Leigh-Anne Pinnock

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0:35Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here in Clapham. Lenny has been on the food duties and also looking after my children whilst I went to Menorca, which actually is fabulous. Not actually, it is fabulous. It's a pleasure to be with your children. It was my pleasure to be away from them and it was really nice. I ate really good food, I read two books. That book you gave me mum was awful. No, it's not awful. It's very good. It's about motherhood. Yeah, well, you're trying to tell me something about myself. It's just that I look at books that are recommended by people. Soldier Sailor, it's called.

1:12Soldier Sailor. It's very good, by the way. I think Bella Mackey put it down, and it's been in all the top books at the moment. And I think Sarah Jessica Parker, she is also a big reader, so she often has piles of books. I'm just about to finish it. it's excellent yeah which i like it's so evocative that it made me it reminded me a lot of kind of the beginnings of having a baby and stuff which i think i felt uncomfortable with but it's fantastic but yes i was like wow this reminds me of like wandering up dalston high road very not knowing what you're doing exhausted and yes but it's fantastic but yeah it wasn't it isn't i wouldn't say light read um but it's beautiful um but yeah so basically i went to minorca with my husband it It was gorgeous.

2:02Stayed in a beautiful hotel. Made some friends. Shout out to my new friends who gave us a lift to a beach called Jessica and Laura. Laura was less willing to give us the lift. And she was very open about it. She said, I wouldn't have given you a lift. But Jessica was well up for it. They were best friends that had met at college. And they do a holiday together every year. Oh, there's lots of people. Americans, pure Swifties. So we listened to the whole of the Swiftie collection. they had no idea who I was until they decided to play my back catalogue in the car just to see whether they liked it or not whilst I was sitting in the car with them what's the verdict I think they liked it I think they maybe like more mid-tempo jesse stuff okay and but they were so fun how did you meet them were you hitchhiking no I know no they were in the reception of our hotel and they were like we're going to the same beach anyway we basically ended up hiking together and And it was a really lovely day.

2:57So shout out to them. And also she gave, she did a cookbook in her lockdown just for herself. She's a big, big foodie host, hoster. And she said that her spag bol, she puts beer in instead of wine. Listen, don't knock it till you try it. I'm just putting it out there. Let's just say Seattle's a long way from Italy. That's all I can say. What would she know? Anyway, we had such fun doing the Jordan live episode. And thank you so much for all your messages in. I don't know. Should we do another live tour? I don't know. Maybe we just do much smaller venues. Smaller venues and great guests. I think that's the key.

3:39Jordan was a particularly fabulous human. Jordan is welcome whenever. Yeah, should we have him back or do another one? I think we should have him back and have his girlfriend Jade back. And we've, Jordan's got a particular connection with I know, we're kind of like Six degrees of separation of little mix Yeah Leanne Pinnock is coming on this podcast today She has an EP out called No Hard Feelings It's about six songs It's got that tune, amazing tune Forbidden Fruit on it It's got the opening song Stealing Love is so good And then it's got her newest single Which is Oh My God or OMG And she has Twins she's doing this all she's fabulous she's coming here and what are you cooking i've never done it before so let's hope it works but i thought it might be a nice lunch thing chicken shawarma which has been marinating since yesterday with a greek salad yeah well tomato and baby cucumber red onion feta salad yum then a herby salad but not like yours because it's just a green I think I've overdone the green goddess.

4:46Okay, well, it's a green salad. I'm just going to put oil and vinegar on. And then I've made tzatziki. Yeah. And I've made a tahini dip. Do you wish you were somewhere else apart from London right now? Potentially the Mediterranean. Yeah, probably. And then I've tried to do a strawberry cake. It looks so delicious. It looks amazing. It looks very big. It actually has strawberry pulp inside the batter, the actual cake mix. Did you pulp it? I had to reduce strawberries down to put inside the batter. And then I put it with cream. Get her on, bake her. Yeah, no. Actually, the man who does it, it's all American recipes.

5:30And they say use pink colouring to make it look pink. But I thought, no. And they also do a cream cheese and strawberry pulp topping. You didn't do that. Topping. I just saw strawberries and cream. We're British, aren't we? Yeah. So it's strawberry cake with a British twist. Amazing. And if there's any left over, Graham will be very happy because we're watching the cup final tomorrow. Do you need to talk about Marcus not being put in the squad for England? I'm heartbroken for him. I think Gareth has made a big mistake. Maybe we should get him on. Maybe he'll like to come on if he's got a bit of time.

6:05It's been a big week, hasn't it? Watch the Euros for this. General election announced. Well. Probably have Rishi. I'm bloody well away. You're away. I'm away. Don't worry. We will be doing postal votes. Postal votes. And can I plead with everyone to register to vote? We will. Whatever your vote, please register. And if you can't vote that day, you can get a postal vote or a proxy vote. You know what? We'll put it in our notes for this episode, which may seem a bit weird. But just to remind you, if you need access. Now's the time to register. Just register. You can do postal. You can get somebody else to do it for you.

6:37You just need to be a bit ahead of the game. so please can you just sort it out yeah um right so leanne pinnock coming up on table

6:51hi leanne hi how are you okay thanks for being here it's like i feel well we've had your friend jade in that seat yes we had jade's boyfriend last week on the live i saw that yeah um so it's only right that we've got you now it's been a while and we've had and we had john batiste on and you've collaborated with him oh my gosh we've had you know so it's time you're here yes i mean i walked and i feel like i'm home good yeah it's a lovely feeling how how are you i'm good yeah um lots going on exciting things happening yeah it feels like um it's been a bit of a whirlwind I can't believe I've been solo now for like over half a year like it's wild but you know I feel good is it feeling good, I mean I listen to the EP I think it's amazing I think you need to do a track with Tyler or something like that don't you think, I feel like a lot of people say that who's Tyler darling make me sweat, make me water make me lose my breath biggest song of the year my daughter sings it and my son and I'm a bit like they don't know what this my two year olds sing it yeah yeah you're like it doesn't matter how sexy it is it's a great tune with a hook it's a really good song you can't deny the hook what do your kids think of the music have you been playing the demos to them and did they tell you are they like because I feel like children are the best A &Rs they really are aren't they if they can catch on to a melody then I know it's going to be a good one oh is that right absolutely so what's their fave on the EP on the EP I would say actually Forbidden Fruit ah yeah because one of them can always catch on to the fruit one of them always sings that bit um but yeah they are definitely the best the best a and r's they kind of love everything i do to be honest they're biggest fans are they more obsessed with you than your husband oh what a question well i don't know i mean my children are definitely more obsessed with my really girls or boys both wow my daughter's quite into me yeah so we have long distance relationships so he lives in Saudi he plays football there right so for the last two years we've been apart basically like seeing each other for like maybe two days a month crikey it's been hell to be honest no it's hard any resentment I try not to yeah because I think that's a positive answer I really try not to because obviously we know what he's doing it for I mean he's doing it for us so but um oh so hard though like having two two and a half year olds and so yeah and he so he must have gone there when they were about six months basically how long i know how long's his contract um so it actually ends this summer so he's home next week i'm so excited and then what's next just just family like value beautiful time you know um but we don't know so that's like also the thing about being with a footballer you just don't know where you're going to be and like i can't move with him anywhere because obviously i can't have a career wherever he's going to go i have to be obviously local to home and um god let's hope it's not china next no you don't think i can't do it anymore i can't do it could he play for a british team yeah i think we have to obviously just wait and see it's kind of hard i think he needs to get his coaching ticket as well Maybe you need to go and speak to Victoria Beckham.

10:17I know. Because she did that still in Madrid. How she handled it? No. Did you not do it? Yeah, but she wasn't making music. She was making music at a different time though, wasn't it? She was dress designing by then, wasn't she? No, she was making music. Okay. Did you watch the documentary? Yes. I just need to watch it, yeah. Oh, God, it's hard, man. Who did he start with? So, I had it good because he did. I did because he played for QPR. He did Watford. Oh, wow. And that was local. so I had like a couple years of us living together. This is alright. Yeah, and then obviously, yeah, we had the babies and then he had to go.

10:50Where did you meet him? So we met in Marbella. Wow. In a club. That's great. What song was playing? Oh, good question. Don't know. How many drinks in were you, Liam? A lot of drinks in. Can he dance? He can't actually. Oh my God, and you still went out with him? I still went there. I think it was like the sort of bad boy look. I don't know, like the rough around the edges. Did he approach you or did you approach him? He approached me. I think it was like eyes locked. Eyes locked. Oh, I love that. And then, yeah, it kind of, a bit of both. A bit of both. Yeah. And then when he said, I'm a footballer, you were like, uh-uh.

11:31Or were you like, okay. I think at the time, like, so I did that holiday because I wanted to get away from everything. And there was a lot going on. and I kind of just wanted, my mum came, my sister, some of my friends. It was like a sort of, I needed a blowout, basically. So I didn't expect to meet somebody. I didn't expect to meet my husband, you know, the man of my dreams. It was weird because as soon as I saw him, I just knew. So I didn't care that it was football. I didn't, like, I mean, I think I had that, because I remember there's actually an interview of me saying, I'll never get a footballer.

12:07And then some of the fans have kind of, like, put it together, like, I said that. um but yeah I didn't really care I think when you know you know I guess can we bring it back to the beginning by the way your sister's here I didn't know that your sister manages you yes and we'll talk about working with family in a minute but and how fabulous it is um but well yeah actually how is it working with your sister like have you worked with each other for a while were you starting to work together when little mix were about so when when we knew sort of little mix was coming to an end i think we had the conversation that we were gonna start like she she had to come on board she's got so many good ideas and i was watching her in her current job and thinking like you just you need to come on board with me and like we need to do this together um Sarah do you want to get on the mic folks in housing but she wasn't she wasn't happy and um she was bringing so much value to me in terms of ideas and like just I thought yeah you need to you need to come on board with this and obviously yeah me going solo was like the perfect time for her to come so but yeah um I can't say anything before it's like the whole having my best interests you know like no one's going to have you like your family so um yeah it makes sense i mean she's blimmin annoying what happens when she challenges you and doesn't agree with you on something how do you get through that well so each other's hair do you throw a chair at each other we used to fight back in the day yeah um but i've got a fake tooth from my could you let your sister manage you i'll never forgive her about this because you know veneers you can't get whitened.

13:54So I literally could get my teeth whitened, but my veneer would stay the same colour. But you can change your veneer for a lighter colour. I don't want to change my veneer. My one veneer. It's not like I went and did like veneers. I got one fucking veneer because she'd not do that. Wait, what happened? She got my head on the side of the bath and went like that. And her new... I was about seven so my new tooth had just come through. And I was so panicked. I got my friend round, Claire Orme, and we went through the bathwater with a tea strainer to try and find the tooth that was very that was a bit stupid that was very stupid wait she literally just went dush yeah and then i took you to you see her she looks like butter wouldn't melt so you and sarah don't have that but you do disagree well she did hit me on the head with a plank once i wouldn't yeah so i am alive well right i wanted uh to wear her coat for school and i think yeah her coat and um where'd she find a Thanks, Sarah.

14:51So her bedroom door, one of the little wooden window things had been smashed in. So the wood was kind of just... Right. Yeah, you know. So I basically just punched it through and opened the door because she locked it and went to get her coat. Because she wouldn't let me in. So I went to get her coat. So you punched through the door. Because I really wanted to wear this coat. And then she picked up one of the planks and then... But I guess you're not doing that kind of thing now and it's working all right. No, no, no. It's working all right. She's looking at you being like, shut the fuck up. Be careful, don't cross us, Sarah.

15:24But she's very strong-minded. And like, yeah, if she feels something, she feels really strongly about it. But I feel like we have that relationship where if I don't agree with something, like, yeah, like I, you know, stand up for myself. You've grown up with being in the limelight and we've grown up with you. And I feel like the beauty of a little mix to just bring it back to little mix for a moment, it's like that you all had such strong personalities. But you were unashamedly yourself. and I loved that. How old were you when you auditioned? I auditioned when I was, I think I was nine, I think I was 18 actually when I first auditioned and then got into the group when I was 19.

16:04Right, so you weren't like 15? No. And were they all the same age? Were you all the same age? Roughly, so I think, yeah, Perry was the youngest. She was actually like 17 and then Jessie was the oldest. like me and her kind of the same age so yeah by 19 um let's talk about food for a moment what i was going to say your sister who's here sarah gorgeous sarah manages you but what is a memorable dish from your childhood that you know something that reminds you of being at home who was around the dinner table apart from sarah yeah what were you eating i vividly remember sundays so we was um a lot of the time we went to my uh grandma's so that's my mum's side and they're baysian so my granddad was was bayesian so my mom's side and we'd have like gungo peas beef stew um he made the best coleslaw like oh my gosh how what was in it well the special ingredient was was sugar like it has to be sweet but i just i don't know we've we've been trying to recreate this coleslaw for years and like i don't know what he did but it was just it was unbelievable people um and yeah I guess um so my dad's side is Jamaican I remember going to Jamaica every year and just curry goat and rice and peas and just yeah and did your did your parents cook yeah so so mum was really good um mum I think obviously um like her Bajan side she would uh she would do the gunga pea stew.

17:40So good. Yeah. What does a gunga pea look like? It's like the little white one with a black dot on it. Okay. The black-eyed peas. But it's not black-eyed peas, it's gunga peas. No, that's a different one. So gunga peas is more of a Bajan thing and then rice and peas is more Jamaican. Okay. Yeah, which is the kidney bean in the rice. Yeah. The rice. Can you cook? I can, actually. Yeah? I thought it was... I thought it was... Sarah can. No, I actually can. Can she cook? She needs to see me. oh can we just stop no she needs to season everything can we just stop so she's literally the chef okay like she's amazing at cooking but i feel like when i really like have a day and i put a lot of love into it yeah i can cook some really good food but i feel like a lot of it's trial and error yeah you know but um i think i'm i'm pretty good so what would you be cooking if we were coming around and you maybe the twins had gone to mini village and beckonsfield and they okay you know that you had some time what would you be cooking for us i would probably want to do a jamaican dish so i'd do brown stew chicken yum yeah so have you have you had it i don't think no but i've seen actually dawn cooks that a lot yeah on her facebook page it's always brown stew yeah so that one is a trial and error thing like sometimes you might get in bang on and other times it's just so what's the brown in brown the brown in so you have brown in sauce what's that it's just called brown in um you just it just makes the chicken brown yeah i think it's just sugary syrup isn't it yeah okay oh wow you can also brown it with uh just butter and brown sugar so it's caramelized in a way yeah yeah yeah it's yum um so i think yeah i'd probably spend all day doing it but i would do that for you and i'm really good at doing rice and peas as well actually yeah and that's hard yes give us a tip how do you do yours is it like i think it's the just not having too much water in it like the water's got to come just above the rice yeah and i don't i don't really do measurements with with jamaican food with brown street i kind of just guess because you know it now maybe do you use coconut milk yes so or desiccated coconut i've used coconut milk if i've ever done it coconut like um you're talking about shaved coconut the block yeah the block or coconut a coconut cream yes you buy it in a block yeah yeah yeah i would normally do the tin i think but then that's that's what's hard getting that ratio of that and the water.

20:18So it's not too sloppy. Yeah. Okay. Have you been to Jamaica? Yeah. Where do your family live? The family there? My grandad lives in Kingston. Wow. Yeah, so we've literally been going every year since I was born. It's my favourite place in the world. Got married there as well. Did you? Where about? We got married in Ochi. Yeah, so we would go when we were younger and I think our grandad was obviously quite protective so we couldn't wouldn't walk out when we were young anyway you know but um as i've got older like i've discovered more and more places to go um so now yeah we stay like all around like portland's beautiful there's a place called frenchman's cove which is yes stunning beach like just amazing um but there's always a little places in kingston that i want to um i want to venture into yeah and i love it it's my favorite place in the world how many people came to the wedding we had i think it was like was it 80 yeah about 80 does your husband have connections with yeah so he's jamaican as well yeah yeah so just it just felt right what was first dance um first dance was i don't know if you heard of division the singer division what the the the producer yeah yeah i know one of them yeah so the song called the line yeah it was our first dance yeah That's awesome.

21:38So, so lots of growing up, lots of Bajan and, and Jamaican food. And, and, and then can you give us a memorable kind of food from your little mixed days? Was it a rider staple or somewhere that you all wanted to go? Yeah. Well, um, everyone used to like kid and say that I was like the one that loved all the posh food and like the, like they love cheesecake factory in America. Have you ever been there? Yeah, I have. And Nando's and things like that. And there's me that wanted sushi and all this stuff. Yeah. Yes. But I'm trying to think, one thing that we loved collectively. Ooh. So we used to go, when we used to go to LA, In-N-Out Burger would be our...

22:23Do you like it? Do you know, I went with your Sam. Yeah. When we travelled with the kids. Dropped off? I didn't like it at all. Really? I felt like it, it tasted like it had been chewed before they served it up. Did you get animal style? I don't know what we got. We left the airport and we thought we all better eat. The cheese and the onions. No, I didn't like all that. So I just feel like it tastes really fresh. It does taste freshly made. Have you been to LA recently? Yeah, not too long ago actually. Went for writing. Let's talk about that then. Okay, on to the EP. You've always been a really celebrated writer within Little Mix.

23:06It was you and Jade that kind of did a lot of the writing. Did it with my dear Shun Goodzo. Oh, gosh, yeah. And Camille, obviously. So you were writing a lot of the Little Mix stuff. And so how was it, did you and Jade write on this stuff together? Have you written together for your stuff or not? No, we haven't. You needed to kind of go and kiss a few frogs. Yeah, kiss a few different frogs, yes. Yeah, I think like, I mean, we were together for 12 years. you know like in each other's you know what's that word um yeah so i feel like when the time came for us to actually go solo it was like this is this is our time yeah we need to just see what this is like on our own you know so who have you been writing with in this one who's like main collaborators um so for what for the album in general i think my writing family now kassa progression yeah so he's done a lot of stormy stuff recently um and he's just you know when you can go to someone who'd be like, I want this today.

24:04And he'll just do it. Oh, I love that. He's one of them. Yeah, he's amazing. And he did, I'll Still Be Here and OMG. That's beautiful. Thank you. It's really beautiful. And then, Abby Keane, who is Ray's little sister. Ray, Ray, Ray. Yeah. So Abby, Abby's her little sister and she's a phenomenal writer. The whole family. Yeah, I think there's like, how many? Is there? No, I didn't know that. Is there four sisters? And they're all writing. singers, writers oh my god that's amazing it's going to be a dynasty I love that they're so talented Abby has been involved a lot, she's amazing Dio, another incredible songwriter, I've heard about Dio she's wicked just amazing energy and Taylor Parks was on this EP as well Taylor Parks she did Sweet Melody for us she did Thank You Net oh you did a thank you next okay so you'd work with her in Little Mix stuff yeah yeah yeah um so just amazing people um and I actually did a writing camp in Jamaica as well how was that for you a writing camp for you yes how many how many different so for people that don't know what a writing camp is yeah can you explain yeah so you get some of the like your favorite writers and producers um and you all go to a place could be anywhere and um there's different rooms going on and everyone just writes music and you chose jamaica did you go to g-jam yes we did actually what was it like yeah it was g-jam it's like the famous spot in yeah so it's like a um it's like uh places to stay uh it's a hotel and there's like villas and then there's like studios as well yeah but um no it was amazing i think like it's quite hidden that's one thing i would say like you don't really see jamaica because you're kind of like huddled away but for you you've been there so many times you're probably like oh yeah yeah no yeah yeah definitely and to like all be together and like it was the best energy like there was no egos or anything like it was just an enjoyable fun like amazing experience it was good did you bring the kids as well i did oh my god you're a hero that's a bloody that's amazing yeah how old were they as well this was like just after the last tour that we did and I went straight basically straight there so they were like nine ten months you're amazing Leanne that's like it's it's no mean feat to launch a solo career after during having twins and leave it it's pretty amazing were you surprised you were expecting twins are there twins in your family so Andre's actually got twins in his family yeah um so his his nan both his nan's both his nan's had twins so it was kind of inevitable for us but like you just don't think it's going to happen to you so i just remember like when the um when the sun was on me and um well actually when when we first went for our scan like we didn't even think it was happening like i don't know i think we wanted it so much and just just didn't even think it could happen to us you know like it's just such a dream and and then um she was like oh um have you got twins in your family and then me and him ripped at each other and then we were like what she's like there's two sacks in here and then we just burst out laughing like we just laughed at each other like just crazy was it an easy pregnancy or is it at the beginning yeah and then when you get big and then i just yeah it was a lot yeah and i'm so small as well i had a huge belly and i was so it was a lot um and i think as well like because i had a c-section and like the recovery after that and like no one really like warns you or like tells you exactly what you're in for and major surgery literally um yeah so i think that was a lot like the recovery of it like you can't even like pick your baby up you know I had to rely on Andre and bless him like just yeah it was it was quite hard like with that but um yeah I mean best thing ever I think we were both pregnant at the Brits at the same time oh were you pregnant at the Brits yeah or had you announced it were you were you visible I feel like you me and Perry yeah yeah yeah we won the award yeah yeah yeah yeah but it was crazy um I remember telling my manager at the time Sam and then she was like no kidding because I'm pregnant too well I was like what and then um and then I got a call from Sam and Perry and then Sam was like Perry has to tell you something and I was like what and then she told me that she is pregnant I was like this is crazy and then my sister was pregnant at the same time as well oh my god so we were all pregnant how many sisters have you got just one two is she yeah has she had any um so my eldest has three kids okay yeah so we're quite a big family like those are cousins yeah which is just so nice like i love it cousins are really important aren't they and children love talking about their cousins yeah it's really interesting yeah yeah i I think Leanne wants to know what we're eating.

29:18Oh, okay. Go on. All right. I've never made it before. Yeah. I've made chicken shawarma. Ooh. So it should be quite, maybe not spicy enough for you, but I've tried with the spice and it's been marinating overnight. Wow. And then I've done a Greek salad with it and an ordinary green salad. And I've got a tahini dip and tzatziki to go with it. It's all right. Yes. Great. I've actually been loving Middle Eastern cuisine right now, like Lebanese and obviously just coming back from Saudi as well and having proper traditional food. What's the food like in Saudi? Beautiful. Is it? So it's a dish called kabsah, and it's just like the rice and the meat.

30:00Oh, yeah. But the hospitality there is just so beautiful as well. We went into this really traditional, gorgeous restaurant and we all sat down, and all the food was just laid out, and it was just so good. There was camel on the menu. Oh, my God. Did you try it? Did you not try the camel? No, no. Which bit of the camel do they cook? The hump? I don't. I know. But there's certain things that I just can't. Poor camel. I can't, yeah. So we, mum's just preparing the food. Whilst she just prepares it. Last supper. Starter, main, pud. Drink of choice. Hit me. Ooh. Oh, wow. Okay. starter I'm gonna say oh god I don't want you to judge me I'm not gonna judge you okay prawn cocktail what that's not loads of people do that okay from a particular place from a pub or like do you want like do you want small prawns or big prawns I would say the small ones yeah like you know when you go to America and you ask for a shrimp cocktail and you think you're gonna get a prawn cocktail and it's just like big shrimps with like a dipping no not for me no thank you no has to have the iceberg lettuce has to have a bit of avocado um paprika just like yeah just have you ever made it at home yes for christmas that's like our starter i'm sure yeah that's such a good starter a bit of salmon as well smoked salmon with it um but yeah that would be my starter mum i love that for the starter for christmas prawn cocktail i say the dew okay and it's nice and light as well yeah yeah um well actually why don't i interject is your christmas dinner like so you start with prawn cocktail yeah do you do a traditional christmas dinner what's your traditional christmas edit or do you add any baysian yeah yeah west indian yeah yeah so we would have we'd have a turkey and i actually get my turkey from jb you know he's jb from hls he has a turkey farm yeah sorry that's excellent pop trivia when i tell you his turkey is like because you know people say oh but turkeys are dry now his turkeys i see you see i get mine from jo jamie oliver and he's got a turkey farm and it's bloody good okay i'll try jb okay that's brilliant yeah yeah so so good why did he go into turkey farming i don't know he just has i don't know if it's just i think he has it it's just a farm for i just want to know whether there's like a pop group whatsapp where everyone's being like right where are you getting your turkeys from they're like look just just go jb yeah i'm sure perry gets hers from jb as well um but yeah no they're really good so then we'll have rice and peas as well and i'd have that over roast potatoes to be honest i'd have rice and peas over do you have the roast potatoes as well yeah and then we have lamb do you have two oh yeah right nice yeah um and then do you have macaroni oh we don't have macaroni for christmas day no but But Boxing Day, we'd usually have curry goat and then we'd have mac and cheese and do that.

33:05But yeah, what else? My mum, it's a really good cabbage, red cabbage. Yum. Banging, I love her cabbage. Yeah. Okay, back to your last supper. Yes. So we've got the prawn cocktail. Yeah. Are we starting with a little aperitif? Do you drink? I do. I do occasionally. What would be your drink of choice? And where would it come? Where would it come in the meal? Well, it just kind of depends if I'm doing... Am I drinking? I'm on a... If you'd like to drink. I'm drinking. Yeah, you're drinking. I'm drinking. You're doing that Marbella night. Okay. It's like, what were you drinking on that Marbella night?

33:40Okay, because I can tell you the drink that I actually like to drink, which is a Paloma. Oh, love them. Thank you so much. Oh, my God. So good. They're very... Because they're not too sweet. Yes. Yes. Just the right amount of sweetness. Do you like mezcal or do you like tequila in yours? Probably tequila. Okay. yeah paloma where do you get a good paloma can you make one I've never tried making that I feel like it's not going to be hard that looks so good that looks really good wow okay so paloma I like that yes okay mains main oh this is hard okay there's two you don't want two you want one I want as many as you want babes alright okay so it would be curry goat who is cooking the curry goat are you getting it from somewhere my grandma okay is your grandma still alive yes um in jamaica it's my granddad's wife but we call her grandma as well yeah um so she'll be cooking it yeah um and she oh god she makes an amazing um breadfruit salad grapefruit salad breadfruit breadfruit yeah so breadfruit's like a breadfruit it's like a carb it's like a starchy yes yeah yeah yeah um have you ever had breadfruit mom yeah it's not my favourite is it not but you have to have it in a certain way so my grandma makes a breadfruit salad so like a potato salad but with breadfruit it's beautiful is it sweeter it's just got a slightly different taste different taste yeah it's not sweeter and the texture is different not in the salad that she makes please don't stop talking and eat it before yeah help yourself though thank you so much

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36:04Why? You've done this EP, No Half Feelings. It's so good. So why an EP and not the album? Because I feel like this EP feels incredibly coherent. And I was like, hang on, just add four more tunes and then you've got yourself an album. Yeah. so that was I think the way of thinking at the beginning yeah um I just don't think I was ready to put an album out I feel like the music that I'm trying to do is so different to anything in Little Mix and I think I would have been naive to think that everyone was going to come along with me yeah I really do feel like I'm trying to build a fan base build something new yeah and like building what I already have um so yeah I think this EP for me is just about solidifying who I am as an artist like my music and um just letting people know who liana is really i think i feel like you you spell it out really loud and clear and i love it and it does feel different to the little mix stuff but it feels totally like you are in control of this not that you weren't not in control of little mix i'm not saying that but i really feel like i understand you as a solo artist from this EP.

37:18Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what I want. You know, I really want that and I'm still working on the album and I'm so excited for it but I really do think this was the first step for me before that. But I do think that you need to have some of these tunes on the album. Is that, you're like, no, I've got bangers. I have bangers. I've got bangers. I've got more bangers. I've got more bangers. I do. I mean, I don't, we will see but I think this collection of music just lives in its own world. so yeah we'll see i mean i've got a lot of music there's more salad here this is yummy mum oh my god i think it works this rice is gorgeous what what's the fruit in that sorry what it's got cinnamon sultanas it's got cardamom cinnamon that's good i tried to get cardamom from the supermarket the other day goodbye did oh how that's annoying i can't be some oh what were you making i wanted to make a some sort of pilau thing just a chicken pilau but i feel like cardamom is like a key ingredient in sort of Middle Eastern vibe.

38:20I love that you're just making a pilau on like a Tuesday. I'll give you some. You're a superwoman. I do like to cook. Main for your last supper. We have curried goat from your grandma. Yeah. Is that the main? Are we having and we're having something else too because you said and yeah nachos yeah nachos of all the trimmings. What are your trimmings Leanne? The trimmings are guacamole, fresh, obviously. Naptives? Yeah, coriander, red onion, tomato. Aren't they just the crisps? There's so much more than just the crisps. They have a lot of stuff that is delicious. But if they are homemade and just done beautifully...

39:09Are they the shells? No, they're the crisps that you put loads of stuff on. So cheese, I make a good chicken tinga, which I have with it, yeah. What's chicken tinga? So it's like shredded chicken in like a sort of Mexican style tomato sauce. Will you have that on top of it or will you put it on the side? So I tend to have it on the side. So I bake the nachos in the oven. What cheese are you using? Mix, mix different cheeses. so Red Estar Mature and then maybe some mozzarella yeah the key is to mix the cheeses this sounds so basic but when you get a good like my nacho your nacho is the best they're the best Sarah are they very good oh what what oh I'm shaking your head they are good but I think mine are better oh I think mine are better we're going to have a nacho this is what you have when you go to the cinema no not like that though you cannot have nachos out they're just not the same you have to home make them and you get all the bits you have the pica de gallo which is like the tomato red onion uh coriander and then the yeah the guacamole sour cream oh mum that looks amazing wow oh my gosh that's enough for everyone are you a baker i think bacon's hard me too i used to love it but i wasn't yeah i'm not necessarily very good at it to be honest um do you i'm not good at it i'm like you i throw things in see what works but you can't do that with baking you can't can't do it um right so for your pudding yes what are you going for leah pudding um i love ice cream love ice cream like i could just eat ice cream all day um favorite flavor i just love a vanilla but I love mint chocolate chunk hold on Ben and Jerry's hang on a minute I love mint chocolate chip because it tastes like toothpaste you need to have a good one Ben and Jerry's mint chocolate chunk and they used to do it would you like some of this I would absolutely love some they used to do it at the cinema you know when you have the Ben and Jerry's station so I would literally go there just for mint chocolate ice cream and then shit film yeah yeah literally um but then they recently started doing it that you could they started selling it in tubs i think it's called min to wonderland or something but yeah obsessed mint chalk trunk so yeah have you tried have you tried the jude's mint chalk chip no is that good i might try that okay good so you've got a sweet tooth for the ice cream ice cream and but my dessert I think I love a crumble yeah ice cream I also love a sticky toffee pudding recently why where did you have it and just like a local pub maybe I think this is nice mom it's quite kind of dense it feels kind of good for you almost it's got strawberry in the actual sponge I don't that you can taste it.

42:20What's the cream? Is it literally just plain cream? Yeah. But they do it with a cream cheese topping with strawberry in it. Oh, that is gorgeous. Is there a taste or a smell that can transport you back somewhere? Happy or sad? A smell? Do you remember the Britney Spears perfume? Yes. Yes, I do. What was it called? fantasy the pink bottle yeah and it had like a butterfly or a heart on the top or something right and it wasn't called toxic no it wasn't very good learning it was fantasy I remember that reminds me of school everyone just wore it like it was just the staple smell yeah so I just remember my school uniform and just being at school ours was impulse vanilla vanilla secrets or something when the boys were Lynx Africa oh yeah I remember that britney perfume i was once at glastonbury and my friend's girlfriend had only bought that and like we basically i don't think we're showering that much and she'd just spray it around you so i just smelled of britney but britney's perfume but also could have done with a shower too it was not so that's what my reminding of um okay so that's your smell have you got a taste for me taste my godmother's um chicken she just made the best chicken because she's she was bayesian so just seasoned to perfection i remember going there and her um her selfish fritters as well banging is it weird being solo and not having your girls around you and checking in with each other when you're doing interviews not that this should feel like an interview but like is it does Does it feel like you're flying the nest in a weird way?

44:14Do you feel... Yeah, no, definitely. I think especially at the beginning... Because we would, I just remember, if there was ever a hard question, we'd be like, Jade, you're answering that. Do you talk to each other? You already do. How often... So Jade came over the other day, but we chat all the time on WhatsApp and whatever. Do you think you'll get back together? I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like, the last tour, it was just left on such a high. You know, like, we're so tight, all of us, and, like, supportive of each other. And, like, I mean, it's incredible, really. But you didn't stop, really.

44:48It was relentless. It must have been exhausting. It's kind of wild, actually, when I look back on it. Like, it was, like, two-year cycle. So we put an album out, and then we tour. We put an album out, and then we tour. Like, and it was just, like, constant. But we loved it, though. Yeah, did you enjoy the touring? Yes, that was the best bit. What was the best venue you played at? Best venue I think we loved the O2 I think we did that On the last tour We did it like five times Bloody hell Sold it out I know it's crazy But have you been seeing The Girls Aloud stuff? Yes It looks like they're having A really good time It looks amazing That could be you In 20 years Or maybe earlier And I think it will Because like I said We are super tight And like We have an incredible fan base So yeah Do you have a karaoke song?

45:36Do you like karaoke? I used to but then I became a singer and now I don't that's the same as Jessie so what was your karaoke song pre was it the song that you auditioned for no it was I Will Always Love You Whitney Houston big song I know it's a big song but I attempted it every time and did you do the note? I did I don't know how good it was but I did it was when I was little I was young I won't ask you to sing it please don't yeah karaoke just doesn't hit the same It hasn't, does it? Is that your engagement ring? Yes. Oh my God, Mum is such a magnet. No, but I love that ring. It's so beautiful.

46:15What is it? I always want a green. It's an emerald. It's a sapphire. A sapphire. A green sapphire. How did you know you wanted that? Oh my God. Because green is like my colour that I just live by. Like everything's green. My car. You're like Kermit. Like my house. Literally. But green is the colour that I surround myself with. Really? I think it's like a lucky colour as well Leanne thanks so much for coming on best of luck with the music I think you're going to be absolutely fine because it's so good thank you so much and it really feels like well of course you know what you're doing but it does feel really original and it feels like we need somebody from the UK doing that kind of music thank you so much such a pleasure

47:13Leanne Pinnock coming over, eating all the food, appreciating it. Love the rice mum. Good. She's gorgeous. Lovely. Lovely girl. She's so lovely. Really gorgeous. And I'm really excited for her. I think she's so comfortable within her own... She knows who she is, doesn't she? Yeah. And that is really refreshing. Because it's just being confident in who you are. New music's coming out this month. The EP's great. It's called No Hard Feelings. And if you... I'm sure it's sold out, but Lafayette's her next gig. I think it must be mad to go from being in the O2 to them being like, right, let's build a fan base.

47:55She's already got a fan base. She's brilliant. But I'm really excited for you, Leanne. And I'm going to go off and... You're going to take some cake. Am I? Yeah. I'm going to get a big Tupperware it's quite a lot of cake I mean I'll save some for Graham thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next week