Anne-Marie

0:03Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and Lenny's just walked through the door hot off a city airport flight from Skopelos. Actually, it was Gatwick, darling. And I just want to say Kalispera to everyone. Kalispera, mother. I haven't seen you for 12 days. I know, God. But I did see you in Corfu, didn't I? Which we very much enjoyed. Yeah. You've been telling me that Skopelos is the greenest island, mum, you've been lying. Darling, it's still the best. I very much enjoyed Corfu. Have to tell you. There is something about going to Greek islands, though, that I get recognised. Now, I know you say that it's my wine...

0:42What, the same Greek island you've been going to for the past 32 years, you'll get recognised? No, Kofu. I had two people on the beaches there saying to you, Lenny. You and Alan Carr, national treasures. No, as you would say, and I say, how did you recognise me? Because Jessie says it's my whiny voice. Is that it? And they say, no, not at all. I have to say, Alan Carr gets... Not to take it away from you, Lenny, in your fame um alan carr gets people kind of touching him i know to get selfish no but like people just feel like they know him fully i mean shaking his hand like being like alan like they're old friends cuddly person yeah he's fab but i was like wow this is wild do you think there'd ever be any possibility that we could have a little collab with alan i think it's on the cards mom I'll speak to Alan we'll make it work okay darling so yeah I've been in Corfu for a month yeah filming having a lot of fun we're back yeah we have a massive pop star coming this evening huge she I've known her for a very long time we were kind of both doing dance music at the same time she was a vocalist for Rudimental and then just emerged as kind of one of the biggest pop stars well she's international she's called Anne-Marie everyone knows her if you don't know her I don't know where you've been but you will definitely have one of her songs in your ear she's fabulous and she's coming over for a meal that I'm cooking now she's apparently a vegan she's a vegan that doesn't like a few things so what have you made it could go one way or the other okay darling well she said she liked vegan moussaka so I thought that i'd do instead of moussaka by the way i've changed my mind about 10 000 times this morning and so i i was ready to do loads of different ones so i've done a deconstructed well no it's a stuffed aubergine okay it's based on mirasoda's um stuffed aubergine it's with walnuts but i didn't have enough walnuts so i put pui lentils in there it's with jarred red peppers cumin cinnamon um onions you haven't made it spicy have you haven't made it spicy because she doesn't like spice so basically it's yeah a stuffed aubergine so that's kind of like the main thing and then a friend of mine called mash she put up a vegan potato salad the other day i think this is really clever and brilliant and it was so quick to do and it tastes delicious tinned artichokes a tin of artichokes put it in the blender with some tahini lemon juice salt a bit of garlic loads of olive oil zhuzh it up until it's liquid it'll be kind of like a thick liquid um if it's too thick loosen it up with a bit of water a bit more olive oil and then you mix that in with the potatoes and some red onion and I'm just going to add some rocket because I don't have any like lamb's lettuce but um it makes kind of a creamy sauce and it was so quick and it tastes really good I actually had a little bit with my salmon this lunch time um so i'm doing that and then i've done something very quick i've got coconut yogurt um on the bottom with griddled uh courgette and a kind of um i know that she probably isn't going to have this anne-marie but i just did a kind of it's a basil lemon and chili and oil um vinaigrette on top so okay it's a really hot night yeah and so i just thought maybe something fresh maybe i should have played it a little safer.

4:20I'd just seen on her Instagram that she did the Capital FM Summertime Ball, where she was kind of line dancing in cowboy hats and a fabulous outfit in this heat. It looked schvitzing. Anne-Marie coming up on Tateman.

4:45Anne-Marie is here. Hello. With brown hair? I have, yeah. I know. Looking gorgeous. Brown hair now, yeah. Do you know what? I've wanted it for a while, but I kept blonde. Is that your colour? This is my natural colour, yeah. And I've wanted it for ages, but I kept blonde and kept blonde. Why? I just thought, because I haven't had this colour since I was like 16. I've never met you with brown hair. No. And I've probably known you over 10 years now. Yeah. So I thought, after having that long a time, I thought, I won't suit dark hair. So I just kept blonde. or like I went like pink and orange and stuff and never went brown and I just was like no I'm going to do it this time and everyone around me was like are you sure?

5:22Are you okay? Are you going through a crisis? You know all this stuff and I grew up my roots so far that no one could say I couldn't do it because it looks so bad. But you must have Irish blood. Why? Because she's called Anne-Marie. No she looks gay lit. The blue eyes and dark hair. You know what I don't know. Everyone thinks that I am. For some reason I'm just everyone says you're Irish. You look Scandi? Yeah, I've had that, but my second name is Scottish, Nicholson. And she's wearing tartan as well. Oh, yeah. So Celtic and Rangers, there's still a bit of Irish. I did do that DNA thing. And I was like, I'm so excited because I want loads of stuff.

6:01And it was just like 99.9 % British. Oh, I'm sorry. English. I'm so sorry. I know, it was... And then everyone was like, it's so rare. And I was like... I hated it. You're actually exotic. yeah I wanted a little something um how does it feel do brunettes have more fun than uh blondes I feel like honestly a new person like in a good way yeah a new person like just I feel like I've had a transformation for years now of like trying to be really comfortable with just naturally who I am instead of putting on all this stuff and for years hair was like a thing that was my like I'm gonna do crazy hair because I think I'm really boring and like really insecure and And, you know, all this stuff and my clothes and my nails and make-up and all this stuff was a thing that I did to, like, cover up that whole thing.

6:50So after all these years of becoming comfortable with actually who I am, I feel like the brown hair is, like, the final piece of, like, this is literally me now. Well, I think you look beautiful. Thank you. You look honestly not as... Well, I don't know, maybe you have got make-up on, but you don't look like you've got a tiny bit. You look so beautiful and natural. Thank you. Thank you. She really likes to objectify her. I love it. I couldn't give a shit. She looks gorgeous. Thank you. Do you think people take you more seriously now you've got dark hair? Because I find they do. I don't know yet because...

7:22It's never been blonde months. No. You wouldn't know. You literally wouldn't know. Do you know what? Probably. I definitely... Probably. But I've only had it like a week. So I haven't had to test it out yet. But I have experienced like people just looking at me and not recognising me straight away. That's probably quite nice. Yes, nice. It is nice. I just love it I love it but the weirdest thing is a lot of people have come up to me and said oh your hair do you like it and I'm like yeah people say the weirdest thing what is it so weird so they're essentially saying they don't yeah they don't three people shut up I know I think they're taken by surprise you were was it the capital summertime how was that that was amazing I've done it like my god 15 times now that's because you're a massive pop star yeah but this this one was extra special I think with what I just said, the whole process of becoming comfortable and confident and all that, and just, I've never properly danced or done any routines, or just felt like I deserved, or I was comfortable there, and that was the first time I was like, oh, I didn't feel nervous at all, I just felt like I was ready for it, and I did dancing, which was a new thing, and the brown hair, and it was all good.

8:34Babes, I'm telling you, choreography is the way forward for making you feel better on stage as well, because you don't have to think about the voice for one moment. So you're thinking about the dance moves and then the voice just comes because it's your natural gift. True. But then after the dance moves happen, I struggled after that because I was out of breath. Oh, my God. I know. The thing that I... And I'm sure you know all these tricks. You just lean on your backing singers for certain extra bits. And I don't know, like... Let the audience sing. I did that a lot in Rockabye yesterday. I was like...

9:04What's that? so so you did like line dancing almost and you were a cowgirl yeah full-on cowgirl outfit and it was a really hot day babe i was wet you had a lot of layers i wore they were jeans but like the style of a cowgirl yeah and i was so confused because afterwards i was like i had loads of dancers all dressed as cow and this is a problem because when i come off stage i was like all my dancers were cow people I don't know so I was like cow people and I was like the cows and I was like no no so it was all a bit awkward but it was so hot and it was everyone who went before me on stage was just saying all the time I'm so hot it's so hot are you okay are you hot and I was like I'm not gonna say that when I get on stage but I was fucking hot so you didn't say it no but I was like I'm sweating but the beads of sweat rolling down it comes through your head doesn't it And then it starts to come down your head and prickle.

10:05All wet there. I had a whole sweat patch under there. Underneath the boobs is just so unfair, isn't it? It was good. So life's pretty good. Yeah. Album's nearly out. Yeah, it's coming. 28th of July. Do you feel like, I feel like you're in promo mode at the moment and it is full on. I'm out of promo mode and it feels really good, babe. So don't worry. I'll see you on the other side in August. You're literally just going to be in your pants on your bed. I'll be you having a wine. Yeah, you'll be having a wine. Yeah, exactly. But no, you know what? I struggled so much with this whole career before COVID.

10:46I was struggling. I was angry. I was tired. I was just done. I was like, this is too hard. It's too stressful. And then COVID happened and I was like, oh. I'm not going to complain about that again. So since coming out of that, I feel like it's just taken on a whole new thing. I don't know your story. When did you start singing? So you grew up. Where did you grow up? Grew up in Essex. Essex girl. I'm an Essex girl. And karate. Karate is like she could kick any of our arses. Yeah, I'm three times world champion karate. Yeah, so watch your mouth, Mum. Watch your mouth. Not my mouth we've got to worry about, Mrs.

11:26True, true. When did you do all your karate? How old were you? So karate, I started when I was nine. But I went to a dance school from the age of like two and a half. Because my sister was four years older. So as soon as she went, I just followed. So was your mum in the business? Nope. But they just wanted you to learn how to... Wanted me to get out of the house. They were like, yeah. Did you have a lot of energy? Yeah, I was, yeah, hyperactive as hell. But I went every Saturday, did that. Then I got an agency with the dance school. Then I did musical theatre. So that was the first. Do you like musical theatre?

12:00Love it. I love it. Which have been your parts? I was Little Eponine, Little Cosette in Les Mis. Oh my goodness. And then I did, when Whistle Down the Wind was about, I did Charity and Brat. So you've actually been on the West End? Yes. You were in the West End from what age? From, I first got Little Eponine when I was six. And then I was last in Whistle Down the Wind when I was 11. So babe's like, no wonder you're a bit tired. You've been working since you were six. Yeah. But it was fun then. So did that interfere with education? Did you have to have a tutor? Or did you then manage to resume kind of mainstream school?

12:38I carried on, but they let me out for the matinees. They just didn't really care, I don't think. They were just like, go on. I bet it was a different time, wasn't it? Yeah, they were fine with it. And I just did that. Then started karate when I was nine. Then was doing them both at the same time. Then stopped the musical theatre. concentrated on karate, and then went to college and did BTEC Performing Arts. So I was always planning to do musical theatre. That was, like, my aim, because I love it. So when did you discover your voice? I think when I was at college, I started doing, like, open mic nights, and everyone was like, oh, my God, your voice is so unique.

13:12And I was like, is it? I just like singing. I didn't ever think about what I actually sounded like. I just knew I could sing in tune. And what music were you listening to? all over the place. I mean, Alanis Morissette, Christina Aguilera, Paul Weller, a bit of everything, really. And then after college was when I was auditioning for musical schools. And I just don't know what it was, but I just was like, I don't think this is right for me. And I felt like my voice was a bit different to the girls who were auditioning. And I was like, lower, obviously. And I was like, I'm not sure. and I met randomly one of the guys in my class was a pianist and he was teaching this lady piano and she was a songwriter and she needed someone to sing her songs to pitch out to people.

14:02So I went to the studio and sang her songs for her. Did the demos? Yeah, did the demos and the engineer spoke to the label and was like, you have to listen to this girl sing. So that was the first thing that happened and I went in. How old were you then? I was maybe 19, and I went in and they just signed me to their management, and I went out just writing songs from that point, which I didn't know how to do. So I knew of you from Rudimental, where you were a vocalist with Rudimental. How far into you being signed was that? I actually weren't signed at that point. I was just with management and publishing.

14:43I didn't have a record deal. So I was, I guess I started that when I was about 23, I think. So I started touring then. And then I signed when I think I was 24, 25. Do you think, you've done kind of, you've worn every kind of hat in performance. From like competitive sport to musical theatre, to dance vocalists, to being a solo singer, like being a judge. Like, you know, you've done it all. when like I think that seems quite similar to me in lots of respects and for me I really enjoy the fact that I've been able to do lots of different things and I kind of appreciate them as I get older yeah um but is there any kind of time where you you know when you've been going when you were going through a tough time before COVID and stuff is there any time that you go back to and you think that was a good time like in music and where maybe it felt carefree where you didn't have to think about everything or do you feel like that's right now um right now for sure that's so nice as a soloist i think when i was singing for rudimental i was carefree because it wasn't my music and yeah i weren't kind of being judged for me individually it was like the whole crew so i was happy as larry then and i didn't need to do any promo either so i just slept and sang i know do you still go to musicals yeah jesse's going on wednesday i'm going to see guys and dolls oh nice the new production of Guys and Dolls apparently is amazing.

16:13Oh, this is a child. You alright? I've not seen that.

16:21You are lying. You just wanted to see who was downstairs. Say hello to Anne-Marie. Hello. Anne-Marie is really cool. We're actually in the middle of something, so what would you like? A drink? Yeah. Can you say hello, please? Hello. Look at her when you say hello. Could I have a kiss, darling? Look who's here. Go, go. All right. We're going to wrap this up. I'm going to get you a drink, all right? I need to know if you could be one character in a musical theatre, your best part, which one would you play? Or have you done that with Les Mis? I think I would probably choose Eponine in Les Mis. You would?

16:57Yeah, because I was little Eponine. And you would like to be the big one? Yeah, and I did like Brat in Whistle Down the Wind. That was fun. but yeah I think Eponine is my favourite so okay let's get into food Anne-Marie you have some really annoying requests Jazz your wonderful manager who I adore and who also organises the greatest party has she ever organised one of your parties before? Yeah she's just good at organising everything really. She's great yeah however Jazz Sherman sent us your little thingies. Hates coriander I hate it. You've got the thing that Clara Ampho's got. What the... She calls it the devil's herb.

17:40Yeah. The devil's herb. It just ruins every other flavour for me. Soapy? It's just, I don't know. But if it's like the tiniest little piece in a meal, it will just ruin the whole thing. Okay. We have no coriander tonight. Now, you're a vegan... Well. ...who eats cream. Well, she says well. Yeah, I know. She did that Paloma face well when you'd cook the vegan. Let me tell you the story. I'm not always vegan. Yeah, I'd like to hear this story. I'll tell you the story. Right, me and food have had a weird relationship. So from young, I have eaten just sandwiches. I grew up on sandwiches. I love sandwiches.

18:17I love sandwiches too. I love sandwiches. They're the best things ever. And my mum and dad actually went to the doctors about it once because they were like, she just eats sandwiches and bread. This is like a children's book. You should write this book. Yeah. The little girl that only eats sandwiches. just another hat to wear make it happen so he was like is she growing okay is she fine, they were like yeah what was in the sandwich? well mostly Philadelphia cheese that's it, Philadelphia cheese and then for breakfast I'd have peanut butter on toast and for dinner I'd have two Philadelphia cheese sandwiches so no fruit or veg?

18:50no, nothing so after that phase happened I started eating chicken and prawns like that was my boundaries and then but I think this all happened because I have a phobia of sick so I was scared to put anything in my mouth that I thought would make me sick like vomit I've got a phobia of that so I was always a bit weird around food okay and then when I started touring I felt so out of place because everyone was going out to meals and I was like oh I'm just gonna order a Caesar salad on the rancho so I felt a bit weird and then I watched a documentary called um oh what was it oh what the health right and the vegan one I don't know yes it must be because I went vegan after that and I was like why am I why am I putting food in my body that I don't need right and I and I only ate chicken and prawn sometimes so it weren't as if I was removing things but the problem was I didn't eat any vegetables so I removed I removed everything even Philadelphia cheese.

19:56So now you were just bread. I was eating bread, but peanut butter is vegan, so I was fine. I was eating peanut butter on toast, right? And then I gradually... What age are we at? We're in our 20s now. I'm at 27, yeah. Got it. And I then forced myself to eat every vegetable, and now I love vegetables. Oh, thank God. And I was vegan for four or five years, and then I ate Philadelphia one day, and I was like, can't do it anymore. so you are predominantly vegan however you can eat cream if it's in a something yeah if i don't know it's there if you do you eat cheese philadelphia cheese yeah i have got some philadelphia in the fridge if you want to put some on okay do you eat fruit i eat fruit yeah okay so i've made tonight's dinner yes you said you like veggie moussaka yes you have not got veggie moussaka you've got a version of it's a stuffed aubergine perfect it's got some pui lentils in there right I'm scared I know I know I'm scared too no it's like it's got it's got you don't have to eat it I've got toast babe I've got toast it's fine I'm just she's looking terrified I'm terrified so you've really it's got peppers it's got walnuts it's got pui lentils she probably doesn't like those things it's got some bread crump she's tapping her back she likes normal she likes normal vegetables she looks terrified yeah it's a stuffed fucking aubergine It's basically a deconstructive veggie misalkebox.

21:19Yeah, great. You can try it. I'm going to try it. I'm going to give you a tiny bit so it doesn't look. There's no yoghurt in it or anything. There's no yoghurt. Yeah, fine. Now, I have some sides as well. Right. I have a potato salad. Love that. Red onion. Now, I've tried to make it creamy but without the cream. Now I'm scared. I'm not a fucking vegan chef and you don't particularly like that much food. Right. So, I've done. it's it's tinned artichokes with tahini and lemon she's she's gone tahini i lost her i lost her at tahini you've lost her why did you have to put it on yet jesse did you not see there was a clue in all the things that she wanted plain things my favorite was when they were like she really loves hash browns yes and and big egg yeah no that's a new thing as well i've i've put into i should I'm obsessed with breakfast burritos at the moment.

22:17Where do you get them from? It's just a shame because it's not breakfast now, Anne-Marie. So I didn't know whether that could work, but maybe I should have just... No, I'm going to love this. I don't know if you are. So I'm going to give you really some math. I think she's not. Should I keep the sauce on the side? Why don't you let her help herself? Okay, I've got vegan butter, if you prefer that. So maybe you can just have a bowl of spuds with some vegan butter or olive oil. And then I've got griddled courgette. Oh, yeah, like that. And I was going to put that on a bed of coconut yoghurt. Maybe I shouldn't do that.

22:47No, this is so good. Okay, and she knows me more. Yeah, I think because Jessie never gets, Jessie can't leave it. Just less is more, darling. Why don't you let her choose her own? I think she's going to get really sad when she sees these stuffed aubergines. Why? Because I'm worried they're delicious. I'm going to put it in my mouth. Okay, but you may not stay in there. Yeah. I hope I do. I'm going to feel so bad. What's your celebration meal? If you go out with your family, it's a big birthday, your album gets to number one straight away and you're celebrating. What would be your celebration meal?

23:27I don't know. I normally... This is the thing. You said about the breakfast burritos. I cook them, but I had one in LA. And I was like, this is the best thing I've ever had. So then I started cooking them myself. I don't know what my celebrating meal would be. Probably pizza Pizza Oh do you like pizza Yeah I love pizza Jessie she loves pizza I'm a child basically I have a pallet of a five year old So if you went out with your family for a birthday Yeah You don't go to fancy restaurants No I You go to a Mexican and have a burrito Yeah Or you have a big pizza Yeah Yes normally I get people to come round mine And we have the dinner there Yeah But I normally like I get a tyre or a pizza and that and Chinese and that so everyone just pick everything is that a big bunch of coriander there no it isn't it's green salad but it does have some herbs in it but what kind of herbs dill do you hate dill no I like dill yeah okay parsley not coriander and a bit of basil yeah yeah that's fine that makes pesto doesn't it yeah do you like pesto I like pesto I've got some vegan pesto would you like me to put them with your potatoes yeah okay oh Oh, thank God.

24:41Yay! We're cooking. So you cook? Yes. What do you cook? What's your best dish? I normally cook, I like miso aubergine with rice. Oh, wow. Yeah, I do my own pizzas with, like, gherkins. Have you got a pizza oven? Yeah, I do, but I haven't used it yet. Do you have a house with a garden? Yeah. Yeah, Jessie's got a pizza oven down there. Yeah, I haven't tried it yet. I'm excited to do that. It does feel a bit long, though, with the wood and stuff. So when you're on The Voice and everyone's got a rider, what is on your rider, Manbury? Peanut butter, bread, toaster, avocado. Oh, right. Because I do like crackers.

25:21I've got avocado. I'm going to give you some avocado. I'm just going to give you a picnic of the shit you like. Okay. So I like crackers with the caramelised onion hummus and avocado and sun-dried tomatoes. Yeah. One of my favourite snacks. Okay. So I have that on the rider. Crisps I love. I'm obsessed with. I love crisps too. And then the bread and peanut butter. But I do, I order food in as well. Like I like Nando's and stuff like that. Chicken? No, no. There's like a plant version. Is there? Yeah. Where do you go on holiday? I normally go to be fun. And you choose it because of the cuisine.

25:58No, but I do get worried every time I go on holiday. Do you? I'm like, I'm not, what if I can't find a Philadelphia? you could take it with you yeah I know I've done that before so Philadelphia is still really important yeah it makes me really happy would you like some Philadelphia? yeah I'm not trying to make a point I'm just letting you know I love it I could eat it off a spoon unless you can have it

26:31there's a whole aubergine coming it's going to be fine she's going to try it because I don't think you're going to... You don't think I'm going to like the insides? I like courgette. Courgette I love. I like doing pesto courgette pasta. Oh, nice. Courgette, whatever. Thank you. I've given you a tiny bit of the stuffed aubergine. Oh, it looks great. Okay, good. This is lovely. I love courgette. I'm going to wait till you... Right, and you can have more, Anne-Marie. It looks lovely. I'm going to love it. Okay, great. Amber, I kind of feel like we may have your last supper already. Yeah. And it may be sandwich face.

27:11Yes. I would say, honestly, if someone said, give me your last meal right now, it would be a Philadelphia sandwich with no butter. White or brown bread. White bread, Philadelphia. I sometimes put Philadelphia on one side and peanut butter on the other side. Okay, a nice little combo. That's really good. But honestly, I just, I don't know what it is. After not having it for so long, every time I put it in my mouth, I'm just so... Happy. So happy. Well, do you know, they'll probably be sending you loads of Philadelphia after this podcast. You'll be the face of Philadelphia. The face of Philadelphia.

27:48I'm all right with that.

28:00I really like it. Right. Would you like some salad? A little bit. Should we just, just to colour the plate? This is, I used to be, everyone used to say, oh, beige, beige. My plate used to just be beige. It's not anymore, is it? Mm-mm. It's green. Mm-mm. I've stepped it up. You're quite a homebody. Yeah. That's because I haven't got used to being, like, this new person yet. I'm just still used to hiding in my hole. It's funny because on the outside... You come across so confident. Yeah, and that's not said with... It's said with kind of inspiring. Confident, such a sense of yourself. You know, make brilliant music.

28:45Like, have such confidence. and I think of you as kind of one of our most important stars. Do you know what I mean? You've always got something to say and it feels like it's an extension. You're great on the voice. Thank you. I'm happy, though, that that's the case because I've always wanted to project that in case anyone was watching and they felt a way that they could see me being that way and they would take it on. You know, because behind closed doors, I was literally a hermit. because I couldn't leave the house from anxiety. So, like, I didn't want to then put that out, but I definitely did speak about it to people just in case, you know, there's sometimes when fans would run up to me and I'd run away because I was literally scared.

29:30And I didn't want people to think that I was being an arsehole. So I would end up explaining myself and letting people know. But my end goal has always been to be that person that you have seen, you know. So it weren't as if it was fake. It was just who I was, you know, trying to be. But did doing the voice kind of exacerbate the anxiety or did it help? I don't know. That was a crazy one because at the time, the first time they asked me to do it, I was still in that place of like, why would anyone even want my autograph? Like not understanding it. So I was like, why are they asking me to do it?

30:12I don't know. I don't know enough kind of thing. And then as soon as I started doing it, I think that was actually a big part of the transformation. Like, realising that I actually have got a lot of knowledge from being in the industry for so long. Of course you do. And my confidence grew so much throughout that first series. That's amazing. So, yeah. I do. I owe that a lot, actually. And you've got Ollie on there. Yeah, Ollie. And we had him on the podcast. He's really sweet. He's like another Essex boy. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Mm-hmm. We've also had Will.i.am. And we've had Tom Jones.

30:48No way. We've had the whole panel. The whole panel. Yeah, I love them. So, have you got a sweet tooth at all, Anne-Marie? Yeah, I do. Well, chocolate I love. Just in general, any chocolate. Not Bounty, because I don't really like... Oh, I love Bounty. Yeah, I like coconut, but chocolate and coconut are weird. But chocolate definitely. And then sweets, I can just eat and eat and eat. So it's kind of bad. And I've stopped it recently, actually. Because I can eat a lot. Even though it seems like I don't like many things, the things I do like, I can eat a lot of. Best chocolate bar then. I've been eating just a normal dairy milk bar at the moment, but it has been double-decker for a while.

31:42I love double-decker. and crunchy oh yeah I love a crunchy oh yeah but I'm more of a crisp girl over chocolate what's the flavour? prawn cocktail or salt and vinegar I've been eating discos a lot lately but they burn my actual mouth they're fantastic you don't drink so what drink of choice would you have with your I drink a lot of water but if I'm going to push the boat out I'll have a coke my drink of choice was a Malibu and coke Malibu or De Serrano and coke that's a that's where my sweet tooth comes in alcohol because it was like the serrano wkd anything sweet strawberry daiquiri so you stopped drinking like eight months ago yeah october last year do you feel better for it then like is it was it to the point where you needed to kind of rein it in or was it did it help with the anxiety like getting a level on that i guess so i haven't really thought about it in that way but i again i'm quite uh same with food if i like something I do it and eat it or whatever a lot so when it comes to alcohol I think you know after a show you know going out your friends it just seems to be there all the time in my life throughout touring and stuff and I just stopped I don't know what it was I think I mean it didn't help with my phobia of sick that I was like getting drunk and then being scared of being sick in the morning That didn't really help anyway.

33:10So I was like, well, I'll remove that fear from my life. And yeah, just stopped everything. Just sober from absolutely everything bad, basically. Apart from chocolate. Have you got any vices? Besides chocolate? Lego. Oh my goodness. And Marie, this is so revealing. You're not a foodie, but you're a fucking geek. Yeah, I'm a geek. I love it. Have you done the bouquet of Lego yet? Yeah, I've done that. I've done that in lockdown. I've done a whole town. Oh, my God. Yeah, you can buy a whole, like, separate parts of town. So I've got, like, a library, a police station, a jazz bar, and I've got it all connected together.

33:49Which room is this in, in your house? Well, yeah, that's a problem. I've got a games room, but I have no space, so it's on the table at the moment. But eventually I want to have a whole room of it. Did you always love Lego? No, I loved jigsaw puzzles first. I was obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. and then I got introduced to Lego and I was like, this is way better because it's like an actual creation. Do you follow the thing, the instructions? But I love that. I love following, I love like building Ikea. Do you know what I mean? I love building wardrobes and drawers and just building stuff. We're very different.

34:27We're very different. Yeah, give me a flat pack. Hey, this is great to know. Yeah, I'm a bit like that. Do your mates all come to you and say, I've just bought something, can you come round and give us a hand? No, but I'd like it if they did. Okay, Jessie, now you know. Yeah. I really want to know about the sick phobia, but I feel like it's the wrong way. No, don't, Jessie. You can if you want. It don't make me feel away talking about it. Really? Yeah, for real. Did you ever watch that Hunsnet one when the woman went on this morning for a fear of custard? No. He went, so what is it about custard?

35:02She goes, what?

35:05No way. It's amazing. So now I'm just thinking about you and the custard lady. No, it doesn't make me be sick. If I see someone do it, it don't make me do it. So have you managed to not be sick for a very, very long time? Yeah. I've tried hypnotherapy. I've done therapy. I think I've been sick twice in maybe 20 years. Wow. Yeah. But it's bad. I've had it since I was young. and there was a point, I think I was 12, I was at a karate competition in Blackpool and we went on all the rides and I was on the waltzer. I hate the waltzers. Yeah. They're the bugger. Yeah, someone was in my thing, cup or whatever it was.

35:48No, stop. With the hand to the mouth. And I was like, don't worry, chill out, chill out, it's fine, it's fine. And then... Did it touch you? No, no, no, because... So basically what happens, yeah, my body actually thinks it's gonna die so i just shut down so you have a panic attack and my body just does whatever it needs to do to get away right so i in my head see the ride slowing down because i'm saying to the guy please stop the ride so in my head i'm like he stopped it so i just step off it because i think it stopped and it's still going full pelt so this is how bad it is because i've been like on motorways in the middle seat and like people are like oh i feel bit sick and i just get i just go to get out the door that's quite dangerous it's so dangerous yeah so like when i tell people about this everyone goes oh no one like sick do you know what i mean and i'm like i i can't stop my body from what it's doing in that moment i don't think i've ever seen it come out of someone's mouth that's how i'm so aware of it that if someone coughs i get over the other side i can't go on public transport can't go on buses um trains are scary for me because I can't get off.

36:56To be fair, I've never seen anyone sick on a bus or a train. Have you? I think I have been sick on a bus or a train. Jessie suffers with car sickness. Oh, yeah, that's a bad thing. Have you made dessert? You know what? Luckily, I haven't. What would have been the point? I have got... What have you got? Vegan ice cream. Chocolate ice cream. Oh, nice. She's perked up. You've got two options. You've got Ward's Menon Rocket. You've got Caramel Peanut. Oh, that's going to be you. caramel peanut please caramel peanut of course it was actually delicious by the way right cheers what was the other one to getting through the main the other one and trying some watermelon one a watermelon one or i've got honeycomb vegan honeycomb oh you do like crunchy do you want a little bowl of that too i'll have that after yeah okay she's thrilled now these vegan yeah these are so good jude's have you ever heard of them babe they're so good so what was it like being with that um shania twain apparently she makes a really good hummus i heard we didn't talk about hummus we um basically i wrote the song last year as a solo song and my label are very into me doing collaborations all the time that it's just you know they love it and i do love it so But when this album came about, I was thinking about who to collaborate with.

38:22And when I wrote the song, it's kind of country. And I was like, who would make sense here? And I said to Jazz, just send it to Shania's team and just see what they say. And she was like, I've heard nothing back, heard nothing back. She's busy, she's touring. And I was like, just one last time, just see what she says. And she heard it and was like, I love it. I'm in the studio in London for one more day. and then I fly home to come to the studio. And I was like, oh, my God. I can't believe what is happening. So I went there. She was amazing. So warm, so bubbly and just, like, so excited still, you know, to, like, make music.

39:03And it was so lovely to see. Yeah. And we just had loads of fun and just recorded it, done some vocals together, went to Nashville the other day to do the music video. Just as you do. Wow. Yeah. But she did her bit. In Nashville. And I did my bit in Kent. Yeah. How have they brought it together? Well, exactly. So we filmed it like an old Western movie, basically. Amazing. So the cutting and images and all that stuff is very cut, you know. It's like eyes and ding, ding, ding, ding, you know, hand on the gun and stuff. So it was kind of easier to do it. but I still went there to film some bits with her but because weirdly Nashville don't have any western sets they just have fields so I was like I can't do a whole western video in a field dressed like cowgirls it just didn't make sense to me so we found this set in Kent which is a whole town you know in the movies where it's like the tumbleweed the shops just in some woman's back garden No, stop.

40:14I swear, her name is Jolene. No, stop! Yeah, yeah. And she made this set in her garden. And it's just with all the horses. I can't believe it. It's crazy. It's amazing. So I went there and did a whole video there. So, yeah, that's just being edited now. So that was fun. Yeah. That's wild. Shout out, Jolene. Shout out, Jolene. Yeah. She just lives her life like a Western movie in Kemp. Yeah. Is it her real name? Yeah, it's her real name. I love it. So she's had to live up to it. I think that's what she's done. Did she wear a cowgirl hat and things? She was pretty normal, actually. She had to do this.

40:49She was so Essex. It was funny, actually. Are you going to Glastonbury this year? I was going to, but I don't know. I went last year. Did you play last year? No, I didn't. I lost both of my big toenails. How? I'm walking so much, I think. I had Doc Martens on, and it just... Oh, banged against them. Never experienced it before. They've only just grown back. Oh, baby. I was like, I'm not going to get into it. Next year. Have to have toenail protectors. Yeah. But I do love Glastonbury. It's the best, I think. It is the greatest, isn't it? Uh-huh. Do you think you've got good table manners, Anne-Marie?

41:27No.

41:30I don't think so. I think I burp a lot. And because I do it so much, I don't think I've realised when I'm doing it now. So I do do it. I haven't heard you burp tonight. No, that's good. I thought you were going to do it then.

41:47And what would be a nostalgic taste or scent that could bring you back, transport you to somewhere from your childhood? I feel like we even need to ask that. It can't be peanut butter. Philadelphia. It can't be Philadelphia. I remember once in Spain, my nan and grandad lived in Spain, so I grew up going there. and I remember once I had a pizza with bolognese on top of it and I always remember that and that is... Is it a good memory? Yeah, a good memory. And you take it back and you remember all these things and I actually got a henna tattoo on my leg and it's stained my leg ever since. No, stop, I need to see it.

42:27No, stop. I don't know if you're going to... How old were you? No, it was just like a little... You know one of those tribal things? I was about seven, I think. Let's see if it's still there. There!

42:41I can see it like ever so slightly. It was like that. It was just a strip. I bet your parents were like... I don't think they care. I don't care. What's your favourite tattoo at the moment of yours? I have one on my leg that's a girl sitting at a desk and it says, what the fuck is going on? That's my life at the moment. You know, I just thought of this memory. This isn't food, but it's kind of food. So I grew up in a flat till I was about three and I remember this completely. I walked into the bedroom, me and my sister shared a bedroom and there was like brown liquid on the side and my sister was like, lick that.

43:18And I was like, what is it? She's like, it's Coke, Coca-Cola, spilt it, you can lick it. So I went out of that and licked it. It was battery acid. God, no wonder you've been traumatised. That had come out of a battery, yeah? And my tongue just sizzled. And I just ran into my mum and I was like, Mum, I need some water, I need some water but I didn't tell her why because I was like, I don't want to get my sister in trouble and I didn't tell her until I was like I would be dobbing on that sister I was like, it wasn't until like secondary school and she was like and I just come out of it and she was like you could have died, like you could have done but it's only the tiniest bit but it made my tongue really even if you lick a battery it's got that soury burny thing that's what it tastes like shit bag sister I know, but she gets away with everything.

44:08Everything. I was the devil child. Yeah. She's a perfect child. How's your tongue now? You know. I don't know. I'm not sure if I'd known any different now. Maybe we should blame the fact that your palette isn't that extensive because of the battery acid, babe. So your album comes out when? 28th of July. So you won't be able to go on your summer hole straight off, will you? No. I think I'm going to when am I going to be for? August 30th so a little month after it yeah a month after so that'll be good I want to talk about the title unhealthy where does that come from? well from my food dietaries but also I feel like because I'm quite an obsessive person I feel like most of my thoughts are unhealthy about everything Well, the previous album, Therapy.

45:04Yeah. So then this moves into Unhealthy. Yeah. So like Therapy wasn't doing what it had done for you before. You'd written, you put all your kind of therapy into writing the songs. So Unhealthy, yeah, it's kind of... Well, this is the story because Oliver Howe, my... Sorry, that just kind of came in. So basically when I started Therapy, that was in lockdown. So that's when I started writing the second album. So it was all very much based around self-improvement, you know, figuring out my brain and all these techniques that my therapist was telling me. And I felt like I went into therapy because I was quite numb to emotion.

45:45And then I came out of therapy numb to emotion in another way, in the sense of I'd learned so much on how to understand everything and deal with things. I just didn't feel like extreme anger or extreme sadness or extreme happiness anymore. I was back on the middle road. But in obviously the most other end of the spectrum to what it started in. And I kind of missed feeling those extremities. Is that a word? Extremes. Extremities is a word though. Extremities. Yeah, but yeah. Extremes. Yeah. um again so i i stopped therapy i do it every now and again but not it was like weekly thing for years were you zooming yeah zooming um and i just started getting those emotions back and it was so fun to like have this new life with these extremes and but still having the ability to understand and cope with things so it was like I'd mixed a bit of the two terribly if you're so stable that you don't feel any highs or lows that's what it became so the second album was very much like that and you know calm and collected and then I got out the other end I was like oh it's a bit boring now so in the process of this new album I just wanted to feel everything again you know and I I basically have done a journey of two relationships one which I came out of which wasn't great and then one which I've gone into which didn't start great because it was like an obsessiveness unhealthiness and now and then at the end it kind of levels out so it's like all of the phases of a relationship that you could imagine is put into the album and potentially you thinking the new relationship potentially wouldn't it would be almost but isn't that growth unhealthy so that actually it's worked out quite lovely it's growth in therapeutics terms it's growth to have gone manage things and then be able to manage the highs and lows again yeah and you're in a happy place yeah yeah yeah do you feel like you've shown more of yourself on this record or was that not even the was it not even about that was it was it about just i think it was like personally feeling i definitely feel like i was less scared to um experiment with stuff on this one i feel like in the last two albums i've definitely felt a way about staying in a lane like if i don't sound like this or if i don't make a song that sounds like this are they gonna know it's amory you're like will they recognize it so you kind of stay in that bubble of also let's be honest amory like you'd had like some huge international success and so i guess when you have that success it and everyone's enjoying that success the suits and everyone yeah and you're a person that wants you're told that you need to and want you should want to stay in that lane.

49:03I understand that. I understand that that would be a feeling that would, you know. But we've had other musicians on who say the same thing. I mean, I think Olly Merz, for example, said he was worried about his new album coming out because he had really forgotten whether he should be who he always has been, whether he should try something new. I mean, it's definitely easier to stay in the lane. I definitely think my label and people around me were a bit worried about me going, I'm going to try new stuff, you know? It's scary for people because it is... I've been doing something that works. It just has worked.

49:39But it's not as if... It's not as if I've changed completely. It just feels like every song had the freedom to just be whatever it wanted to be. Did you work with different people? Yeah, I did work with different people, actually, yeah. Did you stop listening to the label so much? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I definitely did. I've always been outspoken with the people around me and like sure in what I want. But there is always that sense of me that's like, oh, I do want to be successful. I do want my music to be heard by everyone. So what is the compromise, you know? And I feel like in this album, I was just like, whatever.

50:20You know, I'm just going to do whatever I want. And hopefully my voice is recognisable enough now. You are loved and recognised and celebrated. Yeah. I feel like you could do whatever you want, Amelie. Yeah, I feel very lucky. I feel like the voice definitely helped with expanding that into my actual personality. You know, people seeing me and not just hearing the music. Because I try and put a lot of personality into the songs, but it's hard, you know, you can only do so much. So the voice definitely helped with that. I feel like I just feel very loved. I do feel very loved by everyone, actually.

50:59I've got very good people online and, you know, crowds are really nice to me. I just, yeah, I feel happy. Because you've never been a dick and you're talented. Oh, have I? But, like, you've never changed. You've always been the same. Yeah. You've always been the same. And I think that, yeah, it's amazing that you're feeling like this on this new record. Yeah, I didn't, I don't, it's hard because you don't want it to sound cliche because I feel like every time someone gets to the third album they're like, oh, this is the most me it's ever been. But I've always, recently I've been saying with the whole therapy thing, I feel like when you grow up you try and find yourself and have all the answers or find what you're here for.

51:44You do that as you get older and I just feel like I'm just sick of that now. I don't really want to know who I am. I just want to just... Get on with it. live every day and just have fun and make music and tour and everything. Are you looking forward to touring? Mm-hmm. You enjoy that? You know what's mad? This tour is going to be very theatrical. Great. I'm going back to the musical theatre. Amazing. Yeah. All of my music's going to be kind of like made to be more theatrical sounding so it makes sense and the set design is going to be very like musical vibe, actually mean something instead of just screams and just me dancing in the middle, which is, I feel like, what people expect of a pop girl.

52:27But, yes, I'm excited about it, definitely. I want to thank you for fitting this in. It's really full on at the moment. No, it's alright. I loved it. And next time, I will just give you a sandwich back. Thank you. Or pizza. I will be so happy with that. You don't have to even try. No. I mean, I know it's... No, it's not the point of the podcast, but you know. I honestly will not try next time. I did love it though, but I love you, so you'll forgive me. I love you. But thank you and good luck with the new record. Thank you. And I just hope you enjoy yourself. I think it's, I'm sure you will. I think I was in a very similar place where you are.

53:10And it's so freeing and brilliant when you stop kind of feeling like you need to people, please. and kind of, I don't know, it's really freeing and I think you're about to have the best, best time on this run with the album and touring and all of that. So yeah, enjoy it, buckle up. Yeah. Thanks, darling. Thank you.

53:45Well, I feel like you want to adopt Anne-Marina. What a beautiful woman. She's so lovely. So gorgeous. Love the black hair. Dark hair. The dark hair is fab. Gorgeous. The sliders were fab. I've never seen anything like that. She's just great. She's quirky. She's fantastic. She's... A kilt and a t-shirt and sliders. The t-shirt said, don't be a dick. Okay. Maybe that was like a subliminal message to us. To me. Anne-Marie, such a sweet girl unhealthy, her third album is out on the 28th of July go and listen to her new song with Shania Twain go and watch the performance back from Capital Summertime Ball she's doing it all hot stuff in those cowboy outfits thank you to Anne-Marie for coming over I will give you that Philadelphia sandwich next time and it'll be much easier for all of us when you go to I might take your children to a farm in Kent maybe I'll have a look out for Jolene's set that is such a good story we'll see you next week