Second Helpings - Dawn French

We’re still on our summer break, but just in time for your back to school runs we offer up a very, VERY special one off episode with the absolutely legendary Kate Winslet! We met Kate at a hotel and served up some delicious Honey&Co food while we chatted over lunch. Kate is a top tier foodie and taught us so many vegan and vegetarian dishes to make; the recipes poured out of her! We also heard about the delicious roast dinners she had while growing up, why she wasn’t at the Titanic premiere (but I was!), how a very special dining table inspired her film ‘Lee’, why she wants to try topless dinner parties, her dream of one day being Sandy in Grease and we even get a story she has never told before (our fave)! It’s not one to be missed, thank you to the absolutely gorgeous Kate for joining us for this very special summer episode! Kate’s new film ‘Lee’ is released in cinemas on the 13th September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our final episode of this Second Helpings series, we’re joined by an Oasis legend! Mum was over the moon this week to be joined by fellow Mancunian and music legend Noel Gallagher for a spot of brunch back in series 15. Mum and Noel got on like a house on fire sharing all their tales from up north. Noel shared a few vital revelations; that he always drinks tea with goats milk, he’s only ever had one driving lesson, he didn’t try a boiled egg until he turned 30 (!!), and his favourite weekend of the year is getting pissed and watching the Eurovision Song Contest! We have absolutely loved our trip down memory lane, thank you for being on the ride with us! We will be back before you know it for our next series, which we can exclusively reveal will be back in October! More exciting details to follow soon... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back for week 5 of our Second Helpings series, and it’s chef week! We were only going to do meals on wheels and travel to someone else's place if they were someone we had been angling for since series 1. And of course they were most certainly going to get THE chicken soup (I had a massive cold so it was selfishly suggested by moi). We went to meet the one and only Jamie Oliver! The Naked Chef, the people's champ, the person who taught most of us millennials how to cook. We grabbed Jamie at Jamie Oliver HQ after we watch him high five all his staff, kiss babies and see a team pickling sesh going on. He proclaims mum's balls are the best he's ever had, we talk a lot about family, the nostalgic smell of hibiscus, dyslexia, his wife eating gravy with a fork and holding back his cookbook Veg for years. We’re back next week for our final Second Helpings of this series, but boy are we going out with a bang, our favourite music legend and icon, we can’t wait! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s week 4 of Second Helpings, and this was one of our most memorable episodes yet! Question, how do you behave when you have a music icon on your podcast? Well, you have a massive fight in front of him of course! Aside from a small bout of bickering, we had lunch with Sir Paul and Mary McCartney and talked about 30 years of Linda McCartney's legacy in the vegetarian food market. We hear about Mary’s adventurous childhood on tour with Wings, Paul talks about life after The Beatles and they share memories of becoming vegetarian with Linda cooking a macaroni turkey so Paul could carve something at Christmas. Lennie crowns them ‘the Vegeneers’, Paul talks about his famous margarita cocktail ‘Maccarita’ and explains the real way to eat Yorkshire puddings. He also offers us a step by step brief on how to make the perfect bagel, gives us a quick eye yoga lesson and reveals how the song Let It Be came about. We could have gone on forever!! Next week on Second Helpings it’s chef week, and we’re delving back into the archives for one of our very favourite foodie episodes... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back with another Second Helpings episode! As you know - mum's chicken soup only comes out for the big guns and this week's guest was no exception. Soup was demanded and joyfully served for the brilliant Dawn French to commence an evening of intriguing and confessional conversation. A fellow foodie, Dawn told us all about what makes the Cornish pasty, her favourite eating spots in Cornwall, making ‘breakfast cake’ in lockdown and her experience of boarding school dinners and butter. We talked about disastrous auditions, a shared love of Drag race and falling in love. What a delight it was! Next week's episode is with a father and daughter duo extraordinaire! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s week 2 of Second Helpings, and we’re throwing it all the way back to lockdown 2020 where the gorgeous Dua Lipa joined us for a Zoom catch up. We had been trying to get this superstar for aaaaages and finally we did! Dua shared a virtual dinner with mum and I whilst she was stuck in London quarantine while promoting her album Future Nostalgia. We talked stockpiling hot sauces, Nutella sandwiches in her lunchbox, Pez rider requests, where she goes for good sushi dates in NYC, and mum and Dua bond over gel nails. But even though we had one of the biggest pop stars in the world joining us, it doesn't stop mum interrupting our chat for her Ocado order! We’ll be back for another Second Helpings episode next week with a British comedy icon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back with another trip down memory lane for our ‘Second Helpings’ series. It’s only been a year and what a difference it has been for our first guest - Prime Minister Keir Starmer! Last year Keir came round to mum’s for dinner and he told us all about his love of experimental cooking, his mum's jam sandwiches, eating fish & chips on the road, the controversy over his Desert Island Discs song choices and the tradition of Friday night shabbat with his family. We’ll be back next week for another Second Helpings episode with the Queen of Glastonbury 2024! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve made it to our series finale, and we’re going out with a bang! Joining us is the utterly fabulous Jonathan Van Ness. Jonathan was everything we could have wished for, and more. We heard all about growing up in Illinois, the meals their parents cooked them, meeting their lovely English husband, their JVN Hair empire, their love of Whitney Houston, the dramas of growing their pumpkins, the beautiful friendship they have with Taylor Swift, visiting the White House and the revelation that their last supper would include a ‘big gulp’ size Martini! We couldn’t have asked for a better end to the series, thank you to everyone who has joined us throughout, we’ll be back after a summer break, sun kissed and ready for more fun and fabulous guests! The full range of Jonathan’s hair care range, JVN Hair, is available to buy online and in store now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.