Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 95: DIG IN: Sibling Rivalry and Friendship Fallouts

Episode Date: May 25, 2026

Do parents and grandparents secretly have favourites?! What do you do when a friend lets you down? And why, oh whyyy, do people drop litter? Jo and Zoe dig into all this and more in this week’s episode.Become a member of The Potting Shed for early and ad-free episodes: https://digit.supportingcast.fm/ Get something off your chest on our Rant Hotline:  [phone]Other ways to get in touch:📧 Email us: [e-mail]💬 Tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp:⁠ ⁠https://wa.me/447477038795Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/_twhxnjLbXo SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORSThis episode is brought to you by: Visit Scotland & Trip Advisor and Alzheimer's Society🌍 Visit Scotland & Trip Advisor — Make the most of festival season in Scotland, from the vibrant energy of Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival to the community spirit of the Orkney Folk Festival and the soulful sounds of Edinburgh’s Jazz & Blues Festival. Start planning your spring escape at www.tripadvisor.co.uk/scotland🧠 Alzheimer's Society — Every three minutes, someone in the UK develops dementia. Find out more at www.alzheimers.org.uk CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanProducer: Samantha PsykAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyVideo Editors: Danny Pape and Jack Whiteside 

Coming up on Digit. People let you down. It's what happens in life. Yeah. We make mistakes. We let our friends down because we're human and we're daft. It's like you have responsibility. Why are you throwing that on the floor thinking that someone else is going to come along and pick it up?

It's just, it's not on. It's not right. It's not on. And I was just sort of looking at the sky and thinking, Mom, they're doing great and you be so proud. And you know she's watching over them. You know, she really is. But boy, do we miss her? He's your favourite child, isn't it?

And the kids were laughing. and she just went, well, yes. All of that, right after this. Hi, Joe. Hey, Zoe. How are you, my friend? I'm really well, I'm really well, thank you. Happy Monday to you.

Here we go, another week. Happy Monday. Another week. Are we ready for it? Yes, we are. But it's time to dig in. We're going to start off dig in today with a question from Laura. And she says, hi, Joe and Zoe.

Hi, Laura. I saw a photo of Kim Kardashian's phone screen. saver the other day. Someone zoomed in, which seems to be of just one of her kids, her daughter, Chicago. Oh, I can see where this is going. But Kim has four children. As a mum of two, I always make sure both of mine feature, and I would feel bad if I singled out one in case they thought I had a favourite. Are you ever accused of having a favourite child from Laura? Laura, this is hilarious, because what happens with my kids is Nell will change my screensaver just to a picture of herself. It's sort of become a bit of a running gag. And then I'll always change it back to a picture of both Woody and

Nell. I bought my kids one Christmas t-shirts that say mum's favourite on them. And I bought them for both for one each. It is a thing, isn't it? Because, you know, you can't have favourites. but often siblings think there is a favourite because sometimes you, there are things that you'll do with one of your kids that the other ones are like, oh, do that with them but don't do that with me. I try to always give my kids equal attention,

equal love. But I think sometimes Nell is such a daddy's girl and Woody is a real mummy's boy. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way to either of them. would he always comes to me to talk about emotional stuff and sometimes it just fits that way but actually both my kids I just make sure they're both equally as loved and I'd like to ask them

we should ask their opinions on this joke I'm sure they'd both have a lot to say we have a running gag that casts everyone's favourite child because he is the one who fixes things I'm talking about grandparents sorry when it comes to the grandparents because he graduated last year and he did the proper thing of getting his graduation photo with the mortar board and everything,

sent it out to the grandparents. So when you go to Nana's house or when you go to... There it is. He's there on the mantel of peace, like shining, lovely smile and none of the others. Or maybe they graduated so long ago or Coco hasn't yet that they're just not on display quite so much. But also, he's the one who fixes stuff. So if anything's broken, like the TV

often needs tuning, retuning or the radio needs retuning. So he'll go over to my mom and dads and he'll do that. He'll go to nannies and he'll sort that out. So Steve's a mother. at one point said she was talking about him and Steve went, God, you know, he's your favorite child, isn't it? And the kids were laughing. And she just went, well, yes. So everyone went, she doesn't even deny it, doesn't even bother denying it. That's hilarious. I've just gone through my phone, actually, and I've looked at like photographs of the kids. And obviously, this

will be relevant according to how long they've been alive and the 17 years between Coco and India. So, but if you look at the photographs, how many I've got on my phone, India, I've got 13,000 991 photographs of her on my phone. Coco, I've got 10,800. But there's 17 years. That's a lot, considering the 17 years apart, yeah. But we didn't take as many photos when India was young, did we? So Coco, obviously, there's a lot of photographic evidence of her.

Cass and Jude, Jude, I've got 8,828 photographs, and there are only 7,000 photographs of Cass. The boys are seriously doing... They're well down, aren't they? That's terrible. I know. But I mean, Jude likes posing Cass less so. So he doesn't really like having his photograph takers. That kind of corresponds. But how funny. Sibling rivalry is a really good thing, though, because my two used to really squabble. And I remember being in a restaurant with some friends and some friends of theirs, and they were really squabbling. And it just happened that the lass I was

sat next to her. She was a child psychologist. And I was getting quite wound up by them. And she went, no, no, they're just vying for your attention. And the more attention you give, the more they're going to do it. She went, just tick and all them. They'll sort it out. And she's like, so the squabbling will be, because it's survival, isn't it? You know, if you think of animals and stuff, the noisiest or the one with the most attention, will, you know, and often the weakest, the quietest one will just get left behind.

Literally with animals would be left behind. So it's vying for attention. And actually, the thing that I love is, and you've got it with your kids, as they grow older, the squabbling becomes more sort of sort of ribbing each other is quite fun and they can all handle it. But boy, they are there for each other, aren't they? Oh, absolutely. They really are. They are at each other sides the minute one of them needs love and support.

And, you know, that's kind of what you want for your kids. And where are you in, you know, were their favourite kids in your household? I think different parents had had different favourite children with, in my school. situation, I think. And definitely with grandparents, I have noticed that there will be grandchildren who are always talked about. And you're like, oh, don't mention the other one. You know, it's like teachers, though, isn't it? Teachers always have a favourite student. You're like, oh, teachers' pet. Yeah. India came for a sleepover on Sunday night and it was just so lovely because she misses the others so much talking about siblings. Yeah. Now that she's in her big house on her own and with her

partner, which she said when she walked into her, she was like, oh my God, I'd forgotten how chaotic it was in this house. It's like so chaotic. And I just go back to my house, mine and Alex, and it's just calm. And we just do what we want to do. Whereas you walk into here and it's just like this flipping chaos, carnival going on all the time. But she really loved it. And we all sat and watched TV and then went to bed and they did this whole routine in the bathroom, you know, brushing their teeth together and going sitting on each other's beds. And it was just so, so lovely. And she just lay in bed and she was like, I just missed them. so much. I just miss being with them and having those little in jokes and it was, but how fantastic

that she comes back and she wants to be in the house and we had a sleepover together and it was just, it was lovely. I really, really liked it. You're so lucky. Your house is so busy. I know, I know. Mine's so quiet. It's like, oh, it's less and less because Nell's based more at her dad's now because I think she's got to that point of, oh, can I just be in one place? Because all her or CSI revision notes are on the wall at her dads and it's like just not having to move from house to house. So she just is spending more time there now and that's great because he's around the corner and I can nip around any time. Yeah. Which is great and she can come here if she gets upset about anything. She'd be like, mom, I need you. But it's less and less, you know.

Also, can we just say to any people out there are parents of only children because we have talked about this. Yeah. It's also great sometimes being an only child that you don't have to and you'll always be the favourite if you're the only child, hopefully. But yeah, also, can I just say in defence of Kim Kardashian, what might have happened is that a pap has taken a picture

of her and she might have one of those rotating photo albums scenarios, which is different photos. So it might just seem that Chicago is her favourite child but maybe Detroit and, you know, I don't know who are the others? Detroit.

I can't remember the other ones like. I'm making that up, by the way, I don't think her child is called Detroit. I can't think. Boston, Detroit and Phoenix. No. No, it's not Phoenix. North. North. It's quite a good name, even though, Detroit.

I quite like that. If you're loving Diggett so far, hit follow or subscribe, and that way you'll get brand new episodes as soon as they're out. Next up, we've got a question on friendship, and this is from Nia, who says, Hi, Hi, girls. My housemate and I both recently moved into separate places because she was moving in with her new boyfriend,

and I was ready for some way. knew. She moved out before me and because she's got a large car, she offered to help me move to my new place half an hour away. I checked with her several times before that this was still okay, still all right to do this. But an hour, an hour after we were supposed to meet, she sent me a text saying that she was covering somebody at work and could no longer help. There was no apology. I was forced to call my parents who dropped everything, as parents do, and drove four hours to help me move. Honestly, I feel pretty let down. It feels like I'm always there for her at tough time. but when I really need her, she flakes, am I overreacting?

We've been friends for years and I'm actually not sure if I can move past this. I completely understand you feeling let down and I think I would probably feel the same. I'd just be really overly irritated by the fact that she wasn't there for me when I needed her. It's a bit last minute, isn't it? It is a bit. It's funny, isn't it how some people don't apologize? You do get people like that who'll do things like that and they just don't ever say sorry. I am so apologetic all the time.

I mean, I apologise for coming into the room sometimes. So sorry. So sorry. And I always feel really bad if I ever let anyone down as well. You're like that. Some people are like, oh yeah, just stuff happened. Shit went down. Sorry about that one.

I don't even say sorry. Yeah. I think possibly people are very different near, you know, and some people are a bit chaotic. And some people might not think that that was a big deal. And, you know, there could be a bigger reason behind it. Maybe something's gone down for your friend or she's. been really upset about something. Maybe she's not completely being honest with you about the reason there.

So it could be more to it. But I think perhaps it might be worth a conversation. Is it worth a message, Joe, do you think, saying, I hope you're settling in a new place. Just want to say, I was really upset that you didn't let me know about that. But, you know, maybe there was a reason. I'd hope you're okay. Yeah. Because you've got to get over things, haven't you? People let you down. It's what happens in life. People fuck up. We make mistakes. We let our friends down because we're human and we're daft. And something seem more important than other things.

I would just move on, I think. It will be interesting to see where your friendship goes after that. And maybe your friendship might just go separately. But I try not to hold a grudge for too long near because I don't think it's good for you to do that. It's quite a big thing, I think, confronting someone. Yeah. See, I wouldn't. I wouldn't.

You'd avoid it. Yeah. Yeah. Always avoidance. Always the best tactic. Never confront anything. Think you don't want to say something when you're really angry. but sometimes I think it's good to clear the air.

But I'm thinking back to the amount of times that I don't do that. Would you have you? Would I do that? Probably not. Probably just bitched all my friends and then wait for it to pass. Yeah, Neer, I'd probably stew on it for a little while and then just eventually it'll come good again. If she's a good enough friend and if you really love each other,

which I think you probably do, you'll come back together. And if you don't, yeah, it's fine. That friendship was for then and now you're moving on to something new. We'll take a quick break now for some hours. But if you're keen to listen to these episodes early and ad-free, you can subscribe to the potting shed. Yearly subscriptions get a free Digit tote bag, which is very, very cool, and also some fathergills, sew and tell seeds. Just click the link to subscribe in the show notes. Right, time for a break. We had a very funny conversation all about Jackie magazine after reading the Jackie annual, which was so much fun.

And Mark has got in touch. Hello, lovely ladies. It's Mark here from the... Northumberland. I was listening to your show the other day and you were talking about Jackie magazine and reading the photo spreads. Well, I was very fortunate to appear as a model in a couple of those spreads. And I was about 14 at the time. Oh my God. In one of them I remember having to play football, which I'd never played before. And I also had to pretend to kiss a girl. And let's just say that doesn't happen anymore because I've been married to. my husband Richard for almost 18 years.

I was probably paid about £9.50 for the two jobs, which I probably spent on records. Yeah. Because I now have about 4,000 of them, which keeps me very occupied. But also, I'm busy in the garden. So I'm going to love you and leave you and get back to reseeding my bloody lawn. Take care. Oh, you're our kind of guy, Mark.

Oh, Mark, you really are. Gardening music. I really want to see the photos now. There must be other people listening as well. Thank you, Mark. I'd love any more people who've appeared in those Jackie magazines or other magazines that are around or annuals. But Mark, thank you very much indeed for that.

We also had this message from Lucinda. I just heard your episode about Jackie magazine, which I loved. My big sister used to buy it and I used to nick it to read it. Of course, you did. I remember reading the letters page. And I must have been a bit thick. as I said out loud, isn't it funny how many, it's great, as I said out loud,

isn't it funny how many people are called Jackie Reeder? As soon as I said it, I realised, but it was too late, the rest of the family were all laughing and groaning at me. That's brilliant. Love that. Thank you, Lucinda. We had a really lovely response to Zoe's story about finding a donkey in the car park during her mum's anniversary week.

It sounds quite funny. It's that if you didn't hear it, they found a donkey. It sounds like I found a massive donkey in a car park. Can we just say it wasn't an actual life-sized donkey that was braying? It wasn't that? It was a little figurine, wasn't it? It was a little kid's toy. It was the thing that you and your mum had between you.

So Elaine sent us this voice note. Hello, ladies. This is Elaine from Somerset. I saw Zoe's little bit the other day where she saw the donkey by her car and it reminded her of a lovely mum. So I just thought I'd share this with you. I lost my amazing dad last year. Honestly, he was just the best.

I might be 55 years old, but I'm still a very, very proud daddy's girl. Now, my dad loved his gardening and always had a beautiful garden. I love gardening too. I'm just really not that good at it. I'm still, you know, learning, which I always say. Now about four years ago, maybe three or four years ago, I bought a Climatus to go in my back garden, and buy them on the fences.

And it's never flowered, never until this year. And there is an absolute abundance of beautiful white flowers on there. And I like to think it's my lovely dad looking down going, let's do this for her, let's get this looking lovely. Oh, my God. And every time I look at the flowers, I just think of my dad. I just think of my lovely dad and think of him smiling up there, just thinking, well, it's looking better now.

Yeah, so I just thought I'd share that with you, really. Absolutely love the podcast. Makes me cry, it makes me laugh and everything in between. So keep going, ladies. It's brilliant. Take care. Bye-bye. Oh, thank you, my gosh.

You sent a Ferdtreb. What a gift your dad is giving you. What a gift. That is so beautiful. I would feel very loved and very touched by that. She sent us a picture and that is a whole fence of the most beautiful white clematis all over. And, yeah, every time you look at those plants, you're thinking of your dad. It's just anything that brings that love that you've had into your, you know, the forefront of your mind.

And it almost makes your heart glow, doesn't it, when you have those lovely memories. I went to see my nephew this weekend, Zach, he was six. And I was looking at him and I saw my brother, he's who, my brother, Jamie, and he's so happy. And my twin niece is Poppy and Eliza. And also happy birthday to Haley, his wife. And happy birthday, Zach. And I was just sort of looking at the sky thinking, Mom, they're doing great

and you be so proud. And you know she's watching over them, you know, she really is, but boy, do we miss her? Loads of you also shared your stories on Instagram. I wish we could do all of them, but this one's from Vicky, who wrote I had a special one after my partner, Chris, passed away.

I'm so sorry. I was doing the late shift at work, and it was dark and rainy on my way home, and I was missing Chris, hell of a lot. As I was driving, I could hear what he would have been saying to me if he'd been in the car. Play some tunes, girl.

He always knew what would cheer me up. Anyway, I turned on Radio 2 at 8.30 and Joe was on. And she said she'd had a request from a carpenter called Chris from Yoville to play a song. So my Chris had done a carpentry apprentice when he was younger in Yoville, where he grew up. Bear in mind, we live in Buckinghamshire. that was just one of those magical moments.

Isn't that funny? She's thinking of him. And then you read a message like that. And too many coincidences, too many coincidences for there not to be something in that. As my friend Heather would say, packet of quavers. Because it's a great Peter Kline, packet of quavers, which is those strange coincidences and those signs. I know in my logical head it was just a coincidence.

but in my heart it was like he was sending me hello just like the little toy donkey Zoe these moments are so special and carry us through the grief vicky that is so magical and your memories of your gorgeous chris he is always with you honestly it breaks your heart isn't it for a to lose a boy that's so tough i have no doubt there was something special so there's something magical again magic happening yeah in that i mean what are the chances of me saying that. Yeah. Finally, we have another caller on the rant hotline.

We want to push this. So anybody, you know, there's quite a lot of rage inside us. There's a lot to rant about. And we want to hear from you, please. But this one is from Melanie, who's actually come up with a jingle. What? Well, hello, Joe and Zoe. It's Melanie here.

I'm a bit behind with the episodes. However, I did listen this morning to the busy bitch corner. Oh, what a call. great idea. I also might have a little jingle for the phone number. I'll just get into rhythm. 07-47-703-8-7-9-5. Anyway, you can delete that bit if you like, however I have got a rant. People dropping litter. And the people dropping litter isn't even kids. Not that we should forgive kids for dropping litter, but it is adults. And the worst thing, the cigarettes.

They smoke them and then they just throw them on the ground. I mean, seriously, it makes my blood boil. If I see it, I want to go up to them, tap them on the shoulder

and say, excuse me, pick that up and put it in the bin. And also, proper, grown-up humans sitting in their car, eating takeaways, they open the door and then they throw the rubbish

on the floor. Oh, my goodness. God. It makes my blood boil. I'm with you, Melanie. Thanks for listening to that. And again, that little jingle again, 07-47-703-8-7-9-5. Bye. Oh my God, Melanie, you are amazing. I reckon we need a little bit of production under that and that will be, we've got, that is our jingle, Melanie. It is so good. And Melanie, I am so with you. The street outs. my house, I often will just be like when I'm going to the rubbish bins to put stuff out, I'll often stop and pick certain things up. And do you know what I bought yesterday at the

Golden Center, Joe? I bought a litter picker of her. It's actually in the boot of my car at the moment because I've unloaded it. But I have bought it especially so I can pick up the cans and the wrappers that sometimes people leave them on my gate and my fence. I'm like, there's a bin just there. So yeah, Melanie, good rant. I love it. It's cathartic, you see. If you get in touch and you like that. I bet Emily felt so much better after. Get things off your chest to us. When we have parties, I spend days picking up cigarette butts outside. And this is in our house. This is in our garden. Like people can't be bothered. In future, I must put out like massive pots where they can put. Yeah, ashtrays. That's the word. Just the thought that people

can't think to themselves, oh, you know, no one else is going to pick this up. So why am I dropping it on the floor? It annoys me like crazy. Not the cigarettes in my house, but any litter, any litter. anywhere. It's like you have responsibility. Why are you throwing that on the floor thinking that someone else is going to come along and pick it up? It's just, it's not on. It's not right. It's not on. Look after it. You know, be responsible for your own rubbish. And also all the birds and the creatures, you know, when they're looking for food, are picking up all that stuff and eating it. It's horrible. Not fair. So yeah, great rant, Melanie. Even better jingle. So I reckon we just turn that up a bit, jazz it up, get a little bed under it.

And we'll play that every week when we need to just remind everyone of the phone number. It's quite a sexy little performance as well, Melanie. I like it. Yeah, I like it. It's so good. On this theme, Natalie or Nat sent us this reel. No. Your wedding anniversary? No. And what do you remember? Hillet. Oh, 81, 811, 811, 81, 81, 81, 81. That's hilarious. Oh, 81, 811, 81, 81, 81. 81. That's hilarious. Oh, that is amazing now. This is the whole thing. about how you cannot remember why you've walked into a room, you can't remember what your name is, what your children's name is. But however, if you think of a phone number from back in the 70s or the 80s or the 90s, it's there in your head. It's all still there. Probably because it was

sung and it was such a catchy jingle. Yeah. Oh, and also that all the feelings that come with hearing that just brings it all back. Love it. I bet it does. Like I remember, you know, friends full phone numbers, full names, full phone numbers from back in the day. But yeah, I can't even remember my children's birthdays. But hey, okay. So I got to go. I've got a cold sore. I've got the biggest ulcer in the world right at the back of my tongue, which is hurting and causing me so much pain. I've got stubborn pains in my glands as well. So I'm done with talking. I've got to stop if that's okay. Oh, Lord. Do you know what? Yeah, you sounds like you're a bit run down, girl. You might need some, would you need some zinc by the sounds of it? Okay. Yeah, I think so. So I'm going to go and give my voice to rest. My tongue is killing me. So I'm going to find some zinc, do some mouthwash. And thanks so much, Diggers. For you. getting in touch. Anybody has anything you want to share. If you want to go on the rant hotline, if you have any stories you want to share or anything we've talked about that has meant something to you that you'd like to talk about. Further, just get in touch. You can

find out how by going to the show notes. And we wish you a glorious week. I hope you're all fine and dandy. And we'll see you next time. Take care. Bye. Bye. Digit is a Persefonica production.