Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - DIG IN: Would You Risk Your Relationship For Your Business?

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Jo and Zoe agree on one of life's biggest modern-day annoyances, share a brutally honest chat about swimwear, and help a florist decide whether going into business with her husband is the best arrangement. Watch or listen now.LISTING ON SPOTIFY? VOTE FOR US!We’ve been nominated in the Listeners’ Choice category and we’d love all our diggers to vote for us! If you’re on your mobile - click here - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX74ZgzrlyH29?si=gQnhQXxwRp6raOwn5libsQ&utm_source=whatsapp&pi=Ch3Ra0dWQ7GYW GET IN TOUCH📧 Email us: [e-mail]📱 Text or Voice Note: 07477 038795💬 Or tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp:⁠ ⁠https://wa.me/447477038795SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORSThis episode is brought to you by Panda London, Costa Coffee and L'Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluron Tinted Balm.🐼 Panda London — Make hot nights more comfortable with Panda London’s beautifully soft, breathable and thermoregulating bamboo bedding. Head to pandalondon.com and spend over £50 to receive a free Bamboo Eye Mask with your order using code DIGIT.☕ Costa Coffee at Home — Start your morning with the same great Costa taste you know and love, now in your own mug at home. Costa's new Everyday Instant Coffee is inspired by their iconic Mocha Italia blend and comes in three varieties: Smooth, Intense and Decaf. Available in selected large format supermarkets across the UK, subject to availability.💄L'Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluron Tinted Balm - Ready for a new era of foundation? Discover your perfect shade of the New L'Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluron Tinted Balm online or at your nearest Boots or Superdrug counter.CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanProducer: Harriet Thurley & Samantha PsykAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyVideo Editors: Cameron Laird, Alex Bell and Jack Whiteside Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up on Digit. I wish I could accept my gorgeous body, by the way. I tried on swimwear this weekend. Oh my God, it's so depressing. So men and women are like running along and they are jiggling, like men's willies are jiggling, women's breasts are jiggling. Oh, it was just so glorious to see. When did it become acceptable to watch or listen to your phone on a plane without earphones?

This is happening more and more on trains too. It makes me so angry. All of that's right after this. It's a Monday morning. I'm here. So Joe's here. Hi. I'm just looking at my list for, this is very, very quick back funeral reference. I'm looking at my list of studios on my phone for today. This is must take mum's walker to the burial site so she doesn't fall in. What would dad like to wear in his coffin? These things that you never ever think about in your life. And when someone says, what would Martin, what would dad like to wear? He could either wear his own clothes or we have some silk robes. And, And I looked at each other and went, oh, silk robes. What colours have we got on offer? Wow. They were like, well, we've got dark, blue, light, blue, pink, purple.

He can have anything he wants, really. We were like, no, I think jeans and a t-shirt will be absolutely fine, thank you. He'll be much more comfortable in that. Yeah, I think so. If it was me, I might say kids put in the silk robes and feathers and the whole shebang. Oh, wow, bless. But I want to know from Diggers, have you, what have you dressed your loved ones in when you have that question because I didn't even know you got asked that question. But has anybody got any funny stories

relating to funerals at all? Please, can we go there? What have you got your loved ones dressed up in? Is there anything in particular an outfit they wanted? Did you put anything special on the coffin? Because we were thinking, I've been to funerals where they've done really lovely things. We've got flowers and I was like, well, should we just have a load of optics on top of the funeral, like the coffin? Because my dad loved to drink. So we have like a bottle of wine, some glasses, a bottle of whiskey, something like that. I'd really like some really funny dark funeral stories, please. There are lots of funny stories around funerals. So do share because it's the gallows humour and it's what gets you through.

And whenever there is sadness, there is also laughter and there are also daft things. And yes, the ridiculous questions you've been asked or the things that have happened when you've been dealing with what Joe's been going through. Do share with us, you know how to get in touch. We've had a question from Esme, Jo. She says, I've recently started my own floristry business. Oh, I love it. I absolutely love the creative side of it, designing wedding flowers, working with hotels and restaurants,

and seeing everything come together. The business has really taken off, which is amazing. Well done, Esme. The problem is I'm drowning in the admin, quotes, invoices, accounts, bookings. It's all piling up and I'm spending more and more time behind a laptop than working with the flowers. My husband has very kindly offered to go part-time in his own job to help run the business with me.

Brilliant. On paper, it sounds like the perfect solution, but I'm a little bit torn. I love being married to him, but I have absolutely no idea what it would be like to work with him. And I'm slightly worried we'd end up driving each other mad. Joe, I've seen that Steve, disco Steve, is really involved with your work and your live shows. What's it actually like working together? Have you had to set any boundaries? Or are there any golden rules that make it work?

And Zoe, could you ever work with a partner? Or do you think some relationships are better kept out of the workplace? Love to hear your thoughts before I make what feels like quite a big decision. Thanks so much from Esme. So, Joe, what's it like? Yeah, no, that's a scary thing to decide upon, Esme. And I hope it goes well. And I think with Steve and I, you probably have gathered over the year that we've been doing this.

So we, you know, neither of us have ever had a plan in our lives who just muddled our way through. And things have happily turned out really very, very well indeed. We did a gig of wilderness recently. And my favorite moment is when we were walking along and a whole bunch of people just shouted out and saw him. And they were like, it's disco Dave. It's disco Dave. And Steve was like, they've got my name wrong. How could they?

It's Disco Steve, everyone. Maybe we should get some merch. Not Dave. Anyway, so the way it kind of happens, Steve has definitely got a business head, and I have no business head whatsoever. I've fallen into what I do, my job that I do.

And it just seemed to make sense rather than paying somebody else to manage me, for Steve to manage me, because he's really good at that kind of stuff. And it's always worked really, really well. Because when you're in a relationship, you can be brutally honest with each other. Obviously, with that brutality,

that comes hurt feelings. And sometimes, you know, we can really, really, hearse each other off and really annoy each other. But then also that honesty has its benefits as well because you don't kind of, you know, be it around the bush. You just tell each other how you feel and you can work things through together. When I do, I think it's been most testing when I've done my live gigs because I get really nervous when I've got a live show, which means I get quite uptight because that's how it manifests. My nerves just manifested me being really uptight and wanting to be

on my own and not talk to anybody. I want things to be absolutely right. Steve, is really good at that, but I am aware that I take things out on him and I hold my hands up to that and he's very kind that he puts up with it. And he panics, right? He always panics because he wants things to be right and he's obviously scared of things if they don't go right that I'll get really cross. They'll get it in the neck. I think he'll get it in the neck. So he's always like, you know, super, super, super panicky and wanting things to be right. So he's kind of quite comical. I think if you saw us in the hour before I went and did a gig, you'd be laughing your head off at the way we both are. But then when a gig, you do a gig and I can. And I can, you do a gig. And I

can turn around, I can see him side of stage and I can smile at him and I can pull faces and there's just this lovely feeling of euphoria that we're a really good team. When I come off stage or in the car going home, we are a really, really good team and you have that benefit as well. So you share that. So there's the, there's the tension, but then there's also the amazing release and the feeling of accomplishment between the two of you. So yeah, Esme, I'm sure you'll argue, but ultimately I'm sure you'll make a really, really good team because you know each other inside out, you know each other well, you've both got strengths, and you can play to those strengths as a partnership together. What about you? Have you worked with anyone? No, I did. Norman I never worked

together. I fact, I used to drive his poor team mad because it'd be like, oh, God, the wife's here with all her friends being like, way, having a lovely time. I couldn't work with my partners. I think it's the difficult thing that, you know, you, one of you has to be really patient and children, well, can take all that stuff. I think Steve is so perfect for that, isn't he? That he knows what you need the most. He knows how to tip her around you and make sure you've got everything you need. But also, I love that. I was just thinking of you two driving home from a gig thinking, oh, you too.

Because I do think you and Steve are a couple's goals. Honestly, your family are an amazing gang. and I know you've gone through a lot of stuff together, but wow, you are a strong team. Yeah, but he has been incredible, yeah. Yeah. So, Esme, let us know how it goes. I think you should go for it

and just show each other patience and love sometimes and it's okay to get grumpy with each other. Just have corners. Come back together. On the subject of nostalgia, this is Sarah who's been in touch. She says, hi, Zoe, hi Joe. I had to message after that person who spoke about longing

for the past and the old memories. I felt every single word of it because I've been there too. For ages, I couldn't stop thinking about the before and wishing that I could rewind life. Oh my God, Sarah, this is me as well. But then Sarah says, I flipped it. I realized, isn't it actually a privilege to have memories so good that you long for them? That's proof that something beautiful happens. So now instead of sinking into the sadness of, oh, it's over, I tell myself, Don't be sad it ended. Just be glad it happened. It's become one of my biggest coping tools.

The past isn't to wait anymore. It's a gift that I got to experience. I just want to share that in case it helps someone else stuck in the same loop. Love your podcast. Sarah from Wiltshire. Sarah, thank you. That's a really good thing to do, to reframe the way you see things,

the way you feel about things. So I'm going to take that away from you as well. Very, very wise words indeed. Can I just mention a couple of lovely people who got in touch this weekend, a lovely lady called Deb who wrote me the most beautiful message that made me cry. It was about my mum and about life and Deb it meant so much to me. And also another lovely lady and I'm not going to share her name because I don't know whether she'd want me to share her name but I know she loves cats and she's going through

treatment at the moment and she's got a long road ahead of her but she is a digger and she listens and I just wanted to send her so much love through your treatment. You know, the things we, Joe and I both get loads of messages on, on Instagram and sometimes you can see it and you get a bit of time and you can read through. There are lots that you don't get to see. So if ever you've written to us on Instagram and we don't respond, just don't ever take it personally. It's just that sometimes, you know, you get loads and then they back up and you, you might not ever see them. But I do try sometimes to respond. And I, it's, it's, you know, It's amazing.

Yeah. Just know that it really means something to us. We read them all. We genuine, both of us read them all and they mean the world. Yes. It's just sometimes, isn't it,

when you hear people who are listening to the podcast and they're going through stuff. And that is part of our beautiful community. So yeah, we hear you and we see you. I seem to have met a lot of people recently who watch, listen to the podcast or the dog walkers, the people who are pottering around. I met a lady called Bernadette on the bridge,

a latitude. And she was so, kind about what we do with the podcast. And so many people are, they just say how it means something to them, just see their life reflected back at them to know they're not going through all this nonsense on their own. There are other people there. And there are so many of us experiencing the weird and the wonderful and the glorious and sad. And we're all dealing with it in our own way. But Bernadette was absolutely lovely. And she was quite overwhelmed with emotion. And it was just so, it was just the kind of her to show, to be so raw and to share what was going on her life and what the podcast meant to her.

So Bernadette, I just want to say hi to you. And I often ask people, their names when I meet them and I'm so sorry I don't remember all of them. But we really appreciate with both of us. I know we do. All the messages you write and all the words that you share with us whenever we meet and the hugs that we get and the tears that we shared and everything. It means so much. It just makes this podcast worth doing. It really does. We'll be back after the break with your menopause song suggestions. This is going to be fun. So diggers, a while back, we asked you for your menopause song suggestions for our menno playlist. And as always, Diggers, you did not disappoint.

Jan suggests bitch by Meredith Brooks. Oh, that's a proper one to rant to. Melanie's gone for Life as a roller coaster. You just gotta ride it by Ronan Keating. So bloody true. And Jenny suggests, Days and Confused by Led Zeppelin. Yes, please. I love the Zep.

So many songs apply. I love this one. This is Claire, who suggested, heaven knows I'm miserable now by the Smiths. Perfect. Oh, Claire, I hope you're all right out there, girl. That's brilliant. Tiffany suggests I'm Every Woman by Shaka Khan for the liberation that it brings us,

saying what we think and knowing ourselves and accepting our gorgeous bodies. That's what that's all about. Yes. I wish I could accept my gorgeous body, by the way. I tried on swimwear this weekend. Oh, my God, it's so depressing. It's that time of year again, I know. I hate it.

When you get on holiday, you don't care. No. It's just the bit before. Because we get bombarded with swimwear on our Instagram and our social media all the time. And the women on there look sensational. And then you try the costumes on and you're like, oh, for fuck's sake, this is, I'm not that body. But latitude, I watch the naked cricket that goes on every year. And there's loads of streaking.

Oh, my God. Brilliant. So men and women are like running along and they are jiggling. Like men's willies are jiggling. women's breasts are jiggling and there are all shapes and sizes and everybody just, oh, it was just so glorious to see all these amazing bodies are all so different being celebrated by just running around with loads of daftness. It was brilliant. Where is the naked cricket? Is that a wilderness? Wilderness. Yeah, every year. They have these people who do the commentary are fantastic. They are

so funny and they have the teams that are all dressed up in ludicrous costumes and they, it goes on for about three hours and just every so often a bunch of streakers or a soft or a We'll just run around the cricket pitch and they will do a commentary about that person. But yeah, it's just that thing of people's bodies. I was like, God, I'm really enjoying seeing all these bodies. Yes. Because they're all so different and varied. And everything wobbles and jiggles and different shapes and sizes.

Really loved it. Loved it. Brilliant. If you've listened to this and you've got another song suggestion for us, please send it away and we'll add it to our Menno Play Spotify playlist. And we'll add a link in the episode description and it will be on our substack to. So any songs that you think are particularly apt for anybody. approaching going through past menopause. We want to hear it, please. We'll add it to our playlist.

And then we can all have a good old soundtrack. Yeah. And if there are some boys listening, maybe they could send a suggestion as well of what it's like to live with someone go through the menopause. Because boys, we do hear you. And I know it can't be easy for you all all the time. Being like trying to support your women through this time. Another slip of the tongue, a few weeks ago, Joe, school teacher Tash told us about her hilarious chrysalis, clitor Mix up. Oh, that's slip of the tongue, yeah. Well, Marty's been in touch with his own aversion. Following on from your previous diggers, clitoris in the classroom faux par, about 25 years ago, I was teaching English as a foreign language in a language school in Spain. And one of my classes

was about 20 young Latin American ladies from Colombia, Guatemala, Peru. One day, we got to the section in the book where I had to start talking to them about the yellow pages. Now, kids listening, ask your parents what they were, but at the time they were very important. So I said to them in English, do you have the yellow pages in your countries? And they didn't understand. And they said, oh, ask us in Spanish, please, Marty. Now, my Spanish wasn't very good at the time, but I thought I'd give it a go. So the correct way to say, do you have yellow pages, is tenets, pachinas and marias. But what I said was very similar, tenets, vaginas, amarias, which means.

means do you have yellow vaginas? Now the whole class absolutely erupted into laughter. They were shrieking and wailing and there was makeup running down faces, absolute chaos. And to make things worse, the walls between the classrooms in this language school were partitioned with glass walls. So all the other students and teachers from the adjoining classes came rushing in to see everybody was laughing out, but out and joined in. I had no idea what I was saying until somebody told me later on. Anyway, thought you might like that. Love the bod. Keep up the good work. Thanks. Oh, we didn't like it. We loved it, Martin. We love that story. Do you have yellow vaginas? Oh, my God. Can you even imagine? Oh, lost in translation, absolute genius.

That's probably made my face sake. Thank you very much. We do love hearing from the guys who enjoy the podcast, by the way, because it's not just about the girls here. It's really, really, it's for everybody and it's lovely to hear from you as well. So Marty, thank you very much indeed. And we have a rant hotline because sometimes, you know, you're just like fit to burst. So you just want everything, just wants to explode out of your head, sending it to us and then we can share it with everybody else. So our rant hotline is open for you at all times. Lear has been in touch with her peeve and this one is for all the pedants out there. One of my pets, one of my rants would be people that say 110% or 1001%. It's 100%.

100% is the whole of everything. Yeah, it really grates on me. My amazing hairdresser Joelle is, the first time he said it to me, he was like, I think I said, oh, is it going to suit me when I get my hair cut? And he just went, 100 million percent, 100 million percent. And I loved his delivery so much that I now copy him and I say it all the time. But I take your point and I shouldn't be saying it. I should just be sick into 100%.

But it makes me laugh. It is 100%. And no more. Yeah. Get it off your chest, though, like it. Another rant comes from Celeste in Redditch. When did it become acceptable to watch or listen to your phone on a plane without earphones? A couple of weeks ago, I came back from an evening flight from Egypt.

Very nice. There was a lady watching a film, Full Blast. No earphones. And around 11 o'clock, then at 1 a.m., the child behind started playing games on an iPad. Again, no earphones. The mother sat with a child, not saying. a word, I kept turning around and doing the glare. I can feel those eyes burning into me right now, even imagining it. All I wanted to do was relax and sleep on my flight home. This is happening

more and more on trains too. It makes me so angry, Celeste, I'm with you. Thanks for the pod as a 56-year-old woman. Oh, you're 1970 like me. It's so good to hear that I'm actually normal and love all your menopause and beauty tips. Celeste, it makes me so mad too. And I do it. And I do it. on the train. I do the glare. I do the glare and I do the turnaround and the glare on an airplane. It's like, guys, just get headphones. It's so selfish, isn't it? It's so rude. It's so rude. I cannot believe that people think it's okay to do that. I get it on the train a lot, a lot. I'm just like literally walk past them and just, yeah, do the Paddington-Best air. It's so unbelievably rude. I'm that far away from just saying, right, can you just put your

headphones on or stop that now? Oh, we know. Please, please do that. On a plane, you can't move, can you? That's the annoying thing. No. Aren't they going to ban that on planes? Didn't I hear somewhere that some airlines are going to ban listening to things without headphones? I really hope so. I really hope so.

Dear EasyJet, dear Rainer, dear British Showways, dear Jet 2, please go. So the rant hotline for all your rants. And we like hearing your voices as well. So if you just want to let off some steam on our rant hotline, please do. Send us your pet peeves. Or you can just dictate it and we'll read it out for you. you. It's 074-7-0-3-8-795. That's 0-74-7. Oh, they've taken the number off the screen. I'm never going to remember that. 07-4-7-0-3-8-79. Don't test me. Well, that number just rolls off the tongue.

Okay, diggers, that's it for our digging this week. Thanks. Send us your questions. Send us your peeves, all that kind of stuff. And yeah, have a lovely week. Enjoy your week. And we'll see you next time. Lots of love. Love you, Joe. Love you. Bye. Digit is a Persephonica production.