Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 64: Bad Bunny, Bird Watching and the Great Muppet Debate

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

Jo & Zo have so much love for Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, and simply CANNOT stop watching the Winter Olympics. Plus, we drop in on Sean Bean in his garden to hear all about his new podcast Get Birding, and Jo shocks us all with her muppets revelation.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 Stripe & Stare & Ancient + Brave✨Stripe & Stare – Comfort really is everything. Stripe & Stare make unbelievably soft, breathable underwear that’s kind to your skin and designed for real life. Their knickers are made from natural fibres with no nasty chemicals, their bralettes are wire-free with no digging in, and their sleepwear is so comfy you’ll struggle to take it off in the morning. They’re a female-led, B Corp brand too – which we love. Use code DIGIT20 for 20% off at https://stripeandstare.com/✨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’SullivanProducer: Samantha PsykAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyVideo Editors: Danny Pape and Jack Whiteside

Coming up on Diggett. You may not recognise me in a couple of weeks because I have bought this cream. But, you know, gets rid of all your wrinkles. Anyway, I put it on my face on Friday night. I went orange. Oh, no. When I were younger starting off, saying, oh, God, I've got lots of lines.

Brilliant, you know. Now I have a skim through. I think, well, I've got many lines. I'll do it. I don't care about the Muppets, which is obviously I should not be saying that. Kermit, did you hear that? Curmit, did you hear that? Furious.

All of that right after this. Access Storage presents Ski-cross racer, Reese Howden. Hi, my name is Reese Howden. I'm a member of the Canadian Ski-Cross team, and we'll be going to the 26 Malato-Quatina Olympics. Being able to represent a country that has done everything to support my dreams is unreal. Being able to stand on the podium and hear the national anthem and hold the flag, I don't take it for granted at all.

I'm really happy to represent Canada at the Olympics. Let's go Canada. Access Storage, proud partner of Team Canada. Hey Ontario, come on down to BedMGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show. Only at BEDMGM. Access to the Price is right fortune pick is only available at BEDMGM Casino. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact

Connix Ontario at 1866-531, 2,600, to speak to an advisor free of charge. BenMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Happy Wednesday, Zoe, and to all our diggers, everyone who's listening at the moment. I know you listen to different places and what, you know, you're doing with different things. Zoe and I are just connecting through the power of the pod. How you doing? I'm doing great. Do you know what, Joe, I'm in such a good mood, diggers.

I hope some of you are feeling the joy of a bit of sunshine. We've got a bit of sunshine in Bright and woke up to blue skies. It may not last long. I know there's so much rain at the moment. moment and I know that lots of people are suffering really through lots of terrible flooding. But for a moment, there's a break in the grey and the blue skies outside and I hopped into the garden this morning, watched all the little birds coming to the bird feeder and enjoyed the pops of purple that have started. I've got my little muskarees have all popped up and my little iris

Pauline of popping up, you know the little short irises that come first in the spring. Yeah, and they've survived the squirrels in the pots. So that's made me really, really happy. You know, just those little moments of joy? It's like grabbing while it can. So I'm feeling well chuffed this morning. Yeah, because I think January was beginning to continue into February. I don't know about you.

And everyone was saying it was the longest January. And then it was like, no, actually, it's still carrying on into February. But then we've had the Winter Olympics. Yes. We've had the Super Bowl, which was endlessly entertaining. And there just seems to be a real feeling, I think, at the moment, of optimism, of people fighting all the badness that's going on in the world and people are just going right now,

I'm going to look for the joy in life. And I'm going to spread the word, the message about love. I mean, Bad Bunny's slogan, which I think we should try and incorporate in our Dig It merch, was about, you know, the only thing more powerful than hate is love. And that's got to be everyone's mantra, hasn't it, right? To just kind of try and change the world. It's something he said at the Grammys and they had it up on the big screen.

Because this is the crazy thing. Even Bad Bunny playing the halftime show, at the Super Bowl was, you know, used by certain people as a negative thing, which was so ridiculous. Because when you look at all the people who've played the Super Bowl, you know, everyone has come from all over the place. You know, music comes from all over the place. And he is so, oh, I just think he's wonderful. And then it just united everybody. And he put on the most incredible performance, didn't he?

It was epic. It really did, yeah. It was just joy. It was just so positive and full of love and hope and inclusion. Just everybody there. And there was a real wedding. A couple got married and there was like a wedding party. And Lady Gaga was the wedding singer.

And Pedro Pascal was one of the wedding guests. It was just so beautiful and bonkers. And he absolutely smashed it. I really did think that was quite an incredible performance. And it really did unite. everybody, didn't it? Do you know what? I think a lot of people not really knowing who bad bunny is. A lot of people would be going, who is he? Some people might think he was one of the teams who were playing, who were doing football. But that's the brilliance of something like this. It gets everybody talking and just spreading that message of inclusivity and love. And, you know, everybody being together, I just think is so important right now. Because I don't know about you, Joe, but I've really been finding all the news recently. So horrifically depressing. and distressing, actually. The corruption and deceit and abuse. Oh my God. It's, it's been so distressing in the fact that, you know, if we sort of touched briefly upon the Jeffrey Epstein Files story that surrounds us at the moment.

I saw an amazing lady talking on the news. I think she was the former editor of Channel 4 News. And she was saying, here is, you know, for example, here is a story that is about women. okay. These women who were so horrendously abused as children, as young women, as young teenagers, and yet this story is all we read about is the men. All we read about is the men who are involved, some of the men who have behaved as if they are the victims. And that stuff, and the sort of horror and frustration of stories like that surrounding us, and the more and more we read, the more and more you see how these men in positions of power have held this story down. And it's, I think it's so important for us all to be able to say, you know, to these incredible women who have suffered so much at the hands of, you know, this terrible situation.

It's so important for us to say, we, we hear you. We hear what you went through this. It's impossible for us to understand fully what that situation has been like for those women for all these years, you know, to have lived in fear, to have been silent. to have sort of been accused of lying constantly. I mean, and the effect that that has had on them as women and how brave they have been to speak out and what that has meant for them as women. And I think it's so important that we just say, we hear you, we hear you. You know, even though the state of what's going on

even in our own country is a bit of a mess at the moment, I have to say at least there are some, moves to make some of the people involved accountable. I wish that would happen the world around, whether that will. Who knows? But, you know, just I think we must remind ourselves what this story is really about. Because it is, I think, and as we read these stories, the continuing stories, it is so distressing. Yeah, the horror of what happened to these women and the way that they're abused.

And it's just, it's still unfolding. We just still keep finding out more and more. and more. And yeah, and like you said, the headlines and all the photographs are all about the guys, all about the men who just seem to know no shame. They seem to know no shame whatsoever. They've been involved in this mire, this cesspit, and yet they still don't seem to have any empathy with the young girls, the women, who have been abused throughout. And we have to respect their privacy. You know, people deal with this in their own way. You know, some people do not want to be named. They do not want to be photographed. And other people feel that it's important that

they do speak out and everybody has to be treated with the respects and dealt with in the way that they want to. It's just, it was quite extraordinary, wasn't it? In the beginning, when it was the men's names that were redacted and some of the victims' names were not redacted. I mean, they just shows so much, doesn't it, about how a situation like this is. Who are we protecting here? Who are we protecting? The wrong freaking people, you know? Yeah. And as a woman, as a mother, as a sister, you know, you are just imagining what these girls went through, these children went through. It's so harrowing. So we need at the moment, you know, unity. We need to remember what a bad bunny is saying. He's so right. You know, the only thing more powerful than hate is love and coming together

and showing support where we can. And he's also spoken out about women, hasn't he, about the treatment of women about how important it is to treat women with respect and with dignity and without abuse. He's a very, very good soul, a very good role model. What an amazing role model he is. He is a great, role model. And I think it has been so glorious just to be lost in something like the Super Bowl, which is about football, but has become, you know, is so much more. And it's such a great event. Brandy Carlisle sang the American anthem. And I saw her, I think she's being interviewed by Zane Lowe. And, you know, it's an interesting time to choose. to sing, you know, the national anthem

in America, the beautiful. I never knew that it is a poem written by a woman. I didn't know that either. No, I had no idea. And Brandy said, it is, if you read the meaning below, you know, it is about hope. She said, and that is why I want to be out there

and sing this. And she did such an amazing job. And Green Day, singing American Idiot. You know, it's not people saying it, albeit slightly censored. But we know what they're saying. We know exactly what they're saying. People in power not wanting them to be performing at all.

It's like, oh, for goodness sake. I know, throwing toys out of the pram. Like, oh, it's terrifying. It's terrifying to see. Don't forget, you can watch Digit as well as listen to it. We're on YouTube. And if you're watching right now, hit subscribe and you will never miss an episode. As we were saying, we need these messages of positivity and we need the joy.

and we need lots of role models, great role models. And that brings us to the Winter Olympics, where I think, I know, I don't think I'm wrong. But when it comes to equality and about seeing people on a level playing field, you've got men and women performing equally. There is a really amazing feeling of solidarity and support. You can see everybody cheering each other on,

regardless of what your sex is. There is so much respect for what all the different athletes are achieving. And I think, you know, we have to talk about Lindsay Vaughn, of course, and the horror of her crash that happened, which was just so unbearable to watch, but also give her the Jews, give her the admiration and respect for tackling that race, that she just, it was something she wanted to do,

she made that decision to do it. And unfortunately, she hit the, her shoulder hit the gate, didn't it? As it was going out, and I think that threw her off right from the very beginning. But it was really important for her to make that run to, because I was reading, she was saying she doesn't know what her life is without sport

and she's having to look at a future without sport. And so it was very important for her to do this, to take part in these Olympics. But I just think watching everybody, whether you're a snowboarder or an ice skater or do the luge or the skeleton or hockey or cross country, everyone there is just competing on a level playing field and there is so much respect amongst the sexes,

which is wonderful. When you look across the teams, it doesn't matter where in the world they're from. They are cheering excellence. They are big in each other up. They are high-fiving each other. They are hugging each other. know, when someone has had a bad run or something hasn't gone so well, the rest of the, you know,

all those sports men and women are there for each other and they're celebrating each other. And that, it doesn't matter where they're from. It's, it's wonderful. You know, just in the opening ceremony, seeing the teams walk out and seeing people from Haiti, you know, and some of the teams are so small. Some of the teams are like one or three people. But they're all together. It's so wonderful.

How cool was it, Zoe, like the styling. I was watching the opening ceremony. The outfits. All the Armani tributes, yeah, it was so ridiculously cool. I loved all the different fashions, all the different teams fashions. They looked so brilliant. I don't know what they were. They're not the flag bearers, but the people who led them out in the very beginning.

I don't know what their name was, but they had like the silver sleeping bag thing. The silver outfit. Ever so slightly like some kind of a slug or Jabba the Hut, but all in silver. But it was really cool. Like they all led out all the different teams. I love that look. I saw lots of people recreating outlook using sleeping bags at home. And yeah, and just, they're just.

the joy of the Winter Olympics. The other thing I love about any Olympics is how on board we get with sports that we know relatively nothing about, but we can become experts by the incredible commentators who teach us all about, you know, the snowboarding. I mean, I still can't use any of the terminology, but boy, oh boy. And watching the men and the female, you know, the male and the female, watching some of the downhill snowboarding yesterday. And the men compete and the girls compete. and you just, they're all fantastic. It's just so joyous. They're so fearless and so skilled.

They are lunatics. A lot of them, when you look at the slope, the start of the slope that they're about to throw themselves down and the speeds at which they are going. And some of those outfits. I mean, I think there was an outfit where if you hit, if you hit hard, they've got airbags in that protects areas of your body a little bit. But they are, you're so right. So fearless. I think I'm really obsessed with the different body shapes of people that do different sports. Yes, where the muscle is.

The speed skating yesterday. I've never seen legs as long as those people that do that speed skating. Honestly, they're like ostriches or giraffes. They're like their legs come up to your armpits. But their thighs are, you can see every muscle. There's loads of videos of different sports people training and the way they do training, whether it's on trampolines, where the legs going up and down, to train all the different parts of the body

because obviously you can throw yourself down the mountain but you've got to build up those muscles that are going to be strong. I'm slightly obsessed. Yeah. No, and then the big air, like the people who are doing the big air, they're all kind of really mini, and I mean super young, like 15 years old, but they're so compact because obviously

they've got to take the impact and they've got to twist through the air and it's just become a complete obsession, just watching everyone. And the people who do the luge, they're like really strong. Again, big thighs and very, very big mussely arms

and shoulders. It's fascinating. Also, we're obsessed with Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dog goes out and does the coverage quite a lot for American television at the Olympics. And he is an icon. His outfits alone. And he's been hanging out quite a lot with the Jamaican bobsled team because of course, we have the Cool Runnings in Real Life story now. I know lots of people who've been watching cool runnings, the movie, to remind themselves of the story of the Jamaican bobsled team. And they are back. There's a new team. They look fantastic. I don't think we've seen them in action yet, but we can't wait. Do you know what? It was so great to see other athletes supporting. I think there was a really great clip of Jochovich watching one of my favorites, Ilya Malanin, who's the

incredible ice skater, who does the quad leaps and everything. I mean, it makes me cry. In fact, I walked into the lounge and said Ilya, the other day, and all the kids turned around and went, Hila Romenov from Mejitred rivalry. But I was like, no, not him, the other one. You know, and Djokovic is an incredible athlete, and he was watching Ikea, losing his mind at what this kid can do with his body defying science.

It's quite amazing. I love seeing moments like that. You're like, wow. Yeah. I think we had the Winter Olympics on at the weekend. Yeah, every day. It's like Glastonbury now, because you can go back with the BBC I player.

You can just watch all the different. sports stuff that you've kind of heard half caught. You can go watch the whole thing. It's all there for you to dip in and out of. I think the coverage is amazing. The only other thing I did watch this weekend because we are huge fans of the Muppets and Sesame Street in my family. Me from being a kid growing up watching Sesame Street and then the Muppet show and how they always have incredible guest stars doing song and dance with them, you know, having a tiff with Miss Piggy. We watched the new Muppet show. So they've done what is effectively they're calling a pilot in a way to see if they could bring the Muppet show back because it's so beloved. And so Nell and I got to watch it. It's only half an hour

long. The guest star is Sabrina Carpenter. Gonzo is there attempting a ridiculous feat. There's all the chaos backstage. We never watched the Muppets at home. It's so funny. I think it was quite American and it just wasn't something that my parents wore into. I don't know why. We've stuck watching Lauren Hardy and things like that. Also brilliant. But it's like a massive gap in my cultural knowledge. I just, I don't care about the Muppets, which is obviously, I should not be saying that. Kermit, did you hear that? Curmit. Furious. I've just got a thing about puppets. Puppets, you know, Zig and Zag, Gilbert. Oh yeah. Well, you've worked with them all. Sage and Onion from Live and Kicking, Gordon the Gopher, Ed the Duck. I just have always loved

puppets and one of my, I think I might have told you the story before, but one of the highlights of my life was sitting at the big breakfast table with Kermit and Gonzo, either side of me. Frank Oz walked in and he was so many of the Muppets and Frank Oz walked in and was like, hi Zoe. I was like, how does Frank Oz know my name? And he was lying on my leg operating Gonzo, I think it was. And there was a point where Kermit and Gonzo put there. hands on my hands on the table. And as I looked up, I could see the guys who played Zing and Zag watching. And it was just sort of like an out-of-body experience for me to hang out with the actual Muppets. And I've met Elmo and I've met Cookie Monster along the way. And I love

them all so much. It's just a kid in me. How's the garden looking? Oh, Joe, do you know what? When I step out at the moment, I am so thrilled. The little pops of purple, my irises. All the bulbs are coming up. The daffodils have survived. I planted tulips underneath the sort of wire. So I'm hoping that they will survive. The squirrels have attempted to dig up a couple of the pots, but they can't get through. And I have been trying to treat my squirrels with some respect. I found a load of nuts and raisins in a cupboard that were left over from Christmas that had totally, you know, been left half open, so they're all still. I laid them all out for them. It's like, here, you can have these. and I found a load of random bulbs

that had gone a bit mouldy. So I left them out for them. It's like, please eat these things. Do not eat my bulbs. But everything's coming to life out there. I love this time of year. I can't believe how quickly the daffodils are growing. Every single day, it's like they've put another centimetre.

They're coming through. They're looking so nice. And yeah, my love affair with Hellebores continues. I put them in a trough. I'd stuck them in pots when we did the podcast about a month ago. And I'd find yesterday, I put them back into the, I put them into the trough. But they're looking really, really beautiful.

And last night, oh my God, I made this stupid mistake of going online and looking at Dalias on all those different sites. I mean, I literally spent thousands of pounds. I didn't actually spend the money, but I put them all into the basket. I was like, oh, I definitely need the Penhildark Monarch. I definitely need the Cafiole Royal. Yeah. Because they're all going to come later on in the year.

It's good fun choosing the colour combination, I think, or coordination. I definitely think I'm going to go for more bronzy kind of colours in the borders this year. I've gone pink before, but I think kind of the chocolatey brown. and then bronze and a little bit of pink thrown in. They are like jewels. Literally like makeup. Yeah. Or jewels.

Yeah. You really made me laugh. You sent me a message last night saying, I really need one of these, which was some demented leg massager. Okay. And what did I say to you? Do not buy that.

I bought it. I turned it on. I must have turned it on full power. It got stuck to my leg and I had bruises all up my thighs. I bought it to massage my cellular. Anyway. Yeah. The freaking machine.

it damaged my legs so badly that I threw it straight in the bin. But I, like you, was lured in by the advert. I don't know how it came up on my phone though, because obviously, because as you get older, everything about your changes, you know, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can go to the gym as much as you like. Yeah. But your skin goes a bit creaky.

My legs have suddenly started at the front. They just look a bit lumpy. And I'm like, I run, I go to the gym, I do whatever I can. And then all of a sudden an advert pops up on my phone for this. vacuum cleaner that you've attached to your legs. And then thank God you suffered so I don't have to suffer. I'm now not going to buy it. Do not buy it. I was really tempted. I think you're much better off just doing, you know, massage, you know, get disco in there. Get disco in there good and tight. And you can get a really good lymphatic drainage like massage or something like that. Probably by a professional, rather buying a

machine online that we don't know how to operate, which then ends up doing you loads and loads of damage. But I am as guilty as you, Joe, because... Yeah, the gadget. There was laughter. in the bathroom as everyone was brushing their teeth last night as I went, you may not recognise me in a couple of weeks because I have bought this cream online from Korea. It's called Time Reverse. And I'm going to put it on every night and you won't recognise me because soon I'm going to look 35. Anyway, I put it on. It's supposed to be full of hyloronic acid, the one that supposedly people injected into their penises.

Anyway, I didn't have to inject it. I put the cream on my face. And do you know what? Within 10 minutes, my skin is just like a drug. fried out prune. It had almost the opposite effect. I've bought time reverse. I bought time advance. That's what I've bought. And again, I was like, why? Why do I do it to myself? Because I also had this stuff arrived from, I don't know, it's from Scandinavia that apparently is made from wild flowers that, you know, gets rid of all your wrinkles. Anyway, I put it on my face on Friday night. I went

orange, like orange, even after I took it off, my face was orange. I looked like a very unpopular orange person right now and I just thought you've done it again kid you've done it again what are you doing you lunatic I got a box of face masks and those eye patches I think you've seen a lot of celebrities I think Harry Stiles was wearing it at the grammars it's one one skin

and I've tried loads and loads of different face masks and I absolutely say I would say these are the best they get the best results they tighten everything up but they don't leave you feeling really really dry So before we were doing the pod this morning, I was making the breakfast with this black mask on my face. I should have taken photographs and I was there doing the marmite and the toast and making the tea. You have to kind of keep your face upright, don't you? So it doesn't fall off. I've got one. Yes, it doesn't slide down your face. Yeah. Disco walked in the kitchen. He literally just went,

ah! Just recoiled. It's fine. It's for the pod. I'm going to look 10 years younger. I've got one that I use sometimes before I do the pod that is full of a hyloronic acid. It could. your skin in it, it supposedly helps with all the lines. But that makes you look sort of featureless and really young. And again, if anyone walks in, they'd see me in that. And we should. We'll put up pictures. We'll put up pictures with these masks on. And if there's ones that we think are quite good and quite useful, we will share. Absolutely. I've got a gadget. I'm going to bring it next week when we talk. I've got a gadget which is supposed to get rid of all the puffy bits. So I'll demonstrate it next week when we're doing the podcast. Oh, a live demonstration. I like it.

Yeah, it kind of pumps electrical currents into your skin and then it's like a guasha. Anyway, we'll do that next week. Great. Coming up in this week's ticket, we have a very special guest. We're going to be talking about birds and birdsong. And in general, we have a twitcher. Is Sean Bean a Twitter? I'd say he's a Twitcher.

Yeah, he's doing a podcast called Get Birding. I think that makes him a twitcher. Yeah. Well, anyway, he is on the way. How lucky are we, Lady Chattelie's lover himself? Oh, Sean Bean on the show. How exciting. Don't go anywhere.

Access Storage presents ski cross racer, Reese Howden. Hi, my name is Reese Howden. I'm a member of the Canadian ski cross team, and we'll be going to the 26th, Malato-Cortina Olympics. Being able to represent a country that has done everything to support my dreams is unreal. Being able to stand on the podium and hear the national anthem and hold the flag, I don't take it for granted at all. I'm really happy to represent Canada at the Olympics.

Let's go Canada. Access Storage, proud partner of Team Canada. So Diggett is all about gardening, it's all about gardens, so why don't we go and speak to someone in their actual garden? And that somebody is Sean Bean who has a podcast which is called Get Birding. Are you in your actual garden, Sean? Yeah, I am at the moment. Yeah, just in the front garden.

We can actually hear the birds behind you at the moment. What is that? Are you able to identify what is around you? I'm not that great at identifying bird sounds. But I know they're not sparrows because you don't get many sparras around you. in the countryside. You don't want to get many sparrows, but we get lots of other things, you know, here.

We get woodpeckers and herons and, and I think, buzzards, castles, red kites. But, yeah, and it's something I've been interesting since I was a kid, you know, growing up. And my next door neighbour, a guy called Ron Howard, not the film director. Not the film direct, not from Happy Days.

That would have been so good. A lovely old guy. and he got me into it a little bit, you know, identifying the birds in the garden. You were interesting gardening. I learnt a lot from him about horticulture and about gardening in general. And it kind of stuck with me and met a few friends from school. And then we'd go out to different places at Clumber Park, wasn't very far away.

And it was a bit of an adventure for his old. We had his rucks on his binoculars and his notebooks and things like that. And we had a laugh along the way as well, you know. quite some escapades. And it's carried on from there, really, in between working and, you know, I'm moving to different houses and then going away on film shoots, you know, for a while. But when I get back home, it's always great

and just to ground myself again and to just, I guess it's been proving that it's good for your peace of mind, for your health and everything like that. And I think that certainly is the case, you know. Especially when you're working with that like yourselves, you know, they're kind of high pressure jobs and, you know, you're very focused. And it's nice just to come back and relax and look around and not have to think about anything and not learn any lines.

How is line learning? When I was young, Sean, I really wanted to act and then I realized I could never remember lines. And so I used to riff it and make it up. And you can't really do that with the bard. How is line learning? Is that, is that, do you have a way of doing it? No, I've tried everything.

I've tried every way. I've even tried learning, trying to learn the words backwards, which was absolutely stupid, right waste of time. I thought like the devil, you know what I mean? I should be out of the exorcist. It's, oh, oh, oh, I've tried all these different ways. I've been on the internet and Googled it and everything. And they don't seem to be anyway.

It's just, for me, it's just repetition and trying to, sometimes I draw little pictures next to the lines or specific, moments, like, you know, it just reminds me of what I'm talking about. Does forgetting your lines happen very often? I mean, whether you're doing a film or whether you're on stage, are there moments when you know that you've got to say these words and you can just feel them just disappearing, or are they there, are they very much in your head?

Have you had times when you've forgotten lines that have been terrible? When you know them well, you can really go to good places, you know. Sometimes you get to a really good place and then you just stop, but not very often now. Sometimes it's other people, and you're watching their performance, you're listening to them, and they're such a, they're so good,

and what they're saying is so real that sometimes that stops you remembering your next line because she's kind of thinking, wow, you know, it really affects you, which is a good thing in a way, it shows you're listening, but, you know, when I get scripts now, you know, and I used to look, you know, when I were younger, starting off, saying,

oh, God, I've got loads of lines, brilliant, you know. Now I have a skim through, I think, well, I've got many lines. I'll do it. You know, you get these big chunks, but no, it's always, it's just a matter, you know, preparing. It takes a long time to prepare. Do you garden? Do you dig stuff up? Do you plant stuff?

Do you do veg? What are your gardening experiences? Yeah, I do a lot of gardening. I've planted a lot of trees, a lot of since I've been here. We've been here about 10 years now. So I've planted a lot of native trees, just like saplings when they were small. Sometimes you only have to make a spate with a spade, put them in and then squash it back in again. I think.

That's what you told me. The Sean Bean gardening technique. I love it. Dig a hole, stick it in. And then they've grown now, you know, five, six years later. You know, they're 10 foot high. I'm growing like hedge roads and copses and stuff like that. And I do a lot of digging when we first got here, you know, they ground it.

You know like a lot of houses, they do the building work, don't it? Then they just chuck all the rubble and then cover it with about an inch of topsoil. So you're forever digging out lumps of rock. But we've managed to solve that now. And, you know, it's good soil, got a big compost heap, collect all the leaves, got massive leaf bins. and so we just put it all back in, you know, and it works really great. I'm living in the city again, and yeah, I've just bought a compost machine.

I don't know whether it's going to work. I put all my food scraps in. Apparently it makes compost really quick. I'll get back to you on whether that's – because I haven't got a huge amount of room in my garden now. And I was living in the countryside, and, you know, you're massively into bird watching. And in the countryside, we had owls and, you know, you're living in. We had all the different woodpeckers and the nut hatches,

and I miss them having come back to the city because we've got different bird life here. A lot of seagulls who can drive people mad, but I quite love the seagulls here in Brighton. My son can talk to them. So we used to have a seagull called Max who would come and visit and he would tap on the window for Woody to feed him.

And Woody would talk. So the seagull would go, bab, bat, and he'd say, and they'd have this really mad little, conversation and he's constantly saying, mum, will he give some money to the seagull man? Because there's a man who rescues all the injured seagulls in Brighton. He's like, mum, mum, he really needs love and support. And it's, they're quite amazing. We have rooks that roost in our, above our bedroom and every single spring they come and we can, you know, we hear them building the nest and then we hear the birds and they, the babies, and then we watch

them as they take flight. And inevitably, they just crash to the ground and they plummet and they die. Like literally there's about one that survives. It'll be about six. six or seven chicks at the very beginning. And it's just such a harsh lesson to learn. And there is nothing you can do. You just have to let them like, we initially pick them up and took them to bird sanctuaries, but then you realise that's kind of pointless. And the cats and the dogs get them anyway.

It's really harsh. I used to have a rook. Oh. When I was at school, there was a big rooads of trees in the rookery. It was right next to us. It was massive. And one of, you know, somebody who chukk, which chuck his stones at this one, it broke its arm and I took it back home.

and I had it for about four years. A rook called it Joe Crow. Even though it were a rook. They're a bit easier. They're very intelligent, aren't they? They're beautiful. Oh, yeah. And they used to follow me around everywhere.

It would make a really beautiful children's book that, Joe Crow. That's a lovely story. That's where it all began. What are you doing your garden, Sean? Do you socialise a lot? Do you invite people around? Or is it like your territory? And you don't particularly want anyone there?

Just look at that face. I've got my gardener, Jeremy. He's a great help. He's been with me a long time and we chat. And he loves gardening as well. So we have a lot of conversations about everything. But when people come around, it's nice. You know, they have a look around and explain things.

But more of a solitary thing for me, I think. And I like it out when I think it's something I'm only appreciating the last few years of my life is what happens outdoors in the seasons and in the trees and in the ground. and, you know, sort of what you would look at as perfection before and now we were all starting to embrace the wilder stuff and leaving areas of the garden to nature and watching it do its thing. It's amazing what that gives you.

Yeah, I mean, I try to keep some kind of formality to our garden, but I just let some things go on their own. and there's a big tree I've got and it broke down a massive branch came off the other day but it looks great it's just like a you know

I kind of like the prehistoric look I've got a lot of ferns and things like that but as you said it's like they say your feet are planted firmly on the earth and I think that there's a lot to be said for that

you know it's so grounding and it's just not like anything you ever do like our jobs and stuff like that It's nothing to do with them. And I don't like anybody ringing me up and things when I'm out on garden.

Sean, you are a bit of all of us, I think. Also, can I say that when we started talking to Sean this morning, we got a glimpse of his very own handiwork because Sean has mended his own glasses with a nice little bit of handiwork with some wire. A non-wongy wire. Impressed with that, Sean. Yeah, show us. There you go.

I'd have a little microphone on that, couldn't I like? You could. It's like a little madonna Mike. When did you both become interested in bird watching and that? Well, it's something that comes later in life, I think. Because when you're young, you're busy off, you know, living a rock and roll lifestyle or out and about and gadding about and being young. And life could be quite fast.

And there just comes a point in your life. And I found it with so many friends that there's a point where you just need to slow down and stop. and, you know, it was sort of just sitting sometimes being outside. And suddenly you just find yourself going, what is that? I need to look that up. And once you start taking an interest in the birds that are really coming to your garden or you're seeing in your local park or about in the skies, once you start learning about them, they're just such incredible, beautiful creatures.

And we are so lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing collection of birds. We moved into a barn conversion, so I always felt like we moved into a whole community that was here already. So I mentioned when we were talking earlier on about these rooks. And the rooks have obviously lived here for hundreds and hundreds of years. And we were just the latest inhabitants and we coexist with them. And then the longer you live here, the more you realise the same birds return every single year at certain times. So we've got a woodpecker that is in the back of the house and it comes and feeds. And it's the, I don't know what it's called, but it's the black one with the white spots and the redhead.

Greatest spotted woodpecker, yeah. Yeah. So that's in the back of the house. At the front, there's the green one, the one that it feeds on the worms in the garden. So they're very distinct where they are. They're wonderful. They go to the edges of the grass, don't they? Yes, yeah.

We have these amazing herons that exist. I don't know where the herons live in pears particularly, but we've got one heron who's there winter after winter after winter, and it's so majestic and it's so beautiful and it flies across. It's like a teradactal when it goes across the garden. And all the kids get really excited to see it. And then recently another one, came and I presume they were mating. So I'm kind of, but you never see baby herons.

No, you're not here. Where are they? That tiny little herons walking about. With the little legs. I'd love that. And the legs growing, they're slow that. Yeah. But they're amazing birds and it's kind of just being aware of it. We live in this house, but all around us are these birds that live and they all live in their certain areas and they do their certain thing and we all kind of coexist and I feed the birds and we have lots of blue tits and we're all kinds of tits and then a couple of as well. But it's really life-enhancing. It really is. It's like a party that's just never-ending. I can safely say, I know a lot of people who will be listening to your podcast, John, you've got an

amazing voice. But I think in the same way that Bob and Paul, Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer doing the amazing fishing show they did, that so many people love because it's two fantastic guys who are funny talking about life and they're in the great outdoors and we get to watch that and see the beautiful nature around. And I think in a similar way, this will be a podcast that so many people will find a great comfort because you're in the great outdoors.

It's wonderful, Sean, talking to people learning about the birds and outdoors. Yeah, well, I wish you were the same, and I know you've been going a bit longer, but it's great, you know, that we have genuine passions and that we want to explore them, share them with people.

I think it's great. I've really, really enjoyed it so far. My son is actually in Thailand and he's going on bird watching tours. He's obsessed with birds. And so I spoke to him earlier on to try and find out what birds, he's going on a tour very soon. And I was like, what was the best bird you've seen?

A Siberian Blue Robin is the best bird that he's seen so far. All sorts. They're very colourful, I should imagine. Yeah, amazing, amazing. I think the best present we've ever bought him was some binoculars and he's obsessed with birds. It's such a lovely thing to have in your life, I think. Sean, it's been lovely to talk to you. And you, Joe. And you will show. Thank you very much.

And to hear the birdsong in your beautiful garden, it's been really lovely. Thank you. A brilliant insight. Thank you, Sean. Thank you so much, Sean. And good luck with it. Time for crate digging this week, Joe. What delights do you have to share with us all? Okay. So I have, you mentioned someone that had in session on my radio show the other day. And lo and behold, I got sent the album from Tyler Ballgame. And it's a really, really beautiful listen.

got a really bluesy kind of voice. Amazing performer for the first time again is the name of the album. It's great kind of ties in with Digget. It's got a blue background, lots of green leaves, and I think they're Clementine's on the front, so a nice pop of orange. And this is one of those albums I would recommend to anybody. I think you're not going to dislike this.

You know, something like Rosalia's Lux might scare people. This will not. This will just sound really lovely in your ears. What a name, Tyler Ball Game. I was watching the Olympics, and one of the names that really popped out of me was breezy, Johnson. And I saw the name and I was like, oh my God, what possesses you? Like, as a parent, I suddenly go, I'm going to call my child Breezy. And if you're called Breezy, does that

mean that you have to live up to that name? Because I cannot imagine you can be called Breezy Johnson and be miserable. I mean, it just wouldn't happen, would it? Do any of our diggers have names that they have had to live up to? What else have you got in your hand there? I've just got another bit of vinyl. This is Kiss the Beast and it's Sebastian Tellier. Now that he did a song called La Ré Tournelle, which people might remember from decades ago. I mean he looks like a proper sexy beats He's kind of a little bit Jesus like In a rich shirt

It's very strange There's a lot of hair going on It's really mesmerising It's really good beats going on And again I think it's amazing background music If you are going about your day You're cooking, what are you going on a long journey I've got a lot of time for Sebastian Tellier

Oh yes I mean I played Leanne La Retinal Was played there was some amazing Remixes it and stuff But I had no idea he knew had new stuff out Great I shall look him up. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so yeah, two albums, Tyler Ball Game and Sebastian Tellier.

My great digging this week is going to be Bad Bunny. I'm going to buy his album. I'm going to go out to the record shop today and buy that because all I'm singing is la la la la la la la la. I am slightly obsessed and I've just looked up what his album is called. Now I wouldn't be able to

pronounce that. I have to say it's Puerto Rican but it translates as I should have taken more photos. So I I could try and be brave and say that, but I'm not, I don't want to insult everybody by pronouncing it all wrong, but it translates as I should have taken more photos, which is wonderful. And I think, you know, you'll be hearing more and more about Bunny everywhere at the moment. So, but yeah, I was so impressed with his performance that I'm like, yeah, I'm going by that. I played it on the radio the other day and had to say, I made an attempt at saying the album title and I was like, I should not have done that. I absolutely should have just gone for translation. Why am I not clever like you? We're so British sometimes, aren't we? And I don't know where. I don't know where. Maybe it's because it's sort of slightly how we learn French when we're at school. Because I think if you're going to speak a language, you've got to speak a language with confidence. And you've got to be willing to make a fool of yourself sometimes, but just try.

And I think I am very much from, you know, we'd go on holiday to France and my dad would do the old Delboys sort of scenario of I would like a keb of coffee. And you're like, no, you don't speak French like you're in LOLO. You've got to try and actually speak the language. and I just get really embarrassed. So sometimes I just pluck up the courage to say something in Spanish or in French or Italian. And then I just sort of, it's my own fear stops me from doing it. And if you've just got to do it with confidence, haven't you? I think that is the thing.

Absolutely. Yeah. I've got a book for you this week. This is my friend. He's become my friend. His name is Henry Ag. He did My Garden. He's an absolute superstar.

he's a brilliant advocate of mental health and gardening. He's built up his business from scratch. And when I moved into my house here, I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money on the garden because I wasn't sure how long I'd be in this house. But there was just an astroturf because the guy who lived here before had kids and they liked playing football outside.

And I wanted to introduce some kind of little garden, but on a budget. And Henry came around. He's in the area in Brighton. Lots of people have told me about him saying he's a brilliant guy. And he came around and I said, this is the budget. Don't want to spend any more than that. And he landscaped here and we planted it.

And he did the plan to plan and we did lots of planting together. Anyway, he's done a book called The Weekend Gardner. Plan, build, plant and maintain your dream garden, but in your spare time. So this is for anyone who's busy out there but thinking, actually, I would like to make a bit of a difference to the little space that I've got. And you don't have huge amounts of time or huge amounts money to spend. This is such a brilliant book. He talks you through, you know, they're actually. my steps. My steps feature in Henry's book, yes, because he did actually do lots of photos

when doing the book. But he talks to you about, I teach you about how to do the landscaping yourself, how to plan the garden using the space that you've got, how to do things kind of on a real good budget, how to build a pergola, all things that he's done himself. And he shows you his own garden and how his garden was when he started and what state he got it to. I mean, look, that. That was some of the state he got it too. It's such a brilliant book. He's a great guy. I love him to bits. So the weekend gardener, that is a huge recommend from me. And some of the gardening featured is actually mine. And I'm very chuffed. Talking of people who are incredibly loved, let me share with you this book. And this is Anne Marie Powell. And she has bought a book out. And it's called

A Year of Colour, How to Create Garden. I think both of these books we're recommending are worth spending your money on. And Amory is, she is such a vivacious, vibrant woman. She's on, I only know her, really, from Instagram, just she's popped up over the years. And I've got to become quite fixated with her. She's just got the most sunny, beautiful disposition. She loves gardening with a passion. It's so real. And everything that she does, I can relate to when I see all the different posts that she's doing, the planting that she's doing, talking about her pots. She's a really good communicator. And this just talks you through the year how to have colour in your garden. And I'm obsessed with colour. I really, it's really important to me. When we moved into our house, the garden was just

green. And I've spent, God, 17 years just injecting it with colour and vibrancy. And this is the kind of book that would be my Bible. And I'm going to refer to this and I'm going to follow everything that Anne-Marie says. There's lots of beautiful lilacs and oranges and pinks. And she just tells you how to get that in your garden. And you know Anne-Marie as well, I think. Yeah, I do. And again, just finding her on socials and following her and just finding her a real true inspiration. I was really excited to see her in the distance. Chelsea last year. I was like, there she is.

And I sent her loads of love because she lost her husband, Jules, who has been such a champion of hers and an incredible relationship they had. And she lost him last year. And just my heart goes out to her. And we sent her so much love. And she sent me a book as well. And it is glorious, the colour through that book. And explaining to you, because it is interesting.

When you first start gardening, you sort of concentrate on like the summer plants when you don't really know what you're doing. And then you learn about a garden throughout the season and wanting interest throughout the season. And that's when you start really learning about, oh, so these are evergreens and these are going to give you berries in January and February and those plants that come up early or come up late in the season.

And this book is wonderful. There we go. I hope everyone's found a little bit of hope and joy in the pod this week. Which is definitely much needed at the moment. I think everyone feels a little bit jollier, a bit more joyful, a bit more optimistic and there are glimmers all around us at the moment

that we can enjoy and you know that is a good place to end up our episode on I think it really is have a terrific week yes and see you on Monday I see you Monday

by Diggers Digit is a Persefonica production