Memory Lane with Kerry Godliman and Jen Brister - S04 E05: Sue Vincent

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

"My mum GASPED in horror at seeing me as that character... But you didn't gasp at seeing my knockers in Shameless... Yor knockers are quite something else..." The hilarious writer and actor @damesuevincent joins us this week to talk about her amazing life, being a red coat, working in a hairdressers, traveling the world and much much more! Jen, Kerry and Sue also talk about Bad Move, menopause symptoms and make-up. We are also asking for you all to DM us a photo from your life and we might choose it for our special 'Listener Episode'. - Send us a photo and description and we'll do the rest! Plus... Kerry's 2025 tour is on sale now - https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/kerry-godliman-tickets/artist/1866728 PHOTO 1: Me aged six PHOTO 2: Me as a Red Coat PHOTO 3: Me visiting Stax Records PHOTO 4: Me in NYC PHOTO 5: Me and the amazing Sally Lindsey PICS & MORE - https://www.instagram.com/memory_lane_podcast/ A Dot Dot Dot Production produced by Joel Porter Hosted by Jen Brister & Kerry Godliman Distributed by Keep It Light Media Sales and advertising enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get full-size favorites and must-have minis bundled for more value. Shop before they're gone. In-store online at Sephora.com. So Kerry, we are going to be doing a listener episode which I'm very excited about. This is going to be great. I'm over the moon about this. I can't wait to see what gets sent in. Well, send in. We'll have to ask.

Well, that's what we're doing. Okay. We're asking. So listeners, if you've got a photo you'd like us to talk about, send it in. Send it in and we will pick the top four. We'll pick four for this particular episode because we're going to do more. And then we're going to chat about them in future. episode of Memory Lane, but we need you to send your photographs in, so please send them in,

DM us directly at Memory Lane, so a direct message to our Instagram account, and we will go through the photographs, pick four, and discuss them on a future episode. Oh, I can't wait to see what gets sent in. My wonder if it'll be bad haircuts, appalling clothes, holidays, romance, I want all of it. Please include a brief description of your photograph as well so we can talk about it. So we have some context, basically. Yeah, man. Hello and welcome to Memory Lane. I'm Jen Bristair and I'm Kerry Godleman. Each week we'll be taking a trip down Memory Lane with our very special guest

as they bring in four photos from their lives to talk about. To check out the photos we'd be having a natter with them about, they're on the episode image and you can also see them a little bit more clearly on our Instagram page. So have a little look at Memory Lane podcast. Come on, we can all be nosy together. I've got my first tour show tonight. Oh, Kerry!

So I am now on tour. Excited. You're excited. I am excited, actually. I'm keen to just get it going. I've been working on it for ages and I've done a lot of work in progress. And I'm quite excited about finally doing it. Yeah. Yeah.

Where are you? Pool. Oh, that's nice. A lighthouse. Yeah. Yeah, lovely. Paul's nice. You'll have a lovely time.

And they will think you're hilarious. I hope so. And then you'll just be in it. And the great thing about your tour is you're like, oh, I can see the end. The end is near. I literally start tonight and you're talking about the end. Um, is that not a focus for you? It's kind of a focus for me.

Now I see the old will be dead soon where that, the origin of that. You're very, you're not in the now, are you? No, I haven't started my tour and I'm already going, oh, well, I'm going, I'll be ending it then. That'll be nice. Right. You might need to work on that a bit. that kind of being present thing, being in the now. That's interesting.

I don't think I've done that before. I wasn't aware that was a thing. Yeah, that's a whole thing. Is it? Yeah, Google it. Google now. Google now. There's books about now, the power of now, being in the now, being present in the moment, all that shit.

Google that. And I'll, and you'll find a world will unfold. And the premise isn't, oh, you'll be dead soon. it's be now be in the now enjoy the now I mean I feel like there's something in that I can't quite put my finger on it

yeah there's thousands of years of philosophy around it I'm happy to explore it yeah yeah but anyway April 2026 that'll be fun and actually I think it's May you'll be really fluent in Spanish by then

oh my God I'm going to be Spanish a go go yeah and Korean and probably I don't want to reach for the stars but let's do this, Japanese as well. I can't wait to meet future, Jen. Maybe I'm going to learn Arabic, actually. I mean, let's go one step at the time.

There's so many different alphabets here I'm going to have to deal with. I don't know if I can. It's a lot, actually. I don't know why we couldn't always stick to the same one. Stick with the work in progress, just for now. Let's find an ending to that story first. I'd happily come to one of your work in progress

because it would take, I should have got you to come to some of, mine. You did try. You asked me to come to a couple and I couldn't. But I've got a couple in store for you, Kerry. And one of them is on the 17th of March in Kennington. Right.

Maybe you could come to that. Very possible unless I'm doing a show. I mean, this is a diary thing that we should send me to deal off right now. You're doing the Apollo, aren't you? I am. That's exciting. Yep, it is exciting. But that's not so, that's not so April 2020.

But that's a big room. So there's a lot of stress attached to that. You know, it's like when they book it in, you're like, oh, yeah, great. And then you're like, oh, I've got to fucking sell those tickets down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, that's April 26. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't live my life that far ahead.

I think that's admirable, but I can't, I can't even cope with, like, the latter part of this year. Yeah, I know, but that's because you're an actor and you've got jobs. I don't. So I'm not... No, I don't have a jobs. I just... I have an answer in that I like the... Let's see!

And mostly it's like, nothing. I know, but there is... But the chances are, so if you booked anything that far in advance, something would happen. Whereas for me, I know nothing's going to happen. I will just be doing stand-up. So I will, I'll either do it there

or I'll do it somewhere else. I might as well just do it there. Yeah, I see. And it's fine. Do you see what I'm saying? I do. Yep. Although somebody contacted me and said,

she said I can't she goes who are you Taylor Swift I've just bought tickets for your show and they're not until April 2026 and I went I know it's an absolute I don't know what to tell you I know I had a conversation the other day with someone that was January 2025 she was like they turned up a year ahead the wrong year for a gig they went to a venue and it was like oh a year early next year yeah yeah I think a lot of people are going to turn up April 2025 yeah what yeah exactly they will You might need to do like a post saying to all people that have bought tickets this next year, mate. I mean, I can't take that responsibility on.

I think you might have to as a care worker and as the, you know, your fan base are like our age, so they're not with it. So you need to. Just a reminder. You just need to remind them. It's 2026. Because they might have like planned it, got excited, planned their shoes, the babysitter, all that. You got to go, listen, guys, stand down. It's 2026.

It's 2026. Don't come out 2025. Because our age do that. They do that. Yeah. You're going to be seeing someone else in 25. Okay, well, I will endeavour to contact them and let them know. And do my due diligence for my aged audience.

Good. Kerry, who have we got on the show this week? Well, I was over the moon because we tried to get her before, but she's a very busy lady. so we finally got Sue Vincent who is the most joyful person I think I know she is such a joy. Yeah and also funny loads of stories

you know what a life What a bloody life but also I would describe Sue as a very funny woman An actor, an incredible writer But also a absolutely blinding rack on turn Yeah she is She really is. The woman can tell her story and you are going to let you want to listen.

She's absolutely brilliant and we had so much fun talking to her. I'm 57 next week right. You see, you don't look it. You don't look it. But it's hereditary good skin. It's my auntie she's got skin. You don't have a wrinkle. And I should.

I really should. But I think it's, without sounding corny, I think it was from the inside. I know that's that. But it definitely. I did a short film that it's a short film on the BAFTA just say Welsh BAFTA

takes a drag with me imaginary cigarette but yeah and I was just recovering from COVID then and I can see it in my skin and my lips and you can see so almost like where I've been ill in the skin

so I made a really like massive effort to brighten my skin up over the last few years and I think it might have worked I am working a lot of therapy Therapy can help.

Weights help, I think. It does help with your skin. I don't know if it helps. It does. It helps with brain as well. What does? Weight. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, yeah. It's cognitive. We have really turned into those people. Yeah. Where we talk about weights pretty much every time we see each other. You're still doing weights? Yeah. What weights are you doing?

I'm doing this. I love it. I just love it. I just love it. I love it. It's changed my life. It's just the senses I would never have expected from beginning. Oh, we're all middle age nails.

These are the things we're doing. It's strength though. And it is about finding things. that keep us strong. I just watched a brilliant interview with, I'm going to forget a name, just forget a name. Well, that's the downside.

That is it. Now you've hit the downside. It's coming. Emma, most famous actress in the world. Thompson? No, yes. Watson.

Thompson. You're a brilliant... Her, always. She'll read. She arrest. Thompson. Johnson.

We called Pierre O'all. Talking about how bored she is with our obsession with our bodies. Oh, she's absolutely bored. And it's. It's so... My mate has a brilliant phrase and it is...

It's the least interesting thing about making. Oh, I know. Do you know what I mean? It's like... Totally. We're all stuck with it, Isabel. I mean, Christ, there was a really funny post... Oh, what's her name?

Jamila... Jamil. She was really... Can we stop talking about Pamela Anderson not wearing makeup now? I mean, it's so fucking boring. Like, pipe down. It is, though, in it.

I haven't worn makeup for about 25 years. Oh, I like to think I'm sort of like, Joan. Collins meets Les Dawson sometimes You know what I mean? That is a vendy. I don't want. Come on, let's just think about that image.

But I'll never, you know, I'll always put their lashes on and put the lipstick on and glam up. But I will also strip it off, stick me there back, you know, for that balance. I do sometimes, like in that short film when the rushes came through the first time, I just recoiled in horror.

And then I was like, what are you doing? But you, I mean, when we work together on bad move, You really like leaning into that side of your... I have no idea what you're doing. I mean, honestly, so... You love it. You loved it. It was hilarious.

There's nothing more. I was the same at drama school. I was always the one of like, I'll be the one with no makeup covered in gravy. She's like, always like that. Yeah, but you're like, if it's funny, I'll do it. It's in the name of comedy. When she was disking in a 70th, digesting.

I have a sick bucket next to me. She had a sick bucket next to her. She wrote Jack D bought me at the end as a rat present. Not a bucket. A hamper of everything I'd eaten throughout. A bucket would have been. A bad move bucket would have been. I remember you corpse in me.

Do you remember we're in the middle of that field and that big fan arrived. And we all had to stand in this line, that massive big fan where it was like a helicopter was going to land. And we all had to stand. had to stand in line for this health and safety chat. And stood next to Gary and the guy went,

and we were like, ready. And he went, now then. This is a very big fan. I could stop. I just absolutely laughed at it. And then the next scene was me stuffing a ham roll into my mouth. Oh, yeah. And you just looked at me, you're going to have to stop that.

We had a lot of fun on that. It was. It was good fun. Yeah. It all seems like the world pre-COVID. It just feels like another... It's like a different world, a different lifetime. Yeah.

It was a different life time. I mean, I remember when you guys were filming that. It was like, that doesn't even feel like I can't even remember that. I don't even know what I was doing. Was it pretty boys? You had the kids. No, I think the kids... Maybe that's why I don't remember because the kids were babies.

Yeah, they were little and then you were in a fog. I wouldn't have remembered anything. Oh, my God. But I actually, yes, I do remember because I remember watching it and being like probably with the babies. Yeah. So, yeah. The first. the Christmas special that came on.

Remember we got a Christmas special? And my lovely late mom, she was very ill. It was our last Christmas, 2018, and it was literally like, and I don't mean this in a dark way because I'd spent a while sort of sitting

and watching it, is she, she, I'm not sure. That sort of. So she was dozing in her chair and the screen came on and my face came on as that character

and she gasped in horror. And I would, I went, I said, did you just gaspin horror? And she went, Yes.

And I went, but you didn't gasp in horror when I got me knockers out and shameless. And she said, your knockers are quite something else. Honest feedback from mum. Yeah, there she is.

That's all you ever want from your mum is they just... I'll never like that. Exactly. It's hockey season and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything. So no,

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Available in Chipotle or ranch. Plus tax at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. Right. Well, I want to go to your photo, Sue, because these are, there's a particular photo that Kerry and I have decided is the best photo. In fact, there are photos that come and gone through the series. But I have to say that this is in the top three. Yeah, definitely.

As soon as I opened it, I was like, this is what I wanted from Sue, Vincent. I mean, that's not the one we're going to start with, but that is the one I want to draw focus. Come on. We'll come back to that one with the eye shadow. So let's start with this one, which I'm assuming is the first picture. Is that?

Yeah. That is me when I was about six. Right. And I have just recently, yeah, look at the hair. Look at the hair. We all had hair like that. Hey? You look at Brooke.

Oh my God. You know what? You realize. I thought that. I do. You know, you like. You know, like. Actually, I'm not sure it's pretty.

I mean, if you were singing, that is... Sherman Beards? When I found the photo, I was like, I ever look a pure? I mean, the dress. I chose that because I realised that my propensity for posing with my arm on my hip obviously started on that age. But to be fair, I've not long since been asked to leave tap dancing glasses

because I had no rhythm. How dare they? How dare they? I had red leather tap shoes. Bloody hell. It's not about rhythm. It's about how you look. I'd only done six lessons.

They said leave. And they threw me out. They asked me to leave. It was awful. So my mum said to me, I'll buy your new dress. And that's a great dress. That is a great dress. I mean, you could.

And also, was that platform sandals? I mean, I'm six for three in the 70s or what? And that would have been polyester. I have you. Silk. What? You had a silk maxi dress when you were sick. I'd be thrown out of that dancing classes.

Something had to be done. You look all right with it though. You look like you're moving on. You look gorgeous. Well, she said to me, what do you want to do instead? And I said, I want to act. I'd seen Pauline Quirk on Junior Showtime. Yeah.

And I was like, I want to be her. I want to be her. That's what I want to do. So my mom sent me to drama classes, speech and drama. and we did like Coral speaking. But the other side of this drama club was they did fashion shows for kids, local boutiques. Where is this? Liverpool.

Right. In fact, and when my mum took me for the interview to this place, it was at the Adelphia Hotel and Liverpool, this drama club. And the teacher who was, you know, did that slightly posh, northern things. Yes. Like talking properly. And my mum, I can remember looking up at my mum and thinking, why is she talking in such a funny voice? and this woman goes I believe you're not been too well lately

and my mum says oh no I've not I've had a very bad back and this time I've had a right bad do which was a euphemism for what a bad do a bad back no euphemism indeed I've had a right bad do

with her back yes she was trying to be all posh oh she was trying to push it up she was trying to posh it up oh bless her so then so they had to do we had to do this child modelling and they put me

my mum I was on my first diet at the age of six, right? Not because clearly there was anything wrong with it, but it was the 70s, mum was part of a slimming club, that's what they did, I was bigger than the other kids, you know. But it sort of screws you up because you shouldn't know how many calories are in an ice cream at six years old. No way.

You just shouldn't, you know? Not uncommon. And women at my age, Vanessa Phelts was talking about it the other week, actually. I never knew what any, I didn't even know what calories were for years. Oh, my God. They never came up. We permanently had in the kitchen, a counting your calories book, you know.

And so you did. You knew what a calorie was and what it was for. So fast forward to this fashion show at the drama club. And they put me in a Holly Hobby T-shirt. Oh, I loved Holly Hobby. That said nobody loves me and a denim skirt. And I had to walk from one end of the catwalk to the other to the hustle by Van McCoy in the Soul City Symphony. It was packed with all the parents.

And it was like modelling for your posture and stuff. I knew there was a Sarah Lee Gatto in the dressing room, right? So I legged it up this platform. Literally went, look at that, look at that. The back into the head first into the ghetto. Because my addiction to food, that's where it started. My attention to food is better, you know? Yeah.

Because you knew it was going to go. You knew it was going to go. I was exercised early doors, isn't it? If somebody had said, oh, that's just, you know, I don't know if it'd just never been an issue. And I'd say, it wasn't, it wasn't. it wasn't badly meant it was just of the time you know and did it follow me and and have an effect for the rest of my life yes it has for sure for sure you know and the sad part is that that little girl is beautiful and perfect and also there's absolutely zero weight to lose where you're going to lose it from your earlobes I mean it's crazy that we um project this stuff onto children I suppose we do it in different ways now but I think it was so of a time back then as well in the 70s you know those slimming clubs was so, I mean, we laugh at the, you know,

little Britain sketches of the fat club and stuff that we've seen in other years, but it really was, it really was. You know, I remember mum taking to the hospital and them saying, oh, she just needs to eat less at mum's home cooking. And my mum say, no, all my other children are thin. And it's like, oh, I heard that, I heard that, you know.

And she never meant any harm. She was ace my mum. But that was always a thing, you know, oh, you got the personality and, you know. And that little girl in that photo, I remember mum walking into the lounge one day and I was sat on the couch with Mikanah Wonkall and reading a book. And she said, what are you reading? And I had a wine glass.

I'd poured the pop into a wine glass. And I said, I'm reading Shakespeare. I don't know where you're from. It's like, so that flamboyance, that creativity was six years old. I was reading Henry the Fourth Part 2. What? I know. Where did you get that?

They have the complete words of Shakespeare. My mum and dad saw I read him. read all of them. But they had it in the house, so that was going on for them as well. They were so well read my mum and dad. I lost my dad when he was 53. And he was just the most avid reader. And he's soaked up knowledge.

And 53 was so young, you know, to lose him. And it was 98. So it was that cusp of the time before the web really took hold. He would have just soaked it up. How old were you then when you... I was 30 when I lost my dad. Yeah. That's still, yeah.

That feels way too soon, doesn't it? Oh, my God. And it's only like, I was saying you guys, you know, I'm 57 next week. It's like, gosh, when you become as old as your parent was when you die, you know. And they were such, my mom and dad was so in love with each other, a beautiful, tempestuous, a passionate love affair. And she never got over it. Really?

Yeah, yeah. And the 20 years, she died on his birthday exactly 20 years later. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they were quite something. Yeah. She was, he was her office boy. That how they met. Is that how they met?

Yeah, he was younger than her. I loved her for that. Yeah, she was, he was just, I used to look at them as kids, when I was a kid and think, I want someone to look at me like that. I was really aware of the look between them. That is a lot to live up too, isn't it? For sure. An overshadowing sort of, like you said, your mum never got over it.

No. And what, so you saying that your mum said, where are you from, as in, like, who is this kid? But is it, so. What did they think about you as a performer or you, your nature? They loved me to bits, but I was always the odd one out. I was always the dramatic one. I was always the dramatic one. I was always the oversensitive one.

I guess looking back now and being able to define it now, it's curiosity. I was all very curious and acting out and playing up and making up routines. And one of my earliest memories was watching Pans people, oh, girls, on top of the pop. But I put a swimming costume on a pair of wellies and tied to tablecloth around me because I thought I look like one of Pans people I didn't realize the objectification of women was so

Although the episode Have you ever seen the clip of Pans people On top of the Pops? You know the Gibberto's song Get Down? No Well I told you once before And everyone thinks it's about a dog It's not, it was about a stalker

It was about a woman who was stalking him a little bit Oh, okay. But they misinterpreted it on top of the pubs and had these six fat Labradors on. And the dancers were dancing around these Labradors. They couldn't have had six stalkers. That would have been. Baby Rainies.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but these Labradors just fuck off every now. And again, it's really worth a watch. Yeah, I'd have to take that out. It was obviously in your bones. I mean, like, anyone that spends longer than a minute in your... company, Sue, knows that you have to be a performer. How dare you? What do you mean?

So, I mean, it's not like you went late. You were still in your 20s, but you know how I feel like a lot of the time people get in quite early with drama school. What were you, what was the sort of catalyst for you to go, right, I'm going to do this. Okay, so 16 years old and I left school and I trained as a hairdresser. I can't, sorry. I can see it. Maybe the chit chat.

If you ever need. The chit chat, yeah. I was always covered in hair paint. I would like proper messy, but I was good. And I think I won a Perman Award once, she said casually. But yeah, I was very good. But I had this sort of like, right, I'll gain this drama through the back doors going in as a makeup and hair. That was the idea.

Okay. The commonly known route is through hair and makeup. That is a thing. Spreeleberg. There's many big names of coming through hair and makeup. Piece of piss. So then I got a job. Once I qualified, they asked me to go and work at Pontins as junior manager of a hairdressing salon on camp.

Not even Bartling. When I was 18, oh, we'll move on to that's coming. Okay. And I was in Pontons about 20 minutes in this little salon just like wide-eyed away for a whole summer, 18 years old. And I'm like, and I met my first three gay men. They minced into my hair cell. They were all blue coats. 12 blue coats, 11 of them were gay

And I was like I met my tribe Who the hell are you? And that was it And so at the end of the time I literally Why hasn't I seen this sitcom? Oh you will

Oh yeah I mean this has got to happen It was brilliant actually Because they used to do You know the blue coat show At the end of the week Yeah yeah Because they were all gay

And it was 1986 So Dream Girls Was on Broadway So the soundtrack of Dreamgirls We were just all obsessed with it and campers' tits. And at the end of the week, the Blue Coat Show, would be all the queens doing dream girls. And all the holidaymakers just loved it. And remember thinking at the time, God, you never get some of these working class, you know, not just working, but men who would never go into a gay club.

But you're ostensibly watching drag. Yeah. And you're not associating it with any sexuality. You're just watching people be brilliant and hilarious. We even acted out. It was the year Fergie got married. And they all dressed up as members of the royal family and stayed in character all day. And the guy who played the Queen Mum was just pissed.

By the end, it's just different. It was so much fun, you know. So at the end of that season, I applied to become a Butlin's Redcoat. And then I went to Skegness. Are you a red coat in this? Or is this something else? No, that's me as a Butlin's red coat. Oh, yes.

I just want to talk a lot about what's going on here. Do you want to know the history of the hair first? We've got to do that. Let's go from the top down. I was obsessed with Tina Turner. Why wouldn't you be? I mean, and I went into the salon on centre and I said, make me look like Tina Turner and that's what came out.

I just love it though. I'm going to need a bit more help to get the complete Tina Turner look. I'm roots in about half an hour. I mean, is that film where someone goes into a hair salon and holds a picture up of a lady. die. Mr. Ben, no. Oh, and they go, yeah, sure.

Yeah, they give them something completely different. Yeah, yeah. It's one of those, I think it's Rita So, Sue and Bob, too, or one of them, like, classic. She's like, all right, love, and just does a lady die. I really, really fancied myself. A lot of people would have gone in for a full Tina. Come on. Meanwhile, Tina's just got a wig.

She's like, I'll just put it on. Yeah, it's not even my hair. You don't have to do it on your real hair. Do you know what it is? It's the hair, but also. Come on. You can mention... The eyeshadow.

The eyeshadow is everything. But also, because... Take it up to the eyebrows. Take it up to the eyebrow. My mum, who, you know, doesn't have blue eyes, or didn't have blue eyes, had brown eyes. She would wear this insane blue eyeshed. It really only works if you got blue eyes.

And it only really works in the 80s. Come on. I mean, it doesn't work outside of any other decade. On nights, Anne-Lort, you would do the rainbow effect as well, different colours. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. In fact, when I saw rainbow effects, like as a kid,

seeing an adult with the rainbow effects, eye shadow, it was out of this world. It was extraordinary. It was like, like a unicorn. What's going on here? And like saying, Mom, why aren't you doing that? I have four children. You just don't see eye shadow like that.

Why are we taking it up to the eyebrows anymore? I mean, to be honest, that is very neat. Because the possibility for chaos in the eyebrow, I mean, can we zone in on? When I feel it's very, it's very well done. It's well done, Sue. I'm quite impressed with myself. Look how many how much eyebrows I've got?

So how old are you in that picture? 19. So what you're saying? Ninety. That's the thing. When I look at pictures of me in the 80s with my perm and my blue eye shadow, I look older than I am now. Oh my God.

It's such an unflattering sort of style. The amount of times I used to like it, get those old photos. It's weird choosing the photos. But I'm looking in a box of photos. I'm not looking for ages. It's like I did look older then than I do now. Yeah. I mean, the makeup style was not flattering.

What is it about that makeup style that ages as an individual? I don't know as a foundation as thick. Well, it's shampoo and set. I trained. If any of you ever need an 80s blow dry, I can still do that. I can see a world where I would need an 80s blow dryer. I haven't got any hair I mean, I used to work in a hairdress

a Saturday girl and I had the time of my life I mean it was the best fun It's a wider passage I've done the Saturdays I had so much fun we used to like I used to neutralise the perms which you'll know all about because you've got a certificate

and he sweep up the hair and make the tea and I had such a laugh with this going of girls I used to love doing the rollering up on the old ladies with the shathinger the little risler at the end of the

papers on that yeah and I do passing up Kel can you pass up like oh God having a fact. And then you're passing up is you'd have to literally hand the roller to the stylist because they can't reach

that far to get the roller to the roller to be able. So you'd stand there passing up and that was a job. And you had to stand and watch the man they did it so you learned. Because one day you might be a stylist. But the performance was there

because I remember when it was hair dressing I was always the one like if they had a fashion show had choreographed the routines. Right. All that. Yeah. Do the impressions of everyone in the sound.

I would love to be a choreographer for a routine. For batlings. Are you joking? Honest to God. What a laugh. Oh, yeah. I mean, it wasn't camp at all.

This is the thing I love about butlinz is what you were saying before. And there's a real tradition in Britain about having men dressing up as women. So like you were saying, it's a drag show. But they would go like, I was just like pantow or it's just like, you know, there's a real tradition. Like Les Dawson does it. You know, like, Malcolm and Wise do it. I was famous like, isn't there a Rolling Stones album cover with the dressed as women? It's a real British.

It's a British tradition of like, you know, the less. men dressing up as women, not necessarily drag, but men just dressing up as women. It's funny, the Les Dawson thing. Nobody ever equated that with sexuality, did they? It was just him and Roy Barrelclough being two women. Two women. That's the big they cast women. They'll have to get men dressed as women.

Let's not get home to that. You're like, oh, but there are people that can be as funny as that. And they're women. Exactly. But no, let's get a bloke to do it by all means. But how long did you do Bucklings for? I did, but oh my goodness. I am...

Which ones did you do? I did Skagnes. Did you? Yeah, Skaggy. And I was the year, so the year I was there was the year they were trying to change it to from Heidi High. You weren't allowed to say Heidi Hi when I was there. If you said Heidi High, you got sacked, it was a sackable offence. Why?

They were trying to make it new and cool, called Fun Coast World. But they just put tinfoil on a few things and done up one of the bars and that was it. The old butlins were still there. Yeah. And did you used to go to Boutlings then? Yeah, I used to go to Boutlins. We went to Boutlings and Pontins when I was a kid. I mean, the party dances, you've literally, it was like they shoot horses, don't they?

You know, you just fucking aga-do. And we made up this dance to star. Checking across the universe. On the Star, my God, it's on with Captain Gork. Star, check it. All that. Oh, my God. This is a real trigger fest.

I thought it was always going forward because we can't find reverse. Yes, that's the second verse. I was at the second last. And black lace, a lot of black lace. I saw black lace live in witness. And are you going? No. But we all did, all the chicken dance.

Do you remember the chicken dance? Chicken dance. Yeah. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na. Oh God. Man na na na na na na na na na na. Oh God. We even had words for that.

What were the words? With a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And shake your ass down to the ground. That's why. That's why the kids used to see. Pompetans when I was their dressing, they used to do the whole good night. campus. In fact, we did that of Butlins as well, yeah.

Is that dirty darting, they do that? The end of dirty darting? That's the, that's the Kellermans. They're their sort of American holiday resorts in the mountains, aren't they? Very similar to that set up. That kind of setup. Do you know what, though? I think, I think Butlings, I've always said, I'd put people to work as a holiday house as a right, as like national service for social skills. Because it teaches you to be able to communicate on every different level. I mean, we're really annoying. One of the duties, they used to call it swanning. what's swanning? You've got to go and stand at the, walk down the breakfast queue saying,

good morning, good morning, good morning. Oh my God. And if it was someone to. I'll come out. You couldn't have made her do that. Well, if it was your birthday, Jen, we would have made you stand on a chair and the whole down your room sang happy birthday to you.

That happened. Fortunately, my birthday's in February. You lucky girl, preseason. Yeah, preseason. It does sound like an incredible thing. It was right. And the age that you were. And the boys, you always falling in love with someone left, right and centre.

And at the end of the season, I was always very dramatic about people finishing with each other, you know, all that. And at the end of the season, they have these like joke awards. And I got awarded the first prize and then we won't make a drama out for crisis competition. The only thing more powerful than a girl's girl, a girl's girl with a law degree. All's Fair is the fierce new legal drama about a team of iconic women. Women and Friends, created by Ryan Murphy and starring Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Nisi Nash Betts, Tiana Taylor, Matthew Nosska, with Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close. All's Fair premieres on Hulu on Disney Plus, November 4th.

Hit pause on whatever you're listening to and hit play on your next adventure. This fall get double points on every qualified stay. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. Maybe It's Mabelene is such an iconic piece of music. Hit the track. Everyone in the studio that I worked on this jingle with

all had like childhood stories or memories. Yeah, it worked. Around either watching these commercials on TV or sitting with our moms while they were doing their makeup and it became really personal for us. Let's go to your next picture. Let's have a look. Okay, so is this your next picture here?

Is this the one? Oh. How old are you there? You look very young. That was only... When was that? So that is... Where is it?

That's Memphis Stack Soul Museum. And I chose that one. This is, so this is about nine years ago. Oh, right. Really? Yeah. And a mate of mine said to me, would I want to come to be his travelling companion

and go to Nashville? And Nashville isn't somewhere I choose off, destinations to go. But you are a music loon. So it's a pilgrimage for you. Oh my God. Well the minute he said that I was like, right, we need to book stacks. Because I knew, you know, because basically the museum

is the best soul museum in the world. So basic, so Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, Aretha. And they were all, they were all recording that. And then when the riots happened in the 60s, early 60s, they got all the stuff out of the museum and kept it in storage. And then when the time was right,

they've built this museum. Yeah. And so, but the difference is you can touch everything. And in that photo, I'm leaning on the speakers that Sam and Dave recorded, Hold on, I'm coming. Hold on. Which was just too much for me. Yeah.

And what was amazing as well, because I love it. I love it around the UK. When you're in a UK sitting, you'll see a sign going, Jimmy Engick's played here. Marvin Gay played it. It's like, what's that about? Mail all that handwritten soul tour writing. and pen and stuff on the wall.

I was in that museum about seven hours. I never spent as much money in the guest shop. But like you say, touching things and just being like, I can remember when I was about 11, I was taking to the hard rock cafe for a birthday tea. And you just can't believe that these are the guitars that, you know, it's like, oh my God. It is dead exciting.

Yeah. It was just life enhancing. And in my complete contrast, we went to Graceland's. Right. The following day. You know what? I didn't feel it. I know I didn't feel it at all because I wanted somebody in an Elvis suit taking us round.

Right. I wanted to hear his music. And what it is, you all get a headset and then everything has been canonised. So here's a one centimetre square section of Elvis Presley's belt. You are? Yeah, I don't want to look at that. You know what I mean? Once you've got past the down in the jungle room and all the stuff that's still there,

I remember I wrote something for Ted Robbins going back and Bobby Bull. all about two comics who got stuck in the toilets at an Elvis Presley conference. When you flushed the toilet, it went, oh. In the research for that, I discovered that in Elvis's bathroom, they've still kept his haemorrhoid cream. Why would you do that? And the only person to ever sat on that toilet since you died is Nicholas Cage. Oh, he's in a Elvis loan, isn't he?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did the Jenny Cash Museum, which was incredible. And my favourite thing in there, even though... Because his famous house burnt down. Didn't he burn it down? I think he might have done for insurance. Oh, okay. But they had some of the, like, the wall in there.

But next to that was the Johnny Cash machine. And what's that thing? He did a thing for a bank where he was the Johnny Cash Machine. So it's a picture of an ATM and even leaning on an ATM. Do you need some money? I need some money for the Johnny Cash Cash Machine. Yeah. And above that was the Patsy Cline Museum, which was amazing.

Oh, my God. One of the best nights I've ever had is going to see the Patsy Cline tribute in the West End. Shut up. And I remember we were quite near the front and I turned round and it was just a sea of women dressed as Patsy Cline. But they all, go back to Les Dawson. They all had their legs a bit of Kimbo and I could see all their knickers. It was all these Patsy Cline knickers. But it was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Oh, my gosh. Those tribute shows can be. Nashville itself. Oh, my God. I saw him. The Tina Turner one going back to Tina. That one in the West End is... I'm going to see that.

Oh my God, it's so good. Unbelievable. We were up. By the end, we were just up. It was one of the best tributes I saw was when I was staying up north. My mate took me to see. Hey, Sue, there's a David... I'm a big David Bowie funners, you know.

There's a David Bowie tribute on the working men's club tonight. I'm up for that. And he came on and he opened with Queen Bitch, my favourite David Bowie song. And I was like, wow, he's good. man. Right. I mean, he was brilliant and he was word perfect as well. I'm a bit anal about that. And when he finished, he went, are you all right? So the Fleetwood Mac one, that is, I chose that, yeah, because that was the night.

We were going to see Fleetwood Mac at Madison Square Garden. Is this the same friend that you went to Memphis with? Yes. Yeah, yeah. And we... When was that? That must have been quite recently. So that was 2019.

You sent me that afterlife picture of you in Times Square. So I was just going to say it. I walked into town. So I'm in New York for the first time just feeling like I've arrived home. I couldn't love it more. And knew we were going to see Fleetwood Mac, but we've gone on the stay out. We've gone into Times Square. I bought that, the coat I'm wearing.

I love it, by the way. Cheers. She's called Carol. I bought it from this boutique. I said to this mate. Was that in Greenwich Village? Yeah. Loads of those vintage stores.

I said, where's all these vintage stores I've seen in Sex and the City? I need to go. Went in there and I saw that in the window and put it on. And this woman goes, we buy it. the fucking cult lady. I was like, it's $200, you know. Anyway, I bought the coat.

But I felt like I was I felt like I was putting New York on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just like, proper wore it. And we'd gone to see Fleetwood Mac and it was amazing. And then we went to the Guggenheim.

And we sort of wandered into the Guggenheim, not knowing what exhibitions were on. And we had one of those where you know you buy multiple tickets. And it was like, oh, it's the Hill Marath-Klinter, who's she? And the first thing I saw was this wall full of giant paintings of colours. And they look very Andy Warhol.

I was like, who's this? You know, I know me, what's that? And she predates all the surrealist painters. Yucandinsky, she was first, basically. But because she was a woman, she was shunned. And she kept stuff in the attic. And then when she died, her, I think it was her son, brought it out. and this excerpt, this was the first time

anyone had seen in Elmarav Clint. So it was staggering. And then as we went up, the spiral, so this 2019, we didn't, we didn't know whether Madame Blanc had been commissioned at this point. It was imminent. We get to the top. And as we get to the top,

and she used to do, like, automatic drawing the circle of five women. So they'd close their eyes and they'd draw paintings and write things with their eyes. Like proper, like meditation and channeling. Yeah. Then I got to the top of the top of the top. floor. There's about six photos and it was like, well, that's clearly dark side of the moon. That's clearly the mod target. You go, oh my gosh. So they've been, not only as she'd been

nicked off from the surrealist, she's been stolen off by modern art claiming that it was really indicative of how women are shunned when they've done it first. It was really moving. So got back to London and I'm ranting like this to Sal and she was like, right, we've got put that in an episode. That's going to be an episode and we did. I think it's episode two. of the first series of Adam Blanc, we have a Helm Rath-Clint stolen. Yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing.

Wow. I love that. That journey starts on those moments, you know, that that creative process and those light bulbs. And you could feel it. I did walk into the Robert Mablethorpe room and there was a giant painting of a beautiful man with a very elect personage.

And I said, do you do that in a postcard? I'll take 12. So let's go to your next picture because this is when it did happen. So the same year, and it was so hard to choose for it. It was the same year in 2019, I went to California, did the big sir in the autumn with the same friend. Right. Which was just again, life change. When my mum was ill, just going back to my mum, I said to her, when you're gone, I'm going to take your ashes.

I'm going to throw you around the world. And she was like, how are you going to do that? I went, I don't know what I am. So on those trips, I chucked her off the top of the little bit off of a, a third. the Empire State Building. And then in California, I did the Golden Gate Bridge, the ocean at Monterey,

the ocean at Malibu, spread around the world. Oh, wow. Yeah, amazing. Anyway, so we get to 2020. So 2019, we got commission, and then complication

after complication, it was finally all locked in. Right, we're doing this. Sally had been on one reiki over there, on her own with the producers, and she rang me. And because we've been, we obviously set in France,

but we couldn't film in France for various reasons. So we needed another location and Channel 5 said try go try Malta. Quite a lot shot there, isn't it? But what's the problem with film? Sorry, this is money.

Is it too expensive? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Oh, nice. You get tax breaks in Malta, you know, and you can use that. They're just so well set up. And also as a canvas for locations,

it's just incredible. That's why I load of big features. Right. You know, you can make it. It looked like anywhere. And when Sal landed on Malta, Sharon Marring him and go, it doesn't look like France.

So we're fucked. What we're going to do? And they went, no, no, no. Wait a minute. She throws me back half an hour late. She went, I'm on a ferry. And then she lands on Gozo and she rings me back crying and going it. It looks like the South of France.

Wow. So we got commission. And then we both go over. That photo that I've chosen us was both on the very first record together. And Salad walked around there because it's her creation. She's created the world. So she knew the church she wanted an ad. She knew where she wanted the pub to be.

She knew the whole vision. It was dead exciting. However, in the background, you had this woo-woo of COVID. We knew something wasn't right. And we were sat in this restaurant doing notes on one of the episodes. And the waiter came over and he went, ladies, there's no toilet roll in the UK. And he gave me some napkins right. So I was like, right.

And we flew back with the last flight bag. It was rammed. The airport was empty. You know that weird time when we flew back. Got back to the flight. It's like, what are we going to do? That's it. We've lost it.

You know, it's gone. We were so close. Anyway, we got ring fenced. Channel 5 looked after us, told us it was going to happen. And we just had to sit tight and safe. That's quite unusual because a lot of stuff just disappeared. We were, the stars were aligned. You know, we were so lucky, Channel 5, look after us.

And then, you know, onwards and upwards sort of like now we're the four series. On season four. I mean, like, it cannot underestimate how popular this show is. And as I said to you, when I was in America, someone saying to me that their favorite show was the Madame Bronles. I said, I was like, I know the writer. And I suddenly became like a celebrity. I was like, I don't believe this.

It's just like, I mean, the worldwide thing, you know, the fans, it's huge in South America. Oh, God, I'd love to see myself, do it. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's happened in Spanish, great. Imagine, Jen. I mean, just, it's just like, it is really. It's every dream come true and more as well.

And the whole crew, you know, we've had, we're lucky. Me and Sal have written 27 episodes now together. Oh, my God. Just us, you know, we're the writer's room, just me and her on the Zoom. So much work. But it's like an out-of-body experience. We both look at each other when we get to the end. How do we do that?

This has been so lovely having you on. Honestly, it's been an absolute bloody treat. And if you haven't watched Madame Blanc mysteries, where have you been? It's huge, you know, apparently. It's absolutely enormous. You watch it in South America. I'm Max Rushden. I'm David O'Darney.

And we'd like to invite you to listen to our new podcast, What Did You Do Yesterday? It's a show that asks guests the big question. Quite literally, what did you do yesterday? That's it. That is it. Max, I'm still not sure. Where do we put the stress? Is it what did you do yesterday?

What did you do yesterday? You know what I mean? What did you do yesterday? I'm really down playing it. Like, what did you do yesterday? Like, I'm just a guy just asking a question. But do you think I should go bigger? What did you do yesterday?

What did you do yesterday? Every single word this time I'm going to try and make it like it is the killer word. What did you yesterday? I think that's too much, isn't it? That is, that's over the top. What did you do yesterday? Available wherever you get your podcasts every Sunday.