Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 111: Katie Price & Real-Life VAR

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

It’s Happy Birthday Dig It – the show turns one today and what a year it’s been. This week, Jo and Zoe celebrate that momentous milestone, as well as England getting through to the semi-finals of the World Cup, asking whether VAR in your day-to-day life could actually be a lifesaver? They also reflect on their incredible time on stage at Crossed Wires Festival for the first Dig It Live, give their take on the new Katie Price documentary ‘Nothing To Hide’, and hear Mike the Gardener’s expert advice on gardening in a heatwave.Watch or listen now to join the celebrations.  It’s coming home… hopefully! DIGGERS, WE NEED YOUR HELPIf you’re loving Dig It, you can vote for us to be in with a chance of winning the ‘Listeners’ Choice Award’ at the British Podcast Awards. It’s decided entirely by you:- Simply go to britishpodcastawards.com/voting- Type ‘Dig It’ in the search bar- Enter your name and email to vote.- And don’t forget to verify your email to make your vote count!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/447477038795CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanProducer: Harriet Thurley & Samantha PsykAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyVideo Editors: Cameron Laird and Jack Whiteside 

Coming up on Dig It. Happy birthday dig it. Oh, that's a bit sad. These are the saddest party blowers I've ever blown in my life. Coco's got like theory driving test looking after my father-in-law. And you're kind of doing the paddling, like you're trying to look like a swan, just going, yeah, it's fine, it's all good. Do you reckon in real life, would that be quite handy? What, VAR?

It would be excellent. Just to clear up all those disputes that you have about who did the dishwasher. This is not what I said. I think you'll find what I said was you could just play it back, please. All of that right after this. Hi, Zoe. Have we got something to celebrate?

Look at us. Oh, happy birthday dig it. Oh, that's a bit sad. These are the saddest party blowers I've ever blown in my life. Look, they give you a kind of a party celebration in a very, very sad key. Ready?

They just, you don't. Oh, that one's pretty substantial. This one. It just goes down, doesn't it? Instead of going, wee, goes, oh, I love a rubbish party, Papa. By the way, apologies to any pets that that has sent wild, that sound. So it's happy first birthday to dig it. Happy birthday diggers.

Yeah, happy birthday diggers. Whether you've been with us since the beginning, we are one year old. It's official. If you've only just joined us, welcome. You're never too late. But I can't actually believe it's a year old. We've been doing this for a year, Joe. it's amazing. It's flown by.

I'm going to take my glasses off. You can wear yours. No, I can't actually see anything through these. These are. Can we talk about the fact that the team had sent these out to us? And I opened the package. I am really losing my mind because I do not have any recollection of ordering party poppers and happy birthday glasses. And was hugely relieved when the podcast team told us this morning that they'd sent them to us. Because I thought, I know I'm doing a lot. of nighttime shopping scrolling on the internet. Oh, yes, I need this. I was like, why have I bought these? My package turned up one and it was Steve's birthday, disco's birthday. Happy birthday disco.

I was like, oh my God, this is, did I order these? Exactly the same as you. Did I order these? No, I definitely didn't. Went through my Amazon order list to see whether I'd order them. And then I thought, no, India must have done it. So when she turned up, I was like, thank you, genius. Thanks for ordering all these things. So we had a party for Steve and we used up everything that the team sent us to celebrate Steve's birthday party. I'll find photographs and pictures of everybody wearing it and blowing those very sad. Party blowers. Thanks to Eve and the team for being so efficient.

And also now you know how you can slightly drive a menopause of woman mad by sending mysterious things in the post so that she thinks she has finally lost her mind and may need to check herself into a clinic. Although the team did say that they mentioned it in an email that they sent both of us. Oh, God, we've not read the notes. have we? It's another reminder to always read the emails and the notes that we get sent. So I'm really sorry that we didn't do that. So that's on us.

Yeah, apologies. Do you know what? I'm normally really good. It's just that life has been quite bonkers, hasn't it? It's been so full on. Because we were up here. And can I say, happy birthday to disco Steve. We will never forget Digit's birthday or Disco Steve's birthday because they are in unison.

They are one. Yeah, they are. Did he have a good celebration? He did. He had a really lovely birthday. yeah, it's great because his dad is over from Thailand. So we've got Keith with us as well, Disco Keith. Disco Keith, excellent.

Yeah, it was really nice. And all the kids came and spent the evening with him and also all the kids' partners. So it was like everybody that we really, really love in one place. And we just hung out in the garden because the weather was so beautiful. And that's all we did. We just had a drink and we ate some food. And it was really nice. We watched some football, which is all I've been doing for the past a couple of weeks or so.

Like everybody else, football in Wimbledon. It's just been nothing else. at all and it's been sports, sports. It's been so lovely and so exciting. It's also been very nerve-wracking. And we'll come on to England. We will talk more about England, actually, in a bit, won't we? Because I'm not sure how much more my nerves can take, because obviously, if you're listening to this on Wednesday morning, it is tonight, Argentina. Oh, my gosh. Come on, boys, you can do it. And they really can do it. Anyway, we'll talk about that more at the moment. But we've just got back from Crosswire's Festival as well. Last week, we did our first live dig-it. The whole thing.

thing was so lovely. To meet at the crucible was very, very surreal and also to meet all our diggers, to have a rave at the end of the chat that we did and dance with everybody and just meet so many kindred souls and have people tell us what they love about Digit and tell us, share with us about their lives again was everything. It summed up for what Digit is all about. It was a really, really brilliant experience. There was a lot of joy in that room. I really, really enjoyed the buzz, because we were quite nervous before, weren't we? Because we'd never done Diggett live. and we, you know, we weren't sure what to expect. But just to be surrounded by diggers.

And many diggers had bought partners with them, husbands, boyfriends, friends, other girlfriends, some people who hadn't heard Digit before. So it was their first experience of Digit. You know, it was quite funny seeing some men in the crowd thinking, are you here under duress? Have you enjoyed yourselves? If you haven't seen it so far, you can watch on YouTube or iPlayer. So if you have struggled in the past, I thought, I'm not sure. or how I get to see what's going on, then we're there, we're on IPlay, we're on YouTube and

you can see our first live show, you know, maybe the first of more, who knows. Would you do it again? I definitely do it again. It was so much fun. It really was. And I think there is that thing when you've got a like, normally it's just you and me sitting here having a lovely chat, which is, which is perfect. But when you really feed off the energy in the room and it was, you know, it felt really kind of electric to be with everybody and to get everyone's live reactions to, I'm talking about sniffing armpits or whatever we were talking and gardening with is. You know, there were lots of moments that really made me laugh and smile where you were there with our lovely diggers reacting live to some of the stuff we're talking about.

And the kind of, yep, I get you or the what? What? That was so fab to see. And they were so much like, like, they were so cool. Like everybody that was there, they were really cool. It was just a really nice way to see what I diggers are like. They're just like you and me. They absolutely are. Just like us. They're really. Honestly, just like muddling our way through absolutely everything.

Can I just read this message? This is from one of our diggers who said my friend and I went along and we loved it. We live other ends of the country. We've been friends for over 35 years since our uni days and we always text each other about the podcast. Thank you for sharing and making us girls over 50 feel seen. We see you. We see you. We feel you. We know you. We know what's going on. Yeah. Millie said a fabulous afternoon sharing the room with so many diggers, you're great ambassadors for ladies of a certain age. We had fun, laughter and a bonus rave at the end of the show. Well done to everyone involved. Yeah, well done, Digit team. And thank you. And here's to the next year of your podcast and bringing some normality to our eclectic lives. Millie, well said. That is exactly what our lives are like. Eclectic lives. Exciting news. We have been long listed for a few categories in the British podcast awards, which is frankly, amazing. Yeah, we're absolutely cock a hoop. There's one award in particular, we have to tell you about Diggers, the Listeners Choice Award. It's decided entirely by you. Now, the Diggit community is one of a kind. This is what we've discovered. We have laughed together. We've cried together. We've garden together. And it feels to us like we've got a whole new crew of friends to help us through this time in our lives. if you're loving Digit, you can vote for us in the Listeners Choice Award.

Simply click the link in our description or go to British Podcast Awards.com slash voting. So type Digit in the search bar, then enter your name and your email to vote. And don't forget to verify your email so that your vote counts. Thank you so much. Before we started the podcast today, and I got up so early to get ready for the podcast because it's always a rush when we do this. And I was like, oh my God, I can't believe how many fires I have to fight before we actually

get to speak to each other. I know you're exactly the same. Coco's got like theory driving test. My dad's not very well with his Parkinson's. I've been trying to sort out Parkinson's nurses and then trying to, looking after my father-in-law, the dog had made a mess everywhere. I'm just like, you know, you haven't got enough arms and enough brain cells to try and deal with everything, which I know all our diggers will absolutely relate to, that you're just kind of constantly got all these balls and you're juggling them and you're dropping them and then, but then you're kind of doing the paddling, like you're trying to look like a one just going, yeah, he's fine, it's all good. It is crazy, isn't it? What is going on at the moment?

I went away for the weekend and just went down to the countryside stay with a lovely friend. And what happens? Wilbur, Wilbur's gone into hospital. How well? Why couldn't you've gone in hospital when I was home? He's got a really nasty bladder situation going on. And a big shout out to to Polly and to Will the vet and to Natasha and all the gang at New Priory Vets, who are so amazing and to my lovely glow, who took him in. So hopefully he's coming home later today. And I drove straight there yesterday. It's like, Wilbur, but I hate it being in the house without him because he's my little mate.

And it's just me and him quite a lot of the time. And I keep sort of going to talk to him or be like, Wilms, where are you? Or go to feed him. Anyway, fingers crossed, he's coming home later on today. Okay. Oh, I do hope so. Yes, bless him.

There is a lot going on. And Scatterbrain, I just wanted to mention these gnomes. If you are watching your web to see what we'd look talking about, but you can otherwise see it, as we said, on YouTube and on Iplay. But we were given these gnomes from Nome's HQ. And I brought them home. I'm really sorry. We just bundled everything into the car.

Well, they were your birthday present. I know. Well, no. I think one is you and one is me. I think I've got painted toenails and a golden spade. Or maybe that is you. I don't know, maybe I've got a beard. No, we've both got beers.

Okay, maybe. Well, if there's one with a beard, that's definitely me. Right. So, Zoe, you, this is you. I'm going to hold this up. Okay. Distinguishing features, microphone. Big nose.

Lovely long eyelashes. Big nose. Big smile. Gorgeous smile. Yeah. And yeah, that's me. And we've both got beards, which I think is very apt. Fantastic.

But thank you so much to Lynn and her team at Nome's HQ. I do have an aversion to Nome's when I'm actually quite fond of these and they've been sat between my pelagoniums and they actually look pretty good. So I'm more than happy for them to live in my garden. There you go, Gnomes, HQ, because Joe, who hates Gnomes has actually put these notes in her garden. Do you know what? Keep me alongside you in the garden.

I think that, just send me a picture unless you absolutely, you're like, please take this, because I think, I think that's rather lovely. I'd love to feature in your garden somewhere. It's also got the, it's got your rose tattoo on as well. which is lovely. Thank you, Nome's HQ. Thanks, Lynn and the gang. That's really special.

Yeah. God, it sounds like you've got quite a lot going on in your household as well. And it was your, my dad is not well. My dad's, my dad's really like deteriorating quite a lot. I'm so sorry, darling. That's okay. I think it's the heat. I think maybe, well, I hoped God it's the heat and dehydration.

But we'll find out as days go by. But he's just, yeah, Parkinson seems to have really kicked in just over the past couple of days or so. And so we'll see. we'll see how he is. Hopefully he'll get him back and he'll be better. But he's struggling at the moment, which is a bit sad. And that's hard for my mum as well, who's also obviously got her tough health issues at the moment. You just, you feel so guilty, don't you? You feel so guilty and so bad. We just want to be able to help, don't you, and take it away from them? You don't want them to be suffering. I know. And then I'm so busy all the time. It's, yeah. And you're right.

I think anyone living with any kind of health conditions is only going to be horribly exacerbated by this extreme heat. Because I kind of think about, you know, me, I'm struggling in this heat. You know, my cat was struggling in the heat. I think there's, it really does. And I was really shocked to reading the news this morning at how many people have lost their lives during this heat wave. I know. Yeah. You know, it really is quite extraordinarily full on. Yeah. Well, that really resonated when I, when I read that as well, and I suddenly thought, oh my God, maybe that is having an impact on my dad because he doesn't drink. He just, I mean, he drinks, but he doesn't drink much water.

Yeah. And the heat has really done him in. He's just sleeping constantly at the moment. I was like, oh, God, maybe it's the heat. But it has been very hard to move, hasn't it? Physically, I've never had this experience before. When you've got loads of jobs and things you should be doing and you normally would be going about and doing.

And you just can't. You're just like, oh, no, I think I'll just lie down for a little while or I just, you feel like you're kind of walking on the moon or in a swamp. You're just everything is so much slower and harder work. It really does have such an effect. And, you know, I think somebody said something to me, Karen, lovely friend Karen said last night actually, because I was talking about weeing a lot and never, you know, the lodger's always saying, you don't drink enough water, so you don't drink enough water.

And it's true. I don't know, drinking water doesn't really do it for me. So I'm, you know, it's tea and coffee and I do try. But yeah, I find it really hard myself to hydrate. And the vet was saying to me, your cat's dehydrated. That's probably why he's. issues anyway. So you think, yeah, it really is. I was doing some shoots. I had two days of shoots last week and the whole team. We're just, you know, you're just trying to get the energy

because you're just so drained. Yeah, we're just not used to this extreme heat. Are we in this country? No, I think this is something we now have to get used to. And I do wonder, yeah, if we're all going to be thinking about different homes and houses and how to keep our houses cool. And gardens. Yeah, and gardens. Goodness me. Yeah, gardens, because the hosepipe banners hit us now where where I am. And all of a sudden, the impact, you're like, oh, my God, I actually can't water my plants. And you're just watching them wither and die. Heartbreaking, isn't it?

Yeah, recalibrate and just thinking, right, so I won't be, I won't plant you next year because I just know you can't survive. If we have this again next year, I'm going to have to go for things that thrive. I'm going to have to be thinking of Mediterranean plants and do lemons and limes and prairie planting. Prairie planting, yeah, because, oh my God, roses are really struggling. hydrangees are struggling. They really, really need water. Highers since everything is just, it is a bit heartbreaking. Pots are a nightmare.

I've been so sad. My pots, you know, even a month ago, were so beautiful and they have gone. And I keep apologising to them. I'm like, I'm so sorry that you've had to sacrifice yourselves because, yeah, I think they've all got to go. So if anyone needs any terracotta pots, I'm going to lay them outside my front of my house. Please come and take them because, yeah, I feel like everything has to either be in the ground. when it's that hot or it's just, you know, even struggling then.

Thankfully, we've got Mike, the gardener. You know Mike who wears the hats with the flowers and who we love. He's got some tips for us about water and the extreme heat at the moment, how we can help our plants. So that's coming up, Diggers, if you're listening right now and you want some tips like I desperately do and Zodas too. Michael, we are on the way. The tennis is finished. Well done to Janik Sinner. Oh my goodness me.

I've absolutely loved Wimbledo. That match. Oh, my God, that match. Oh, so many incredible. tennis matches that we have seen. I've been really emotional watching it this year as well. I think maybe I always am. The women's doubles.

I was sobbing my heart out at a lovely French last when she was sort of crying with her family. I'm like, oh my God. These families are so proud of these amazing athletes. We did the thing of, I promised Coco we'd go and see Toy Story 5 and trying to fit everything into the weekend. There was just so much to do. And then we decided we could only go and see Toy Story 5 at this particular time, which was when the men's final was on.

So we decided we're going to see Toy Story 5, come back and then watch it on BBC Eye Player and watch it live. So we were watching it late into the night on Sunday night. But it also meant that we couldn't have our phones on from about, I don't know, 4 o'clock in the afternoon until it finished. It's really hard. It's really hard not to have your phone. And all of us sat there and we were like, oh my God, we constantly check our phones. There is not a moment when we don't get distracted after 30 seconds and just kind of pick our phone up and look and just check Instagram or check messages or whatever. And when you actually can't do that, it really, really, really.

highlights how addicted we are to our phones, social media. You kind of get a bit claustrophobic thinking, oh my God, what if something's happened to somebody and I haven't got my phone to check? It's a weird sensation, really weird sensation. Oh, that is weird. Well done for doing that, though. That's excellent. It was fun. It was a good way to do it. I know lots of people have been doing that with the football. Yeah, with the late matches, lots of people have done that and, you know, it's like a lockdown. Don't want to hear anything. No radios, no news, nothing. Don't want to hear anything. And then to be able to watch later. England play tonight against the mighty Argentina if you're listening on Wednesday

if you're listening after Wednesday will either be elated and the boys are all the way to the final or the mighty Messi and Argentina have taken us down. I have to say, can I just shout out of the England team? I think they have been phenomenal. I know it is not always easy watching England play football because it's,

The games have not been easy. And we have seen some incredible moments, some fantastic assists, some great goals, some brilliant defending. But at times it's been so painful. But, oh, those boys, you know, you keep seeing the three lions in the crowd who are dressed to three lions. I'm assuming they are the same three lions who have gone everywhere. seeing, you know, young kids who've travelled with their families.

How lucky are those kids do you have gone to this World Cup and witnessed England being so phenomenal? And you'd see their little faces. I'm like, oh, wow. But the heartbreak as well for the other teams. You know, Erlingham as well, who I'm obsessed with. I just think his whole relationship with Jude Bellingham as well. There's been so much love.

John Stones and his little dance routines in the dressing room and the genius of Tuchel. It's been really good to get to know all the different characters, hasn't it? Yeah. I came into this not really knowing the England squad. I knew Harry Kane and that was it and Jude Bellingham. Well, there's a lot of youngsters, aren't there? A lot of new youngsters.

Yeah, but now watching them and, yeah, Sacco and is it Judd Spence? Spence. He's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, amazing. So fast. But then getting to see, to know them through the power of social media, really, all the clips that come through.

Yeah. And seeing what an amazing, how emotionally connected. they are. I think, Jude Belliam obviously stands out because he's so empathetic to everybody, it seems, whether it's to the fans or anybody who comes out to do any interviews or just full of gratitude. And, you know, there's a clip of his mum, him talking about how important his family have been to him, but also getting to know all the other characters as well. And the connection with the fans has just been really lovely. It's been like a story, a love story that we've been on. I know. Yeah, having a whole level of understanding, respect. And also, Thomas Tuchel had was,

was obviously quite sort of passionate about how they'd played, quite harsh. But, you know, he's, I think something that he has brought out in the team that we've been able to see is the fun side of it. It's like, right, you play really hard. And then he allows them to have those moments of rejoicing and, you know, and celebrating and stuff. And I think he's obviously gone in quite hard after their performance because, you know, watching it was pretty tough watching against Norway. So, you know, he's just being passionate.

he wants them to do so well. And he's like, there are, there are areas in their game where they need to be stronger and better. There were some moments where it's like we love Jordan Pickford, but you're like, Jordan, get back in the goal. I'm like, oh my God, he's so far away. And there was some real touch and go moments against Norway, were you thinking? He's made some great saves, though, really good saves. Oh, he has made some incredible saves.

And I love his passion. I love his facial expressions when he's screaming at the rest of them. So it's going to be great. So good luck to them against Argentina. Can you imagine, can you imagine if England beat Argentina and then we'll take on the might of Spain or France? You have to have the belief and the hope that they are completely capable of doing it. It's just down to the luck of that game and the might of Messi.

VAR has been really good though. I mean, you know, the moment when the ref goes off and he watches the VAR and then he comes about can he does his pronouncement. It's like a judge putting on a cap and doing the pronouncement of his verdict. But I'm wondering, do you reckon in real life, would that be quite handy? What, VAR? It would be excellent. Just to clear up all those disputes that you have about who did the dishwasher. That is, it is not what I said. I think you'll find. What I said was, if you could just play it back, please. This is actually what happened. Oh, yes. It would be very handy indeed. Have you seen the Katie Prime?

documentary. It's come from Louis Thru's production team, so I don't know whether it's been publicised quite a lot. No, I haven't seen it yet. I saw Stacey Dooley had to put up a little thing saying, you know, she'd always really admired Katie's candor and, you know, and her as a woman. She's, she lived in the area in Brighton, so I'd often see her around town. And she was always really fun and a really lovely lass. And very much what you see is what you get. is what you get. Obviously, in most recent times, I think everyone's been really concerned about her health. And, you know, I had this relationship with this chap. Is he her husband? I get slightly confused. Oh, I'm so confused. So have you seen any of the documentary? What's it called? Katie Price,

Nothing to Hide. Yeah. I've watched it. I've watched a couple of episodes. And it's a brilliant documentary. It's really good. The way it's done is her telling her story. And lots of family members talking about. what she was like. So there's a footage and photographs of when she was a young girl and seeing what she's like. And it's very shocking the contrast between her as a child and then her as she is now. And also, you know, when she was Jordan, we all remember, we all know the different stages of her life. And, you know, I think everybody's concerned about how she is and hoping that she's being looked after. I don't think anybody can look after Katie. I think Katie is very, very strong-minded. That's what comes across from the documentary that she does what she wants to do.

but there's also a real vulnerability to her as well. And it's her watching back documentaries and reflecting on different parts of her life as well. So Gareth Gates is in there, Dane Bowers. She was obviously obsessed with Dane, really in love with him. And then Gareth and the real revelations of what happened between the two of those. She went out with Gareth Gates. He was 17 and she was 23. And they had a really passionate, very brief love affair.

But she was pregnant with Harvey at the time. But they obviously really, really cared for each other very deeply. And they haven't spoken since they parted since it all ended. And so it was kind of like they both speak about each other. And I think it was quite a revelation for each other to find out what they both thought and what really happened back in the day. So there's some kind of resolution going on there. And I think with her relationship with Harvey, you know, having someone with special

needs in the family, I've always had nothing but respect and admiration. She's never hidden him away. You know, I think life with Harvey has been very, very difficult. He's got challenging behavior. and that is tough. But she's always been, you know, up front about him. She's shown him off to the world. She loves him so much.

And she's such a shining example. I have so much, yeah, respect for her for doing that. So I'm only two episodes in. God knows what's going to happen now. But it's a great, great documentary, nothing to hide. I must watch that. I really must watch that. Who's Harvey's dad?

Was Harvey's dad a footballer? Yeah, footballer Dwight York. Yeah. And she said she got with him to get back at Dane Bowers. Yeah. Oh gosh. Do you remember the interview she did with Frank Skinner where she was four months pregnant and she went on and she was Jordan at that point and she just spoke with such raw

fragility about how she was feeling. She said she was the unhappiest girl on the planet, I think, or in the universe because he'd abandoned her but she decided she wanted to have this child. She's been through a hell of a lot, hasn't she? She's been quite a survivor during, you know. And yeah, I really want to watch this actually because, yeah, I'd be really fascinating. to hear her talk and see her reactions, actually. Do you get to see her reactions?

Yeah, you get to see her reacting, yeah. Yeah, and it's very important. There's all the stuff when she has Harvey, and then they realize that he's blind, and she gets the diagnosis, and it's her reflecting on that as well. I remember she came on my show. I don't know whether you've ever interviewed her,

but we booked her to come on the Radio One show, and it was live, and it was supposed to be her and Peter coming on the show. Oh, gosh, yeah, of course. And I kept advertising. I was trailing it. It was like, Katie Price and Peter Andre, they're going to be here soon. They're going to be here soon. And in the end, we just ran out of show.

Like, they didn't turn up. And they turned up with about five minutes to go, I think. And Peter was absolutely mortified. He couldn't have been more apologetic. He was like, I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry. We, you know, things happened. We should have been here.

She didn't give a flying monkey. She just didn't care. She was like, yeah, whatever. Yeah, no, stuff happened. And she was there, but we're too late for the show. But it was a real contrast between the two of them. She was absolutely unapologetic. Oh, yeah.

What was the song they did? It was from Aladdin. A whole new world. Whole new world. What incredible life she's had, actually. Didn't she do Eurovision? Yeah, there's nothing she hasn't tried. There's so much happening.

And I really hope she's taking care of herself because I do see the images of her and I do worry for her. She looks so thin. And I just hope she's, yeah. But she's, she's a tough cookie, isn't she? She survived a hell of a lot, that girl. Yeah, she has. Yeah, Katie, we're sending you lots and lots of love. I will be watching that. I will definitely watch that. He does make some good documentaries, doesn't he, Louis Thru's company? If we want to get into our gardens, we've got advice now because Mike is here and he's going to give us lots of gardening tips, especially about the heat and watering.

Hi, Joe and Zoe, who, what a scorcher. Today, I'm going to be sharing my top tips for how to garden in a heat wave, what to do, when to do it and some great sun-loving plants. Silver foliage plants usually hail from the Mediterranean and are well used to the heat and the sun. This is one of my favourites lavender hidcoat and it's one of the favourites of the pollinators and I team this with Chartres Alcimila mollis, a really zingy combination. And of course there's cosmos either in pots or in borders, a great addition for a sun. sunny garden. Another one of my favourites has to be Agapanthus, dark blue, light blue and white, beautiful flowers, long dark stems in this one which is called Black Arrow, perfect in a pot or in a border. Or how about tumbling begonias in shades of reds, oranges and whites and pinks? I love these. They're tubers and are easily grown in pots or in hanging baskets. And if you fancy a touch of the tropical. How about a beautiful Abyssinian banana with these lovely paddle-like leaves?

And just for you, Joe, these lovely pelagoniums, they do love the sunshine, but also give them a bit of partial shade as well. If you've got a sunny south-facing garden like me, planting trees around will give plants a bit of shade and a bit of respite from the heat. Water plants in the cool of the morning or the evening, or both if it's been really dry, and make sure you put the nozzle right at the base of the plant so as not to waste any and get the water right on top of the soil where it will go straight to the roots. Grouping pots together makes it easy for you to water and it provides some humidity for the plants too. There's not many women who get me to lie down in the grass for them I can tell you. All joking aside my last tip, keep grass nice and long in the heat. Keeping it longer will keep it greener for longer.

Wishing you both and all of the diggers are really happy summer. And I'll see you again very soon. Bye bye for now. Bye bye. Oh, he's such a gentle soul. Lots of love, Mike. He really is. I could listen to him for hours. There you go, tumbling bagonious, Joe. And I have to say that's, that's really helpful actually because I got my pelagoniums. Pelagoniums. Yeah. I got my pelagoniums and I've got them at the back gate. But there's not a huge amount of shade for them. So I might move them. But they've done, they're so beautiful. I've loved this. First time I've ever grown them.

And I remember seeing them and thinking, Joe loves these. I'm going to grow some of those. But I've definitely realized in my garden, the star jasmine's done all right. I nearly lost two star jasmine. I literally took my eye off the ball and I was being a bit picky about water to water because obviously when you've got a hose pipe ban,

you can't water everything all the time. So I'm a bit like, I'll water those today and then maybe we'll rescue those tomorrow. I turn around. I was like, two star jasmine nearly went down. It's like, no. It's so quick. up, so sort of filled up because they're in quite deep pots,

but they're in pots. So I managed to refill them, feed them, water them and they're much better, thank goodness. They die so quickly. I bought, I was bought loads of really beautiful plants for my birthday, Pennstam and Salvia. And it's literally, I feel like I'm watering them every day, but it's not enough.

The heat is so intense. I need to just hide them away in a really dark corner, I think. I think I'm going to double mulch next year. I mulched, and I think the mulch, In the borders, my borders are only little, but in the borders where there's lots of coverage and there are trees, like Mike says, Mike talking about the trees, giving the other plants a little bit of shelter. But next year I'm going to double mulch because the mulch has definitely, thank

you very much to the lovely mulch folk who sent me my mulch this year. I will be buying double mulch next year because I'm like, I think it's the only thing that keeps them safe, isn't it? Keep it trying to keep the moisture in the ground. In terms of great digging, I don't physically have the album here, but Suki Waterhouse has an album out called Love Land, which is really beautiful, some gorgeous songs on there. A very personal album. I interviewed her recently. She was a laugh and she was really open and sweet. She walked into the studio and I had had one of those days. I couldn't find my makeup bag in the morning. So I just got like half a face on. I felt an absolute wreck. She's obviously this vision of beauty. So she walked in and I just went, I am so sorry, I look terrible and it's going to be filmed, but I really apologize. And she went, I've got my team here.

Why don't we use them? I'll get my team in. And so she got her makeup artist come in and to give me a face for the interview. But I just thought that was an incredible testament to a kind, generous person who's very normal, who's just like, yeah, I've got somebody who can do your makeup. Let them do it. So, yeah, thank you, Suki for giving me your makeup team to put some mascara on my eyes. It was a really kind thing to do.

And I liked her a lot. Oh, yeah, she's great vibes. I've seen her interviewed a lot. And she acted as well. Was it she in Daisy Jones and the six? Yes. Yeah, she was in that. And there's a track on her album called Tiny Raisin,

which I think is probably about her baby or being in love. And also back in love, which I think is the opening track. Nellie and I've been listening to a lot of that. I love her. She's such a brilliant musician. She's also insanely gorgeous and looks like total good vibes. I know I'd really like to see her live sometime soon. Albums This End, did check out the brand new Rolling Stones album,

which I'm loving the cover of this. Look, it's all different parts of their faces put together. So that's, yeah, it's 14 brand new tracks. So that's pretty epic. Also, Jack White, loving Jack White's new album. It's pretty full on. It is like from the start to finish, the opening track is God and the Broken Ribs, which is sort of like the story of Genesis in the Bible, which is so good.

It's pretty full on. It's like from the minute you put it on, it does not relent. It's like boom. But that's so good. But also, I must mention Baby Rose. I really love Baby Rose. I'm not quite sure who introduced me to her. And she's got a new album out called Journalism, which I haven't actually got.

She's got the most incredible voice. And she's done, I think it's a duet on there. Is it Elmien? Is that how I say it? Elmian, yeah. Yeah, it is. Yeah, Elmian is brilliant. Really, really good recommendation.

Yeah. Great duet on there with him as well. And yeah, Baby Rose, journalism, beautiful voice. Good title. It's quite hard to describe her. It's quite otherworldly, really. But she's phenomenal. I'm absolutely loving that.

Opening track is when I'm gone, which I love. So, yeah, maybe check that out as well. Baby Rose, really, really cool. And mainly praying that England can get through to the final of the World Cup, 2026. Can they beat Argentina? Can I just say? We believe, and yes, they can. If they don't, we're really proud of you, boys, you have put up an amazing fight.

So, yeah. In the last four, amazing, yeah. It's something to be proud of. And they've given us so much enjoyment. It's been really, really fun. What we do, now the Wimbledon's gone and when the World Cup is done, you know, answers on a postcard, please. I would love to know where we get our next fix of a cricket. Cricket?

Yeah. Cricket. Will there be athletics? I always love a bit of summer athletics. Oh, I really have. hope so. God, I miss all the sporting stuff so badly and I know my kids are going to miss it as well.

Festivals. Festivals, that's what I was going to say. We've got latitude. We've got wilderness. Yeah, all that. Holidays. Yeah, that will sustain us. The kids' dad is doing four nights on the beach down here. So that'll be going on. And then we've got four nights on the beach down here. And then I think next week we've got the Maccabees with a really amazing line up on the beach down here.

I was like, pay attention. There's all these amazing gigs happening everywhere. So, yeah, if anyone's going to festival, oh, I love festival season. But the kids don't break up from school yet, do they? Because our kids are all grown a bit older and Nels just finished their exams. We've got a couple weeks of school, have we, before everyone breaks up or is it now? I think it's just literally another week. Another week. And then it's summer holidays.

Yeah, teachers, parents, well, not so easy for parents because that's six weeks of looking off to the kids. But teachers absolutely crawling their way there and the kids cannot wait. And then parents just going, oh, God. Hell pass. Actually, I love having them back. It's nice. I know, we love having them back. All right, enjoy.

Come on England. We believe. We live. Re lines on your shirt. Digit is a Persephonicre production.