S16 Ep 23: Beth Ditto

Fresh from Italy and their Grand Tour, we have Rob Rinder & Rylan round for a truly wild & fabulous dinner party. Rob had requested mum’s home made chopped herring and we also served up chicken soup, slow cooked lamb and a coffee ice cream cake for pud. Over an evening of barely any finished sentences, we learned that Rob is a walking pharmacy, we reminisced about Rylan’s X Factor days, we discovered Rob’s last supper grand tour would be at McDonalds for a Filet-O-Fish and we were also gifted with the story of Rylan falling face first into a Hake at the fishmonger. Rylan admits he’s secretly released music without anyone knowing - plus, I learn something new about Lennie’s past careers! We couldn’t have had a better evening if we tried, Rob & Rylan are a delight, thank you for coming round to join us! Rob & Rylan’s Grand Tour is on Sunday nights at 9pm on BBC Two and I LOVE IT. The whole series is available on BBC iPlayer now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got Broadway & Hollywood superstar Ben Platt joining us this week for lunch. We met Ben at one of our very favourite restaurants, Greekman’s, for the very best Greek food in LA! The wonderful Jonah and his team cooked up a delicious lunch while Ben told us some about his musical themed bar mitzvah (of course), the story of his engagement, the delicious meals his fiancé Noah Galvin cooks him, how he is preparing for his broadway residency, his love of an escape room, and how his next project is filming over 20 years! We had the best time with you Ben, good luck with the residency and the new album! Ben’s album Honeymind is out on May 31st and available to pre-order now, tickets for his 18 night residency at The Palace Theatre in NYC are on sale now, and he is also on tour across the US this summer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have award winning actress and podcaster Minnie Driver with us for brunch. British born Minnie has lived in Malibu, California for many years, so we swapped all of our tips of the best places to visit after our adventures last week. We found out all about the caravan park Minnie lives in, her love of surfing and being in nature, her struggles with hiding from fame and paparazzi, releasing music and touring, the school pet pig Clodvig, teaching Americans what custard is(!), and how the wonderful dog Riley saved her life in the water! Minnie your life sounds like an absolute dream, grab us a couple of surfboards, we’ll see you in Malibu soon. Minnie’s podcast ‘Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver’ is currently in its third series and 'The Serpent Queen' will be released on Starz this summer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re doing something a little bit different this week, mum & I are in Malibu, California, and we’re bringing you along on some eating and drinking! We went to Broad Street Oyster to try their ‘world famous’ lobster rolls, caviar and fish tacos, we stopped by Diane Kron’s Chocolate shop to sample what is known as the ‘Rolls Royce of chocolates’ (Jackie Kennedy’s favourite, apparently) and then we popped over to Cornell Wine Company for a fabulous wine tasting with their wonderful expert Matt. It’s a whirlwind, it’s an adventure, we ate some delicious food and tried some excellent wine - and we got very drunk! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve wanted comedian, podcaster and presenter of the 'Great British Sewing Bee' Sara Pascoe on the pod for so long, and this week she joined us for lunch and a natter! As a mum of 2 very young kids, Sara took a break from feeding and popped round for a quick catch up, and treated us to some hilarious stories. She shared her love of frozen pizzas when she was younger, working at the Millennium Dome in London, her tips on how to deal with hecklers in the crowd at a gig, currently living on caffeine, and she confesses that her husband’s roast potatoes are the reason she married him! Sara’s brand new book ‘Weirdo’ is released on the 25th April, and her ongoing book podcast ‘Weirdo’s Book Club’ with friend of pod Cariad Lloyd is fab! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got mum’s second favourite footballer of all time (after her beloved Marcus) on the pod this week, it’s the legendary Ian Wright!!! Husband Sam - a spurs fan - even did the hoovering before he came over because that’s how much the nation adores this man! Football royalty-come-pie maker, Ian has recently launched his very own ‘Uncle Wrightys' collaboration with Willy's Pies, and he brought some round for us to try for lunch. Over an absolutely delicious roast chicken pie, Ian shared stories about growing up with his mum’s daily rice and peas, his eternal love of an oyster, filming his debut acting film role, being a father and some of his kids following in his footballing steps, and he thinks this this could genuinely be the year of England winning the Euros! We are totally in love with Ian, one of the most beautiful and charming guests we’ve ever had! We LOVE YOU IAN!!! Ian’s ‘Uncle Wrighty’s’ roast chicken pie is available to purchase from Willy’s Pies stockists across the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The formidable Billie Piper is on Table Manners this week. Actress, singer, director and writer, she really is a true superstar and we loved having her round for brekkie. Billie is set to star in the brand new Netflix film ‘Scoop’ and she told us all the tales from making the film and playing the lead, Sam. We also found out about her wild time at theatre school with Amy Winehouse, the story of how she became a popstar (thanks Smash Hits magazine!), her love of a frozen dinner, and she recognises mums street from her days in Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Here’s to another fab year at Glasto Billie, see you in the dance tent with a jar of mint sauce! Scoop is out on Netflix on the 5th of April. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have a true rock and roll star joining us, it’s legendary guitarist Johnny Marr! Creator of the iconic ‘Meat is Murder’ album, Johnny is - of course - a vegan, so I made an array of vegan dishes for us. Shout out to NYT app and @boldbean cookbook for the recipes. We heard all about the meals his mum made while growing up in Manchester, his first band called ‘Paris Valentinos’, getting married in San Francisco while on tour with only the band & crew in attendance, the delicious meals Hans Zimmer serves up on the road and that he is the very proud owner of 134 guitars!! Thank you for being a total delight Johnny, you’re welcome back for another vegan spread anytime! Johnny’s Spirit Power ‘Best of’ album is available now, and the UK tour kicks off on April 2nd. Plus his 'Marr’s Guitars' book is available to purchase now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the pod this week music icon and lead singer of Gossip, Beth Ditto, joins us for lunch. We served up a spatchcock chicken with orzo (a Substack recipe courtesy of @rocketandsquash) while Beth told us all the best stories. We reminisced about when I snuck backstage after her Glastonbury gig in 2007 and we sung Umbrella together, she told us about growing up in rural Arkansas and the meals her mother would cook, eating roadkill with her cousin, making the latest Gossip album in Hawaii with the legend Rick Rubin and how she loves a trip to the UK for a supermarket tub of flapjacks! Cannot WAIT to dance and go wild with you at Glasto again soon Beth, anarchy, anarchy, anarchy!! Gossip’s new album ‘Real Power’ is released this Friday, 22nd March. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Star of 'Stranger Things', 'Enola Holmes', and brand new film 'Damsel', Millie Bobby Brown joins us this week. We met Millie at a hotel and had a delivery combo of Tom Kerridge food from his restaurant in the hotel, room service and even McDonald’s. Millie told us all the stories of her various farm animals (including Norman the sheep!), living life between London & Atlanta, creating a fake name online to leave reviews, her fear of eating raw chicken, dreams of being in a musical, and how she has to have brown sauce on everything she eats, including a spag bol & a baked potato! Next time Millie, you’re coming round to mum's for a roast dinner with all the trimmings! Millie’s brand new film Damsel is out now on Netflix. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.