Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 102: DIG IN: Pizza Wars and Poo Bag Etiquette

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

SHOW NOTESJo shocks us again with another crazy culinary creation, Daniel shares an unbelievable plane behaviour story, and we hear what happened when Charlotte inadvertently insulted the Queen… Plus - on the rant hotline this week - what's going on with poo bags hanging on trees?!GET IN TOUCH📧 Email us: [e-mail]📱 Text or Voice Note: 07477 038795💬 Or tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp:⁠ ⁠https://wa.me/447477038795SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORSThis episode is brought to you by Belvoir Farm, Stripe & Stare, and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference.🍓 Belvoir Farm -  Made with real fruit juices, real flowers and natural ingredients, Belvoir Farm drinks contain no artificial sweeteners, flavourings or preservatives. Enjoy them chilled from the fridge for the freshest flavour. Available in major supermarkets nationwide.  https://belvoirfarm.co.uk/ 🛍️QVC — Summer gatherings always seem to end up in the garden, so why not make the space feel extra special? Explore My Garden Escape at www.qvcuk.com and use code QDIGIT for £10 off your first order. Minimum spend applies and full terms are on the QVC website.🩲 Stripe & Stare - Stripe & Stare’s super-soft knickers, sleepwear and everyday essentials are made from breathable natural fibres sourced from responsibly grown trees, with beautiful colours and styles designed for all-day comfort. Use code DIG20 at Stripe & Stare for 20% off your order. https://stripeandstare.com/🍅 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference — Summer dinners don’t need to be complicated when the ingredients are doing all the hard work. Whether it’s a quick midweek supper or friends in the garden, a few great ingredients can transform the whole meal. Available in selected stores and online.CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanProducers: Harriet Thurley & Samantha PsykAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyVideo Editors: Danny Pape and Jack Whiteside 

Coming up on Digit. Best pizza ever is Gorgonzola and Pineapple. Without a shadow of a doubt, the best pizza. Hang on a minute. Culinary expert here talking. This is another crazy combination from Joe Wiley. It's diverted to clenching your buttocks. So you're thinking of that instead.

It's like a three-part movement when I clench my buttocks these days because there's so much. It's like, and one and two and three. And it really annoys me when other people pick up my poo bag before I've got back. Because I'm like, if you see a bag, you don't know whether they're, going to pick it up. Well, you need a sticker on it then, Joe, saying, I'm Joe Wiley and I'm coming back for this poo bag. All of that right after this. Digit is brought to you by Beaver Farm. Question for you, Joe, do you ever wonder how you can keep a bottle of squash in a cupboard for months without it going off? It has crossed my mind. Well, this is the thing. So much squash is packed full

of preservatives so that it can last for ages once opened. But Beaver Farm, are kind of the opposite to that. Hang on a minute. Beaver Farm? Yep. I always thought it's pronounced Belvoir, which is like the really posh squash that you see in supermarkets. So not Belvoir, but beaver.

Beaver Farm. Okay, right, this is news to me. Yeah, Joe, it surprises a lot of people, but at Beaver Farm, they're completely obsessed with taste. So they make their drinks properly using real fruit juices, real flowers and absolutely no artificial sweetness,

flavorings, or preservatives. Which does mean the ones who open their cordials, they need to live in the fridge so they can be enjoyed fresh. Yes, slightly less convenient. But so much more delicious. That's why you'll recognise all of the ingredients on the label, rather than sounding like something engineered in a lab. Try Beaver Farm drinks for yourself.

Enjoy them fresh from the fridge, perfect for sunny afternoons, and they're available in all major supermarkets. At Beaver Farm, they never use anything artificial because the real thing just tastes better. Hello diggers, welcome to Diggin. Hello, Joe, my gorgeous friend. Hi, Zoe. Love to you. Can I start off by saying I had a really happy accident on the way here today?

I put on a pair of jeans, couldn't decide which ones to wear, went to my third door down, found my dark denim jeans and thought, they'll do today. I put them on and in my pocket, I discovered, I don't want to make anybody sick if you're watching this on YouTube. I discovered these little plastic babies, which are my invisible line trays. which I have been missing for a week. They're my retainers. They cost a fortune. Oh my God. I finished my treatment and I'm supposed to wear the trays like to stop my teeth from going back.

And I can feel them over the past few days. I've been panicking because I could feel them kind of moving a little bit and hurting. But I had no idea where they were. And if anybody has ever done any kind of dental worker had treatment or done Invisaline, you'll know what it's like. You lose those retainers everywhere. You take them out when you're going to have a cup of coffee somewhere. And then you leave the cafe and you realize you've left them in the cafe.

and you go running back to try and find them before anybody else sees them, because they're really embarrassing things for other people to find. I left mine. They're pretty gross for anyone to pick up, aren't they? They are. They're really gross. But I had this awful thing when I was at Radio 2, when I first started using them. And I left one in the studio.

God knows how, I must have fallen out my pocket when I went to do a link. So I was on the train on the way home and I was like, shit, I've lost it. I don't know where it is. And then the next day I got into work and somebody sent an email and all the staffer to everybody at the BBC saying, somebody left their retainer in the studio yesterday. Yuck.

Would you like to come and get it back or something? I don't know. And I went back to being that kid who'd weed herself in the school assembly room. I was so embarrassed and ashamed. I was like, oh my God, it was me. And it was anyway. But anyway, I've gotten back now. So that's really good.

I've just had mine fitted. Look, I'm just doing, I'm trying to straight. What, do you remember I said? No facelift, which was a joke, by the way, because those people keep getting in touch saying, don't have a facelift. I was like, it was actually a joke. I'm not going to get a facelift.

They take your ears off. That's what they do. I don't want them to take my ears off and yank it up. Although never say never. But I am straightening my teeth. Yeah. And I have the infrasaline on the bottom. How are you finding it?

All right, actually. I haven't lost it so far. I've not left it. I mean, it's a tricky to get in and off at the beginning, isn't it? But I change it to, yeah, because they're quite rigid. Yeah, they're quite rigid. but I've got used to it and I definitely am eating and drinking less

because you just can't be doing with the taking it out brushing your teeth, brushing it, putting it back in. If I've got them in and I go into a sandwich bar and I'm like trying to decide what to get from prayer and I have to take them off before I can go back in again because I just can't imagine eating everything when I've got the trays in. It's a really weird thing.

But they work. They definitely work. One of my teeth popped in the bottom. Like it just literally pinged one day and it was like hit behind. And then it kept chipping my top tooth, and I had to keep going and getting my top tooth repaired. And that's why I went down the Envisaline route. And it's expensive. But I think as you get older, doesn't your jaw shrink? Everything kind of shrinks and so your teeth start collapsing in on each other.

Well, everything else is shrinking. So yeah. Oh, great. Yeah, collapses, sags, shrinks, all that sort of stuff. So as you get older, that kind of stuff happens. And your teeth are really, really important when it comes to how you look in older age. So it's worth it's worth doing. So I haven't noticed that you've got them in though. That's impressive. No, well, it's like it's just the bottom ones at the moment and it doesn't affect my speech too badly.

No, not at all. Because I had that thing where I got a bit of TMJ once before where I think it was just stress. And because I was grinding my teeth at night. And so the first night of wearing these, you know, trying to sleep. I didn't sleep very well the first night. But I've got used to them now.

And I was like, that's a good section of wearing them. If you've got to get in 20, hours a day. Is it 22 hours or 20 hours or something? You've got to wear them a day? Yeah. Yeah, you sleep in it. Yeah. Yeah, it's a long time. If you want them to do. So I'm going to wear them for 13 weeks. If I'm a good girl, I've promised I'll be a good girl. Yeah. So fingers crossed. Yeah. That's good. I did mine for eight months. Eight months. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. It's good to do. It's good to try new things. What's the great Pamirs? Oh, I wish I looked after me teeth. It's actually. God bless that's life. As they are. I do.

God bless that's life. I love Pamirs. We once went to, but my dad knew Pamirs and we went to her house to a barbecue. Oh my God. Where there was an amazing story involving my brother, Bill Oddy and a stote. But I'll have to get his permission to tell that story. He was Rankin's ex-father-in-law, I think. I remember being photographed by this really superstar photographer Rankin, legendary.

And he was saying that Bill Oddy was his father-in-law. I don't think he is anymore. But I was like, wow, that's very unlikely. I think his daughter Kate was an actress. She's fantastic. I haven't seen her in anything recently, so I don't know whether she stepped away from it. But she was fantastic. She was in some great productions.

Like the idea of one of the goodies is your father-in-law would be quite cool. Really cool. This is talking to a much older demographic of Digit, by the way. I know. Yeah. Certain people will be like, oh, yes. Now, we do love hearing from your diggers with all your comments, questions and anecdotes. anytime you want to drop us a line about anything you want to share,

perhaps inspired by things you've heard on the pod, or things sometimes that you think, Joe and Zoe will love this, drop a line to questions at digitpod.co.uk. Or rant away on 074-95. That's 074-7-038-95. We would love your rants. Send your questions, please. We had an overwhelming response.

to the special that we did all about anxiety, which obviously resonated with so many of you who enjoyed Digget, who've suffered with anxiety. And Owen O'N. O'Kane is this amazing therapist. His book was fantastic, addicted to anxiety. If you haven't watched or listened to the episode yet, then we highly recommend it, and you should tell all your friends as well. He just approaches anxiety with just real compassion and empathy, something that he's dealt with himself and offers a really unique way of dealing with it. So we recommend that you listen to that. Anne got in touch. She says, I could have listened to Owen for hours. He makes so much sense. I particularly took great interest in his answer to Joe's questions about our children's worries and anxieties, where he suggested not pretending you have all the solutions, but just letting them know that you're there for them. Thank you both for inviting him on your podcast that just keeps getting better all the time. And that's from Anne. Thank you very much, Anne. And thank you to Jonathan, who produces our podcast, who, um, found Owen and said you'll love him. He was brilliant. And he was not wrong at all. We also have

this voice note from Kirsty. Hi Joe and Zoe. It's Kirsty here from Surrey. I'm a huge fan of the podcast. The reason I'm calling is because I've just listened to your Owen O'N McCain podcast and it really resonated with me. But there were two extra things I just wanted to add that I've picked up over the years that people have told me, which I pass on to my kids. And one of them is CIA. And that's where I just turn around and say, look, can you control it, whatever it is it's making you're anxious? If not, can you influence it? And if you can't influence it or control it, then you just need to accept it and find a way of accepting it. And so I find that quite helpful and the other one is hope, the acronym hope, but the acronym hope stands for

hold on pain ends. And I really like that as well because I just think like Owen was saying being able to turn around to somebody who's suffering from anxiety and saying, do you know what, this isn't going to be forever? This is something that feels big at the moment, but it will be okay. And I just wanted to pass those two things on because I've been helpful to me and they may be helpful to somebody else. Anyway, love the pod, like I say, I just want to do a quick shout out to Faye Higgs, who's a friend who we found out over dinner in London the other week. We both listened to the pod. So hi, Faye. But thanks very much, girls. Love listening and keep up the good work. Thank you, Kirstie. I need to write this down. C-I-A.

Yeah. And what was the hope one? It was, hold on pain ends. Hold on. Hold on. Pain ends. That's a really good one. It really is. I ran into a really lovely lady here on the retreat, Jason Vale, who is a friend of a friend. And we got talking about sort of tricky stuff in life. And she'd been through an awful lot. And she was saying, you know, some of the stuff that we'd been sharing had really resonated with her. And that's a good example of, and I must say to lots of people who've got in touch with me saying, hope you're okay, though. The stuff I was sharing on the pod last week was my experience when that was before. I'm doing great.

I got, you know, I got some help. I took some meds for a while. I don't take them any more. Things are really good. But the reason I shared was just to show an example of what can happen. And I think exactly what Kirsty says there, hold on, pain ends. And that's definitely what happened for me, that things got much better with the right care and with time. So thank you to everyone who's reached out and said, are you okay? It's like, yeah,

no, I am absolutely okay. So I just want to let people know that, you know, again, like Owen was saying, this does pass and you can move through it. So all the lovely people reaching out to me, I would suggest, you know, start with your GP, a really good place to start if you are really struggling with it. And if it is menopause related as well, if your GP isn't the best place to get that support, Dr. Naomi Potter. is someone we all follow. She's been on the pod. She's amazing. I do suggest following, we suggest following her Owen O'N. O'K and Owen's books. So, yeah, I really hope you can get the help and support that you need, because it's not always easy, but it's a good starting point.

There you go. So I wanted to just give a bit of disclosure there. And the response to you talking about that just sums up what I think it's about, isn't it? It's that we're all in this together and there's so much empathy. That is the buzzword, I think, that I take away from Diggett all the time, that people just understand and care about what everybody else is going through. And that's half the battle sometimes, just knowing that you're not alone, that other people are going through at the same, and they'll support you, even if it's just a text message or it's something they're reading on the dig it, Instagram responses or whatever. So thank you for your empathy that you will give us. I'm getting a bit frustrated at the moment from

the number of friends that I've had who, oh, I have at the moment who are trying to get the right medication, right HRT and right advice, and they are not getting anywhere. And I don't know what to suggest to them. All I can never say is just keep going back and trying to find the right GP who will be helpful to you. And also just all these amazing people on Instagram who you mentioned Naomi, but there's a whole host of them who is giving so much information and support and advice and empathy. But it feels a bit wrong to me that they aren't getting the help immediately. It is a worry, isn't it? Because there seems to be something broken. Yeah, there's something's not right. Yeah. Because they're going there. They're explaining their symptoms. They're saying what they need.

They're asking for help. They're asking for advice and they're not getting it. And I don't know why. And that troubles me. Yeah, I know. It is really tricky. I don't know what else to say. I'm just like,

this is not right. How is this happening? I think sometimes, yeah, it's so frustrating that people can see a GP who isn't necessarily that helpful on this round. And I think it's still that thing, isn't it? I think more GPs are learning more about all the different symptoms of perimenopause. Training menopause, yeah. Coming up to speed.

But some people are. just not getting that help and support when they need it. And it is frustrating. And the thing is at that point, I do think it is possibly good to look for a menopause, perimenopause, doctor or a clinic near you to see if you can find. Or even if you're going to a well-woman clinic, perhaps asking there. And spread the words, ladies. If you found great support in your neighbourhood, spread the word and let your friends know,

good, you know, GPs you've found who have been really helpful. Yeah. And, you know, spread the word. I guess that's the way you do it. Or if anybody is listening to this and they've got further advice about what people should do if they're not being heard, if they're not getting the right advice, then we'd love to know. We'd like to pass it on to our diggers as well who are struggling a little bit.

Time now for a quick break for some ads. But if you're keen to listen to these episodes early and ad-free, you can subscribe to the potting shed. Yearly subscriptions get a free dig-it tote bag and Fothergill's sow and tell seeds. Just click the link to subscribe in the show notes. See you in a bit. Something completely different. Daniel's been in touch with a question for us. Daniel says, I often fly back and forth between the UK and Ireland to Sea family. And being far too tight to pay for a seat, I always just leave it up to Fate. So on my flight home this weekend,

fate landed me in the middle seat, which is not ideal. But what really caught me off guard was the passenger beside me who boarded carrying an entire pizza. Not a slice, not a takeaway bag, a full 12-inch slab of pizza in a cardboard box. Can you imagine? Oh my God. Like, freaking massive box. I would not deal with this very well. The thing was so large that at one point I actually had to hold the pizza while she wrestled

her luggage into the overhead locker. And it got me wondering, what's the most unhinged behaviour you've ever witnessed on a plane? Can anybody be a full-sized pizza at 30,000 feet? That is from Daniel. Daniel, tell me that she gave you a slice, for God's sake, you know? I mean, I struggle to get a slice off my kids if they have a pizza. And I'm like, please, can I just have a small slice? Why didn't you get your own?

But if you've had to hold the box, I could just imagine that on the middle seat. Oh, my God. I've picked a right one here. It's always that moment, isn't there, when you get on a plane, when you sit and think, oh no one else is going to sit in these seats great yeah then you're like of course people are going to sit in the seats I always try to make myself as small as possible and I'm massive and I always have loads of bags and I'm such a fidget so I'm always like oh god I haven't got my snack out or my thing out or I tried to keep my own space I tried to turn my iPad away if I'm watching something

so it doesn't disturb them it's nothing worse than when you're watching really something that's quite rude you're like oh my god this is effectively porn When did Margot's got money troubles get so dirty turning it away? Anyway, that's really good, by the way. You should watch that. But I've never had someone with a giant pizza. That's quite me, Daniel, it is important to me, though. I do need to know, did she offer you a slice? Because that would have made it a lot better for me if she'd just gone, oh, would you like a slice? Yes, please. Or did she eat the whole thing herself? It's outrageous. Was she that hungry? Because it's not easy to carry your bags, because you have a handbag or a satchel kind of thing

around you, don't you? Then you'll have a pull-a-long bag and then a pizza in the other hand. Or can you just fold it so that it took up less space, lady? Who are you? The anonymous pizza carrier. That is brilliant. I can't compete with this. I've not seen any kind of terrible behavior like that at all when I've been on a plane. I've got no stories to offer. My friend Mark tells a great story about an American tourist on a plane saying, oh, steward, oh steward, oh steward. They were holding their cup to the buttons above thinking it was like, oh, it's a dispenser or coffee dispenser. This does, oh, steward, this doesn't work. And he's like, no, that's the air conditioning, I'm afraid, which I thought was hilarious. I remember getting on a plane, the worst, worst behaviour that I've ever

kind of been involved in was when I got on plane with our dear friend Willie and his little boy, Bevan, who is now an adolescent who will hate me kids telling the story and hopefully won't ever know. and Bevan and Coco were the same age and they got on the plane and they both had tummy upsets which kicked in as we were going down the runway about to take off so we're about to take off and all of a sudden they start vomiting thank God we were at the back of the plane but we must have been the worst people in the world to have been sat anywhere near but they were they were vomiting then the diarrhea kicked in and for the whole flight we were only we were going skiing so it wasn't a long flight but can I just say sorry now to anybody that might remember and might

have been damaged by that flight with two vomiting, diarrhea, inflicted children. I do. You feel so bad for anyone who gets sick on a plane. It's the worst place to get sick, isn't it? On a plane, it's terrible. Woody used to get really bad. I think it was his ears. His inner ears would really hurt him.

So he would cry loads. And there was one time where he'd been crying so much that we were sat in his front and the airport control had got in touch saying, is there a problem on that plane? It's like, no. So it's so he balls out of control child. But there's nothing worse in a situation like that because people are sort of tutting and do you not know how to look after your child?

And it's like, look, clearly he's in pain and I'm trying to make it better and he's not crying on purpose. So whenever I see parents on planes who have got kids who are sick or kids who just want to make a noise or want to play a game or anything like that, I'm always, it's all right, solidarity.

I'm a parent. I've been there. Do you need some help? Do you need some backup? up. Don't worry when they're screaming and crying because I know it can be awful for other. Oh yeah, projectile vomiting kids as well. Both ends kids on a plane. That's not good. Yeah, but any, if any diggers have got great stories like Daniels, then obviously let us know. It's all in the show notes. Also, what flavor was the pizza? I've got so many questions. Well, yeah, Gorgonzola would

be the worst one, or maybe salami, some sort of hammy, meaty, meat fest feast. Oh my God. Gorgonzola on a pizza. No. You are so avant-garde. No, best pizza ever is Gorgonzola and Pineapple. Without a shadow of a doubt, the best pizza. Hang on a minute. Hang on. Let's back this up.

Culinary expert here talking. Let's just back this up. This is another crazy combination from Joe Wiley. Joe, you need to bring out some insane cookbook, which is that is not right or whatever it's going to be called. With pineapple. Hang on, Gorg and Sola and pineapple. Why?

Why? I'm not making it up. It's a thing. Where have you found this? Is this your own concoction? And even better with walnuts on as well. No, it's not. It's a thing you can buy it. I bet if you go to a really fancy pizza place, they will say, would you like the Gorgonzola with pineapple and walnuts? And I'd go, yes, please, I'll have three. I have never. I've had four cheeses, several meats, egg and spinach. I love that one. For your and Tina, I think it is.

Slime. Hang on a minute. Hang on a minute. You want Gorgonzola and Pondon. pineapple on a pizza, but you wouldn't have an egg with spinach. No, I would not. No, because of all the slimy egg white that would be there. But that's a proper Italian thing. Oh, gross. Yeah, you're like Nell, Nel, Nel doesn't eat eggs. Okay, all right. And spinach on a pizza is not. Why not? Spinach on a pizza is great. Because it's fine if it's with a plate of other vegetables or with some nice chicken or fish. But on a dough? But you want to put pineapple with Gorgonzola, you absolute freak. I it's you've now confirmed it Joe I've always slightly suspected but you have weird food choices

we can never eat together we can never go out for dinner can't ever it can never ever go out if you're like what are you doing I'm panicking so I've got a wedding coming up in three weeks time now it's it's Sophie and siege and I'm cannot weigh and we love them so much but sophie's dad was our very best friend and Tim is not with us anymore and we're all involved in the wedding which is just the loveliest thing that Sophie's asked us to do. And I'm going to be reading at the wedding. And I was saying that I'm really worried that I'm just going to cry throughout the whole reading. And I was asking for advice. So we've had lots of advice. And this one has come from Annabelle, who says, my advice is to read it over and over. And then video yourself so that you can get

comfortable with how you come across. Also try and visualize the room that you'll be in with the audience looking back at you. Oh God, but they'll all be crying as well. No, they won't. They're going to be Happy tears. There'll be so much joy and happiness because Sophie and Siege are brilliant together and we really love them and it'll be amazing. It's just the absence of Tim, which will make everybody a little bit weepy. So I will do that. I know that I've got to practice it, but I haven't thought about videoing it. So thank you for that. This one's from Ray, Joe, who sent some advice to stop myself from crying in public. I press my tongue to the top of my mouth with a bit of pressure. Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Not helpful when you're reading, however, but you're

You can do this before you start. And if you need to pause, whilst you manage the emotion. Okay. That's very good advice. I have to say at my lovely friend Eva and James' wedding a couple of weeks ago, that was very emotional because, you know, James lost his brother and Eva's lost her mom and dad. So there were a lot of absent friends. And James' mom and dad have dementia, so they weren't there. Oh, no.

So there was a lot of emotion and people were crying. during the speeches, but we were also laughing. People were crying doing the speeches, but we were also laughing. And the thing is, in that room, you feel so held because you're with your loved ones. And everyone is feeling that emotion with you. So I think don't worry too much done. And if you do cry, that's okay, because everyone will have a cry. You'll have a cry for Tim. And you'll also laugh for Tim as well. And so, yeah, I try not to worry too much about it, I would say. I'm just going to think of him in all the ridiculous fancy dress costumes that he wore when he came to our party, including a giant inflatable penis at one point. He sounds amazing.

And then he also came as me and Baby Spice. So we've got some very funny. I've got some really funny images that will help me through that speech. Okay. Helen also sent us this voice note. Hi, Joe. Hi, hi, Zoe. It's Helen here from Warwickshire.

Absolutely love your podcast. I listen to it as soon as they release. So I was listening this morning to your one about the grief. and I will always remember, and I'm a bit of a cryer, I always remember the late, great Barbara Windsor, giving a top tip on how to not cry. And she said, if you clench your buttocks, it really helps. And I found having been somebody who cries at weddings and funerals,

and obviously funerals are given, but pretty much every programme on the telly, or even my daughter's levers assembly, all sorts of things going on that will make me cry quite easily. if I clench my buttocks, I find it really works. So I thought I'd send that tip to you. Okay. Thanks.

Bye. Brilliant. Helen, that's so good. I'm clenching my buttocks as I'm listening to you. And I'm imagining gorgeous Babs Windsor, who was the most wonderful woman. I'm imagining her clenching her buttocks and saying, get out of my pub. But yeah, what a great bit of advice. Because now if you need to, you can clench your buttox, but you'll also laugh and smile.

because you'll be thinking of Babbs Windsor, clenching her little tiny buttocks because she was a little last. I guess your attention is going to something else, isn't it? It's diverting it to clenching your buttocks. So you're thinking of that instead. It's like a three-part movement when I clench my buttocks these days because there's so much. It's like, and one and two and three. Anyway, no one needed to know that. Sorry.

Oh, that's great. Helen, thank you. Yeah, thanks for all the advice. I'll keep me posted as we get closer. Oh, you're a weep. it's good. Let it out, I say, leave us assemblies. My goodness me, that's one for crying. It's funny.

Do you know what? Coco's boyfriend Joe passed his driving test the other day and it was so great. But it meant that... Go Joe. I know, I know. And he's like the most conscientious, nicest boy you would ever meet. He's just so lovely. And we went for dinner

somewhere and he was doing something. Anyway, he drove on his own. It was like his first long journey on his own to come and pick her up. And then we were having food and he was like, oh, but they were talking about going. And he went, well, I could just drive Coco back and we'll go. And I went, oh, okay. And it was my first experience of Coco being taken away and being independent.

Like the two of them just toddled off together. And I was so moved watching them go off from the distance. I was like, can I just have a kiss in my head going, this could be the final kiss I ever give you. But it was a really emotional moment. It was like, oh, my God, she's independent. He can drive. This is amazing. And she was very cute.

And she messaged. and like we're home now and they were so lovely and so responsible. But, yeah, I mean, even that can make me cry when I'm just retelling the story. It's just that stages, isn't it? Yeah, stages of letting go. The stages that come. I know, it's quite, I know Nell's friend Verity just turned 17, happy birthday, Verity and she'll be the first to get driving lessons amongst her gang.

And I think, oh, yeah, it's coming. This is it. It's coming. It's coming. I must say, when Woody goes off on his long journeys, because he drives all over the place, I'm always like, please, just, you know, let me know you're okay, or one of his mates to just let me know that they're okay. And he's like, well, Mom, if you don't hear from the police, then you can guarantee I'm okay. The other day I texted, went, just send me a sign.

And he sent me a picture of a road sign. I was like, that's not funny. It's just let me know you're okay. It is quite funny. Little swine. We were chatting about royal encounters after our Chelsea Flower Show special. And we asked for any of your Royal Meet and Greet Stories, while Charlotte got in. touch with this one. Hello, Jo and Zoe. I used to be the head groom for a large equine

charity for retirement horses in Buckinghamshire. And the queen at the time was our patron and she used to come and visit us on this particular occasion. I think it was the first time I was lucky enough to meet her, but I was rehearsing what I was going to say. And I think I was probably 21 maybe. she came round and instead of remembering everything I had been told to say and how to curtsy and greet her, instead I just blurted out, oh my gosh, you're really small, to which she looked me up and down and said, we're not particularly tall yourself being five foot. I can't disagree. My boss at the time, the brigadier was glaring at me over her shoulder and yeah, we exchanged pleasantries. She commented on the horses and it was all fine. It just goes to show that in the heat of the moment, everything you rehearse can go out of your head and you just blurt out, or certainly in my case, what I was thinking.

Lesson learned, perhaps not. Anyway, love the pod. And thank you very much, Charlotte from Devon. Oh, Charlotte, I love you for that. It's so good. Oh, gosh, I'm really small. To her majesty, the Queen. I know about her just to go,

you're not particularly stallies else. It's so great. She does, I know everyone you meet who met the Queen, who's had stories, as she always had such a wonderful sense of humour with people.

I think that's so glorious. Often when people meet King Charles, they say that he's smaller than they imagined. I get, oh, you're bigger than I imagined

because I am quite tall. Yeah, I always get, oh, you're much smaller than I thought you were. There you go. Hey, the rant hotline is now open. Obviously, send us your rants, anything that's irking you,

annoying, you really irritating the hell out of you. Let us know. But Beth has been in touch. This is her rant. Hello, Joe, and hello Zoe. It's Beth. I thought I would ring and tell you how much I absolutely need to rant about people who don't pick up after their dogs. There are two types of them.

Oh, yes. There's the people who just leave it, pretend they didn't see, keep steadfastly looking forward, because no dog poo's behind you, right? Or there's the other kind who pick it up, put it in a bag, and then hang it on a flipping tree or a gate. This might be even worse for me than the people who don't bother at all because why flipping bother putting it in something that's even harder to break down to leave for someone else?

It's got that bad that I've started using stickers and sticking them on the fence posts through to the fields that we walk in because people are so blooming lazy. Anyway, that's it, that's my rant. And thank you so much for the show. Absolutely love it. Okay, cheers now. Bye. I knew I love Beth.

From the minute she said our names, you could just tell. But she's right. What is with that? I see those dog poo bags hanging on trees and fences. And I'm like, what difference does it make? You just walk and when you leave the forest or wherever you go, you just put it in the dog poo bin. Oh, gets my goat. So I've got two dogs.

I've got a golden retriever who does pooes like an elephant's like they are so gargantuan. And they're really horrible to pick up. up, but we do. We always pick it up. But I do put it in a poo bag and I always have this dilemma because if he does it, as inevitably they always do at the beginning of walk. I don't want to walk around with a handbag of poo for the whole of the walk because it's really smelly. It doesn't feel very hygienic. So I always do hang it or no, I put it in a place and then we go on our walk and then we return and then we pick it up and we put it in a bin. And it really annoys me when other people pick up my poo bag before I've got back because I'm like, that was mine. I put it there for a reason.

I'm going to throw it away. Don't think I'm an irresponsible person. So that is my little side note to this. It's like if you see a bag, you don't know whether they're going to pick it up. Well, you need a sticker on it then, Joe, saying, I'm Joe Wiley and I'm coming back for this poo bag. Because obviously what someone is doing is like,

oh, for God's sake, they pick the poo up. But now, so like people do when they leave it on the fence or on a tree. Now, people leaving it on trees because they intend to come back for it and they've left it so they remember. Surely they are. I'm not sure. Well, so do you think Beth is just coming across your poo bags and she may- Beth, can you make me a sticker that says, I'm Joe Wiley and I intend to pick up this poo bag on my return. I intend to pick up my own dogs poo.

Thank you very much. I love a passive-aggressive sticker. We've got parking issues outside our place. And it's all resident parking. And sometimes it's fine, but sometimes it gets a little bit jammed and you can't park. And you just have to deal with it.

It's fine. But sometimes people do really bad parking. You're like, for God's sake, you could get a smart car in that space. Just everyone shunned up. And I am like, shall I leave? Shall I leave notes and windscreens? It's like, no.

And do you? No. No, I haven't yet. But one day it will happen. I might do stickers like Beth. Stickers on windscreens. I'm now questioning my own behaviour on a dog walk now. Thank you, Beth.

Well, I'm questioning your behaviour because can't you just take a bigger bag to put the bag of dog poo in? But you're leaving it. And now someone's being really annoyed going, well, this is outrageous. But don't be annoyed. And it's huge. It must be. a huge dog. What creature did this come from?

But don't worry, I'll carry it to the bin. Don't be a marty. You don't have to pick up my poo bag. I will pick it up when I've done my walk. I always put it in a little place hidden out of the way. I promise I will pick it up. I do pick them up. Anyway, I don't have a dog, but I do have a cat who pooed in the bath the other night.

It's like, I was lying there really. It's like, oh, I think he's cross of me. I think he's cross of it at the moment. And he poos in the bath or he poos on the doormat, which I've told you last week. Anyway, enough poo. Enough poo stories. But if you have anything you would like to rant about, if it feels better to get it off your chest just like Beth. And the sticker idea is so good. Do drops a line. Here is the jingle from Melanie. 0747-703-8-795.

That number again. 07-4-7-9-5. Very well done. I do just need to say happy birthday to Amy, who is his, joining me in the fabulous club of, well, she's caught up in age now, should we just say, she's as old as me. So, Amy, who you know, we both used to work with her. That's where I think we first began in TV anyway. Yeah. Working at Planet 24. Big breakfast. Yeah, that's right. Amy. Yeah, we used to do the snap cuckling pop news. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, I'll give her my love. Yeah, I will do. We used to go to all the parties, the Planet 24 parties. I don't know whether you ever went to any of those, but the less my children know about those, the better. Yeah, they were great.

Do you remember the cowboy one? Sorry. The cowboy party was one of my favorites where I rode the bull. Do you remember the cowboy one? That was the word Christmas party. That was a good party. They were good parties. Oh, I've got some stories about those days.

That's for another episode. Yes, shush. Right, Amy, happy birthday. We love you. And then see you next week. See you next week. Bye. Digit is a Persefonica production.