Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 55: DIG IN: Going Sober, Family Wars, and Poo in Your Handbag

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Another wild ride in this week’s Dig In. How do you give up drinking in what many would call the toughest month of the year? How do you stop your husband’s sister from taking the absolute piss on holiday? And is cancelling plans the worst social crime imaginable — or is it fine if you do it early? Plus, we share another truly legendary poo panic story. Watch or listen now.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTERStay up to date with Dig It — new updates every Friday straight to your inbox.👉 https://digitpod.substack.com/subscribeGET 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 Ancient + Brave✨Ancient + Brave – This January isn’t about being “good”, it’s about having energy that actually lasts. Ancient + Brave’s True Creatine+ supports strength, cognition and steady energy without the jitters or crash. It’s neutral tasting, dissolves easily and fits effortlessly into real life. They’re also a certified B Corp and members of 1% for the Planet, so it’s good for you and good for the planet too. Subscribe and save 20% on your monthly wellness rituals, plus get a free ritual scoop. Head to ancientandbrave.earth to get started.CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Will Gibson SmithVideo Editors: Cameron LairdDig It is a Persephonica production

Coming up on Digit, it's okay not to have come across the g-string or had an experience of one. Good choice of words. I fell asleep and Coco was by my side and I was woken up about three in the morning with her going, Are you all right, Zoe? I looked at and I was like, oh, God, Coco, it's mum. There is no way that I can leave that poo in the toilet because she'll know it's me. So I just instinctively thought it seemed logical to me to really. move it. So I put it in my bag.

No. All of that, right after this. Hi and welcome to Monday's Digin. We are full of resolve. We are ready for this year. Hopefully you are as well. Zoe, how are you doing? I'm doing great. Can I say, Joe, we must thank all our fabulous diggers for their Christmas cards that they sent. So many of you sent Christmas cards and we split them in two and then we had a collection at my house. collection at Joe's house and we've got photographs of the ones that we've put up. So thank you so much. It was so thoughtful and it really made me so happy. Can I just say? Reading them all and putting them up. They were so cool. Of course we knew that people who, you know, check into our podcast are cool, the diggers. But they were really stylish and really creative. And, you know, some of you had made the cards and a lot of them were kind of garden and outdoors related. But thank you, thank you, thank you so much. They were welcome additions to my, my, my,

shelves. I really enjoyed them. There's some funny things I've just remembered to share with you, Zoe, that happened over the whole Christmas New Year break. And one was at one point in the night, I fell asleep and Coco was by my side. And I was waking up about three in the morning with her going, you're okay, Zoe. You're all right, Zoe. I looked at him and I was like, Coco, it's mum. And she went, okay. He went back to sleep. Oh, my Lord. I worked for the morning. And I went, You called me Zoe last night. No, I'm sure I didn't. I know you did.

Even our own children. My whole family were waiting themselves laughing on Christmas Eve. We're in the pub. My brothers in Elam, fantastic pub next door to my brothers. And three people, one after the other, were like, hi, Joe. Hi, Joe Wiley. No. I was just like, yes, it's me.

I am Joe Wiley. Call his DJ on radio too, thank you very much. It's so funny. It just makes me laugh. People just calling me Joe. And the funniest thing is I'm standing next to my dad, you know, Johnny Ball. It's like, he's like, what? Like, they all think I'm Joe.

It's great. But I love it though, Joe. I love it. I know, me too. Yes, Coco, I'm in your dreams. I hope, did she sound disturbed? I hope it wasn't a nightmare. No, she was just checking how you were.

She was like, you okay, Zoe? Yeah, yeah, she's fine, probably. I don't know. I'm your mum. I'm your mother. For goodness sake of a wrong. That's so cute. The other thing that happened was we had a New Year's Eve party

and I was talking to my friend Laura, who's a midwife. And she was saying how someone came in and they were in labor. And they chose to listen to in their labor, the Dig It Podcast. You're joking. No. Fantastic. I know. It's not great because it's calming apparently.

Yeah. No, because it was calm and reassuring to listen to when they were in the stages of labor and about to give birth to a baby. I was so happy, honestly. That is really wonderful of all the things to choose. So somebody somewhere in years to come will be like, I was born to the voice of Joe Wiley. And Zoe Ball is so sorry.

Probably talking about cock rings or something unsuitable at that moment. Trust you to lower the tone. I'm sorry. But we have had such a hilarious response to the fantastic digger who shared the little boy accidentally taking it. Dad's vibrating cockering to school is a pretty bracelet. And some of the messages that we've had in response have been hilarious. I know.

Gamble Ramble said a mum left her phone in the bag for the school Teddy, who went home each week. That's got to be embarrassing, isn't it? Did the teacher hand it back sort of slightly like that? This might be yours. Deb Shambles said, My son found my vibrator years ago, and I told him it was a bicycle.

bump. Genius. Very, very genius. Always good to have something up your sleeve. And then we had one from Zoe STF. I put my glasses on to read this one. So Zoe said a million years ago, my son's best mate, both then about six, brought a cat skeleton in for show and tell. Nice. His cat had died about a month before. So it wasn't completely a skeleton. Oh no. Oh, God. Probably organs and fluff still there. Attached. I brought a corpse in for show and tell. Oh, gosh. Kids do the funniest means it's so good. So good. We also had a message. This is Changes Forever bereavement. This is hilarious about the cockering. My poor children have had to live with the fact that their late, great stepdad, Rob, designed probably the best cock ring in the world. What? I was head of marketing. I managed to get it

into Boots the Chemist and they eventually branded it under their own name. Long story, very short, he sustained a serious spinal injury and being a genius product designer, he came up with a solution to his own issue that he knew others suffered with and needed support. My poor children, can you imagine? So that is the late, great Rob, who designed probably the best cockering in the world. Well done to

Rob, the late Rob, the late great Rob for coming up with something that helped him and helped many others, I imagine. But yes, let's take a moment for those children. Can imagine that in show and tell. Anyone in the class have any great or

great grandparents or family members who've anything incredible in history. Rod did great things for many people and continues to do so. Also, can I just shout out any diggers who put up messages saying, why are we the only people who have never heard of cock rings? It's okay not to have come across the cock ring or had an experience of one. Good choice of words. Or, yeah, they're really unfortunate choice of words as though.

Can I just say, I'm with you. I'm with you, those people. Yes, not part of my world. But anyway, I'm so glad we cover all the subjects. And if you are currently in labour and listening to us talking once again about cock rings, I can only apologise to the nursing staff looking after you right now. But hopefully this is helping you through some of the deep push pain. Can I change the subject?

Yes, please. We've sold out. You know we're taking the show on the road. We don't know what the show is at the moment, but we're taking dig it on the road. And we're doing our little thing in front of a live audience. Well, we're at the Crucible in Sheffield and it's sold out. So all the tickets have gone. We've got a whole bunch of amazing people.

We're going to come and join us and talk nonsense for an hour or two. And we're going to get to meet lots of people. And thank you to all of you who have bought your tickets. And we will see you there. It means a world. It's going to be a lot of fun. That's so great at the Crossed Wires Festival, which will also be featuring some other fabulous podcasts up in Sheffield.

So we cannot wait to see you there. Oh, my goodness me. It's happening, Joe. Do you know what the great thing about that is I didn't even have to tap up any of my family or friends and say, please buy some tickets because we can't sell out. What a thrill. It would just be a room full of diggers. Yeah. Love it. We cannot wait till till till. Brilliant stuff. Just need to work out what we're doing on the day. But, you know, that'll come. We've got lots time. We'll just be chatting. We'll just be doing this. Yeah. And show and tell. We'll have to have some show and tell from our diggers as well. Oh, please no cock rings. You said it now.

If you're loving Digit, hit follow or subscribe wherever you get this podcast. New episodes will be in your inbox every single week. Let's hear from one of our first dig-ins for January 2026. This is from Nancy who said, my question is about dry January. During the Christmas period, I really clocked on to how much my family and I drink and realized that I do all of my socialising at the pub or with a glass of wine. I decided to be a good idea to see how I feel. fair with dry January. And I'd really love to stick to it, but I've never done anything like this before. Zoe, I know that you've spoken about taking sober breaks a bit before. Was it a positive experience for you? What

are your tips for cutting out alcohol without missing out on seeing friends and socialising? And are either of you doing dry January? I need the moral support. Well, there will be many, many people, Nancy, who are doing dry January. Zoe, do you want to take this with your experiences?

Yes. I mean, so I I stopped drinking at different points in my life for various different reasons. And actually, there are lots of tips I can give you, Nancy. I think the first thing is it's a really positive thing to do. I always greatly encourage anyone who's having a break from alcohol because, you know, it's really good for you to stop for a bit. And however long that might be. And I know lots of people who've stopped and then carried on from dry January

and a whole year of not drinking. And it's so good to stock take and look and think, oh, actually, yeah, there is quite a lot going on. So having a break from alcohol, such a good thing. Something that I found, it is quite tricky because you sort of have to change your socialising habits a little bit. But I think more and more people don't drink these days. So you have lots of options for drinks around you. I know there's quite a lot of people I know who drink beer, zero alcohol beer, zero alcohol wine. you could get no secco.

I found, for me, just not drinking full stop was much better for me than having anything with no alcohol, no alcoholic booze. I just found it easier just to stop. Often the people's reaction around you, you know, I found even in my own family, I'd be like, oh, go on, just have one. Just have one. Just go on, go on, just have one.

And there were the days where you used to tell people you were on antibiotics or something rather. But I think just telling your friends and family is like, look, I'm not going to be drinking. and I'd really like your encouragement with this because it's a good thing that I'm doing. And that's, you know, something that's really key. I had, like, certain friends around me

who really were really supportive about me not drinking. So, you know, I just think make a big deal out of it, Nancy, with those around you. It's like, please encourage me. That's what I need. Don't say to me, oh, go on. People have such pushes sometimes. Like, go on, just have a little drink.

I know. They just want you to join the party. They feel like you're spoiling their party, don't they? Yeah. Just do it. for you. And then I think all the, the other thing you need to do is just remind yourself how good you feel in the mornings. There is nothing better. Like I don't really have anything to drink on New Year's Eve. And I woke up on New Year's Day. It's like, God, I love this feeling of waking

up, you know, not shameful, not having to apologize to anyone. And just generally feeling like my body's had a good break from booze. You will feel so good. Get yourself outdoors, Nancy. Get yourself some fresh air and generally feel really good about yourself. And I think Find a drink that you like in a social situation. Sometimes I would have like a soda and lime because if anyone does give you a hard time, just say it's a vodka soda and lime. If you really have to,

you shouldn't have to lie about pretending it's a drink when it's not. But you've got some ice in a glass, you can put a slice in it. Still feels like a little bit of a treat, but no booze in it. Fantastic. And Nancy, you have great encouragement for me because it is such a good thing to do.

I actually drank a lot more than I normally do at Christmas time because I don't, I think I've been very lucky because I do my show in the evening. so it takes away the temptation of having a drink, which has been good. So I only ever have one drink on a Friday night or maybe a Saturday night or sometimes both. But I really, really notice the effect like the puffiness under my eyes when I've been drinking. And so it feels really good when I don't drink to look in the mirror and go, okay, they're not there.

It takes quite a few days for it to go away. And also with arthritis, which I've got in my fingers, they are so much more swollen and my fingers are more rigid when I've been having a drink. like wake him in the morning after New Year's Eve. And I was like, oh my God, I literally cannot bend any of my fingers in there throbbing. So I'm sure it's a combination of the alcohol, but also the sugar in the drinks. Because if you have a vodka and Sprite, then there's a lot of sugar in there. So what I've been finding, because I have enjoyed drinking, it's really nice and it's really sociable and it's a really lovely thing to do. But I go for cider because a cider, I really don't like beer.

I like the sweetness of cider. So just having a long drink that you can sip while other people are kind of downing spirits or doing wine. cider for me works well. So you're right in saying have a soda water, I don't know vodka soda lime but without the vodka. Just choosing wisely what you drink is good. Just something that you can sip over a longer period of time. But enjoy the benefits, Nancy. Absolutely. Enjoy the benefits. We've had an email, Joe, from Anon. We share a holiday flat in Fuerta Ventura with my husband's younger sister and her partner. It's a lovely setup in theory. We all get on and we use it at different times of the year.

Here's the issue, however. Whenever my husband and I leave, I make a point of leaving the place absolutely spotless, stocked with basics, so they can arrive and relax straight away, so coffee, loo roll, dishwasher tablets, all that boring, but essential stuff. But when they leave after using it, we often arrive to find the place tidyish, but not clean, and crucially, all the basics are gone. No coffee or cooking oil, empty cupboards. When I've politely mentioned it, the response is always, we hardly use anything. My husband thinks I'm being petty. I think his sister is taking the piss.

I know we're very lucky to have a shared home away from home, but I'm furious. And I don't know how to raise this without starting a family row. What would you do? Yeah, a family war. Oh, I do get that, though. I do totally. You know, leave somewhere, as you would expect. expect to find it. And also I have that thing. If you go to someone's house, always take a bottle of

wine or some fruit or flowers, always turn up with something for the host. So in a similar way, I totally get this. I, whenever we leave anywhere, I always tidy up, even though I know someone is going to tidy it. So I would leave something spotless. I clean hotel rooms where I leave them. I'm in a bit weird like that. I like to empty all the bins, to strip the beds. I do. Yeah. No, I've told my kids, I really am getting that into my kids' heads that it's, that you've got to respect the people who have coming in afterwards, the cleaning staff who are coming in afterwards. They don't want to be picking up your towels from the floor. It's disgusting. Just put them all in one place so they could all be gathered up.

It's so easy to do. I respect other people. Yeah. And I know what you mean about supplies. Like when you arrive somewhere and you've travelled, you know, late and you just want to put the kettle on and have a cup. If you're getting there and the things you've bought have been totally depleted, yeah, I'd be well miffed. Because what does it take on the last? Last day of your holiday, just to think about the people coming in, go, all right, we've used all that coffee and the tea. So we will, yeah, replenish that.

We replenish. What do you do then? There needs to be an email that goes out, I think. Or maybe, yeah, you can't just suddenly post a list of rules on the wall, can you, for when they arrive? It's got to be a conversation that happens, an email just going, and how about moving forward? I think it would work really well if we replenish the tea bags. Would you mind doing that? Because then it'll work for all of us together.

You've got to work really hard on the wording in that email. But I think to save your sanity and to stop your fury, which we would both feel as well, by the way, you just have to get the words right and just say, look, let's moving forward, this is how it's going to work in the future. It'll work for you. It'll work for us. And then everybody will be happy. So I don't think you're being petty in any way, shape or form. You're just being a normal human being who wants a nice life. The difficulty is everyone's so different, aren't they?

And someone's idea of tidy is not necessarily your idea of time. I mean, I can be a bit anal about stuff like that. Same. You know, it'll be a bit, but what you don't want is this is to build up and build up and build up. And then it's going to come out at a family event at a really opportune moment when someone's had too many wines. I got another thing. So it's probably better to deal with this anon. And yeah, and do you do that by email or do you do that on the phone?

I think it's easier to write it. I would do it by email. Yeah. I like to, I'm not very good on the phone. I would always much rather have a text. or an email conversation because then you can choose your words. You know you're not saying the wrong thing.

And I think people can say things on the phone or in person. Yeah. You know when things get heated, you just say the wrong stuff. Whereas if you word it, you work out exactly how you want it to come across, what exactly you want to say. And you could maybe drop someone in a text and go,

I've just sent you an email about the flat or the house. I hope it's okay with you. Let me know any thoughts that you've got. That's good. That's good. That's good. Also, I reckon write the message out first, sleep on it,

and then the next morning have a, look at it and you might think, oh, actually that is a bit harsh. Maybe I'll word that slightly differently. Just sit on it a minute. This is something I always say to friends who, you know, I know I've had to do myself sometimes where I've really wanted to write an angry message to someone. I do not appreciate this. It's like, write it, sit on it. Have a look at it the next day when you're a little bit calmer and think, yeah, I might just slightly reword that. I do this all the time. So I do, when I'm angry about something and if someone's really annoyed me, I will write out exactly how I feel and what I want to say and I'll put it in the text and then and then I've done it.

It's incredibly cathartic and then I'll delete it or I'll give it to someone else one that, you know, the girls to read and I'll be like, look, this is how I feel. Read this and they'll go, yeah, all right, all right, you've said it now and I'll go right, thank you, delete it. And I feel like I've sent it, haven't actually sent it. Good idea. It's so good just to sit on these feelings sometimes, isn't it? Yeah. But yes, Anon, I think you're perfectly in your rights to just have a nice quiet word and let us know how that goes down. I remember lots of passive aggressive notes on products in fridges when I shared flats with people, which of course, you know, sometimes it's like red rag to a bully, like, right, here we go. Who's eaten my hummus?

Now, if you're a regular listener, you might remember our listener Kay, who got engaged at the top of Ben Nevis and was suddenly struck with an urgent need to poop. Well, Denise has been in touch with the tale that might just rival that. Listen to this. Strat yourselves in. So I am now in my early 60s. So I'm talking about my very first day at work was at Yorkshire TV in their London office, just off Bond Street. And I was absolutely terrified.

I turned up not knowing what it was going to be like. I had no idea what I was doing. And my boss met me at the door, Bernadette, and she met me. me and she started to show me around these offices, showing me where I work, introduced me to everybody. At one point, I needed the loo. So I went into the loo and there were two cubicles. One of them was out of order. I went into the other one and I did an enormous poo. But while I was in there, my boss then walks into the loos and says, is that you? Is that you in there, Denise? And, you know, I chatted like you do. And I said, yes, chat, chat, chat. Anyway, I went to flush

the loo and that wasn't working either. And in that moment, I just thought I can't leave it there. I cannot leave it there. There is no way that I can leave that poo in the toilet because you'll know it's me and I can't start my first day of work or, well, my first job, as it were,

literally, knowing that she'd know. So I just instinctively thought it seemed logical to me to remove it. So I got loads and loads and loads of loo paper and I wrapped it up in the loo paper into an enormous mound of paper and then I put it in my bag and I thought well

it's fine I just go into another loo in five minutes time and I'll flush it there nobody will know it'll be fine but the trouble is when I left she took me out of the loo and said I've got a taxi waiting outside to take you to our other office so I have to get in a taxi with her and all the time in the taxi, I was just thinking, this is just, I've got a turd in my handbag, you know, and if anything happened, if we have an accident, it's going to be mysterious circumstances. I mean, how would anyone explain a turd in my bag? I mean, nobody would know. Not even the best forensic scientist in the world would be able to work that one out. So that's what happened. Anyway, you'll be glad to know that eventually I got to the next office and I managed to flush it away.

And, yeah, got rid of the bag as well, obviously. But, uh, you'll be glad to know that. That's my poo story. So I just wanted to share it with you. Lots of love. Bye. Oh, Denise. Thank you, Denise. I love that. I love Denise. And apparently Denise did the sound on deal or no deal. So I'll have seen her recently, which is fantastic. So I did it with my family. It's so, I mean, you just can't write that stuff. Can you? It's so good. I have heard a similar story from a member of my family who got on. Without their permission, I cannot possibly tell it, but it happens. People do that thing, just like Denise, anybody else, any other diggers? Yeah. Have you put one in your handbag and left a building? The things you do in that moment of panic, though, you're just like, it's completely logical to do this right now.

To do this thing, this is a, rather than just leave it in a loo with loads of loo roll over it and be like, sorry, this toilet's broken as well as the other one. Yeah. You know, that's fantastic. What lengths have you gone to to get rid of a poo? I do love the subjects we cover on this show. Cockrings and poo stories. We love them. And that's it for today's episode.

But if you want even more questions and answers, then do become a member of the potting shed. And that will mean you'll get longer episodes. Remember, if you have any questions or comments, we would love to hear from you. Details on how to subscribe to the potting shed and how to get in touch are all there in the show notes. It's really, really easy.

So just go to show notes and all the details will be there. And we will see you on Wednesday. See you on Wednesday. Bye. Digit is a Persephonicah production.