatives and fantastic rave lunatics I love them all they're brilliant right now get up to 15 off select storage solutions Put heavy-duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you.
18:05The solid, impact-resistant design prevents cracking, and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked. Find select shelving and tote storage up to 15 % off at the Home Depot to organize every room in your home, from your garage to your attic. Visit homedepot.com, how doers get more done. Sierra has all the best active and outdoor brands for the super athletic stuff, like running gear for cruising up the trail. Woo! And the super athletic-ish stuff, like fishing gear for chilling by the creek. Nice cast. Fitness apparel to push for higher reps. You got this!
18:44And golf balls priced so you can afford to lose one. Or a few. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. How does it feel watching him DJ? Like, are you front of the dance floor? Are you going for it? Is there a tear in your eye? Oh, yeah. The first time I ever saw him DJ, I was with quite a big group of his friends, my brother, some of my best mates, and he played the Greenpeace tree at Glastonbury, which, Josh, I know you'll know, Rob, I hate it, never went back. but he played that and there'd been a band on opposite where he was playing who had gone down really well the crowd were pumping i mean palms and pacing down all of us like oh please this amazing crowd let him and he came on and we were all in tears he just handling the wind had the magic handling he went a little harder than that josh it was incredible and my brother nick who never cries he's the uncle you ought to be rob yeah and he famously never cries and even nick famously i mean he's been in some horrendous situations and he's stood firm famously he was moved to tears i saw the soul tear run down his face i remember norm's sister lois was with us and she went oh my lord he's got it he's got the magic later on you know i've been at the festivals where he's played and I've walked through crowds after him and they're all like hey Woody ah brilliant set and people message me who've seen him play at festivals and parties and stuff they're like your kid he's a great kid he makes me very proud indeed but financially nightmare we've had the various round he's constantly mum my clutch has gone he's you know he couldn't organize anything chaos but he's brilliant and how much does he like talk to you and norm about djing well he talks to his dad about djing i mean he's not going to talk to me about djing i know nothing about it apart from oh i like that mom you know when you're doing a dj send someone text you on the way down to cornwall what's the best way to incorporate that exactly have you got any cd down he does rifle through my records my cds and stuff though and he does play stuff that i'm like that's one of ours that's my mind which i love he's always talked to me about emotional stuff he calls me how do you do that it's wonderful and that happened from when he was about 15 he would be like mom can we have a chat and he's always had that and i feel really blessed that he turns to me and why do you think it is do you think there's things you did or do you think it's just Yeah, I think until that point, I'd probably massively failed as a mother in the fact that I was always working.
21:37So we always had someone amazing looking after him. Like we had brilliant nannies who worked with us so that Norm and I could both work. But I miss, you know, swimming galas and stuff like that. We've made up for that with Nell. But yeah, I missed quite a lot. How old's Nell? She's a teenager, isn't she? Nell's 15, yeah. There's a 10-year age gap. So you've been more present for her childhood stuff, more so than Woody's then? Well, I think, yeah, productions and things like that. I've made sure that I'm at shows, I'm at, you know, matches and stuff like that. But it's only since giving up the breakfast show that I now do the school run in the morning and I love it.
22:13You know, she's 15, so she doesn't really want to talk. She doesn't really want you to drive her to school, if anything. You go, this is great, isn't it? Yes, mum, I've been doing it for 10 years. I love this. But my thing is, I don't care if she's, you know, it's not a natural time for teenagers to wake up. It's hell for them. and she's got GCSEs this year but that was part of giving up the breakfast show I was like I really want to be there for her because it's going to be a tough year and also for girls 15 is booze and boys it's a nightmare it's an absolute mind field so is the idea that kids these days drink less do you think that's a myth?
22:47I think that's a myth yeah from my experience but I don't know is it just my children? you're the anomalies yeah you see your kids are still young aren't you you'll be calling me asking me for advice and years to come going so I definitely agree with that with some school years, because between my two kids, my oldest daughter's year is a bit more calmer, and they just all seem quite, quite, but the younger year, they're all just like got so much energy and like loud, and it's sort of a very different vibe as the whole year. It's really odd that some years fall like that. I know, and teachers, it must be hell for them.
23:18Oh, yeah. Whenever I go to Nell's school, because she's at the same school her brother was at, every teacher's always like, how is Woody? And they always pull out a face of, yeah, I've remembered him well. Is she a different character to Woody then? Is she a bit more relaxed or is she going down that DJ route? They're very different in gorgeous ways, but very similar in others. The idea that he felt he had to live up to us. And now she says, I'm going to give you hell, Mum and Dad. I'm going to be worse than Woody. Oh, wow. You don't have to live up to anything. You could be really calm and chilled and thoughtful.
23:57Do you know what? The thing I love about them both, they're both empaths. They really care about all their mates. What is an empath, by the way? I've heard this a lot online, but I'm not sure. You work with one, Rob. You work with one on a podcast. An empath, I think, is someone who is very much sort of feels the mood of other people around them and reacts to that. So they're really good friends and really good listeners. They're always there for their friends. They always want to go that extra mile to check people are OK. If they're in a room, they'll be able to feed off your energy and work out how you feel and react to it, as opposed to just being oblivious.
24:29Which can be good and sometimes can work against you because sometimes you take on too many of other people's. It's like, just worry about you. Yeah, too right. I have that problem a lot. Do you have that, Josh? Zoe, I care too much. I care too much. I've heard that about it. They attract the mood hoovers, the empath, don't they? And are you implying that's me, Josh? I come in and just... I don't think I have an empath. My energy could make or break the energy in the room. The main empath trait I have is if I walk past a failing business, I feel incredibly sad. Do you have that? I can't deal with it.
24:59If I walk past an empty cafe. Depends on the business. I was quite happy Claire's accessories had stopped because that was ruined in my life. Probably 21 had lost a job, but I struggled getting in and out of there on a Saturday. You're right, though, because around where I am, there's a new Persian grill has opened up, and it's massive. And a friend of mine's in restaurants, and he always said, if you're in a town, look for the place that's busy. You know, if there's a queue or it's busy, go there because it's good food, and that's the reason. and there's a Persian grill around the corner. It looks well fancy.
25:29There's never anyone in there. And I felt a bit sad about that yesterday. Chloe, you're so naive. You're so naive. It's money laundering. All these barber shops, there's no one in there. Just people going in and out buying stuff for cash. Woody's getting his hair cut five times a week. It's a front. It's probably not. I know what you mean, though. But the negative part of that is you can get too worked up in other people's problems trying to help, aren't you? And it's like, look after you. Look after you. To go back, you were really good at that. You talked to Woody about his emotions from kind of teenage years.
26:07That was a real connection. Yeah. And we talked, you know, because it was tough for my kids because, you know, we split up, got to Austin. And quite a lot went on in our lives for them to deal with, you know, as kids and to see their parents go through stuff like that. And that was really tough. And I was really grateful that Woody from quite a young age wanted to talk to me about us getting divorced, wanted to talk to us about how our relationships worked, what were good relationships. He was fascinated by all our friends and our family and all of their relationships. And he's really astute. So he could see, oh, yeah, I get it now.
26:41I get it about, you know, my dad or, you know, my brothers and things like that. And I think he'd equate that to his own friends and his own life. so he's always looking out for his mates yeah and it's pretty good to see they do that and they party hard but they also go and do things like they build stuff in the woods and chill out and it's a good balance it's a good balance it's a healthy from the outside though so it seems like you know obviously it's totally different inside it but like it seems like you and Norman have got really healthy approach to the kids I mean it may not have always been like that but like you say go into an event and you can stand there with your brother, you know, Norman's sister, Norman, and just enjoy Woody's performance.
27:22Has it always been like that? Or has that taken time to work towards? Do you know what? It's Norm's family. My family split and it was quite tough. And the two sides didn't really talk. Norm's family split, but they always hung out together. So at Christmases, birthdays, the whole family would be together. His mum and his dad and their partners. And I always used to think wow this is like radical yeah you know it's quite unusual and I very much kind of was inspired by them doing that because also it just made it easier because you know all the cook kids didn't have to have two Christmases two birthdays so when we split up we're both very lucky that there was a lot of love between us and it was like we've got to do this the kind way and the most important thing is that the kids are all right and it wasn't easy in the beginning and it did take time but i am so grateful to parent with him because he's a brilliant dad he's great he's fun and we share a lot of the same friends and our families are still mates and it's great we can be together for the kids birthdays stuff like that i've just been away and we spent time we're in the same place and we spent time together so it's great for our kids and they always woody's always like putting the fun into dysfunctional but it's a bit mad but it's so refreshing and i've got a lot of friends and family members who've had really tough toxic divorces and that is not always possible and so i'm grateful that we've been able to make it like that yeah he's a brilliant dad he's also quite good at we're quite good at calling each other out if one of us needs to lift it up a bit it's like oh we're not and we're married
29:02did that get easier when you divorce sorry asking for a friend I'd quite like to put the fun into dysfunctional I think about that oh god your girls must be so patient I always think I know that I've met Lou she is very patient no I think um you could do it subtly and it's sort of like uh I know you're cross about that I know you're a bit frustrated with him over that or with her over this but why don't you just try a bit of that we can pull each other up and it does sometimes it'll be like yeah and you go away and think oh actually yeah you've got a point yeah yeah i'm really grateful for that and also now my kids give me advice on my relationships oh really yeah like mom maybe you're overreacting maybe you're being a bit you know maybe just calm down all right yeah thanks well because i think if you've done your job well your children are emotionally more intelligent than you yeah exactly and mine definitely are i mean to be honest with few that were more emotionally intelligent than me at five.
30:04I've got an exciting bit of news for you, Zoe. This will blow your mind. Rob's never come to an interview having done research with a question before. I know. Really? Just rocks up. But today he's told me he's got a question that he's researched. Well, no, it wasn't a question. Basically, I always Google how many kids people have got. I think that's the bare minimum. He always Googles who it is to double check. Who is? I'm believing bringing something up where they got divorced last week and you start going, how is it? We did interview Ed Balls and he only realised afterwards that he used to be a politician.
30:35So that was... I did know how many kids he had. That's more important than your job. Yeah, it's not about labels. It's about connecting with a human underneath. And we didn't connect with a human underneath for 50 minutes. No, no, no. You can't connect with a politician. They don't know who they are. We're all hiding from something, looking for power. Anyway, basically, I just read a thing about how when Nellie, now she's 15, 14, 15, you'd say to her, do you want to sleep in with me? which when they're younger, kids love that. And you used to love doing that with Nilly, but she's at the age now.
31:03She's like, this is for an interview. This is unbelievable research. I don't want to get into bed with you anymore, mum, because she's 14, 15 and she doesn't, fair enough. And saying how much you miss that. And on my side of things where me or Lou have basically, the last couple of months for a number of reasons, have slept with one of our daughters and it's absolutely sending us insane. Trouble in paradise. Is it rose tinted glasses you're talking through this or is it something you really loved when they were younger? And does the size of the bed make a difference? I think the size of the bed definitely makes a difference.
31:34People often comment like, whoa, your bed is massive. And it's like, yeah, because at some point there were four people in it. And then you had kids. A lot of fun, isn't it? Oh, dear, it all went on. And also my kids, I don't know if it was the same, they'd go sideways. You'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that walking up your back, da-da-da-da-da, lying on your face. But because, you know, kids now, they're in screens and phones and they're talking to people, and now they'll be talking to people on Snapchat late. Sometimes if I'm on my own and it's girls' night and she's here and she's in the mood, she will climb into bed, especially, you know, because sometimes, you know, kids are still needy and it's so lovely when you're like, oh, you really need an early night.
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32:19You really need a hug from your mum. and she'll get in and fall asleep so quickly because she feels safe. And that's the thing, isn't it? Kids just need to feel safe sometimes. And I'm really grateful that she'll still do that. Woody, I don't, yeah, Woody will come and climb on the bed and me, him and Nell will have a big hug. But he'll always be like, nah, nah, I'm not sleeping in the same room as my mother. That's not happening anymore. But Nell will still do that just about. And I really, I sort of dread the day she goes off to uni. Oh, oh, man. Oh, oh, don't. you've got all that because that's only a few years off it's two years two years almost is it good to know that you know they're of a generation that won't be able to afford their own houses so they'll probably wonderful completely will come back and you will never get rid of them and it'll be quite the other way that you'll be like do you know what i'll move into the garage you just have the house have you thought though because obviously like you know you've worked a lot and now you've had you're taking a step back you're still working loads but you're not doing that every morning on the Radio 2 breakfast show so you can have more time with Nelly and stuff and you like to say in a couple of years she's gone and you're just staring down the barrel what is it have you got a plan for this Scott Mills can't last forever Rob I don't know it's to be honest with you I gave up work because she's going to do her GCSEs she's never here she's out with her mates I'm like let's give it up work for you I don't know a lot about teenagers but if your job is 6am till 9am it's very unlikely by the time you get over awake if it's not still not even awake what did i give up for yeah i have thought about it because i've been through this a bit with woo but i had the joy of having nell still around i don't know i've got massively into gardening it's a bit of a cliche but that's my happy place when i get a bit lonely or i get a bit i'm like i'll go potter i might get a job in the garden center one day that's sort of a dream Well, this is the question to build on some sleep research questions, but we are obsessed on this show with how awful it must be to host a radio breakfast show.
34:25You must have been asked, the two of you, even to do deaths. I did one weekend on XFM and it was like I was just dead. I'm not a morning person. It would end me. I'd be so miserable on air. What is worse in terms of tiredness, the breakfast show or having a baby? Like the first year of having a baby. I think the first year of having a baby. Is it? Because the thing is, the first year of having a baby, it's not like you're getting your sleep anywhere else. If you do the breakfast show, you can have a nap in the afternoon, can't you? Yes. And you get paid handsomely. And it's all lols. You do get to meet amazing people, especially on the Radio 2 one.
35:01You get everyone. You've got to remember, Zoe, me and Rob have been paid handsomely for having kids. We've turned it into a profit margin. Exactly. more people should do this and why haven't though but yeah you know definitely first year of having a baby it's because you you're never catching up are you you're just not catching up and those first few days you're so in love and you're like great and then you remember oh hang on and that's when you start getting a bit crabby with each other because you're like i did last night no you didn't no i've had less you know that whole thing is quite tough i don't know did you find it easier with second baby i found it easier with now no no you had a 10 year gap 10 year gap so i think yeah i was really grateful to do it again of course but yeah i wasn't any better at the nights to be honest with me and you're i know you're not a fan of podcasts i know it's not your scene but we should say that you've your new podcast with joe wiley is always at the top of the chart so yeah it's early days isn't it i mean i'm riding on that at the moment i'm like no it's Not early days.
35:59It's been a month or two, hasn't it, by now? Woody was just impressed that we'd beaten Joe Rogan. I'm just thinking Sussex. Similar people, similar shit. Just in Sussex. Just in Sussex. Just in Sussex. But we'll have that. Tell us about your podcast, Dig. Yeah, so Dig It. It's called Dig It. Dig It, sorry. No, don't worry. I do it with Joe. When I was doing the breakfast show, Joe would be on in the evening. I'd never see her because she lives north, I live south. But we would compare notes on a lot of things. parenting, menopause, you know, life stuff. Should I be taking creatine, which of course, Rob Beckett recommended to me.
36:35I've been taking creatine. Have you? I know. And look at the difference. I've got the job lot of it. I don't know if it's making any difference. I find it calms my brain down a bit, but I don't know if it's a placebo, more so than muscles. I find that it slows my brain down a bit in a way. I think this, I don't know if it's proven or not, but it's supposed to assist people that are neurodiverse with the speed of the brain. And for me, I found it does, I'm a bit slower and calmer. Yeah, I've noticed you're less quick with the jokes, actually. The podcast got worse since you're starting taking great attention.
37:03If I'm going to get less funny but more chilled and more ripped, fucking stick me in Heat magazine and then my comedy career. Are you going to be like Sacha Baron Cohen? Oh, he's got ripped to shreds, hasn't he? I know, I find it a bit scary. But I think it's very much a divorce. Did you do that, Zoe? Did I get ripped? No. No, I didn't. I went the other way. Because you can go either way, can't you? Yeah. You see people and you're like, oh, oh, yeah, you went that way. I think everyone at sort of 50 has, when the kids have sort of left, that sort of 50 to 68, have their second wind of new energy, but they're still young enough to do something.
37:42And it might be getting ripped, cycling, gardening, rock climbing. There's something. But you've just got to pick your second wind carefully. You have to. too tragic basically not too tragic gardening's fine gardening and a podcast for joe wiley okay is it called dig it because of your love of gardening well so that was the thing so we both love gardening and it's helped us both through lots of stuff and we can pair notes and we just have these little chats on text about stuff and afterwards i kind of missed her in the mornings because we'd always check in and it seemed like oh yeah we could do something with this and have chats about you know i actually got a message this week saying there's so much to talk about in your lives i can't believe chub rub is the subject and it's like these are exactly the things we should be talking about chub rub is men and ladies have it as you you know with thighs rub together in the summer months you know what chub rub has been the bane of my life and taking creatine i've just got a thick thigh it doesn't matter if i'm in shape or not i'm exercising they They will rub.
38:43And there's nothing. I've accepted my body. I've got fat nipples and my thighs rub. That's me. Lou's a lucky woman. Lou's a lucky girl. Lou's a lucky girl. Things that turn Lou on are very weird. Yeah. Thank goodness. So you were chatting about chub rub with Jo. So we were talking about chub rub and Jo doesn't have that. She's very live and she runs a lot and swims a lot. I am literally the polar opposite. And we learned about trousers you can wear and there's creams you can use. So we talk about things like that. We talk about gardening. We talk about our kids. Some of our kids don't mind us talking about them.
39:17Some of our kids do. You know, I got called out already. I now go, I can't believe you threw me under the bus talking about that. I was like, oh, God, I'm so sorry. I'll be more diligent on that. And she went, I love it. I love it. Luckily, ours are still young, so we can get away with it for a few more years. We can get away with it. But we talk about all the things and I've been really enjoying it. Now I can almost operate the tech. The reason I love podcasts is because the world can get a bit lonely at times when you're so busy and you don't always go for drinks with friends or meet up with friends.
39:48But like hearing two mates chat like you and Joe chatting, you feel like you're in the coffee shop with you. That's what's great about it is it's a proper friendship. And normal conversations, not like, you know, it's not too produced. Like you can get that on the radio, you can get them on the telly and that's great. And there's a place for that. But just very loose conversation. I think it's really important because it doesn't happen enough when everyone's so busy. you're absolutely right and doing the podcast i've now i was listening to angela scanlon and vicky patterson doing a podcast there's loads of other people i'm like oh hang on a minute podcasts just women's one though yeah got something good to men have you we get chub rub too yeah yeah i can send you some apparently there's this great thing called mega babe that you can put on your thighs make some slide i know i just wear my pants i just wear quite a long sort of light cross-skinned boxers.
40:38I wear Calvin Klein boxers that are boxer briefs that are like cycling short material that cling to your legs. Just when I thought it couldn't get less sexy, Rob's chub rub. It's the pants that rub, not my skin. So that's the thumb. I am so grateful to hear this, Rob, that you understand about chub rub. It's the only pant I can wear. If I wear any other pants, there's chub rub. And I think it's difficult for women. We'll experience more chub rub because the main underwear stops at the top of the thigh. Exactly. So I think we should bring out some chub rub knickers for women that look like boxer shorts.
41:09What are your pants like then, Josh, if it's not too rude to ask? Oh, disgusting, I imagine. Covered in shit and over the knee. Why front are you in it? No, I'm not. Why front? How dare? I actually... Big baggy granddad ones, I reckon. I like a baggy boxer. See, he's not getting chub rub. Do you know what I like, Zoe? And Rob will say, this is an exact kind of reference that I'd make. Palm of Violet? No, Palm of Violet. I buy a specific boxer short from a specific shop, which is a little treat for myself because they're quite expensive. But why not enjoy yourself? I buy the brief from Sunspell, the loose boxer short.
41:46Oh, they're well fancy. And they are the ones. Do you remember the Levi advert where the guy goes into the laundrette and washes his clothes and sits there in his boxers? It's those boxers. Wow. Do you know what? I've got respect for you. I think you can have some horrible old cheap ones, but you're invested in yourself. Well done. I've invested in my other regions. Why not? Can I ask a question, though, as a woman? Yeah, of course. What are they supporting? They're not supporting. They're not supporting anything. So what is the point? I don't like the support because I find that. I suppose the point is that they are meaning you could wash your trousers less.
42:19Because if you wore no boxer shorts, if you were just wearing jeans, it would be weird. Okay. You're just dicks just flapping around in there, though, Josh, isn't it? I don't think we need to be so graphic about that. Yeah. That's what we're all thinking. No, I can't be having that, just swinging around. I didn't mean it 20 seconds ago. You were giving me a rare compliment. Yeah, but I didn't think they were that loose. You might as well just put a fucking sort of tutu around your waist. Why not? There's nothing happening downstairs with them on. I think I saw Keith Cheggwin do that once.
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43:33Nice cast. Fitness apparel to push for higher reps. You got this. And golf balls priced so you can afford to lose one. Or a few. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Can I ask a question that, I might say vaguely relates to the topic. when you were married how many wardrobes of short-sleeved colorful shirts did your husband have and did he sell them to the mock the week costume department
44:10yeah there were a lot there were a lot and would he wear them day to day or is it just an outside it was just a performance thing just a performance and um i've noticed my son does wear them as well a little bit there were a lot there were a lot of those how much were you working when you were pregnant and then how much time did you take off and Woody was born? Because that would have been right in the midst of you being like absolutely everywhere. I had to take some time off because I was huge. You know, when people talk about being pregnant, they talk about people who just show at the front, you know, they turn sideways, you'd never know.
44:43And then there was me, it was like, beep. And back in the telly then, they wouldn't let you be on telly pregnant, because you weren't allowed. You weren't allowed. It was considered sickening to the people at home, wasn't it? Yes, dear BBC. We're going to have to put this on after nine o 'clock. So I had to take quite a bit of time off. People used to stop me. I remember in M &S, because that thing right at the end of your pregnancy, I think it's a bit more acceptable, women working and carrying on and stuff like that these days. And, you know, most of my friends carry on right into pretty much until they give birth.
45:10Amazing. People used to stop me because that was the only thing I could do was like wander around M &S in my slip-on shoes because I hadn't seen my feet for about four months. People used to stop me and say, I hope you don't mind me saying, but you are enormous. It's like, yes, that's me. That's a mental thing to say I'm quite a big lass though I'm quite I'm 5 foot 10 Although I'm shrinking I'm thinking I'm 5 foot 9 now But I was big You know Four stone on me is big So yeah I didn't work quite a while You put them four stone in pregnancy Both of them Yeah Wow And how big were they When they were born Not that big When he came out And he came out the sunroof Because they were concerned About me getting them out And he came out And it was like That's it All the fat He was tiny and Nell was really small as well.
45:56But yeah, it took a while to get all that off. It did. There must have been a lot of pressure though because that, especially with Woody, that 25 years ago where coming back from a pregnancy in a public eye, you know, you're in all the tabloids and trying to lose weight. Was that hard mentally? I remember going running along the seafront and when I say running, it was sort of like a hobble with this fantastic trainer, Steve, and I was swearing at him. The whole world seemed like, and he went, no, come on, we'll get you back. get you back and someone snapped the old gray waddly face i mean i went back to work quite soon afterwards because i think i was worried about not getting work again so when people started offering i was like yeah yeah yeah i'll work and i worked all the way through the kids both of them growing up so and i've kind of loved it but i think if i did it again i might do it a bit differently it's difficult though isn't it because if you've got work coming in you don't know how long that'll last yeah of course in a fickle industry yeah so for the second with nelly you was a bit more in a different headspace with like being a mum because obviously it's a 10-year gap you've learned from 10 years with Woody and I imagine you're older and more mature and understand your job and a bit more financially secure yeah did you feel like he was doing it differently and like thinking why did I do it the other way you know definitely I found we were a lot more relaxed we were really grateful to have a little girl and to you know have our but you know Woody wasn't impressed though because he'd been on his own for 10 years yeah and then suddenly there's this really cute little girl he was livid absolutely livid and they still wind each other up even today i bought them both t-shirts that say mum's favorite because they're always like he's the favorite she's the favorite and they'll both do that thing of there's more photos of him there's more photos of her on this you know on the side on a celebration and stuff like that but i quite love that sibling rivalry it's nature did you have that with my brothers yeah totally totally like completely tearing each other apart my brother nick famously my dad built the boys a tree house between two pine trees and it was pretty high up he got like this amazing net they had a trap door and stuff and they had a massive cain and abel style fight and my brother kicked the trap door thing and dan fell like oh my word and for a moment we all thought he'd killed him but he was fine and i remember nick shut himself in the tree house my dad go you get down here now so you know sibling rivalry is is a good thing isn't it it's about the survival of the fittest and you know it took me a while to understand it and i'd always look at siblings my friend's kids who got really well and be like woody nelly why can't be more like that but actually they They really love each other now.
48:38But tenure, it's such a hard age gap because Woody would just have to let her win everything for the first 10 years and then he's 20. Yeah. It's quite an unreal, like, there's not many 25-year-old boys and 15-year-old girls that are best friends. Like, it's a weird kind of, like, totally different worlds, aren't they? Yeah, it was quite tough for a long time for both of them. But I think now I'm really grateful as well that they've got each other. I lost my mum last year and my brother Jamie, the same mum, because I've got two brothers who are we've got the same dad and I was so grateful that Jamie was there with me through all of that it was really tough time and I think that was always my thing of if you're lucky enough to have two or more kids they've always got each other no matter what happens and that it's not always guaranteed that you're going to get on but I am so grateful that my kids have each other when norm and i drive the mental it's mum can you deal with her i can't take anymore yeah because normally i think when parents are a bit you know obviously but you and norm have had crazy lives and done mental stuff it's almost like i find sometimes that the kids become the parent almost you know i mean where they're a bit more but it feels like yours have just gone now we're going to be part of the fun as well you know what i mean yeah i think they might tell you differently they may tell you about the times that they've had to be the parents yeah but i I think though, even though, you know, I think sometimes you play it up about, you know, the 90s and that you are still like an incredibly warm, kind hearted.
50:04Like there's like a motherly energy that comes from you as well that sort of comes through. So it's not like some people when they're a bit crazy still, it's like because they're selfish. It's not like that. It's just that you were party people that really wanted kids and had kids. So you still have that energy towards them. You know what I mean? You're not Keith Allen from the Lily Allen book. it was really sweet wasn't it because she was talking about how we'd gone to see her doing a little gig at glastonbury and how made up she was by that do you and joe wiley what tips has she given you specifically what how old are joe's kids like are they at the similar stages joe's got four kids and i remember we worked in the same one day she goes out the house for a run yeah so her daughter india is is in her 30s and i we worked in the same office Yeah, I know.
50:51You can't believe it. Honestly, you look at Joe and you're like, how? So I worked on The Big Breakfast behind the scenes. Joe worked on The Word. It was a company called Planet 24. This is in the early 90s. We're all in the same office. And it was the most amazing group of people. And a lot of those people now run telly and entertainment. Don't hold that against them. No, don't. And some of them have given me jobs. I'm very grateful. But she worked on The Word. She put Nirvana, you know, on The Word. She booked all those bands. So she was so effortlessly cool. Even though she, when you meet her, she's not really cool.
51:25She's actually quite shy. But India used to wander around the office. She was a little toddler. So did she have her quite young then? She had her really young. And she sort of says they were quite an amazing company. It said, oh, look, you can bring her into work if you want. And so she did when she didn't have any childcare. She'd bring her in. And India's now a really successful photographer and doing brilliantly. And then her youngest is a year older than now. But they go on holiday all together. They're an amazing family group, actually. Has Joe got grandkids yet? No, not yet. Joe Wiley is a grand.
51:54Well, that's the thing for you, though. Like, you know, worried about Nelly going. Say she does go to uni at 18, which we're three years away. Woody might not be far off having his own family. And then your nan. Woody's only five years off the age you were when you had him. Yeah, that's a really good point. I do look at him and I think, I think at the moment we are way off that. I feel like he has a lot of living to do. His career is just starting to take off. He went and lived in New York for a few months last year, which he loved. He's threatening to do that again. Threatening. Love these terms of phrase.
52:26Famously doesn't cry, your brother. Threatening. Threatening to move to New York. Yeah, I think we're a way off that. But that's all you can hope for, isn't it? You just, I really hope and pray that I get to be here when my kids have kids. and my friend just got to be with her daughter when she gave birth and it was quite an amazing thing and I got to be with one of my children when they had a wax and I was comparing it I'm not saying which child but I was like well do you think that I would be able to be that you know and I might not be able to be in the room when that happens but I really hope I'm here to help them you did goggle box with woody didn't you i did do goggle box with woody what's that like working with yours like that's like a you're like that's quite a weird thing to do isn't it because you're trying to entertain as a double act you're i was always telling him off for saying things i'd be like you can't say that you can't say this you can't say i mean to be honest it wasn't as bad as when we did it with my dad as well and my dad we're like oh no you actually really can't say dad you're gonna get us cancelled but they were my favorites when it was the three of us it was hilarious apart from they made us watch some pretty awful stuff to watch in front of your father oh god or your son would you do race around the world no you know what i've just started watching that with lu and we love it me and lure up for it and i think i'd love to do it in my kids if they are old enough as well so you and woody it's difficult with small kids isn't it like i'd love The reason I wouldn't do it now is...
54:05Oh, yeah, I don't know if I'd want to leave the kids for that long. That's the problem. Three or four weeks, is it? That would be a funny one, wouldn't it? Race Across the World, the family special. Families of four go, oh, my God. Why don't they do that? Could you imagine the chaos? Utter chaos. Would you do it, Zoe? I think I would. I think I would. I was talking on our podcast this week with Jo about who from her kids she'd do it with. And I was thinking, Woody should do it with Norm. I was like, you should do that. That would be a real great father and son bonding situation. I haven't put that to them yet.
54:35But, Rob, you could do the first family. Oh, my word. Families of four race across the world. You did it as well, Josh, with your two and Rose and me living out. Jesus Christ. No, thanks. You know what? My kids would go, because we watch it, my kids, and I said, girls, do you want to go? Because they keep watching and, oh, we want to go to Venice. There's no roads. It's just water. And they love it because they're sitting on different places. And then it was like, would you like to do that? I'm not getting on a bus at night. I'm not sleeping on a bus. And I want to do that travelling, but not the trains and the bus thing.
55:06Also, our kids have been spoiled, haven't they? They've travelled. 100 % exactly. They've gone on amazing holidays. They haven't really done the roughing it thing yet. Woody's done a bit of that. He travelled in New Zealand and around the place. I used to think that, like, oh, my kids have never done a night bus from central London to Lewisham. No, no one should. And why should they? It's absolutely horrendous. It's a fucking, you are playing with fire. I used to do that every night. When I worked in town, I used to get pissed up, missed the last train. Three nights in a row once, I got the night bus from central London to Lewishaw with a McDonald's on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after work.
55:41How I survived, God knows. It made you the man you are today, Rob. Yeah, it did. Bitter, furious at your own children. Empath. I just couldn't get off the night bus. I was just helping all these people. Oh, I woke up in the bus station twice. Have you ever had that? They just park you up in the bus station. What, and they just leave you there? When I first moved to London, I lived in Clapham. Yeah. And we were near the end, but I'd fall asleep on the bus. And they'd just park the bus up and leave the door open. They wouldn't even tell you as a kind of punishment. Quite bleak, actually, thinking about it.
56:11I fell asleep on a bus once, and I woke up shocked because I was about eight stops away from my stop. So I got off the bus, and then I was like, run over to the other side to wait for the bus. Waited an hour, same fucking bus came back. Oh, God. I could have just stayed on the bus. You could have stayed on it. Glory days. Glory days, Rob. Glory days. Thank you, Zoe. It's been a joy. Oh, I've loved it. Can I say so as well, Zoe, about how lovely you are? Before you start doing TV and stuff like that, you think, oh, I hope I meet people and they're nice, but few exceed. But you exceeded expectations have been so lovely and kind.
56:46I'd say you matched them for me, but there we go. Well, no, because you guys were always like, when they said, do you want to do you bet? I was like, who's it with? and they were like, it'll either be with Rob or Josh. And I'm like, I'm in. And when you'd come in on the breakfast show and stuff like that, you just make things funny and a joy. So thank you. It's a lovely job. Our job is so nice. There are some absolute twats, though. There are some absolute hideous twats. There are, aren't there? I always say to my fellow who works in the industry as well, I'm like, so many ****. It's a bit like trying to go for a swim in Australia.
57:22It's lovely, but you've got to keep your wits about it. by Summit trying to fuck you up. Oh, thanks for having me, boys. We've got one last question, Zoe. Oh, yeah. So basically, we ask everyone this question. So with Norm, Nellie and Woody's dad, what's the one thing he does as a parent and you think, oh my God, he's amazing. I'm so blessed to have children with him. And what's the one thing he does that slightly frustrates you? And if he was to listen, he might go, yeah, she's got a point. That must be annoying. Okay, so the one really good thing is he will be there at the drop of a hat anytime.
57:52time so if you know one of us can't be there he's always there and we support each other very well and he's always available in the end of a text if there's some serious parenting to be done which recently there has been young nelly cook so that is excellent the only frustrating thing i suppose is that he is always working because he loves what he does so sometimes i'm like oh that's my weekend oh you know but actually it works out quite well but he loves what he does so i think he's done more gigs this year than than ever so sometimes i like are you actually ever going to be around but he does try and he's always trying to be around for the kids i think it's a very good reflection of uh how you two have managed splitting up that you can manage to do that question because there's a lot of people where we've dodged that question completely yeah and they're still married you say that now and uh his lawyers will be on Dig it You and Joe Wiley Is available on Where you get your podcasts That's what they say Isn't it That's what they say That's what you say And you can watch it And listen to it What days does it come out Oh you can watch it Because it's 2025 It comes out on Mondays That's us answering questions From our lovely diggers As we call them The people who listen And watch And then Wednesdays It's us having a good old catch up And putting the world to rights I would say Something like that Thanks for it Thank you so much Thank you Zoe Zoe Ball.
59:18Zoe Ball. Not much more needs to be said there, does it, Rob? She's amazing, isn't she? Love Zoe Ball. What an energy. Apologies if the audio wasn't great, but we had about 15 minutes of Zoe trying to do it on a phone, trying to do it on an iPad, and I'd say that we got to peak performance in that moment in time of what we could do sound-wise. So apologies if that was a little bit sticky. But, yeah, I love Zoe Ball. It's mad. What a crazy life she's had. Yeah. Norm. Exactly. I find it weird calling him Norm. I just want to say Fatboy Slim, but it is her ex-husband. You can't just call... It's not his name.
59:48His name's Norm. Norman's not a cool name, is it? Norman Cook. It's a mad name for a DJ. He had to change it up, didn't he? Have you met him? I've never met him, no. No, neither have I. We're not really on the same scene. No, you're not, are you? Well... I don't like staying up late. He loves it. The invitation's open, Norm, if you want to come and record. We'll do it at 5am when he finishes his DJ set. All right, well, I'll see you on Tuesday. That's got to be the opposite of like, no, I'm saying the opposite of early morning radio. The other hardest option is late night. Imagine starting your set at 2am in a nightclub.
1:00:23Oh, fuck that. Fuck that. Fucking fuck. Just stood there with your USB. I mean, it's not for the now because we should leave, but the fucking late show. Did you ever do those gigs where you do the comedy store late show? Admittedly, I only ever did 10 minutes. And you're just like, what the fuck is the point of this? Anyway, see you next week, Josh. Anyway, see you next week.
From the publisher
Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the brilliant broadcaster and presenter - Zoe Ball.
'Dig It' with Jo Whiley & Zoe Ball podcast:
Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball lift the lid on the messy, everyday reality of trying to live well. Long-time friends and beloved broadcasters, they swap the studio for the sofa to catch up on everything going on in their lives — from homes and gardens to family life, health, ageing and music.New episodes every Monday and Wednesday.
You can listen or watch Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball podcast here: https://linktr.ee/digitpod
Parenting Hell is a Spotify Podcast, available everywhere every Tuesday and Friday. Please subscribe and leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs...
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