Sara Cox

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2:00Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm here looking at a glowing Lenny. Calimera. Calimera. How was your holiday, Mum? It was lovely. It's my beautiful place. It's where I feel happiest. Met three people who liked the podcast. Oh, fabulous. That was in Athens. Oh, international. International now. Greeks? No. Okay. When I learn Greek, I think we'll put it out in Greek, don't we? I think that's a bit of a way of it. Okay. So, did you eat well? ate brilliantly well. I had the best prawn orzo. Yeah. And we had wonderful sardines. Yeah. Bifdecki, stuffed with ham and cheese. Yum. Very nice. But you don't eat ham because you're observing Jews.

2:45Ate on Limonari Beach. That was also delicious. Meatballs with mint and yoghurt. Yum. Yep. The weather was not the best. Oh dear. I think end of May is always a bit dodgy. suddenly it was June and everything went hot well I I feel like Portugal took all the good weather I took my kids to Portugal and we stumbled across like I feel like maybe everyone's going to message in and be like yeah where have you been but we just got really lucky with an Airbnb that we booked me and my best mate Sarah and we went to this place in Portugal called Bergau never heard of it and I love Portugal and it was the most gorgeous place we had the best food it was so relaxing and glorious and I love Portugal we have today, I'm so excited you've wanted Sarah Cox for so long so long your cousin Emma says she's my best person, if I'd have known I'd have come down which she loves her so much Sarah Cox, the presenter who has been on our screens and in our ears for decades.

3:56She's just so warm and lovely. It's the Lancashire in her that makes her warm and lovely. Sarah Cox and I had to introduce our husbands to each other at Glastonbury once because a mutual friend of ours had told us that they looked the same. And in fact, Ben, Sarah Cox's husband, very handsome, looks very much like my very handsome Sam. So you could swap if you needed to. Oh, God, Mum. Oh, God, there's a new TV series in it, me and Sessions. swap your husbands if they look alike. Oh, God, no, thank you. I'm fine with mine, and I think she's fine with hers. Okay, good. But Sarah Cox is coming on to talk about her new podcast, which is called The Teen Commandments, and she presents it with her best mate, Claire Hamilton.

4:36I think, from what I gather from listening to podcasts, they were both models in the 90s, and they've remained best friends. I don't know if they... Claire's Northern, she's from Whitefield, where our family's from. I might know her. Yeah, I know. I wonder if she knows Auntie Sue. Maybe. Anyway, and they do it about their teen children. And it's brilliant. So it can go from anything from prom dresses. I did not realise prom dresses are about a grand. I borrowed your cocktail dress from the 80s for my prom. You did me dirty. Oh, bollocks. I didn't even know about prom. It just wasn't a thing, was it, with us?

5:13No, I think it wasn't. We never had a prom. They'll talk about that. They'll talk about holidays. and it's so funny having just been on holiday very luckily with my gorgeous kids and how much they need you still and need you to entertain them and supervise them and how she's gone on holiday with one of her teenagers with their best friend and how well she's like are you coming for breakfast and they're like they stay in bed all day and then they get up about four just to catch what i did yeah you used to stay in bed till about one or two have lunch and then have a few rays and then you'd start to come out to eat and then you go back to get ready to go out clubbing because you never went out clubbing till about 10 30 11 well that's only in greece yeah yeah you're cooking today thank you very much what have you made well i'm just back from greece with lovely greek olive from my friends rosie and james so i've made plassi packy plassi placky or placky so we actually very luckily work with the most beautiful greek person sophia is luckily here today can you please pronounce what mum's cooked today.

6:17So Lenny has cooked psari blaggy. Yes that's what I've cooked. Not plassi plagi. And I'm doing it with potatoes baked in lemon, olive oil, a lot of oregano with feta on top. Yum. And then just a plain Greek salad. Then I've made fresh strawberry ice cream which I made yesterday and you roast the strawberries in a little sugar first and then you mush them all up and you just mix it all together it's a no churn so go like that with your eye which is a big wink to make sure I get it out at the right time okay so that sounds all delicious Sarah Cox coming up on table manners can't wait

7:10I love your podcast. I really love it. Teen Commandments, it's with your best friend Claire. Yeah. Who, did you meet each other through modelling? Yeah. Because there was talk about when her daughter was going to Thailand as an 18-year-old adult. Yeah. And you were all tracking, she was tracking her and being on Thai time. It was brilliant. How do you track them? Well, I want to know what app you use for tracking. No, I just do the usual Apple one. What, find my friends? Yeah, and you can see, yeah, you can just see where the kids are. Claire's got another one. And you can see, at one point she was looking at the app thinking that she was being, like, she was in a van being driven through the jungle.

7:53Yeah, in the rainforest. Because she could see her moving really quick, but she was on a zip wire. She's not sewed an AirPod into her trousers or anything. Oh, a little AirTag. AirTag. Yeah, that's the thing, to try and... I mean, look, we never got tracked, did we? No. And thank God. My mum would have been like, why is Sarah on the way to Blackpool? She's not supposed to be going to Blackpool. Did you go clubbing in Blackpool, Manchester? Both. Yeah. But I went to Blackpool when I really wasn't supposed to be. Like, I'd get a lift just from random lads in their XR2s. I can so imagine it, Sarah.

8:33In their Scooby-Doo's XR2s. So bad. Sarah Cox you're here and we're really thrilled to have you mum has been vying for Sarah Cox to be on this podcast for a very long time our cousin that lives in Wales who is a vet and probably has called in to Radio 2 said she would have travelled down from North Wales she's a vet she's an equine vet she looks after horses she's got three horses how many have you got Emma Emma. Lovely Emma. Because you like horse riding. I've got my horse, but actually this is why I'm a bit stressed today. You've been looking out? No, she's a little bit colicky. She's not well.

9:15They're such big creatures and they're so delicate when one little thing goes wrong with them. So I'm a bit worried about my little baby. What's her name? She's called Nelly. She's gorgeous. She's 17. She's beautiful. When did you get her? I got her in 2020, that fabulous year. So when other people were taking up sourdough, you were taking up acquiring horses. Were you allowed to ride horses? Oh, you were. Instead of walking, you were allowed to exercise your horse. Yeah, well, it was such an outdoor... Obviously, you do most of it outdoor. I take my granddaughter, Jessie's daughter, horse riding.

9:51Oh, lovely. A lot of resistance from her parents. I'll tell you why. It's just... It's expensive. And it's a schlep. And she went, Mum, can we get a horse? and I said we're not getting one in New Cross, are you mad? How old is she? She's eight. Oh God, I mean it's prime, prime time for the ponies. She's gone pescatarian this week. Why? But didn't want to have a fish finger bowel bun last night so I'm like, well I don't know, she went well I'll have a chicken one and I said well no that's not being pescatarian darling. I don't know, she just has got, you know, don't you remember when we all love pigs and it's about eight or nine isn't it and then you go I'm not eating another sausage.

10:30yeah so I just like her and say yeah they're not pork they're chicken sausages yeah I was vegetarian for I mean actually as an adult I've been veggie and I've been flexy and I've been pesky and I've been a little bit you know all over the place in my eating really but when I was younger and living on my dad's farm I was vegetarian for about 10 minutes it didn't last that long he's still farming now I've just spoke to him actually on the way over here he farms cattle he's got Hereford's so brown and white ones they're beautiful they're lovely very kind of cows they've got the best faces they've got like a creamy white curly face and then sort of like a conker a conker ready brown sort of coat and do they taste good?

11:19they do, Hereford beef is very good is that a thing? hereford beef is very good british beef of course very good why are you doing that face what do you prefer do you like an angus but i don't know if i could slaughter someone i've got to know it's really hard isn't it i know i don't think i could to be honest even though it's the business my dad is in but i will say that he is his cows have a great life they're really high you know high welfare he really is always that's always been really important to him but my brother because my dad's mobility isn't great he's long story short he had a bull called ferrari that stepped on his foot a few years ago when he was where was he he was loading the bull that he just sold onto a ferrari yeah he was loading for so basically he got his foot injured by a ferrari the bull called ferrari no i know oh sorry yeah i know i mean this dynamic is so amazing as well I just want to sit here and watch you two chat.

12:16Don't worry. It so reminds me of me and my mum. It's so good. Yeah. And so he didn't want to show that the bull had stood on his foot. He tried to style it out a little bit. Why? Because he just sold this bull. So he was loading it up onto the lorry and didn't want to be like, oh, you're a bugger. But I think he was like, Jesus. And then that injury, because he's a farmer, he didn't go and get it looked at and sorted, obviously. He just hobbled around. Yeah, he's like just, his foot's buggered. fast forward 20 years he's still hobbling around but his foot's getting worse and so my brother goes up who lives local to him and bless my brother he goes up and does so much he's always going unscrewing something unblocking something fixing something what does he do when he's not unblocking and fixing well he's a he's actually retired but he's an artist as well he paints he does like sort of pop culture sort of these sort of great pictures of like amy winehouse and like Like Freddie Mercury and Oasis ones.

13:15Yeah, he sells them. And he does these beautiful poppy designs as well. It's quite the contrast from Freddie Mercury to poppy design. But my brother calls my dad the doorstep farmer because my dad stands on the doorstep of the farmhouse. He tells him what to do. Let me fix that though. Bring that round here. And he's the doorstep farmer. That's brilliant. So who was around the dinner table when you were growing up? And what were you eating? So it would have been when we were still at the farm, My parents split up when I was like seven-ish, and we moved not that far away. Definitely walking distance for an eight-year-old to go popping up there by myself.

13:51How old's your youngest? My youngest is 15. Right, okay. 15? Yeah, I know. Crikey. 15, 17, and 20. 20? You can't have one of 20. Yeah, it's nearly 21, babe. What the hell? How did that happen? It just flies, doesn't it? When you're only 22 yourself. I know. It's a medical miracle. It's a miracle. So you'd walk to your dad's? Well, when we were at the farm, that's when my mum was in charge, and she'd be cooking, and there was five of us. So I was the youngest of five, two brothers, two sisters, my little mum there, all four foot ten and a half of her. She is little, though. She's diddy. And my dad is...

14:29But you're not diddy. No, but dad's quite tall. Right. So when he's not getting stamped on by bulls, I think that shrunk him a bit. So, yeah, we were all quite lanky, really. the coxies as a breed and we would yeah quite a lanky lot we'd all just sit around and mum was good at mum never like we were never allowed to have sort of all the classic late 70s early 80s convenience food you know I was desperate for chicken crispy pancakes yeah fingers crispy pancake so never had stuff like that was she a good cook she was a great cook she still is a good cook occasionally she'd use packet stuff and I'd never know not until I was much older because I'd be like I'm ready mum pass down the recipe of this chili con carne that I've eaten all my life that's amazing what and she's like it's a Coleman's packet it's like it's like a powder so she'd made it but she'd put in all the spices in you know from what we know of you you you love food and you love you've got kind of your rituals you do your friday night dinner kind of when you can yeah and you love a roast chicken can you make chicken soup i don't do chicken soup properly is that because your mother-in-law doesn't allow you to or she doesn't make it that often to be honest no she's i mean my one of my best mates will do occasionally i'm a bit of a cheat you won't like this i'll do a pressure cooker chicken soup that's all right which is just with bone in thighs and all the veg and just do it what i do just do it super quick matzo balls no i've never made a matzo ball i tried to make matzo balls this week is it hard they all exploded well did i have too much baking powder in probably i can't very sad it's taken me 60 bloody years to make a matzo ball and what is the secret of a matzo i have no idea but they suddenly work it's just time isn't it i just think it's knowing the consistency mine were too sloppy yeah you can't have to what did you say they exploded yeah they exploded so i put them in like the boiling water and they just kind of yeah there was nothing yeah they were crap so i had to throw them in the bin yeah yeah i made chicken soup this week for a friend who's not very well and um and i have to say mom it rivaled yours finally i've never been able to get it and i didn't use the telma or ozem what did you Stock pad.

16:54I use Knorr. I know. Stock keep. Oh. I like the Osm and the Talmud. Yeah, and I thought that was the only way. Do you live in North London? Yeah. See near Panzers? Yeah, Panzers is lovely. And Daniel's. Do you go to Daniel's for the bread? Yeah, for bagels and holler. Yeah, delicious. So if we were coming around to yours, what would you be cooking for us, Sarah?

17:18Well, let me think. I mean, it'd have to be a weekend because I get back so late after doing the radio. Yeah, this is the problem. Are you just on Farmer J every day now? Well... I love a Farmer J. It's delicious, isn't it? Oh, my God, Mum. It's delicious and it's really close to Radio 2. It's really yum. It's... So you queue up. It's basically high-end takeaway. It's quite spendy. It's quite salty, I find. They're doing black cards, though. That's what makes it delicious, really. What we can just get... Do you see what I'm doing here? I'm trying to get us over there. Oh, yes. Yeah, but they do, like, really good sides and, like, a really good bit of salmon or chicken.

17:52It's good. Yeah, like the broccoli side. Yeah, delish. And that's the steak and that chimichurri. Yeah, chimichurri. But there's also a chimula chicken, isn't there? Oh, chimula, there is. Chimula, yeah, yeah, delish. Who cooks in, so when do you eat? You do your show from four till seven. Four till seven, so I'll get on about quarter to eight and I will then either, either my husband's knocked some up for the kids, but they do complain because his speciality is a chicken salad and that's all he does is a chicken salad. What's so special about his chicken salad? Well, no, as in speciality as it's the only thing he can really do.

18:29Oh, right, okay. So it's not an incredible chicken salad. I mean, it's nice. Chicken, avocado. Okay. Right. He says it's croutons. It's not. It's ripped up toast. It's not fried or anything. It's toast. That's a quite a clever idea. Yeah. And it's nice. It's nice once a week, but if they have to have it more than a couple of times. He does a good egg as well. So he might do like an egg and potato waffle stack, that kind of thing for the kids. Okay. If I'm cooking, I would get back. But it is a bit about convenience for me. My son is working. He's in the gym. He's in the gym years, which we talk about on the pod, actually.

19:03He's 17. So he's beefing up. I mean, my son's got an incredible bod. It's just so weird. because when I was like you know in 1990 when I was like 16 the boys weren't working out they were pigeon chested skinny little things with curtain hairdos they didn't think about how they looked you know they they cared about what they wore but they definitely didn't seem to be working out or eating healthily he's super healthy so do you think yeah so like isn't there a whole generation that just don't drink really then like does I mean he's really not bothered yeah and they care about their protein yeah and it's all but they count protein it's really odd and grams of protein how much to to get gains gains yeah and then they drink it don't they if they've not had enough yeah it just wasn't a thing just wasn't a thing it's so mad and i'm like was about as much effort as they made yeah he's doing his a-levels so are you in that at the moment uh no he's in his first year of a level next year is going to be when my daughter's doing gcses and my son is doing air levels at the same time how does that work out with holidays oh we're not going anywhere we're not and our next holiday our last holiday before the exams can kick off is probably october after i reckon um and then that'll be it then we can't go anywhere at christmas obviously can't go anywhere because february can't go anywhere obviously easter can't that's it do you love a holiday i mean don't i do but i've got three dogs so i like a uk holiday as well i like a canvas sands out of season on the beach there you know that kind of go up we went to peak district with with 24 of the cox clan last october it was incredible was it it was quite funny because the place where we stayed was lovely but it needed a bit of tlc it wasn't posh yeah because i was like this is pretty cheap and um and it was like an old converted farm but some of the couple of the buildings were a bit rough looking and uh we'd bundled my dad into like my brother's car to driving over there my dad had left his own slightly tumbled down farm i was like looking for a little holiday and he was like oh bloody hell he brought me to another tumbled down farm okay good but yeah whereabouts was it near buxton you know i'm not sure you know what it's like no it's terrible you just follow the sat nav don't you and like you don't know where you are school because i come from manchester yeah do you what bit of manchester presswich yeah i know yeah Claire's from Whitefield.

21:33I know, my cousin lives there. My best friend from Manchester lives now. She lives Worsley now. She's got a little salon in Worsley. Worsley. In the mountain. But we used to go to the Peak District on school trips. And go down the, with the well dressing. Because they do dress wells there. Did you ever see that? No. So they do well dressing. There's caves there as well in the Peak District. I can't imagine you're on any of these things, Mum. What, on an outdoorsy? You know when you've only done some lounges I know, that's why You know when you get on the coach and you've eaten your sandwiches Oh I was always that girl You have your sandwiches because you get a packed lunch You have your sandwiches before you've even left Left the car park, yeah that was me I used to love it I used to always have egg as well Egg sandwiches, I love egg sandwiches Oh I love an egg mayonnaise I think that's probably the best thing I can make food wise I'm so proud of my egg butter I'm starving, I would love some food What's so special about Sarah Cox's egg butter?

22:30Well, it's got a little bit of white pepper. I'm a big fan of white pepper. It's got a tiny bit of salad cream. My husband hates salad cream, but it's tough. Like, I'm not making an egg mayonnaise. He's such a mayo boy. It's so basic, the mayo boy. But I do think, is it a northern thing, salad cream? Like, people that we've had on that have talked about salad cream, I think the majority are northern. I think it might be. I just put a tiny squidge. It's delicious and sweet. Yeah, it's a sweet. It's the sugar. There's that tang to it as well. And then anything else? And so with a bit of salad cream, a bit of mayonnaise, a little bit of salt.

23:05I think that's it. White or brown bread? Well, ideally white with the crust cut off is nice. Or brown with the crust cut off for a tea party. Okay, got it. So yum. Are you a big baker? No. Can't be that. No, it's never really. But I won bake off. Oh, shit. Well, hang on. Hang on. How does that work then? I absolutely like bossed it and it was hilarious. Because you don't even know all the talky bits. Have you done it? You must have done it. No, I won't do it. You should, you know, it is lovely. I would be too scared because I'm so bad at baking. I mean, it would be entertainment. It would be definitely entertaining.

23:45I do bread, but that's it. I do one loaf and that's it. What do you do? A sourdough loaf. Actually, I'm doing a focaccia tonight, but you know. Oh, I've tried a focaccia. So that's a little bit easier, isn't it, than a lot of the others. And actually, if, oh my God, everyone's going to be like, shut up about your starter. But if the starter's good, then you're all right. But tell me what was your... I've never done it. I've never tried the sourdough thing. I don't know whether, because like, you're quite outdoorsy and like you have a bloody, I mean, you were with your horse this morning, were you?

24:14No, I wasn't, sadly. I was writing this morning. I got up at half four. I'm trying to finish this next bloody book. Oh, can you talk about it? Yeah, but it's just doing my head in. I mean, I love writing, but it's just... It's... It's a lot. And now I've broken my body clock. I, like, woke up naturally at 4.40. Did you start writing at that? Your brain is so fresh at 5. Oh. It's so good at 5. So if you've got anything creative, whether you're writing, you know, whether you're making music, the brain's amazing at 5, and then... And then it all goes to shit. I'm hoping that... What I do sometimes, I've parked up around the corner from Radio 2 and had a little nap in the car.

24:55But, like, I can do, like, a 15, 20-minute meditation, like, with headspace or something, just in my ears. Yeah. And it will just reset my brain and totally refresh it. Like, I've taken out my brain and just give it a once-over with a wet wipe. Oh, really? And so I sometimes do that part, talk around the back like the BBC. I always think people are going to be like, You all right, love? You're like that. I'm just reclined in my little electric car. So how long have you been meditating? Well, I don't know if it counts as meditation. It's with a little lap and it's a 20 minute. Just do some breathing.

25:27Box breathing. I feel like box breathing's good. So what, the in for five. In for four and then hold for four, out for four. Yeah, because when I start to do that, it starts to feel annoying, doesn't it? Like it's not relaxed. But if I hear something that's really science-backed, that in itself really helps to soothe my busy brain at night. So I've been, I've done the in for four and out for four and I've been like, oh, this is annoying. I don't think it's going to work. I'm going to pass. And then I'm out. And then I'm out. And then I wake up in the morning, I'm like, oh, my God. And I've cut out, even though I'm supping a coffee now, I've cut out caffeine after midday and it's changed my life.

26:02Really? I've stopped having tea. It would be so nice to have a little brew when you're doing the drive time show now. I do, but Co-op do an incredible decaf. Oh. And I like Co-op because I just quite like their ethos. Yeah. It's quite cool. Okay, this is good to know. So decaf tea or rubios or red bush. Roybosh. Roybosh. I don't know. Anyway. Okay. So you're really into your health. Yeah. This has been like two or three weeks I've done this. I'm like, you know what? I'm boshing a coffee at four so that I'm up for the show. Don't really need to. It's all psychologically like, oh, need that coffee.

26:38Yeah, I know. And I was waking up at 3 a.m. like wide awake like I had jet lag. And I was just like, oh, it's my hormones. It's this. What am I going to do? So stressed. so I was in the spare room so much because my husband's a little bit snuffly so I was just like sleep became everything and then stupid arse I was like why don't I try not having a strong coffee at four and no caffeine after twelve but I am a bit like that once I get into something I get quite obsessive with things so at the moment it's kind of health but I think that's a good thing I think that's always rumbling along the health thing but then you know It doesn't count when you're on the motorway.

27:17When I'm driving up north, it all goes out the window. And I'm like, you know, I'm boshing a filio fish and a cheese and bean toasty from Costa or whatever. Delicious. Cheese and bean toasty. They've started a cheese and bean. I know. I was walking the dogs. You know what the service is? Do you see the people walking their dogs? Oh, what? When they need to have a wee? They need to have a wee because there's that little patch of grass near the lorry park. And it must be the most amazing smelling patch of grass for the dogs. Mecca. A thousand pisses happening on it per hour. So I'm walking in pissy grass and husband rings me and he's like, these are your options.

27:54And he was like, cheese and bean toast. Yeah, I'm like, yes. Yes. Was it delicious? That's like something I would have made when I was 14. That does sound actually quite delicious. It was yum. Yes. So can we talk about, well, thanks, mum. This looks great. Delicious. Oh, lovely. Mum's just been in Greece. So nice. So I presume you probably, and it's absolutely fine, you don't need to drink but would you like a glass of wine? Oh no thank you because I'm driving and radioing. Have you ever been drunk on the radio? Yes! Have you? But not for many many years. Yeah obviously. It was when Radio 1 years?

28:26Radio 1 years how did you guess babe? It would have been Radio 1 years when no I'm not going to have spuds but only because I will just immediately fall asleep Okay no worries. Before radio Are they amazing? Okay I'll have some Have you heard her quickly? I was like yeah okay I can't see your face Your power's fantastic, Sarah. This is the problem in the 90s and with the drinking on air. Okay, I'm going to give you one, but that's going to be really sad. Yeah, lovely. You know I'm going to go in for more. Yeah, that's... I'm going to go in for more. But good for trying. I'm talking. Good for you for trying.

28:56Absolute bollocks. This looks great, Mum. It looks amazing. Put a bit of salad on it. So only when it was like Ibiza and it was like you'd have, you know, you'd have a vodka, a vodka, lime and soda whilst doing the breakfast show. Are they nice? They're really delicious. Well, the potatoes, yeah, I'm going to have more for sure. Really delicious. But no, nothing fills me with fear more than the thought of being on air and having had a drink. In fact, I was doing a no drink thing, this six pack revolution thing. I was doing it with Claire, actually, who I do the pod with. Yeah. And we went for a little meeting and we went into this sort of cafe bar place and I ordered a Virgin Mary.

29:39This was a couple of hours before the radio. and I didn't taste anything in it but within 10 minutes I started to feel a bit weird and at this point I wasn't drinking for 10 weeks I'd got about 8 weeks through bear in mind we'd launched the pod we'd been on the one show we'd been on Lorraine we'd had a lot to celebrate it would have been the perfect time to have champagne but we were like no we're not drinking 10 minutes after having this alleged virgin Mary start to feel funny and I'm either having a funny turn or there's booze in there so there's bloody booze in there I was fuming quite dangerous if you had an allergy as well they probably could guess I wasn't pregnant that is and it must have been quite strong yeah and then I was like I'm on air I mean I was fine but I was mad you are so loved on radio too and it's such a lovely show that you've got even though that potato's amazing it is good I'm definitely going in for me I mean because does it kind of work with being a working parent that time for you?

30:41Or is it still kind of... It's hard, isn't it? It's tough, yeah. I think for a working parent, the dream time is probably... Well, I mean... The lunchtime one, but that's Jeremy Vine and his current affairs. I mean, can you imagine me interviewing Angela Rayner? I wanted to talk about... I mean, you've been doing this for a long time and you've been on our screens and in our ears and you're you are a national treasure like people adore you but like and you think about the 90s or the early noughties were you having lots of fun or was it quite overwhelmingly kind of mad no I was definitely having a lot of fun and I definitely found it fun at the time but only because I was in my 20s so I was essentially rudderless and wasn't wildly ambitious to like I wasn't focused on what's my next move.

31:40But you got your A-levels. Got my A-levels. Didn't go to uni. Why didn't you want to go? I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I sort of had a vague idea of maybe journalism or something. And were you modelling by that point? So I was wondering what to do with myself. I finished my A-levels and that's when I went to Paris and visited my sister, who was part of her degree, which was law with French. She was working in Paris for the electricity company or whatever. And then I got scouted in a shop, which was like literally some mango in. You have a very strong look at the moment. And I was like...

32:16Did you have your fringe at that point? No, I was just this dark blonde, straight long hair and just, you know. I never would have thought for a minute I'd have got scouted for modelling. Who were you with? Oh, I was with that Manchester Modelling Agency. I mean, it wasn't well done. But then... There's a lovely woman called Mavis who used to go, girls you mustn't sleep with more than one pillow it's bad for your neck

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33:54The Teen Commandments is brilliant. It's relatively, when did you launch? When did you launch it february we launched well it feels like longer because we'd sort of been having a bit of a practice and a bit of a play around because claire's a hairdresser she's never done broadcasting before she's brilliant she's brilliant isn't she and you two together are so lovely to listen to i mean it's the sort of dynamic that you just can't fake like you can't yeah i think that's true you know yeah she's my absolute ride or die bestest you know bestest mate and bridesmaid twice sometimes say and she's and I knew she'd be fantastic and a bit of me thinks I wish I'd done this years ago but maybe maybe the time was right now maybe it is better now well I think it's a really I mean I don't have teenagers and now I'm terrified um but it did make me laugh when you're talking about being on holiday and about how you're like in this thing where you're texting your children you're texting your daughter to see whether she's going to join you for breakfast yeah and whether you're getting a table for three or one and politely she replies but I'm like so in not not in that stage I've got eight six and three yeah so at the moment you're you're like they're everything they want you all the time yeah and it's and I am listening to you talk about how actually that stops happening and they need you in different ways like when there's you were talking about like the late night chats I mean my daughter's started doing that now yeah I think it's mainly to delay going to bed.

35:26But also I cherish those, like when I'm allowed to be her confidant. But I'm trying to cherish how much they need me now, even though I would quite like to hide in the bathroom and watch Housewives. Do you know what I mean? I know, that's the tricky thing because when they, you know, what's the Nanny McPhee thing? You know, when they need you so much, you kind of need a bit of space sometimes. and then suddenly the tables are turned and they don't want you there so much. And they kind of want you there in the background, but not interfering. And as Claire says, to just, you know, provide the money or the lift that they need.

36:05But it's interesting that you like it. It makes you cherish your little ones because a lot of our listeners have got little kids and they're saying it's really making me, it's making me brace a bit for teenage years, but also it's making me cherish these moments where they want me so much. And then we have a lot of listeners who get in touch who have got older kids and they are through the teenage years and they're enjoying the nostalgia. Because we talk about our own teenage years as well, me and Claire and what we got up to. And did you know each other when you were teenagers then? Yeah, so we were 17 when we met.

36:39So that's when we met, when we were modelling. But I mean, we've got people listening who don't have kids. But you're like pregnant aunts. People with teenage children. Do you give advice back? No, we don't. Do not come to Teen Commandments for advice. Let's make that clear. You just discuss what everyone's going through. Definitely come for empathy, but come for a laugh as well. I mean, it does really well in the comedy charts. And it's not, you know, we just did it to just be ourselves and have a laugh. But actually, it's funny and it's welcoming and warm. But we're definitely not giving out advice at all.

37:12We're just talking about the way that our kids' brains work, the way they behave and then contrast to how we were when we were teenagers and there's lots of parenting pods out there that give great advice and for younger kids there's a lot of parenting pods this is more like when you are in you know when you are nipple deep in teens and and their dramas are you enjoying this era though yeah i love it because it's quite fascinating and you can kind of have i find it conversations i find it easier you know with obviously now with your phone it's always throwing up videos from years ago and my kids like you forget like when they're so squeaky and when they're there doing their dances together and one's got a nappy on and the other one's charging up and down and they just don't have any of that they're just not self-conscious at all and all of that's beautiful but it's quite repetitive and quite exhausting and as you know you're in the right depths of it now you know the bath time the three the stories I was just constantly falling asleep reading the stories, like just nodding off because I was just done in.

38:17It's a lot. I'm getting in my pyjamas when they're getting in their pyjamas. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm ready for bed. Please be ready for bed. But please, let me go to bed. You are awful about going to bed early. What are you talking about? You go to bed at, you're so boring. I go away on holiday with them. What time do you go to bed? Nine o 'clock. If I could. I'd love an early night. Early, earlier than that. And so sometimes we've had dinner at six because Jessie likes to eat early. The kids like to eat at six. I know, but we've had dinner at six and you've gone to bed by eight and I'm sat there trying to find someone to have a drink with.

38:50Well, you always do find someone, don't you? Yeah, do you? Are you a good one for making friends? Yes. I mean, I'm not as bad as my mum. God, we couldn't have taken my mum on holiday because she always liked evening entertainment. Oh, yeah. A show. Can we ask you, your last supper? You've got a starter, a main, a dessert and a drink of choice. For starter, I really struggle with it. I love food so much and love different types of food. But I do really like, actually, a wonton soup. Oh. With the sort of Chinese leaf. I like the cabbage. I'm a big cabbage fan. Oh, I love cabbage. Love cabbage. It's the best thing on earth.

39:24Just eat a massive bowl of cabbage. A little bit of salty butter. Salty butter and pepper. This is why we get our big cabbage sisters. I like black pepper on top as well. A little bit of salt or not? No. Okay, two chances. But would you ever have boiled ham with that? Like Irish? No, I mean, I just want the cabbage. Whatever's like. So are we going with a wonton soup with a side of cabbage? No, you get the cabbage. It's that sort of Chinese leaf cabbage. It's a bit different, but it's sort of like steamed in the soup. It just feels good for you. It's not particularly oily, but you get the little pork dumplings.

39:59And they're super silky and soft. Is there somewhere you go for this in North London? We do go to Singapore Garden quite a bit. Okay, where's that? That is in Swiss Cottage. Okay. And it's nice. It's a lot of people like my in-laws, basically. Lots of sort of older Jewish couples go there. Singapore Garden? Yeah, and they've been going for donkey years. Probably eating the pork wontons as well. Probably, yeah. And so, okay, so that's the starter. Yeah. Maine? Maine. This was another tricky one. But maybe it's to do with, maybe I have to go back and have my mum's chili con carne. because I just used to love it with boiled rice.

40:36I love anything with beans. I love black beans, kidney beans. Can you still get Coleman's packets? Probably. Yeah. But what I do know, instead of getting packets, because you know old Chris Van Tulleken, the ultra-processed people. My son loves him. Yeah, the Operation Arch. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that book, which, you know, just... The ultra-processed one. Yeah, the whole, like, it's being greedy. Yeah, same. And it's like if there's something in the ingredients that's not in your kitchen cupboard, then it's not great for you. It's just chemicals. So I'll sometimes look on the packet of summer and think, oh, it's cumin, it's a bit of that, and just try and make it up.

41:17But maybe I'd have my mum's chilli, because she just used to do it. And when my mum would make curry as well, she'd do the sort of like chopped white onion with just some mint sauce in it mixed up. You know, all those flavours from when mum was being experimented in the 80s. Like that chutney that you get at the end. Yeah, but not... No, it's not. It's like mint jelly with the onions in it, or even mint sauce. You can do it, and it's just that extra oniony thing. Sounds delicious. Yeah, it's kind of delicious. We've put old-school mint sauce. Which curry would you have, chicken or prawn? Or beef?

41:51If it was my mum's one that she used to do, probably chicken. Yeah. And then drink of choice? Well, none of this food is going together. No, it's fine. So I might need a break in between each one. I really love margarita. Oh, I love margarita. I kind of like a spicy margarita. It's delicious. Oh, you like spicy? Quite like the spicy one, the picante one that's just got a little bit of chili in it. Oh, my God, what do you put in then? The grossins. We're Soho House members, obviously. What do you put in then? A picante. It's like a chili. Is it a jalapeno? Yeah, I think so. I don't think I'd be doing with that.

42:24No, you wouldn't. I had that when we were on the stage with Phil. Yeah, and it needed to see your brains out. And I ate the jalapeno. No, that was a really good martini from Rita. No, I do love a martini. Do you like a martini? No, I like a dirty martini. I like a dirty martini with a bit of the olive water in there. No, I don't like that. And then for Pud, where are we going? I've not really got much of a sweet tooth. But you want bake-off. This makes no sense to me. It's so weird. What was your showstopper? My showstopper, you had to make a cake that was a tribute to a friend. Now, I nearly did a cake that was Annie Mack's face because then I thought I could use chocolate to do all her curls.

43:01But instead I did Jeremy Vine riding his penny farthing. Oh, my God. But it wasn't a stood-up. So did you do two circles? Yeah, so I did. Yeah, well, I sort of cut it out and then I used lots of that lovely, you know, the icing that's a bit like plasticine that you roll out. Fondant. Fondant. And I did quite, because I loved art at school and stuff, I did like. Did you make him like Wallace and Gromit kind of art with fondant stuff? I did that as you looked down at it, but funny enough, it did look a bit like Prue Leith because of his specs. Prue was there, but the sponge cake was my sister-in-law Sarah Jane's recipe that has got loads of Biscoff in it.

43:43Oh, got those, yeah. Delicious. So you put dollops of that into your cake mix and it was incredible. And what was really good was that Prue took some on for her husband and people were like, if Prue takes some home, then that's really good. Wow. And everyone dived in when I was born. But when I got the sponge out of the oven, Mr. Hollywood was walking past. And because we both know of it, he looked over and he just gave me a little wink. A little like, that's looking all right. Oh, great. Were you susceptible to those blue eyes? I was a little bit. I didn't think how much it cost. So twinkly. How is it?

44:17He must put something in them that makes them like... It's like looking through into like... It's like on a Disney Prince, like the Kinkles. Yes, for the Disney Prince, yes. Okay, so pudding. Oh, pudding. a bit of my strawberry rice cream just a little bit i would love to yeah i'd love to i like a bit of um i like i quite like panna cotta i just like soft things that i can squish around in my mouth like baby food that sounds weird that sounds you know what i mean yeah i used to have a friend who used to always squish food through her teeth that's disgusting i know but it was like i think that's the consistent that's the texture that i like we're not how old was she when she was like 12.

44:55Time to give that up. I mean, she didn't fire it out. She just had quite gappy teeth. A bit like with Play-Doh, but your kids have got it where you've plunged around the thing. Thank God we haven't had Play-Doh for ages. They're out of that. Yeah, the Play-Doh years. Have you got the things that you have to iron and they melt together? Oh, what, the Heber things? Yes. No, weirdly. And I'm quite arts and crafts. We did a session on tie-dye the other day and I thought it was going to be really wholesome. it was like so they have like core memories of mum doing arts and crafts with them they'll not remember any of this and I just said get the fuck out everyone's doing you guys get up and it was me and the nanny doing all the time by the end just don't make it too much mess yeah the annoying thing is they won't remember anything they won't remember all this hard work I'm hoping it builds it's building a foundation in there though of you know that makes them into the adults they're going to be but you know have you read The Long Island Compromise but also just sorry talking about you telling the kids to get out at christmas do you have a tree here do you have yeah we do it all um one set of in-laws just have one barbell up the other does a bit more but so my husband loves the tree and all that sort of thing the kids obviously love it and um when they're about that eye and you let them decorate the tree and they just do it in one patch the lower the bottom and then there's just and i'm such a control freak i'd sort of ruin it but they wouldn't notice but okay no I'll put this one here being as soon as you go to bed I think something that you said on the podcast it was about how you and Claire kind of not parent differently but you've had different experiences of being parents yeah that's what's quite nice because Claire's been a single mom since her youngest who is now 18 was maybe like a few months old like she had she had a she's a really tough I mean the most badass people I know are my single mum friends and I guess we should say single parents because obviously it happens to men too but the vast majority I think are women and my single mum friends I've just got so much respect for them because it's so tough because you don't have that sounding board like I'm going mad here you know you've just it's just you with them you talked about like the fact that you when you get home you've worked and then maybe you get home a bit later and how your experience is very different but like would you change anything sarah like because i mean it's like it's your job isn't it i think this is me asking for um being allowed to be a working mother but do you do like do you feel like you would change anything or not no what with career yeah it's tough isn't it it's tough because but i wouldn't i wouldn't change anything look i was brought with my mum working bloody hard behind the bar and i'd get home from school and she wasn't there there was a series of post-it notes there telling me to wipe up you know the dishes to do which I'll obviously ignore but I kind of even then I thought I kind of admired her for working hard and appreciated that she was working hard so that we could afford the odd holiday or whatever I do say to my kids I'm like are you going to have loads of therapy when you're older because like I'm not there and I'm busy and they're like no you work hard you've got a good job they kind of but I'm like oh god do they know yet maybe it is they don't know that it's bad for them that I'm not there it's really hard because I love my job and I love working and it's a massive part of who I am yeah and it's in me as well because I grew up I'm you know I'm just like my work ethic completely comes from being brought up working class and seeing my mum work and like your kids seem to have a work ethic like yeah and hopefully that's well they don't they don't have a work ethic they don't they don't bugger all but I love them they're great company they're hilarious You were cracked.

48:35There you go. My kids. I was washing my face last night. What are you fucking talking about? When I was working, what did you do in the house? I mean, none of us did. I know, but I earned my own money. Oh, I always had jobs. Did you have jobs? I had jobs, yeah. What did you do? I was babysitting from like 13. And then I was like waitressing or I was working at the perfume. I always wanted a little bit. Yeah, I was always working. Yeah, I didn't do much work here. I didn't get my idea. No, around the house. Oh, forget it. No, nah. None of us did. No. I used to do my nails and my mum would come back.

49:04from working her arse off and I'd be like, I'm a model and my nails have got to dry so I can't do anything. She'd just be like, Jesus. I don't wonder she signed me off to just head off to South Korea not knowing where it was actually going. She's like, bye, good luck. Where do I sign? This is delicious. Have you got an ice cream maker or you just shipped it in the freezer? No, a friend made it while I was away. This is delicious. And you roast the strawberries. No way. Oh my god, your grandkids are going to love this. yeah can i ask you what is a nostalgic taste that can transport you back somewhere okay black peas oh what delicious black peas black peas they are you'd have them on bonfire night oh yeah and they are um i think originally like pigeon food like little hard black peas right and you soak them you steep them and then you boil the buggery out of them and you'd have them in a little cup with lots of vinegar and a little bit of salt and white pepper.

50:04Is this the Lancashire thing? Which part of Lancashire are you from? Bolton. Bolton. He said you like beans. Yeah, black peas, delicious. I've never, ever heard of them. And they start to break down just a little bit and you have them. It has to be a really cold bonfire night and you're outside with a cup of really hot black peas and you eat them with a little teaspoon out of like a polystyrene cup. I've absolutely never heard of that anymore. Have your kids ever had them? They don't really like them. I try and make them eat these things, and they're not really into them. I think it's just so from my childhood.

50:35Like the stuff that I make, like I make broth like my mum used to make, and tatty hash, and they're all right. You know, like potato hash, like corned beef hash. Oh, yeah, tatty hash. Yeah, tatty potatoes, I think it must be. Tatty potato. What's tatty potatoes? Well, I think tatty means tatty's potatoes. I'm doing that. Oh, you're doing a jingle? potatoes goes to taters goes to tatties I think oh wow okay got it we've had the journey of the tatties yeah I think some people call boobs tatties or am I wrong titties no it might go tatties then to titties I don't know it's confusing Sarah Cox thank you so much for coming on the podcast thanks it was delicious and lovely thank you

51:31That was so lovely having Sarah Cox over. It was as lovely as I imagined it would be. So people can read all her books or you can go and see the Teen Commandments live. Claire and Sarah are doing the podcast live at Crosswire's Podcast Festival, which is on Saturday the 5th of July. It is sold out, so maybe if you're going, go and see them, it'll be brilliant. And Camp Bestival on the library stage which is on the 2nd of August. So go and check them out. Also, you'll see them on Celebrity Gogglebox which is coming out, I think, this summer. Mum, the food was really delish. Did you like it? I really didn't.

52:05That strawberry ice cream was like the ice cream you get at the theatre, the Luscombe Farm one. Did you like the fish? I did. I did like it. I thought it was nice. Yeah, it wasn't... Bit cantini. I hope you mean Rochelle cantini. Yeah. Fuck off. have you noticed she never gives me a compliment I just gave you a compliment it was really nice but it's like white fish do you know what I mean the flavour was nice I thought it was going to be like summer's day and we wouldn't want anything heavy it was honestly it was so delish thank you we'll see you next week for more Table Mountains good

53:21We'll be right back.

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