S16 Ep 35: Nisha Katona

5,6,7,8 - it’s Claire Richards! Star of the iconic group Steps, this week Claire joined us for brunch at mine. Despite deafening us all when I had a slight kitchen mishap and set fire to the bacon, we had a lovely time with Claire! We learned about how she started her career by entering karaoke competitions, her first job working for Burger King, her irrational fear of spag bol as a child, the first success she had in a girl band (called TSD), her wonderful friendship with Rylan, and she also admits to having a crush on Peter Andre too! Claire, next time I think we need to taste an authentic Pasta a la Clara, complete with tinned tomato soup! The brand new tour ‘Everybody Dance’ with Claire will be across the UK through October & November, plus the Steps musical ‘Here & Now’ launches in Birmingham in November. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a foodie treat for you all this week as we have the most incredible chef, restauranteur and entrepreneur Nisha Katona joining us for lunch after travelling down from Birkenhead especially for an excellent meal made by mum. Nisha joins our ever growing list of guests from mum’s favourite programme, Great British Menu, and this episode really is such a treat. We learned about how Nisha created a national chain of restaurants (Mowgli), how her career started with her working as a barrister for 20 years, the very best tips and tricks for cooking Indian food (including a quick and easy prawn curry), her love of Hungarian cuisine, her unbelievable list of pet animals, plus we learn something truly shocking about English Mustard! Foodies, do not miss this ep, Nisha’s endless tips are incredible! Nisha’s Mowgli restaurant is in over 20 cities across the UK and her charity work with the Mowgli Trust continues to raise vital funds for communities across the UK & India. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ask & you shall receive… we’re serving you up a glorious ep this week with Rita Ora! A few days before we both took to the stage at Mighty Hoopla festival on the weekend, we sat down with Rita for a long overdue breakfast catch up. We learned that Rita splits her time between New Zealand and the UK, all about her favourite Kosovan food, the story of her wedding with her husband (and mums favourite) Taika Waititi, her entrepreneurial empire, her rigorous health & supplements routine, and how she likes to hang out in Hobbit houses back in New Zealand! One meal wasn’t enough, Rita we must do part 2 soon, thank you for popping over to join us in Clapham! Rita’s’ brand new track ‘Ask & You Shall Receive’ is available everywhere now!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pop superstar Leigh-Anne Pinnock joins us for lunch this week to talk all about her brand new solo music. The Little Mix member, turned actress, turned mum of 2, has embarked on a brand new chapter of her career and we couldn’t wait to hear all her fabulous stories. Over mum’s home made chicken shawarma and a strawberries & cream cake, Leigh-Anne reminisced about her time in Little Mix, meeting her now husband in Marbella, her dream nachos as her last supper, her grandparents delicious Bajan food she ate while growing up, being pregnant at the same time as her bandmates, and we shared tips on which celebrity rears the best Christmas turkey (JB vs JO!). Leigh-Anne’s brand new EP ‘No Hard Feelings’ is released this Friday on May 31st and it’s glorious! Before we sign off we just wanted to quickly remind every listener in the UK to register to vote by the 18th June, it’s so, so important! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, we are joined by the delightful Jordan Stephens for a special live episode at The British Library as part of their 'Food Season’. This is Jordan’s first interview for his upcoming memoir, 'Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak & Dogs’ and it was a special evening. Mum & I served up some snacky bits and settled in with the gorgeous audience for a fab convo. Jordan told us about his time meeting David Attenborough, the food he ate at school and growing up, his struggles with ADHD, his lockdown spent in Margate, the return of Rizzle Kicks(!) and the story of his unforgettable 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' hosting job! We loved every minute of this special live episode, thank you to everyone who came along and joined us for a delish Friday night in the library. Jordan’s fantastic upcoming memoir is released on 22nd August and is available to pre-order now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.