Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S12 Ep 6: Reggie Yates

Episode Date: November 17, 2021

The man that does everything!! This week we welcome the wonderful Reggie Yates to Table Manners. Reggie talks to us about his West African heritage; his mum’s Ghanian cooking - we all want a bit of her special peanut soup - his love of apple crumble & growing up in north London. We chat about his wondrous career; from hosting radio shows in his bedroom aged 10, to becoming a TV and Radio favourite & now writing and directing his first feature film ‘Pirates’ (out now and well worth a watch!). Reggie we absolutely love you ! Enjoy! X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here at my mum's with baby on bosom and I don't think we want to know the graphics. He's thinking why is my mother moving her hand and shaking me about it's a milkshake going on here. Darling I can't believe that we've had to add another date in London at the London Palladium. Oh, come on, Mum. You know the people are getting what they want and there is high demand for Lenny Ware. Oh, stop it, Jessie. All I want is to come out on that revolving stage where Bruce Forsyth used to circulate with the Tiller Girls when I used to watch it when I was young. Do you think they've still got the revolving stage, Jessie? I don't think so.

But I will say that it was hysterical. When I did Jonathan Ross last week, Mum came to watch with my auntie. And I don't know if it was more because I was singing with Kylie Minogue or because Paul Hollywood was the guest, but she was there. And the cameras went on Mum because they knew Mum was there. And someone actually squealed in the audience oh my gosh wow get used to it lady because this is what's going to happen on tour you may get panties thrown at your mum jock straps anyway yes so we're going on tour thank you to everyone who has bought tickets already and that's a lot of you

seeing as we're doing a second night at the palladium thank you so much i can't wait We're going on tour. Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets already. And that's a lot of you. Seeing as we're doing a second night at the Palladium. Thank you so much. I can't wait. Now we better start booking the guests, Mum. I can't wait either, darling. Who do you want for the guests? Well, Barbara Streisand.

I don't know, in these times of COVID and the fact that she's Barbara Streisand, whether she would do the live shows, I'm not sure. Okay, I don't want to show bias about anyone anyone from man united maybe we could get them from manchester or the england football team okay anyone from that fine i'm slightly in love with jamie dimitri so i wouldn't mind having him yeah stath let's flats i'm very excited about today's guest jess pray do tell why rasta mouse i don't know if he would like to be known as just there's many more accolades that we can give this person pops yeah rasta mouse yeah fantastic documentaries radio one disney club and rasta mouse well and also now a feature film director writer extraordinaire and just a nice bloke. Can't wait to see this film.

Yeah, we have Reggie Yates, who is on the podcast. He also has his own podcast, but he's coming for breakfast. And I'm very excited. We've been chatting about him being on for ages, but I feel like this is a perfect time to speak to him about the film, about his very, very illustrious career. So, because I nearly have a kitchen, so we can start doing that.

However, who knows what the acoustics will be like because it's a lot of glass, Al. So that may be a problem. Oh, we might have to put mushrooms up like the Albert Hall. Oh my God. Can you imagine little sound things? We're going to have to work something out. We'll have to do it here.

No. Anyway, I can't. What do you mean no? We're not. Okay, you do the cooking i can't wait to cook again i'm sick to death i have to say what the best bloody investment i ever bought was that sage mini oven it sorted me out for the two two years i know it's been anyway anyway i'm nearly gonna be able to cook so that means no more coming here no more you

getting angry with me when have i last been angry alice and i are looking at each other right now darling it's because you're untidy and you never help okay let's not get into this right now as we look at my peloton that i need to get back to my house right in front of me all right so what's on the menu today well you've told me what to make jesse it's just that you weren't here to make it. So I've made braised leeks with zata and eggs, which is an Otto Lenge recipe. It's in the simple recipe book.

In the simple cookbook. It's got a new book coming out, hon. And actually, it was pretty simple. For Otto Lenge, it was pretty simple. I decided I'm going to adopt a new way of cooking. Oh, yeah? I got everything out and had it all prepared. Like you were in, like, this morning?

Yeah, and had it all prepared and then put it all in. I always like those, I mean, that's always the thing about when you're watching this morning or you're watching Sunday brunch, all those little bits where they have, like... It's like Blue Peter, all measured down. Yeah, I like it. Really excited to have this gent over, and he really is a gent. Reggie Yates coming up on Take One. Yeah, I like it. Really excited to have this gent over, and he really is a gent. Reggie Yates coming up on Take Moms.

So we finally have Reggie Yates in Mum's Kitchen. So excited. I was like, whoa, that was slick. Oh yeah, sorry. Amazing, I didn't even know we were going. You've got things to do. You know, we've know we were going. You've got things to do. You know, we've got things to eat. You've got things to chat about. But anyway, thank you for doing this.

I'm sorry that it wasn't nearer to where we both reside. We're kind of neighbours. Yeah. We're like, we're not that far from each other. But yeah, I'm a bit disappointed that I had to come along with it. But I'm really happy that I'm here. No, it's fine. Listen, mine would be a bombsite.

Tis a bombsite but it's a bombsite but yeah how's your like community spirit in your area it's insane like um there was a street party on my road last week like bunting was up the whole show yeah it's proper like community and a mutual friend of ours steven yeah pro green like he lives about 10 doors away from me so it's just really nice like i'll get a knock on the door in the morning and he'll be like you're all right reggie and he'll sometimes drop pizzas around when he's coming back from his restaurant and it's just really nice like i'll pop in his and see the baby i got a little delivery boy um i got a pizza delivery once and it was just

so sweet you get like big tall gorgeous steven turning up to like give you an explaining the ingredients it was kind of unlike any pizza hut delivery i've ever had to be fair really nice and um my friend p who has like an amazing uh business called trap fruits he lives just around i've heard about trap fruit perhaps is amazing you should get one actually is it is it in our area then yeah that's where he's he's a broccoli boy what is it it's a fruit and veg delivery service but it's uh i mean what's tropical fruits so you get tropical fruits custard apples in there like really cool fresh papaya that's their usp it's amazing yeah it's a mate of mine that does it it's pretty special fantastic but yeah he's around the

corner so like i was just walking to the sweet shop the other day and he was having a run and i was like go on p keep going i want to know what you're getting in the sweet shop because reggie i know your body is your temple so what pick a mix yes and no but i've got like a terrible sweet tooth like i'm really really bad so i'm getting better at it now like one of my biggest cheats has been this like flavored sparkling water so i drink this sparkling water you're really pushing the date i thought you were you were going to say like Crumble Mania, which is what I was ordering on fucking Uber Eats during the World Cup. It tastes like a soft drink, but it's not. And there's no calories, no colouring, no nothing.

Why do you have to watch your... You look fantastic. I take it very much. Is that because you watch your figure? It's not that. It's not figure. I just never... Figure.

I think you'll find it is. I'm quite curvaceous. It's not figure. So I just never... Figure. I think you'll find it is. I'm quite curvaceous. I never really started all of the naughty stuff when everyone starts the naughty stuff.

So I never started drinking in my teens, never started drinking coffee, never smoked, never took drugs, whatever. And then suddenly you're in your mid-20s and you've been going out for a decade and you don't need it. So, you know, now I'm in my late 30s. And you're laughing and looking glowy. I don't do any of that and I don't really it. So, you know, now I'm in my late 30s. And you're laughing and looking glowy.

I don't do any of that, and I don't really need any of it. So it's just kind of become a bit of a lifestyle thing now for me, really. And I try to stay away from things that I know are bad for me, you know? So did you ever eat meat? I did, yeah. I'm West African. Like, you get born and then get handed a drumstick. Like, it's part of the rite of passage. In fact, like, when I was a kid,

I will never forget actually, one of the traditions at my gran's house, my gran used to, she used to host Christmas every year. And what she would do every year is literally without any sort of cutlery or a knife or anything, she would rip by hand the turkey leg off.

So it would be massive and like big and just rough. And she'd give it to the youngest kid and no matter how young the kid was they'd be given this thing so it might be like a one-year-old or it could be a five-year-old depending on where we were as a family at the time so if the kid was young the kid's dad would obviously steal it but it was like a real sort of tradition in our family so I mean Ghanaians meat's just it's everywhere it's in everything you put meat in your cornflakes when you're gardening so so let's talk about yeah family what you're one of seven uh one of eight one seven we're blended so i'm i'm one of seven in a blended family got it

and to be really transparent like a papa wasn't a rolling stone he was a boulder so there's there might be a few more there might be a few ways a very sexy musician my dad so is he yeah yeah what's he play everything so he's one of I think like eight boys or something like that um there's like a lot of them the sexy yates boys there's a lot of those guys and um yeah he was uh he like imagine this guy with like an amazing Burt Reynolds mustache and eight pack and like a hairy chest in the 70s and 80s. Like he had a lot of fun, my dad. So yeah, he's a musician.

And so who was cooking? Was it your mum or your dad? Well, they broke up when I was quite young. Sounds like his dad was busy. Yeah, dad was quite busy. Yeah, they broke up. They got divorced when I was quite young. So I grew up with mum cooking.

And it's really weird. Like, I'm not just saying that because it makes sense for this conversation and this show. But music and food have always sort of gone together for me. I've spoken about this quite a bit. Because my mum used to keep like this. I'll never forget. It was like this massive grey Sony ghetto blaster above the cooker. And it had like, it was so well used and bad.

It had no cover on the tape. So you used to literally have to push the tapes in. And on the radio dial, she used to mark her favorite stations, like WNK, which was a pirate in North London at the time. We grew up in Holloway, Holloway in North London. So she'd mark that. She'd mark Kiss. She'd mark all these different stations that she loved.

And she'd cook while listening to music. So it was just covered in like oil and stew splatter and all the rest of it. So she cooked a lot of stuff mum when i was growing up and what was your favorite dish mum liked to mix it up uh so she would obviously cook lots of ghanaian food because she was born there and came to the uk when she was i think 11 or 12 um but she also loved to make a roast and i love my mum's roast potatoes i still do to this day well um she sort of puts them in the colander and smashes them about

so they get nice and fluffy and then puts the goose fat or the oil or whatever it is. So they're just like super crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's just, yeah, it's just perfect. So I don't know much about Ghanaian cuisine. So what would be like a typical Ghanaian dish

that she was making for you? Meat and rice. That's it. No, so like lots of stews uh like as a kid i was sort of um i was tasked with my big sister to make solutions which is what my mom called it which is essentially the base of most garnier and food so it's like in a blender you sort of create your stew uh which is uh what do we put in there we put in like dried shrimp scotch bonnet garlic onion and then your

plum tamas and then you've got this stew which is a dried shrimp so you use almost like a seasoning kind of yeah like a flavor yeah like you'd have it on um pad thai yeah yeah yeah but you blend it in so it'd be like a like a almost like a really nice flavor sauce kind of yeah but way more sort of all authentic in a lot of ways so you were doing this like what after school you'd be getting scotch bonnets out like how old were you like i want to know i mean we started i was doing chores from quite a young age against west african family from a young age you're ironing your mom's clothes and all the rest of it so like my sister and i would take it in terms of like we had like a rotor inside one of the cupboard doors which was like

washing up or like making the solution for the stews and my mom would come in and make the stew and all the rest of it yeah so she'd make anything from like a spinach stew on top of that and all different so you start with solution but then do you boil your do you cook your onions and then cook your meat and then add the solution on exactly so the solution is just the sauce really basically yeah it's like a more thought-out sauce than yeah obviously yeah i love that it's not a lloyd grossman yeah prepared pre-made yeah did you ever ask your mom for a lloyd grossman absolutely pasta thing or chicken tonight do you remember when chicken tonight who doesn't remember chicken but like would your mom have just been like occasionally

we'd get like crispy chicken dippers or we'd get like you know like a spaghetti or a pasta or something like that but generally it was west african food most nights but i this is the thing like i mean i love stews i used to love it when you do a chicken casserole i mean it wasn't like a staple it was kind of something that we'd have every other week or something right but if i suggested to my children that we were going to have a spinach solution with like, I mean, they tell me to piss off. And I know it's because it has, I need to follow Reggie's mum's, I need to have that bloody roto going. It's called acquired taste, darling. You gradually acquire the taste.

Did you, did you love it from the first sight? Oh my God, yeah. So like you, you're obviously having this stew with like rice most nights. Cause again, we didn't have much when I was was younger but we made do with what we had so you'd have all of this variety of stews that mum would cook and then you'd have it with either like yams or you'd have it with plantain and it'd either be fried or boiled so you'd have like green plantains or yellow plantains and you cook them differently or you'd have it with rice or you'd have wachi which is like wachi is kind of like so west ind Indians have a version of basically rice and peas,

but we call it wachi. So what's the bean that they'll have in that? So it's like a black eye bean. Okay. And you sort of cook it together and it's just so tasty and way better than rice and peas. What's the seasoning that you would put in that? Because I know that in,

well, I'm probably going to get like thyme. Thyme and coconut. But, do you put coconut in? My mumme and coconut. But, um. Do you put coconut in? My mum would put coconut, yeah, water in it. Was there any other seasoning in it?

You know what? I don't know. I don't remember. Because that's one thing I don't cook. Do you cook it at home? Well, I cook, the only thing that I've cooked from my mum's repertoire, shall we say, is like a groundnut soup, which is like, it's almost like a peanut butter soup. It's the most lush thing in the world. And you have that with a, we call it mutua, which is like it's almost like a peanut butter soup it's the most lush thing in the world and you have that with uh we call it which is like rice balls and that's just like the tastiest most

nourishing thing ever and it's really simple like i was shooting a documentary in um in ghana actually quite a few years ago um about these kids that were called the burner boys so young guys that would uh uh basically burn any scrap metal they could find to get to the copper inside and sell it and they were like living in islam in really terrible conditions but i lived with them uh and as with a lot of my documentaries i do them with a guy who's one of my good good friends now sam wilkinson i'm actually um godfather to his his little boy, little Teddy, yeah. Oh, there was a picture of little Teddy the other day.

The most gorgeous kid. Anyway, Sam and I went all over the world together making these documentaries. And one night we decided to go for a walk in the slum in Ghana to try and find some food. And they were making it on the street. They were making peanut soup and amato. And he was like, am I going to i gonna like it reg cut to 10 minutes

later he's licking his fingers going oh my god why have i never had this delicious it's like the most tasty thing in the world ever we need to make that it's incredible i think your kids would like yeah this is like peanut butter yeah it's basically like peanut it's like hot peanut butter with rice and you dip it in and it's just the taste i don't really know where to start with you reg because like we saw you on screens when we were little and you dip it in and it's just the taste is the best. I don't really know where to start with you Reg because like we saw you on screens when we were little and you and Firm were doing your thing and stuff and then you become like

the really handsome Ross Kemp, no offence, like doing extreme Russia, like you know you do all that. Now you're a writer well you've always been a writer, director Rasta Mouse My favourite You know what, I've never shown my kids well you've always been a writer director Rasta Mouse my favourite you know what

I've never shown my kids that I need to show it get them on it it's the best do you still do it or not no no no it's one of those shows where you sort of do a block

and it just shows for the rest of your life there's nothing you can do about it it's like Sam and Sam God bless Rasta Mouse pretty much yeah just with better music

you do everything you have a podcast you have initiatives like you are doing everything like my grandma would say in your spare time you're a teapot but but I know Pirates is coming out and that's probably what the main focus at the moment kind of yeah well um it is the main focus from here on so I'm writing and directing now which is crazy and really exciting so about

10 maybe 15 years ago I started writing quite privately and quietly and kind of scared to share with anyone. I'm sure like when you were making music for the first time, there's that thing of sharing your thoughts with other people. It's really scary. And eventually I got brave enough to share a script with my team and they were like, this isn't crap. Congratulations. And then I kept on writing, finding different mentors. And fast forward to today, I have my first feature film coming out in November. So what's it about?

Pirates is about three best mates driving from North London to South London on New Year's Eve 1999, trying to get into the best party ever. And it's essentially about friendship. It's about getting the girl. But also as a young kid from North London who grew up in the late 90s, 80s and 90s, UK garage music is the soundtrack and it was also a way of life for us. And weirdly, this film will be the first feature film, will be the first film ever really, that throws a time capsule around UK garage music, which was a small moment in time,

but it meant so much to so many people. And if you think about subculture in the uk we've had so many things that talk about ska or punk or mods and rockers but we've never had anything that talks about this music and it was such a formative era for me as a kid that used to be on pirate radio before i found my way to radio one this was a moment from the way that we spoke to the way that we dressed to the music we listened to. So how do pirates dress? That's the brilliant thing about this. Like the film, it has all the nods to it.

Like me and Sam were watching it and it was like, oh yeah, the knockoff of Izu. Like it's amazing. All these little, like it was like, oh yeah, that was like that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You explain how they dress. Well, no, I'm interested

because you watched it with your boy, right? And we're a similar age. So what did you guys pick out in terms of like the clothing and stuff? I think think i think or the bits that you remember from the era it was like the the girl the main girl being like j-lo like all my pride is all i have she's like that like totally got like the total look and like the avizu knockoffs i love that avizu i remember that that was what was the logo it was like a squiggly line. It was a squiggly line. And then we got knockoffs in, where did we go?

Penang. When were you wearing bloody movies? No, for Alex. In Penang, I think. What were we doing? Oh yeah, we were in Penang. We got all knockoffs there. It was when the DVDs were getting burnt and stuff like that.

That's amazing. I'll tell you what you would love. So the big climax of the film, the boys are going to this nightclub and they're head to toe in like Italian designer clothing, which aren't knockoffs because I don't want to give it away, but that's to say they acquire them during the process of the movie. And it's all Moschino. It's Iceberg.

It's Gucci. It's Versace. It's all that Patrick Cox shoes. Totally. Well, it's like Titus. It's what Titus used to wear. Like the total, like. Do you know Jack Pignotti's brother? Oh, it's like Titus. It's what Titus used to wear. Like the total, like...

Do you know Jack Pignotti's brother? Oh, no, I don't. I know Jack, but I don't know his brother. Jack Pignotti's brother, Titus, was like our garage DJ. He was jungle DJ, but also garage. He worked in Paul Smith at the weekend. Oh, wow. But he did this radio station.

What was when we first went to Claire's in Blackheath was he on Cool FM? I don't know and he said bigot up for a lady like Jessie that's mum's entry point into Garage I met you through Jack when you were singing backing vocals for Jack

that's how I first met you Reggie's like I swear Reggie you do everything you even shot me in Paris You were like Hey I'm in Paris Can I come and take a photo Of you backstage

Like you literally Do everything Well I I'm trying to do less I think Well I had a conversation About this Literally last night

Why Well I'm one of those Sorts of people Who's always been interested In just the arts And being creative And expressing myself

In different things Yeah genuinely I went to art college And all and also you went to art college i did yeah yeah i went to campwell art college but prior to that it was just the thing that i do or go to to escape in a lot of ways so you know the estate that i grew up on wasn't the best so mum wasn't really into the idea of me playing out so i'm playing out that was like such a big thing as can i play out no so i would lose myself in film or i would lose myself in comics or i'd lose myself in art and i'd lose hours just watching movies over watching ghostbusters over and over or drawing my own comic or hosting my

own radio shows in my room i'd have two ghetto blasters i'd turn one up that'd be the song i'd turn it down do a link and then turn up the other and I was like 10 you know so the arts have always been a place of escape for me so now today as a as a writer director I feel as though I'm getting to use all of those skills amalgamated and I'm trying to do less and be kinder to myself and focus my energy on the right things and it's interesting like all of the skills that I've accrued through radio through documentaries through art college or whatever they all help film because Pirates has a massive music element to it you know yeah it starts with an easy like it starts with the yeah it's like you're in it straight away and it transports you so that's what's so exciting I love that you're starring in it well they're all new actors did

you like them yeah they were amazing and particularly one of them i feel like i've seen in something else or how would i have never seen him in anything they've all had little bits and pieces in stuff but they're gonna all go on to do great things so elliot was in small axe you might have seen him in that's where i saw him yeah okay elliot's awesome and jordan was in like blue story and redder was like he's been in a bunch of stuff between the wires like they've all done bits but they've all done bits, but they've all got massive stuff coming now. And once the world sees them in Pirates,

it's going to be amazing. I'm just really excited because I remember being an actor in my teens and wanting to audition for films and never getting those castings because they just weren't roles for, you know, young black guys. Three leading black men that are not playing, it's not Top Boy or, you know, and I think that that's what's really important that you're presenting i think the really important thing on that point is that those stories are valid because you know growing up where i grew up that was the reality for some

kids but similarly it's not the reality for everyone you know for someone like myself yeah i might have went to school with a bunch of kids who have maybe ended up in jail or worse but i still have a group of friends that I've known since I was 10 and 11 years old so I'm even younger and that didn't happen to us because we didn't want that for ourselves and this film focuses on the kids that kind of want to go to university and that are obsessed with music not the streets and they're obsessed with the girl not the guns and I just think that there are so many different ways to tell a story about inner city London and the way that I'm telling this story just hasn't been told before

and it's both a beautiful but kind of sad thing all at the same time I mean the fact that like one of the opening shots is like he's got his little sticker of University of Hull and like he wants to break up with his mates and say he can't be the manager of the what's it the ICC ice cold crew yeah ice cold crew and it's like because he's actually really loving uni and he's really kind of knuckling down and it's like that's i i loved that it was really warm it was it resonated it was kind of that's cute it's really charming and i think i mean these boys yeah they're they're great their personality they shine and so it must be really exciting for you to kind of be mentor not mentoring them they're kind of they're my little brothers now yeah i'm like i just love them to bits and i'm just like

i said so excited for the world to see their work because like after here i'm going to a screening with a bunch of press and i'm going to like introduce here and there's going to be like exhibitors there and all the rest of it and just knowing that all of these people are going to see this little film that we made that almost didn't happen because of covid you know we got interrupted mid-shoot uh through the covid pandemic how long did it take well we weren't scheduled to make it for a very long time because there's only you know there wasn't much budget there's only uh there was only a small pocket of money but then covid hit so we had to stop with like nine ten days left so we were scheduled to shoot for like 30 35 days or something like that.

Fuck. What a short time to make a film. Low budget British movies. Yeah, not a lot of money. So I'm just really proud of the fact that not only is it going into cinemas, but also, you know, the distributors and financiers are really proud of it. And, you know, everybody's really pushing it. So then what happens,

so do you want to just keep on making films? Do you feel like, I mean, it's a huge deal to make a feature film. Yeah, well, yeah, it's kind of cool. But do you want to do, do you want to keep on doing the documentaries? Do you feel like this is, you just want to focus on this a bit more?

Yeah, do you know what I say? Like I said, I feel as though film is the first thing that I've done that gives me an opportunity to use all of the things that I've learned over the years um holistically and I mean you'll know there is nothing more fulfilling than having a kernel of an idea at dinner or on a walk or through a conversation and then a year later you know you're at a show and for me it's I'm at a screening and you've got strangers enjoying this thing that once was a tiny little idea.

And then literally hundreds of people have come together to help make real. And then suddenly you're sharing it with the world. It's just so fulfilling that I feel like this is my future. I mean, Pirates is out in November. But even though that's the case, I'm writing the next film now, which isn't a follow up to Pirates. But I'm writing my next movie now because we're doing the deal for the next one. Do you think it will be internationally appealing hopefully I mean it's a very London centric film and it was written that way we are doing the deal now for international and then

we'll do a streaming deal after that so international audiences will see it but I really feel as though this is almost like my love letter to London and I just want it to really work for the people that see themselves on screen plus uh launching and helping to really give a platform to those young talent there in it I mean so I need to know how your mum felt when she saw you on tv when you were when you were little because you were little how old were you I was eight when I started like eight yes yeah I was eight so I've been showbiz for a long time showbiz and no one even calls it that anymore it's hilarious I want to know

how did that happen and did your mum was it kind of nice for your mum to know that you were channeling energy into something that was

earning you money that you were creative you know rather than playing out she didn't want him playing out yeah exactly

so I started out in a local community drama group called anna share and i was talking about the same as daniel are you made i know daniel daniel's in one of my short films yeah yeah because your story sounds almost exactly the same his mum sent him to anna share to avoid playing out if you're from the area that we're from so daniel's from camden i I'm from Islington, so they're neighbouring boroughs, right, as I'm sure you know. If you're from Hackney, Islington or Camden, you'll know about Anishiaa. Like, it started in the 80s, I believe, maybe the 70s,

and it was a community drama group that cost 50p when it started. It was £2.50 when I went, and there was outrage when the prices went up 50p. Like, absolute outrage because it was mums on benefit sending their kids somewhere that was a safe space so in my class you had a ton of people that have done really well like Naomi Harris was in my class and Zowie Ashton and Zowie for instance she and I did our first ever job together so she went to the same primary school as me she's from Stokey

and she's a year younger and we both did Desmond's we played brothers and sister brother and sister in Desmond's when I was uh I was very little yeah and I got to row with pork pie and do all these bits and pieces on that show and it's funny because mum was incredibly proud she was really really happy that my showing off was paying off in a weird way um but also like I'm from a very grounded family where getting like getting big-headed just wasn't even in the equation so it was sort of like oh mum when I was like 12 or 13 I was hosting Disney club I was like oh mum I interviewed the Spice Girls today she was like oh great I gonna do the washing up and it was just that kind of thing of I like in hindsight I could see what she was doing because she just didn't allow me to get a big head at all so mum was massively proud and you know for me to have a bank account with money in it

and to be able to save and be able to like if there was a school trip we could afford to send me suddenly um but she also wanted to make sure that I didn't become a douchebag and hopefully I haven't we haven't we've always stayed the same. So, okay, let's talk about food because... I'm going to make some in a minute. Oh, yeah. Do you want to put it on? Yeah, I'm going to.

We feel like basically, we've essentially done intermittent fasting. What are we having? Because you've not said. No, we haven't said. Mum, do you want to say or should I say?

Well, you're a pescatarian. Which sounds ridiculous because I would have got punched in the face at school if I said that out loud. Were you a pescatarian then? No. because I would have got punched in the face at school if I said that out loud. Were you a pescatarian then? No. No.

Your mum wouldn't have allowed it, right? Not at all, exactly. Like, I ate all the meats. Like, we used to flipping walk to Dalston and go to the meat market and bring it back in backpacks with tinned tomatoes and stuff. Like, when we didn't have a car, we'd carry the meat on our backs. Like, meat was such a huge part of my formative years. But I became pescatarian well i became vegetarian about three or four years ago yeah why i was at dinner with a group of pals

yeah um one of the guys at the table was a carla and he bought a friend with him and the guy that he brought to the table was a guy called coop and coop just spoke spoke about his relationship with food. Is he a vegan? Well, he's lots of different things. Like he's a water faster, he bounces into fruitarian. Like he does lots of... Sam, I swear we'll know Coop. Coop must be like... Coop's amazing. Okay, really?

Yeah, so he's like, he used to do like these workouts in the park and then he became like a food expert and he's just this incredible specimen of a man. Anyway, he spoke about his relationship with food and just the way that he spoke about health and fitness and its relationship with what we consume wasn't preachy it was just very matter of fact and i'm like the most typical bloke i'm just very simple if you make it logical i can't argue with it and he just made it really really logical and that was the last time i ate meat and that was like four years ago at that dinner i literally stopped halfway through

my meal and then i just couldn't do it and then um went veggie for three four years and then as of may of this year um i went pescatarian because i just wanted to have a bit more protein in my diet and also mix up what i was cooking. Yeah, right. Okay. So, well, we're not doing fish today. Okay. But we're doing... So, I... Because I...

It was my idea. Yeah. And it's a really simple one. It's really lovely. Because it's quick and simple. Good. It's otolenghi braised... I'm in.

I'm in already. Braised leeks with... With spinach. Good. And then you break eggs in the... So they're like kind of baked eggs. it's a bit like a shakshuka yeah with leeks but with zatar and zatar and better it's really lovely love it it's light you can either have it have it with bread to mop it up or you can just have it on its own

and it's just like it's really nice sounds good it sounds like a shakshuka like you're right yeah that's one of my specialties so anything like that what do you put in your shakshuka, like you're right. Yeah. That's one of my specialties. So anything like that, I'm good for. What do you put in your shakshuka? I don't know, it's just... Do you do a halloumi one? I sometimes drop a bit of halloumi in, but the main thing is just making sure there's enough eggs in there because I want a bit of egg in every bite. How many eggs do you... So I use the big pan. You garcon, do you have like eight eggs?

I try like six minimum. Fuck off. Come on, but you want to have a bit of egg in every bite. Mum, get some bloody eggs on. I've got extras. God, do you really? Because that's, you need your protein. I do, yeah.

And I just feel the difference when I don't really have it. Aren't you backed up after six eggs? No. Well, do you know, that's why I had, I haven't got high. Let's talk about our bowels for a second. No, I haven't got high. Are we all backed up at the time? No, I haven't got high cholesterol.

But I think I have slightly raised cholesterol and I don't have a lot of fat or oil. Do you think it's for men? I think it's because I have eggs every day. Oh, right. Yeah, no, I can't do it every day. I think I have two, at least two eggs a day. I know I'd have them.

So does Nigella. She has a poached egg on my toast every day. And I live by the, you know, Nigella way. So anyway, okay, so that's what we're going to have. Cool. So it's quite light and easy today. I can do some halloumi on the side if you want. Yes, please.

Would you like that? Who doesn't love halloumi? I love this, Reggie. Yes, good. Eat, yes. Whilst mum is cooking, whilst mum's cooking things up, thank you, thank you. 300 for Reggie. We ask every guest what their last supper would be. So you've got a starter, a main,

a dessert and a drink of choice oh my god can be from any you can you can mix it up you can have a breakfast for your starter you can do whatever amazing okay um start or i'd have um a breakfast as you said that do you love breakfast i love breakfast i love breakfast and you know we spoke about it but i love shakshuka it just makes me so happy it's just like it's like stew it's like it's like a big stew

it's a solution of sorts it's a solution exactly there's no blender but it's tasty as hell and it's full of flavour which I love like I love it

when you get like some smoked paprika on the top and it's just got some flavour to it that's a great starter okay I'm cheating

I'm having a breakfast starter that's fine bit of avo on the side fine bit of sourdough fantastic time lovely do that as a great starter. Okay, fine. I'm cheating, I'm having a breakfast starter. That's fine. A bit of avo on the side, a bit of sourdough. Lovely, lovely. Do that as a starter. So main, it'd be my mum's jollof rice.

Really? I love, and for anyone that doesn't know, jollof is, It's fabulous. Yeah, it's a West African dish, but it's like, the point of contention

for a lot of people because pretty much every West African country makes it. So how is yours mum, how is the Ghanaian jollof rice? The best? How is it the best? Okay, sorry. Is that mum how is the ghanaian jollof the best how is it the best okay sorry okay yes is that what you're gonna say is it the best it's the best okay i'll tell you how it's the best and how it's way better than nigeria for a start we don't

use dati bullet rice we use like really nice basmati so it's like nice and fluffy long grain got it gorgeous um and yeah like we use uh bell peppers so it's quite sweet in the solution so you put bell peppers in the solution so it's quite sweet and i won't give away my mom's secret sauce but there's a few things that she adds that just make it amazing do you cook the rice in the solution or do you cook the rice in like water and salt and then you add it to the solution no it's cooked in. So it's basically a cook through paella. That's the best way I can describe it. So you all cook it in, as my mum would say, potagum, shugum.

That's like tree for put it in the pot, throw it in the pot. Potagum, shugum. So it's like put it in, pour it in. So yeah, you basically put it all in one pot and you cook it and it's just delicious. So yeah, mum's jellof would be my main. Can you make it? I can. Yeah, I perfected it over lockdown.

So she taught me through it and I also learned how to cook her peanut soup as well. I thought the peanut soup would be in there actually. Yeah, I mean, it's a close second. Okay, well, have it as a side. Okay, well, I have it as a side, yeah. A side on my main. I'll have a little bowl of peanut soup

and then I can, yeah. Would it be your mum's or that Burner um one on the side of the uh road okay so you referred to a nigerian one so it's definitely gonna be my mum's i'm so sorry yeah it's a bit apologies bit of a point of contention okay fine but was that a good one on the side of the road yeah but just not as good as your mum's yeah yeah fine but sam wilkinson liked it sam wilkinson fine okay and the, see, as someone who doesn't drink, you just, it's not really...

You don't drink at all? At all, no. Not even champagne at weddings. Have you ever drunk? No, never started. There is one time I've drunk in my life and there was a lot of witnesses who have different versions of this.

So a group of us went to Miami for New Year. My boy Twin, my friend A-Side, Fern, a bunch of us, we all went away and um a couple of nights before new year's eve um was all sat there we went to craig david's house on new year's eve right this is the miami penthouse right this is that room we're in miami a couple nights before and we're at the sushi restaurant and i went everyone around the tables know me for years and i was like i think i think i'm gonna drink on New Year's Eve and it was like baby stops crying plate smashes like what so anyway it gets to New Year's Eve and it's like 10 minutes before midnight and I've not

had a drink yet and um uh Craig has a bar on I don't even know if he's I haven't seen Craig in years but um he had like a bar on his penthouse thing and so everyone was getting drinks born to do it was a big big deal so yeah lots of ballooning on lots of uplights yeah um and uh everyone was getting drinks at this outdoor bar or whatever and i was and it got to 10 minutes before and twin who is now uh responsible for a lot of things killing it he's a record executive he's an md he runs his own record label shout out to oto and def jam um he was like reggie hasn't had a drink get me a drink and so they had 10 minutes to try and get me no did they like dentist chair you uh white wine red wine shots brandy everything everything they could find they're putting down my throat what do you think happened you threw up nothing happened jesse what nothing i just it was

are you even real i did see my theory is that it's so pure that it just went through and it didn't didn't even touch the sides i didn't throw up i didn't get a headache i mean i feel that that was very mean of your friends your best friends to do that to you because actually you could have had a little tipple like you could have been like oh this brandy actually maybe i'd have it again possibly but yeah that didn't happen and that's the only real time that i've ever really had a drink and i've not done it again and you're a sweet tooth guy massive so what's gonna be the oh man my one of it's so boring but my favorite pudding is apple crumble i just love the crunch of a good crumble babe i need to tell you about this one

that I was ordering a lot on lockdown. No, it wasn't on lockdown. What are you talking about? He's going to love it. Because it was gluten-free. It's plant-based. And it's delicious. And it said it tasted like a digestive crust.

That's not a bad thing, is it? That's not a bad thing. No, it's like you can either get hemp one. You can get it's plant plant-based or you could get um like a gluten-free one and i was doing gluten-free when i was pregnant and so but i still wanted sugar it's refined sugar free it's it's it's you'd like it okay okay crumble mania i feel like i've become the ambassador for it was one of those ones i was watching like the england match and i was scrolling up me and Sam were like, we need something sweet.

We need something sweet. And I found this one that was, like, plant-based, refined sugar-free. All this. Really good. Sweet, no guilt. I like the sound of that. Crumble-free. Angelic crumble.

Wow. And you can get half and half, so you get a cherry and an apple in the same one. Oh, my God. They're really good. Amazing. I like the sound of that. How would you have your crumble? I, one million percent, would have my crumble with ice cream. What's your favourite ice cream?

Well, it's funny you should say that Jess. My favourite ice cream is an ice cream called Blue Skies, which is a dairy free ice cream that I absolutely adore. This looks amazing by the way. Thank you mum. It looks good. Blue Skies, I've never heard of it. It's pretty new. So basically Blue Skies started out 20 years ago as a white label fruit business. So basically, they have farms in Ghana and have had for decades that send... This looks so good. Is that enough? Keep it coming.

I like this boy. We like him. That's great. I'll start that. Have that before it goes really rubbery, the jamuni. Yes, please. A big bit. Just take as much as you want.

Take more. I'll have another bit. Thank you. Yeah, so they started out basically growing fruit and sending them out to Usain's Breeze. Your test goes into the restaurant. They still do to this day. And they've got a massive business doing that. And then a couple of years ago, the company decided that they wanted to try and experiment

with other products based on what they make and what they have a surplus of. And what they have a surplus of is coconuts. So they figured, what would happen if we made a coconut based dairy-free ice cream yeah and that has formed blue skies they then approached me i loved it i've come on board as creative director and um oh my god you have your own ice cream like you are the creative director of an ice cream that's very cool but here's the really awesome thing about it right yes it's dairy free and yes it is a healthier alternative to your traditional dairy ice cream but it's made in the country where my mother and father were born yeah we employ over 3 000 people in the area where the factory is and we are paying farmers fairly uh which is something that isn't common particularly in africa and for people to not only

be paid properly but for it to affect the community in the way that it has done is incredible. So I'm just like over the moon that I'm connected to it and also really proud of it because it tastes good. Where can you get it? So it's online now at Amazon Fresh, but it's also in Waitrose. So that's in stores and online. Oh, Waitrose. That's how we started, but we're about to go wider. So we're just, we've soft launched.

So Amazon Fresh and Waitrose, but we're about to go wider so we're just we've soft launched so amazon fresh and waitrose but we're about to go much wider with it but i mean in terms of the flavors it tastes better than dairy ice cream in my humble opinion this is really exciting reggie yeah it's great and i'm just really proud that it is literally helping a community as well as something that will grow you employ 3 000 Yeah, all in the same community. And I'll tell you what's really amazing. There is like such a drive to empower the community in a lot of ways. In the last, I don't even know how long it's been, but there's been over 120 community projects funded by Blue Sky. So a school's been built.

There's like an amazing health initiative that the entire community comes and joins at the factory. You've got like dance classes and workouts and all sorts it's just really special last time i was there i was i was blown away or anything i'm good doesn't need it this is this is it's just it's a really good recipe it's mine as good as yours yeah i'm better better um sometimes you can make it more like you can have a bit more liquid as well with it, but I think this is heaven. Mum, was it quite straightforward?

I mean, for an Ottolenghi. It's kind of, once you do it once, you can kind of. It's about the only straightforward one he's ever done. Yes. The feta really works, it's delicious. Have some more halloumi before it goes rubbery. Oh my God, you just keep throwing it at me and I'm not gonna say no.

So, okay, so you've got, you literally are a teapot in your spare time. No word of a lie. It's amazing. I don't know. Like, as I said earlier, you know, everything that I'm doing now, I think speaks to, without sounding incredibly worthy and cheeseball-y, it speaks to my purpose. Like through documentaries, I feel as though I found myself and I feel as though I grew up, you know, I became the man that I want to be for the rest i feel as though i grew up you know i became

the man that i want to be for the rest of my life and only better you know and at the heart of everything i do is purpose so you know blue skies is helping the community uh pirates as a film is changing the way in which uh young men of color have been represented on the big screen particularly from the uk and this next project that i'm doing is the same so everything i'm involved in as well as that you know like my cause initiative we have yeah yeah speak about that all right sure well pass the mic is something that we started in lockdown as a way to sort of encourage and mentor and help and um galvanize young creatives particularly those from diverse backgrounds who a lot of the time aren't encouraged by their parents because of culture to get into the arts. I figured what would it be like if we created not only a safe space,

but a place that people could go for advice or guidance when it comes to the arts, be it music, film, fashion, whatever. And as a result, we've now got this incredible platform that keeps growing. And we've partnered with everyone from TikTokiktok to lego to nikon to soho house we partner with incredible people so is it an online thing it's just on at the moment it's literally just on instagram that's all it is as the world is you like grow it well i feel like you almost need your own nana shirt in south london please like a reggie yates pass the mic you need these kind of different places so that people kids can access them young people can access them in the face to face right is that the plan some IRL stuff for the kids um I'd like to but it's all

you know everything is moving in the right direction and everything feels as though it's connected and it makes sense so it is definitely something we're going to do full circle now it's like yeah kind of I feel like the eight-year-old version of me that found Anna Share and found this community drama group, kind of who exists today, needs that because Anna Share doesn't exist anymore and to make it accessible and affordable. Why don't you start one? That's the dream, one day. You should.

I think for a lot of us who maybe needed that guidance and needed that help, you know, all you have to do is look around. Like you mentioned Daniel, you know, there's lots of people who are a product of having healthy role models that don't necessarily come from the home and when it works out you can see what happens so definitely it's something I'm invested in and Pass the Mic is the beginnings of that for me starting digitally starting in the pocket of these kids getting to them having thousands of them now associated with what

we're trying to build and knowing that as the world opens up we can start to do events and then eventually festivals and then maybe even open up something that can really be a place that they can go that's amazing yeah that's the dream hello table manners listeners i just wanted to let you know about my new podcast, Is It Normal? The Pregnancy Podcast, which follows my pregnancy journey and with the help of some brilliant experts, will reassure and inform you about all aspects of pregnancy and giving birth. Throughout my pregnancy, I spoke to consultants, midwives, obstetricians, sonographers, mental health experts, doulas, home birth midwives, reflexologists, the list goes on. And with the help of questions from other pregnant people, the podcast covers as many aspects of pregnancy and giving birth as possible. I'd love you to have a listen and

please let your pregnant friends know about it. You can subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. Spotify, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so some spots where you eat out, Reggie? I don't eat out much, but when I do, they're places that I love, so I revisit them, which is quite embarrassing. Okay, where? Eat of Eden. Do you know there? Oh, yeah. In Brixton Village?

Yeah. I love that place. In the market. No, is it in the market? It's just on the edge of the market, yes. As you're walking into it, it's there. Yeah. And it's vegan food. Vegan, yeah. As you're walking into it, it's there. And it's vegan food. Vegan, yeah.

They've got a few though now, I think. Yeah, there's one on Lee High Road, I believe, like in Lewisham. So I sometimes, I Uber Eats it from there sometimes. And what do you order on that? I normally get the little box that they do. So you get like black rice and then you get plantain and then you get a curry in it, like a sweet potato curry, which is just delicious. Yeah.

And then maybe like a, they do these gorgeous fritters with like spinach in them that are just tasty. It's just so good, man. But yeah, I love Eat of Eden. Where else do I like to eat? Oh God, I've gone completely blank. I can't think of it, it's so bad. Where was the last place you ate?

The last place that I had a really delicious dinner was called Yeni. It's on beach street in soho and it's uh food from istanbul i believe it's like sharing plates nice super super tasty and was it your suggestion or somebody else's it was a friend of mine oh a little friend the friend of mine will you be going out with that friend again possibly it's great it's great if you need any recommendations for other places to eat for some sharing place so I want to know

did you have school dinners or lunchbox I was school dinners I hated and loved them in equal amounts so I hated the dinners but I loved the pudding that sounds like Jessie's little girl started school really what did you do at school she She said, I picked my own.

I picked my own dinner. I said, what did you have? She said, cake. Yeah, exactly. Well, it's that cake, sponge cake with ice cream and hundreds and thousands on it. Oh, did they put hundreds of thousands on? Yeah, and Liam Bakes Cake, you know the one from British Bake Off? Yeah.

He did a really good version of it that we tried to make for my daughter's party once and it had like party rings in the bottom. Oh my God, wow. Outrageous, yeah. But no, that's been the best thing for my daughter to start in school this week has been her talking about cake. I think that's where my apple crumble obsession began.

Oh really? Yeah, primary school. Like we used to have these little plastic trays and you'd get like this, because it was school dinners, there wasn't massive amounts of apple so you'd get more crumble and that's the best bit let's be honest but that with and again it was custard it was an ice cream so it was custard it was quite like gloopy but you kind of hot custard and crumble kind of warm up the cold crumble exactly but it was like 70 crumble 30 apple it was just perfect so no lunchbox

fine no no lunchbox I did have a lunchbox though I had a Thundercats lunchbox of course that I kept my toys in yeah amazing oh girl

yeah I had Lino on the cover and I had a Thundercats matching bedspread which was like the best thing and it's actually we were able to recreate

parts of my bedroom in the pirate set so you see like a Thundercats bedspread that's so sweet which they gave to me when we wrapped oh

it's your bloody film babe come on i know but it's like surprise you know i thought someone else would have had it or they would have had to return it somewhere but they bought on ebay so they were like no you can have this so like in one of my spare rooms in my house it's a thundercats bedspread and will your friend be sleeping in that room probably probably yeah what posters did you have on your wall i used to have so, so there were these hip hop magazines called Black Beat and what was the other one? I forget the name of it, but I had TLC on my wall.

Who was your fave? I had Left Eye, always, obviously. I had a soft spot for- Chilli was- Chilli was obvious. Oh, right. Chilli was just a bit too obvious. She was like, yeah, she's a pretty girl, whereas this one could rap.

She wore an eye patch. Yeah. She was a bit more interesting and she had a six pack. Amazing. So yeah, she's a pretty girl. Whereas this one could rap. She wore an eye patch. She was a bit more interesting. And she had a six pack. Amazing. So yeah, I loved her. Left eye was super, super, super sexy to me. Who else was on the wall?

I had Maya on my wall. Do you remember Maya? Yeah, of course. And I weirdly, I bought one football magazine and they didn't have any Arsenal people in it. So I had a Ryan Giggs poster on the wall, even though I'm not a fan. Of course, everyone loves Ryan Giggs.

But he was Beckham before Beckham. So I had Ryan Giggs on the wall and I had Ian Wright and that was it. What is your karaoke song? Shanice, I Love Your Smile. Oh, wow. Oh, that's such a good song. That is the... That was going to be your song that you wanted to have at Alex's Bar Mitzvah.

It's an amazing record. You know that they do a mother and son first dance at a Bar Mitzvah. Wow. No, I do know that. I've DJed a couple of Bar Mitzvahs. So mum wanted I Love Your Smile. It's a great record. You didn't have it.

No, we had Dancing in the Moon, Top Loader, which was very nice. I love your smile. Great choice. I'm going to get that new black mini on my charge anyway. Because I love your smile great choice I'm gonna get that new black mini on my charge anyway because I love your smile mate I kind of have you ever had a song out that's one thing you'll be like actually yeah have you ever had a song out actually yeah but it never came out yeah I used to make music and then I stopped when I was so you must know Richard Antri right yes famous music yes so Richard was my music

lawyer and like Richard I was making music for years I was on pirate radio I was a garage MC blah blah blah and then I went into making my own music and um singing I was rapping okay rapping and uh like I mean at the time I met Adele on MySpace and introduced her to Richard and Richard did her deal and like like I was I was making music and um I got to the point where I had a publishing deal and the record deal on the table and Richard said okay so um you do know you're gonna have to stop everything you're doing on telly right and I was like what do you mean he said well you're gonna have to spend the next six months to a year making the record and then you're gonna promo it and tour it so all of this has to stop and at the time I was presenting Top of the Pops um I was on Radio 1 one how old were you at that point i was 22 that's crazy 23 maybe um so

yeah i'd like i had several jobs and i was like but i've been doing this since i was like i can't just walk so i decided not to do it i just walked away from the deal no it was the right thing to do it was right i mean i made a lot of music i work with a ton of people but it wasn't what i was supposed to do that's for sure reggie thank you so much for coming on this and having so much we have we'll have to do a part two when you next make your next feature film or whatever or when you did him to say a little bit of rastaman there is no way on i love you you gorgeous. You're a vivacious flower bomb. Even so, that is not happening.

I'm so sorry. I'm going to find it now and make... Oh, shit. Oh, God. I've just fallen in love. Yeah, knew it. He is handsome, charismatic. Yeah.

Had the most beautiful hands. Did you notice? Long, long fingers. Well, he was very sad about his hands. He said they'd all throw up. But he had beautiful hands. I didn't like to say anything because i felt it was kind of big creepy i'm just gonna say it to the thousand yeah hundred thousand beautiful hands and he just was charming charismatic and inspirational really really

enjoyed it i feel like he was really open there's always the tendency that people can be quite guarded if they already know the showbiz like world you know and he i feel like he was really open there's always the tendency that people can be quite guarded if they already know the showbiz like world you know and he i feel like he was incredibly transparent and open and honest of where he's come from what he's achieved and carrying on achieving we are so happy for you reggie and um yeah wait to see the Pirates is out at the end of November, I think. But yeah, congrats, Reggie. Such a nice bloke. And just really enjoyed that chat.

Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week. Oh God, he's gagging. No, he's not gagging. He was just then, darling. Oh God, what? It's a sodding fly there. Oh God, great. Stay away from my grandson.

grandson. The music you've heard on Table Manners is by Peter Duffy and Pete Fraser. Table Manners is produced by Alice Williams.