Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S16 Ep 25: Billie Piper

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

The formidable Billie Piper is on Table Manners this week. Actress, singer, director and writer, she really is a true superstar and we loved having her round for brekkie. Billie is set to star in the brand new Netflix film ‘Scoop’ and she told us all the tales from making the film and playing the lead, Sam. We also found out about her wild time at theatre school with Amy Winehouse, the story of how she became a popstar (thanks Smash Hits magazine!), her love of a frozen dinner, and she recognises mums street from her days in Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Here’s to another fab year at Glasto Billie, see you in the dance tent with a jar of mint sauce! Scoop is out on Netflix on the 5th of April. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and we're in Clapham and somebody is doing cement outside. It almost sounds like a little micro-whizzer. This must be the most worked on road in the whole of the universe because there's building works constantly. Oh there he is whistling again. How are you mum? I'm okay, I'm fine darling. I the dessert yesterday yeah and you've come and taken over the kitchen and made delicious things for this morning i was up at the crack of dawn what time you up at i'm joking um no i i want to give a big shout out to ed smith who has a new book called good eggs coming out which has totally inspired this week's menu because he has been my weekend guru for eggs for the past couple of years

because he puts them up every weekend with different egg ideas now you know I love an egg I did a whole book called omelette and so I wanted to try this for our breakfast guest Ed has taught me a way of doing batch poached eggs which I didn't think would work so I tried one out and I've just shocked your eggs I shocked my eggs and Ed's shocked me um it's so easy okay so the menu is poached eggs with enduja butter and that is you just get enduja and you put butter together and you mix it together we heat it very low heat so it doesn't kind of start separating or overcooking and hardening. So he has this really good bit in the book called Group Batch Cooking. And he suggests you can pre-do your poached eggs. You could do them the night before.

And you cook them for about two minutes until the whites have formed enough that you can spoon them out. And then you shock them in iced cold water so they're all shocked ready to go so the yolk doesn't harden and then i'll put them back into boiling water simmering boiling water for a minute and it'll just warm them up but it won't overcook the yolk and i just tried on it and it worked a treat so we're doing that and then i've done this oven baked portobello mushrooms with marmite and thyme and garlic that's from his book as well that takes about 45 minutes so yeah we've got mushrooms eggs and do you and spinach so yeah it smells good hopefully she likes marmite i hope she likes and do you and then you've done the pud yeah an orange lemon

polenta cake yeah lovely with a drizzle made from orange, cardamom and rosemary. Gorgeous. Who knows? We're very excited about the guest that's coming on today. So excited. She's one of our favourite actresses. She is. Also, she's a great pop star back in the day. What was her song? Honey to the bee, that's you for me.

Who sang Run for Your Life? What? Run for your life if you can. That's her, isn't it? Try to get away. can That's her isn't it Trying to get away Is that Tiffany Wow mum that's ageing her a little bit too much Okay sorry

I remember we saw Billy Piper do that at Capital Party in the Park Billy Piper did that That's how I know that Great There's a big entourage of Netflix people outside Because Billy is in a new film called Scoop. Oh, which is cracking.

It's wonderful. To keep with the imagery. So yeah, it's about the scoop that happened when Newsnight got the interview with Prince Andrew and the booker that made it all happen that Billy Piper plays, Sam McAllister, who it's just it's really great

it's got an amazing cast and we got to watch it last night the formidable Billy Piper coming up on Table Mash

she's fabulous It's really nice to see you again. It's lovely to see you. Are you going to Glastonbury this year? Are you? She's headlining. Oh, my God, I saw that today. You are. You've got to come.

How's that? I feel like you are... I kind of... We didn't know each other until the Brits After Party. And now I feel like. Although we had met. We met in the dance tent, DJ E said at Glastonbury. So I kind of feel like you're part of my core memories of Glastonbury.

So you must be there, Billy Bible. Whenever you bump into someone and they say, oh, you know, we met at Glastonbury. You're like, uh oh. Oh, sorry. Apologise for my baby. I know. Well, I will go then. How are you? Your, uh-oh. Oh, sorry. I apologise for my baby. I know. Well, I will go then. How are you?

Your hair's looking fantastic. Gorgeous. I've got rollers in. In what? In honour of Lenny? Is that just rollers? I should have left my rollers in. I don't know what's come over me.

I bought heated rollers recently. Oh, they're fab. And I want midlife. It must be, but I get a real kick out of putting them in I don't know what it is there's something about it also if I if I leave the house and I'm going to be filmed or anything if I don't do something with my hair it just triples in size so it's sort of oh you've got I've got the big hair the frizz oh no I don't have big hair do you have curly hair I have quite curly hair I love it I'd love it but but it you're not getting that

lovely sort of natural curl thing it's the size and it's the frizz it's not it's not your hair is always different colors as well I know I know is it what what what color are you yes no but what color are you I'm mouse brown let's call call it dusty blonde, shall we? Dark blonde. Yeah, dark blonde. I don't know what it is. It was like blonde for however many years, 25 years. And then they say that if you dye your hair a lot,

that it's one of the signs of borderline personality disorder. Okay. But I don't know if it's that. I feel like I'm just having, I'm just feeling quite experimental and like I'm trying to find who I am. Maybe it's one of those. I really like this copper.

I quite like this. This is gorgeous. I'm actually inspired. I'm like, maybe I should do this. I should do a little dip dye thingy because I don't think I could do the whole thing. But I think this is amazing on you. This is working on me.

We've got a lot of red in our family and also I've always loved gingers so I'm like, I feel like this is me now. We are going to talk about food and your brilliant acting and music career but yeah it was just good to talk about the hair because it's looking great.

I'm going to kind of fiddle with breakfast because we're all quite hungry. Do you want like a little Bucks fizz? Do you want anything or are you good? I'm not going to have a Bucks f breakfast because we're all quite hungry. Yes, darling. Do you want like a little Bucks fizz? Do you want anything? I'm not going to have a Bucks fizz because I had a glass of white wine last night and I feel... I thought you were going to say this morning. And it's going to be too much if I have another one. It feels like I just had one.

I feel rattled by it. Do you feel however? I can't do wine anymore. I realise that. The older I get and the less wine I drink, I just can't handle it. I think it's a female age thing. No, I think you need to drink more wine. All that.

Yeah, to increase your tolerance. So I won't have one, but thanks anyway. It's fine. Mum, please start asking Billy some questions. Well, I want to tell you, first of all, that I think Scoop is just brilliant. Oh, yes! And you are so super wonderful. Oh, that's so good.

Was it fun to play that part? Oh, my God, yeah. It's so fun to play her because she's... Sam McAllister is the woman who kind of was instrumental in bringing the Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew to our screens. She's sort of like this unsung hero. But on top of all of her incredible work and effort, she's also like this formidable character.

So it's like I care about that story, I care about telling it, but I also love playing her. Did you meet her? Yeah, I met her loads of times. Is she like who you were? Yeah, she's... She's older than you? She's older than me, I think, yeah.

Well, I know she's older than me. And we have... We don't... Our backgrounds are not that dissimilar, so we could relate about that stuff. So she's a working-class single mum? Yeah. But she's an unlikely character,

maybe at, you know, in the journalism world of the BBC. You know, rightly or wrongly, she is, you know, she's sort of doing her own thing, let's say. And yeah, there's so much, she's, you know, a wealth. And yeah, there's so much. She's, you know, a wealth of, like,

there's so much to draw from there that's really, really fun and interesting. I just thought she was... She's so unlike anyone I've ever met in terms of how positive she is. Oh, really? And it's not disingenuous. It's like I'm always looking for a... I'm always looking for, you know, some sort of crackle.

She's not. She's just relentlessly optimistic. And when you meet people like that, you do feel sort of, like, changed by them, you know what I mean? Because they are rare. I don't know that it was the easiest place to work for her. Because she wasn't from the same she wasn't towing the line yeah and she wasn't from the same background she didn't have the same yeah like

you know she wasn't there's nothing chilly about her let's say she is full it's 100 warmth and open and curious there's so much curiosity in her and I and I think that that's really what sets her aside and that's probably what clinched the deal do you think that yeah do you think that's her warmth and her persistence and was so engaging that she was almost irresistible in it there's a serious lack of judgment from her so yeah I imagine when she was you know getting andrew on side for that interview and sort of ping-ponging between oh my god unrecognizable because when they told me he was being cast i was like he's too handsome i don't know if this is going to be good did he have loads of prosthetics oh my god everything prosthetics the bodysuit, the teeth. It was probably four hours worth of work every day.

But the eyes were perfect. Oh my god. Yeah, because he looks like he's cut from gold, you know what I mean? He's just the most chiseled person. I know, he's beautiful he's beautiful and so playing andrew was it felt like quite a leap yeah but he he nailed it didn't it fantastic they they both did it's not easy playing um people that we you know we've sort of forensically looked at our entire lives i didn't have that responsibility because Sam wasn't so public facing, which meant that I could sort of make her my own

as a cherry bits. And not a caricature. Yeah, there's always a danger it's a caricature. But I have to say, it didn't feel like that at all. It just felt so well acted. Do you remember this road?

I was about to say, I played a prostitute on this road. I wondered if this was the house. No, it wasn't. It was just further down. Yeah, I thought. I was like, I filmed here playing

Hannah Baxter, Belle du Jour. And then I was like, oh, and then I got sidetracked by your tree out the front. Well, it was the best tree in the whole... How can you say it was the best? It's unreal. But because it's dropped. Oh, it was.

It was just... It's my best... I take no responsibility for the tree, but it is wonderful, isn't it? Because I put one outside my house and it didn't take. It hasn't taken? No, it hasn't bloomed at all. It will. I've moved it. So now it's dead i've moved it so now it's dead oh god now it's dead oh dear that's like it's not doing what it needs to do quick enough quick

so where were you born swindon in wiltshire but then i moved to london when i was like 12 so i basically so your parents you moved with your parents i didn didn't, no. I went to theatre school at Sylvia Young's and boarded in London and then started singing. So I never went home after that. So I'm more of a Londoner now. So who were your peers at Sylvia Young at the time? Amy Winehouse. Oh, were you mates with her?

Yeah, I was. Was Amy being cheeky at that point? Was she always cheeky? She was always cheeky. She was always like that. You know, she'd do, like, she was just kind of, she would do abstract stuff, and I really loved it. Could she act?

Yeah, she could do everything. Okay. She was very clever super clever super bright unlike any of the girls in that school she got bullied quite a lot at school because you know she was doing her own thing and she liked to push buttons and do weird stuff and I had a lot of space for that but not many many of the girls did. So it wasn't the easiest ride. So you were at Sylvia Young from the age of 12? Yeah, just turning 13. What year was it? I was in year eight. I can't remember.

And you boarded? I boarded in London, but not at the school, at my mum's auntie's and uncle's house in Hammersmith. Was that okay? Yeah, it was great in many ways, at my mum's auntie's and uncle's house in Hammersmith. Was that okay? Yeah, it was great in many ways because I was like this child living in London and just doing things that I never expected in my life, yeah. But sometimes I would...

The second year I was there, I would get the... I miss my parents so much that the second year I started travelling to and from Swindon. Because it's only an hour from Paddington on the train. Yeah, it's not far. And I used to smoke cigarettes when I was really young, so I'd sit in the smoking

carriage. Oh, yay! This is a new way of doing poached eggs. Where you shock them and then you put them back in. I'm a bit worried they're slightly underdone, but enjoy them. Just not too much Nduja for me, darling. I can't wait. This is great. Sorry, Mum, yours is coming.

Don't worry about mine. You get going. Can I? Yeah. This looks lovely. And I'm going to take a mushroom. Yes, please do. Yeah, so then I would travel to school from Swindon, smoking cigarettes in the smoking carriage and go to school, yeah.

So when you were with your mum and dad, who was doing the cooking? Mum, except on a Sunday when dad would do a quick breakfast. But mum was doing every meal, you know. She could cook? She is now, but as a child, you know, I did love her food, but I wouldn't say it was like... You wouldn't call mum the cook, you know what I mean? But she had four kids.

Oh, you're one of four? Yeah. Are you the oldest? I'm the eldest. And so, you know, cooking for pleasure, I don't remember that being a thing when I was a kid. It certainly wasn't for her. It was a mission because nobody likes anything

and it's not, you know, terribly adventurous. And I sort of feel like that now sometimes when I cook for my kids. It's like you do something new and they hate it. And so then you just cook the three standard things pesto pasta how old are they now oh they're older now they're 15 god uh 12 and 5 so i've still got a little one forgive me if i'm getting this wrong i knew of you as billy piper the pop star and then you return back to acting but was acting always the kind of main passion yeah that's why I went to drama school because I loved I absolutely loved drama

and drama class and just all that stuff and so when the opportunity came along to be a singer I was like well I sing but I'm not like a gifted singer. Like I can hold a tune. So why do you think you got the record deal at that age? What do you think it was about? I'd been on, I'd done, when you join a drama school. Were you a drama school? When you join the drama school, you join an agency. Right. So you start auditioning for things.

And I auditioned to be the face and relaunch Smash Hits magazine. So I did loads of promotion, like all the adverts, all the artwork. And then I was on the front cover of Music Week as a model promoting Smash Hits. And it landed on Hugh Goldsmith. Do you know him? No. Hugh Goldsmith. What label? Virgin. But their sister label, Innocent,

landed on his desk and he was like, we want to sign a female soloist, young female soloist, saw the picture and was like, just sort of went, let's try her out. And were you just like, yeah, all right, cool. He said, do you want to do a demo tape? And I was, he came to the school and said,

do you want to do a demo tape? And I was like, yeah, all right, cool. He said, do you want to do a demo tape? And he came to the school and said, do you want to do a demo tape? And I was like, yeah, okay. So he chose this really weird R&B song and sang it in Clapham at someone's house, at Wendy and Jim's, I can't remember the surname, their house. And they liked it and they signed me. It happened as quickly as that. And like within a matter of months, I'd left school.

Do you regret saying yes to that job or not? No, I don't regret it. But I think that I could have probably waited a bit longer. And I wouldn't recommend any child get into the music industry like I don't think success and teenage years are a good marriage. Did your parents what did they say? They were just sort of in awe of it all really but I was such a pushy sort of precocious child that I really wanted it and I don't mean they wanted to stay away. Also, my dad really wanted me to have a life that they'd never had.

What's your dad do? He's a builder, and my mum was a housewife, and he, you know, he was quite pushy with me, if I'm honest, but he wanted me to do well. So, I don't know how much that played into things, probably quite a lot. Was there one particular acting coach or singing teacher that you remember? What was their name? I had an acting coach at Sylvia's called Martin Beaumont, and he was, you know, if you're lucky enough to have a teacher

who just spots you, gets you, and pushes you, and mentors you, he was one of those. I also had one in Swindon called Julia Dickinson, and she was the person who said to me I should audition for drama school, because she cut this ad out of the stage magazine and told my parents that I should go, and then trained me for my auditions and stuff.

I loved your character, in I Hate Susie. And I wondered whether it's been interesting, you know, you playing in Scoop, Sam McAllister. Yeah. And then a different version of it with I Hate Susie, but having these stories that are around people in the public eye and you having been in the public eye since you've been a teenager. Yeah.

How does that give you more empathy? Did it make you think twice about doing these roles? Does it make you tread differently or is it just, it's a story? I like exposing it. I like exposing it. Right. It's also all I know because it's been more my life than non-famous years. Do you know what I mean?

So obviously I'm sort of interested in that way. Yeah. Do you often feel you have to look over your shoulder in case the photographer there... Not anymore, but I used to. I feel like that has somewhat changed or people just don't give a shit anymore and, you know, either works for me

because I hated that I really traumatized your children from that I as much as I can yeah I just I just hate all of that I don't want that for my family you know it's it's it's it's grim and it's frightening and it makes you it puts you into fight or flight forever it's not healthy when you move to london yeah a bit different to swindon isn't it oh my god yeah food different here oh my god i hadn't ever had possibilities i'd never had hummus i'd never had what else was there? I was like, wow. I don't know, I just hadn't had anything that wasn't like, you know, pasta from a packet or, no offence mum, but pasta from a packet roast or, you know, frozen food. So it was, all of it just blew my mind.

I loved it so much. I loved London. Are you a foodie? Yeah, I love food. I love it. all i like shit food and i like good food like i still have like frozen food nights even though i know it's not what's it like smiley faces or like usually that's not for the kids no it's for me frozen waffles or chicken nuggets or, you know, just really processed stuff like that. Do you read the news, Billy Piper?

Yeah. Ultra processed news. I read that. I know. Did you see that in The Guardian the other day? Yeah, it was very depressing. It's so depressing and so alarming. And it's so funny you should raise that

because ever since then i've been like i've got to sort it out also i have really bad autoimmune issues so it's like i shouldn't eat anything that gives me inflammation whatsoever but it's in but it's everything isn't it ultra processed food it sort of feels like everything yeah it's you know that's fine i i basically saw the news and i was gonna give the kids fish fingers and and tortilla wraps that don't go off for about like a month but they love them i swear they don't go for longer than that it's terrifying so the packet said i bought recently said july yeah i mean it's crazy yeah because that's the thing, isn't it? It's the maintenance of the project that is chemically awful. I was like, no, I'm going to give them the leftover chicken, roast chicken.

I'm going to stir some pesto in it with some... I mean, it was fucking gross. Two of the boys liked it, but two of the kids liked it. My daughter was like... It's like having a calf because they all want different things oh my god we call it kitchens closed i'm doing like three different sittings yeah and i do it it's not like i mugging why can't i just say it's one meal and that's it and i enter enter into this staggered meal that can last sometimes for three hours

and then it's a staggered meal that can last sometimes for three hours. And then it's a staggered bedtime. So you came to London, you had hummus. Are you... And Thai food, I couldn't believe it. Thai food? Thai food. Couldn't believe it. Do you still love it? There's a time and a place for Thai food. Yeah couldn't believe it. Thai food? Thai food, couldn't believe it. Do you still love it? There's a time and a place for Thai food. Yeah, that's good, that's good.

What would be, apart from having a little frozen dinner spesh, what would be your... You're my worst guest. No, I love this. What would be your last supper? It's a starter, a main, a curd, a drink of choice. You're going... Jessie, I'm eating some.

A very slither, please. Thanks. Okay, I would have prawn cocktail to start. Lovely. Fancy or awful is fine with me. Do you like little prawns in there, or do you like big ones? I like a small prawn or a medium prawn. I don't like a big one okay i

don't like i don't like to really deal with think about what it is yes okay yeah you know i don't want to like be shelling and stuff because then i feel like confused and slightly put off um so a prawn cocktail okay what would be my main i'm i'm like a i'm a curry fiend i'm a spice fiend are you yeah yeah so what's your curry order um i will go for gel fraisee but chicken gel fraisee but i are we allowed to like name yeah we love that yeah do you do you ever get the um the chicken ruby from the show i can't say i've had it but many american loves a dishum really they love it it's like they go oh my god have you been to dishum yet and i'm like fuck it out no but because the restaurants are like An experience so I suppose it's like You know it feels authentic

So what's so good about this chicken ruby I don't know it's the blend Of the sauce it's I could drink The sauce in fact sometimes I put the chicken To the side and drink Are you not mopping that up With any naan or I try not to have a naan because of the gluten thing.

Yeah, of course. But I do... Can you have rotis instead of parathas? Can you have? No. I probably could. I wonder. I don't know which one's gluten-free.

Maybe there isn't. The poppadoms are gluten-free. Okay, great. I think. So I use those. And then I'll have a bit of a black dahl, which is incredible as well. I absolutely love the spice.

So are we going full de choum for the main? I think so, yeah. I've just become this mega fan of it, and it's just down the road from my... I've got a massive one down the road from my house. That's good. So yeah, that's my go-to. Drink of choice?

They do these fizzy drinks. It's called go-to. Drink of choice? They do these fizzy drinks. It's called Leimka. I think it's called Leimka. Leimka. How do you pronounce it? Limka? I don't know, but it's... Is this at Dishoom as well?

This is at Dishoom. And this is... This is like a... It almost tastes like a detergent. Oh. I can't say you're selling it to me. This is sort of, it's an intense... Is it a bit like lemon jelly?

It's like an intense, this is a non-alcoholic drink, this is an intense sort of lemon fizzy drink, or lime fizzy drink, and it's got a sort of gnarly quality about it that you just, I'm sort of into for some reason. Did you get it for your children and that's when you tried it? Or were you like, oh, the limca. That looks really great.

Oh, medicinal. Fabulous. Can't wait. No, they won't go near it. If we were coming to yours and your children were not there, what would you be cooking for us? Do you think that you would be like a big showstopper? I'm a big salad person so i'll do like a i mean i do a number of really good salads but also a gumbo

yeah like a chicken gumbo who got you into a gumbo did you eat it somewhere did somebody i think it happened during lockdown you know as they all of these sort of cooking crazies do and my kids love it and will join in making it one of my sons is so into spice so that's quite helpful um yeah so so the gumbo salads what does the gumbo have in it chicken um god what else is it? Peppers, tomatoes, um... It's like a Deep South thing, isn't it? It's a Deep South thing. I can't remember the combination of them. I had it at my 70th, darling.

Did you? But it wasn't very good. It wasn't very good. Was it spicy? Yeah, but it was watery. It was more like a soup than a stew. No, I like it a bit thicker than that. Is it a recipe that you use yeah but i think also now we've got we've we're kind of freestyling a bit with that

it actually in the end with us as a family it just turns into this it's so spicy that it's really just an experience as opposed to a taste it's's like a challenge. It's like a rush. You know what I mean? You feel absolutely jacked. What was the food like on the set for Scoop? Was it London? Netflix do good catering, do they? Well, you know, I... What was the catering like?

Would you just get your dish delivered to the trailer? I don't like... I don't... Listen, often the food on set is not great unless you're doing adverts and stuff and then it's fucking great it was great when i was a singer that was the 90s silver lining yeah it was singing singer 90s great food video shoots that would be filmed for 24 hours did you ever do that i've done night shoots but like i mean not ones that have gone i would film a video for like 19 to 20 hours that's called child labor i think

i've never worked as hard as i did when i was a kid so i think like my acting career feels it's still it's it still can be really tiring the hours are messed up but comparatively i've never worked as hard as that in my life that's what i mean it was lawless you could just enjoy it at the time i enjoyed it for a while and then i'm i burnt out and then i and i felt mental yeah i guess being like a pop star and a successful pop star in the 90s that's like a whole that with, well, getting burnt out because you're so successful, everyone wants you. And there's money to, there's so much more money to like, to, I don't know, you're travelling so much more than I see musicians travel now. There's like, you know, you do all these big promotional tours, which I hated.

I absolutely hated. I hated going off. And video shoots where they were, they were cost like, I'm still in debt to Virgin. So if I ever released an album, which I won't, I'd probably have to pay off that debt. It's like university debt. Would you do musical theatre? No, it's really hard work. I couldn't I'd probably have to pay off that debt it's like university debt would you do musical theatre no it's really hard work I I couldn't you couldn't be on sunset I feel like you could have been a good Sally Bowles but I like I obviously love that that play and the part of

Sally Bowles it's like a dream role for any actress but it musical theatre is such hard work. Like, it's exhausting. And I don't like the idea of having to take care of myself that well all the fucking time. You know what I mean? Like, you have to really manage your voice and, you know, just never go out. Because my voice isn't strong enough to handle that. No way. Well, you were poached about Sally Bowles. Yeah.

After Jessie. I can so imagine you. Well, you were poached about Sally Bowles. Yeah. After Jessie. I can so imagine you. Yeah, I would have loved it, but that song is hard. Those songs, those big numbers are brutal. You've got to really watch yourself. And I just can't be bothered. I also find theatre hard when you've got a family, because you never get to put them to bed

and you don't get Saturdays with them. It's really hard. It's quite tricky. tricky i'm gonna ask some more food questions go on what have you always run out of in the fridge that's like something that you mint sauce oh my gosh you're having that with you to show them babe no but i have it with any roast no chicken chicken%. Mint sauce or mint jelly? Mint sauce. Oh, I fancy. Crikey. I put mint sauce in the gravy. Oh, lovely.

Yeah, that's okay. Just a tiny little bit. Not like swimming in it, but just a little hint of it. Definitely mint sauce with the chicken. Sometimes horseradish. With the chicken? With the vegetables. And the mint sauce maybe crikey i'm a big condiments person yeah i mean i do i like a condiment too i've got a bottle of brown sauce there that you can take home with you i also like frank's sauce

the hot sauce oh it's very good oh jesse is amazing as well. That's that American steak sauce. Oh yeah, I know that one. What is a nostalgic taste that can transport you back somewhere, happy or sad? It's not sophisticated like the rest of my food tastes. It's beans on toast. Is it a happy memory? Oh my God, yeah. I feel like whenever I've been rocked by something, and I still do it for my kids, I make beans on toast is it a happy memory? oh my god yeah I feel like whenever I've been rocked by something

and I still do it for my kids I make beans on toast tea, cup of tea, strong tea and beans on toast, loads of butter butter in the beans oh I like that idea and sometimes chilli in the beans if it's for me and my son

what kind of chilli? are we going frank's hot sauce? are we going paprika? what are we doing? Frank's hot sauce? We're going paprika? What are we doing? Just chilli flakes. Do you quell it with like a little yoghurt or the cheese kind of calms it down or you don't?

You want your taste buds? No, she's hot stuff, Jess. Clearly you want it. I'm looking for the hit. You're looking for the hit. Yeah, I'm looking for the hit. I can really... It's good in the beans.

It's good in everything. What bread are you buttering? A gluten-free. No, but are you going to do the gluten-free? I do mostly do like the rye or something like that. Oh, you can have rye. Yeah, or a gluten-free. But gluten-free bread, I think is probably,

is a you ultra-processed food. Is it? But you can have like a, I think you can have a rye. Or spelt, yeah. Oh, really? Millet bread is spelt. Yeah, but obviously my favourite bread is like white. White.

Sun black, like the shit. Is there ever anything better than white sliced no white sliced bread with butter i don't love my kids having it so when my mum comes they call her ahead and ask her to sneak it into the house how sad is that that they asked my mum to bring them not chocolate but white bread and milk i think that i think that i think that shows that you're a great mother actually i feel sorry for your children. No, they're always on the... You know what?

Have your kids got into tackies yet? Are those those crisps? Those Mexican, like, blow-your-head-off drug crisps, basically. No. They just make you feel like... Have you tried that? So they're having a prime and a tacky. Thank God we got them off the primes.

What was that like? Expensive. Expensive. They're quite old. I mean, you've got teenagers. Do they go after school for coffee to Starbucks and things like that? They go to, yeah, they go to prep. Yeah.

They're all at prep. Yeah. Can I have some money for prep? So weird. Or the kebab shop. Yeah. But because we're in Camden, so now Camden, you know, they're used at prep yeah can i have some money for prep so weird or the kebab shop um but because we're in camden so now camden you know they're used to like oh we hate camden and for my 12 year old still hates camden he's constantly showing me crime stats about where we live where does he want to live i was like where do you want to live in london right like um

uh he doesn't actually say where he wants to live he's just aware that there is a lot of crime where we live sensitive middle child yeah he's all about the stats he's always showing me but doesn't he love camden lock he doesn't yet but he will like my eldest my eldest is now we're going to camden there's a skate park It's a massive vibe when you're a kid. I want to leave because I'm just sort of over it, but I feel like they're just getting a taste for it, so that's annoying. Is I Hate Susie ever coming back, or is that it now?

I think it should come back when she's 50. Menopausal. That's a really good idea. Yeah, and there's a bit more story there because I think the issue for us is like, if a story doesn't have legs why are we just gonna it's just about money then just grinding away and it becomes shit basically so we've let i feel like we've left it a good spot and then we can revisit it like 10 years down the line and maybe it can be more about frank and oh is that what you'd like i don't know i kind of thought that that was such a beautiful and interesting relationship but also wasn't the main it wasn't the main feature about frank and is that what you'd like i don't know i kind of thought that that was such a

beautiful and interesting relationship but also wasn't the main it wasn't the main feature which was totally fine but it could be something that could you know and what do you want for her i kind of i don't know because i kind of love what a fuck up she is you don't want her to become worthy do you 100? 100% not. So, like, what, is she still going at it? Is she now, like, I don't know. I know. It's great, though, isn't it? Is she an agony aunt?

I don't know. Like an ITV, like, this morning agony aunt. Hostess. She could be a hostess. That could be really good. Yeah. And it's about her, like, co-star. Yeah.

I don't know. Get me in the writing room, babe. Are you writing anything at the moment? Yeah, I've just written a film. I literally finished my first draft last week. I say it's a first draft, it's like the vomit draft. So it is just more of a purge of ideas. Then I'll refine it to a first draft

and then probably 18 more drafts down the line. Is the film commissioned yet? Or is it just... No, I'm going to write it and then take it out and see if anyone wants to buy it. Will you star in it? I said I would never be in something that I'm directing ever again, but now I'm like, I guess I'll be in it too.

Do you think? I think so. I don't know be in it too. Do you think? Yeah. I think so. I don't know. I don't know. I have no idea. Also, it may never even... Oh, it will, Billy. Everything you touch turns to gold, I feel. Oh, that's nice. But we'll... I don't know. It's a romantic comedy, but it's kind of...

It's not that romantic or that funny at this moment. It's dark, but that's really my skill set, I think. Yes. The darker comedy stuff. Billy Piper, it's been a pleasure having you on. Thank you. It's really lovely to see you. Lovely to see you.

Thank you so much. So Scoop is brilliant. You are absolutely brilliant in it. Wonderful. And thank you so much for coming on and having breakfast with us we will have it again Billy Piper. I want to be her friend. What a gorgeous woman. Gorgeous. So sexy.

So lovely. Warm. Yeah, I just love her. So talented. I can't wait to see the film that she's going to make. Loved having her over. I realised that you shouldn't do, as much as the poached eggs did work,

you shouldn't do eggs and toast for a breakfast one because it takes too long i don't know i'm sorry yeah because it was almost like making the eggs again even though you'd shock them but yeah it's a good hack the other thing is if you don't mind me saying it was all delicious but it was really soggy oh don't the toast was so soggy because i was trying to toast it and i was trying to get everything oh Yeah, I know. Oh, fuck it. It wasn't my best. It was delicious, darling.

It was your best, but the toast was soggy. Yeah, but I think I gave you the soggier than her. Okay. Scoop is out on the 5th of April and it's brilliant. And she is fantastic in it, as per usual. You can watch it on Netflix. And we'll see you next week for um another guest and i hope you won't see anyone we'll be with you okay we'll be with you