Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S8 Ep 2: Liam Payne

Episode Date: October 16, 2019

After showing mum that underwear pic, she couldn't hide her delight and enthusiasm at having our first ex One-Directioner at the Table Manners table. Although on a strict diet and fitness regime, Liam was a perfect guest enjoying what he could of the fantastic Beef and Mushroom pies we made him using a Waitrose & Partners recipe with their No. 1 range ingredients. We talk to him about dealing with fame, his terrible karaoke song choice, being a dad, finding love and happiness, tattoos and his favourite food being airport lounge calamari... Nothing was off the menu, even mother's filthy mouth, and we loved it! Liam Payne is served. XProduced by Alice Williams Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here with my ever enthusiastic mother, Lenny. Hi. How are you feeling today, Mum? I was feeling fine. Until? You started whizzing baby food up. Sorry, should my child not feed because a famous pop star is coming to our house? No.

Well, that is not what a Jewish mother usually would say, so anyway. Jessie, is my lippy on all right why because i think our guest is outside really yeah i'm really excited why excited because you've just shown me his picture oh what i thought you're gonna say something else you just show me yeah if you haven't seen the picture of the new hugo boss model you're in for a treat jesus christ i feel like i know him already um we have liam payne coming up on table don't scream so today we have a little bit of a different spin on the making of the dinner tonight. Waitrose and Partners number one have kindly offered up a recipe for us to follow

and kindly sent over a box of absolutely delicious Waitrose and Partners number one treats such as the most indulgent nougat, Chianti wine, as the most indulgent nougat, Chianti wine, Côte de Boeuf beef that we have made a beautiful beef and mushroom pie with and just really pretty gorgeous veggies and it's just been actually quite nice hasn't it? And the desserts darling. All the desserts. The desserts. What are the desserts mum?

The desserts are a coconut passion fruit and white chocolate tarte. Oh. And an espresso chocolate tarte, which is amazing. With a beautiful glaze on the top. So we have followed a Waitrose and Partners number one recipe. We have chosen the beef and mushroom pie. And of course, mum cooks it. So how did you cook it, mum? I braised the beef with the mushrooms and all the other ingredients for about four hours before putting the pie crust on. Pretty straightforward recipe.

Yeah, very easy. I made the beef and mushroom yesterday and I'm just going to put the pie crust on today. Okay, so nice and simple. Yeah. And then we're going to wash that down with a waitress and partner's number one, Chianti. And you know what I love about this it's a four o'clock afternoon on a Friday I get to eat my dinner at five o'clock in the evening perfect for me makes me happy he's here he's here yeah ah shit you don't know you're beautiful Beautiful, ha ha!

Liam, can we get you a drink? Cup of tea? Anything? Do you know what, I'll do a coffee actually. Do you want a black coffee? Yeah, just like an espresso-style thing. Nespresso, a big... Thank you very much. I big... Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. I'll give you a juggle. Ooh.

Right. So... Thank you. Do you want sugar or anything like that? No. Okay. There's just one thing I'd like to say. I'm surprised to see you with your clothes on.

To be perfectly frank. No, I was thinking about this. I knew this was going to come up at some point because it comes up a lot lately and I'm like... Come here and get on the line because I don't want to miss this shit. No. I'm just... And actually, if you want to take them don't want to miss this shit. No, I'm just...

And actually, if you want to take them up there any time, we'll be quite happy to make everyone happy here. It's a bit weird when you see people, because I'm like... A lot of people have seen me naked at this point, which is a bit of a strange phenomenon. I feel like I know a little bit more about you, Liam, now. Right. Liam, how much more do you want? Do you want sugary? Oh, that's good for me.

That's great, Liam. Perfect for me. So, Liam, I'm really glad you've? Do you want sugary? Oh, that's good for me. That's great, perfect for me. So Liam, I'm really glad you've come on Table Manners and you've been training really hard, looking really buff and working out all the time. And we have made pies, which you obviously are not going to be able to eat. That's all right. I'll eat what I can. You can eat the vegetables on the side. And the meat in the middle.

I can eat the meat in the middle. Tell me about the ratio. I was going to make a really innuendous joke there, but I'm going to try and avoid, I'm going to save that for later. I'm going to save that for later. Do it. The sillier the better.

We had a radio interview the other day, and this woman made a thing. She's like, oh, I've had a really 1D heavy month, and my brain just went, oh, you've only had 1D all month, and I said it out loud, and I thought, oh, no, you can't say that, but it was really funny in the end, actually. I think you can say that.

Oh, you get away with it. Absolutely. So, what's the training like? Are you just sick of it? Do you want to go to McDonald's after this? Literally, I can't, honestly, the main thing is I can't wait to get really horrendously drunk after the shoot finishes.

You're not drinking? Not at the minute, no. That's safely a drink. I know, it's terrible, but it's just part of the job. But I don't know why you're training when you are gorgeous. So what do you do to do that for? Is it an underwear thing?

No I did the underwear part but it's like once you've kind of... You also did the no underwear part too. Well that was the thing, when I got to the underwear shoot I didn't imagine that we would be advertising underwear without the underwear. Which I think is a new level of underwear modelling. So should we just discuss this picture that's, what's it, the duo, the amazing photography duo. What are they called? Merton Marcus. Which I hear they are so scary.

They're not actually. I was quite surprised. But have you heard about them? Because I know, I've got a mutual friend there. So, I mean, they are known for going into like Louis Vuitton sets and they'll be like, they'll be booked for the whole day. They'll take two pictures and just leave. And I was like, I was so scared coming into it because i didn't really know what to expect for it and the first

day we did like the whole capsule collection thing that we made and then we did the underwear right at the very end of the day um and it was just like getting in your underwear room full of people it was all a bit strange i drank a lot of tequila on set just to like kind of get me in the motion of what was going on. You had to stuff things down the... Of course they didn't, Mom! There was no panty stuffing. But they were really cool, actually. We got on really well, really similar sense of humour. I think when you find when you're shooting people, or even writing with people, or whatever it is,

if you get on well with whoever you're working with, that's like the first base for me, to make sure that everything's level. Then the talent part of it comes second. I find that about everything in the job, really, because everyone just gets so close in those those environments especially when you're in your pants um so everyone else stripped down into their pants just to make you feel i mean i should have made it like mandatory that everybody had to get in their underwear for no it was it was good i enjoyed it in the end but then the second day obviously i you know um uh stella was there who's who's the

model who was shooting with me who's done like victoria secrets yeah so she came down we had dinner the first day and i'm thinking this is really weird because we're both just going to be like on set like fake loving each other tomorrow i'd never done anything like it before so it was just so interesting for me but then like when when they told me that i'd take my pants off i was a bit like excuse me like i didn't see it coming. And then it was, I don't know, we're going to shoot this thing. And I was like, okay.

So then we just got on with it. What would your mum say? My mum hit me. What? My mum hit me. I tried to like discreetly show my dad because I feel like my dad was kind of like, well, you're like whatever kind of like lads, lads, lads.

But then my mum kind of was like, what are you showing him? Cause they always like, they like really nosy with each other. I show one something and I was, I was about to go on stage with Rita for her show in the O2. And yeah, my mum saw the picture, looked at me and just hit me around the ear hole

and I was like... What would you do, mum, if... You wouldn't do that to me. No, it wouldn't be me. Dr. Alex did it. Stripped off. I would be very upset. No, but I think you look fantastic and it was done in an artistic

way almost like if I had a bod like that I'd strip off it was kind of ballet like it was beautiful it was um it was interesting day so that is not touched up those are your natural ripples um those are my natural ripples I mean obviously photography what they mess about with whatever they mess about with but yeah I'm astonished She's gonna make you take it off Do you know what she did with Anthony yesterday? Anthony from, did you watch Queer Eye? And I met them all once but I've not seen the show Okay so we had Anthony

Really lovely guys actually Gorgeous and we had Anthony the chef Who looks like a Disney prince Like I couldn't deal with him I was just like, I couldn't look at him And then he got some tomato like sauce on his top And he went oh damn mom went you could just take it off of you and i'll pop it in the wash and honestly we all went mom

and she didn't know what she's doing so i'm surprised she hasn't told you to ask to see your ripples um but um so the hugo boss thing is um it's come out and the capsule thing has come the capsule things come out the underwear comes out, I feel like it's next month. I mean, I haven't really briefed my mum, but there's billboards, buses, all worldwide stuff. So it's like... What was the name of that Arsenal footballer? Freddie Youngberg? Yeah. And he was laid out with his willy kind of placed.

Well, I'm covered by someone in the shoe. Stella? Yeah. Did you ask her out? Were the shoe. Stella? Yeah, so. Did you ask her out? Were you naked with Stella? Yeah. No pants on?

No pants. She was wearing my pants. You have to have a sock on your willy. You wear willy covers. Yeah, they do little socks, don't they? She had the pants on. That's how we're advertising that. It's a bit unfair, isn't it? Well, I mean, it's just, you know,

after certain things happen, sometimes underwear gets mixed up, I guess. So you didn't ask her out because you're partial to a model, aren't you? Mum's winking. Yeah, sometimes. Oh God, I love it. Mum's straight in. So that's happening. So you're training. So I want to know what's going on with the training because maybe I should be doing this. I mean, today it was like, usually it's like just weightlifting stuff because i struggle to put weight on as rather to lose weight you look

toned so i've been yeah i've been lifting really heavy lately but then today the trainer set some sort of session up and it was like a group session and i was absolutely horrendous i was so tired um because we literally just got back from like a horrendous week of like promos of like new york so it's just like you i literally had like 11 hours sleep in four days it was terrible got home carried on training through that um i got really sick at one point so i've been these last couple of weeks leading up to it have been really difficult but then today it was a workout called the chipper what's the chipper right the chipper is is a disgrace and it should be like it's like a form of torture it starts off and it's like 100 count down to 10 so you do 101 exercise then 91 exercise then 81 exercise and all the exercises were i've done this like loads of like the security guards do

these like all the security guards that are like on tour so but go on so say the shipper i mean i came i literally came we've trained that hard this week my trainer didn't finish the workout for one so he was like halfway free was like i can't my back's gone and then i was like slowly trailing through the back of the crowd of people i was like I cannot keep up with anyone and I'm not bothered about what time I finish but what made you decide to do this whole thing because you're clearly quite fit anyway I was you know what I went through a little bit of a stage when I was in the band where I was drinking really heavily I put a lot of weight on and I didn't notice like I just didn't notice because I don't know whether I was just really drunk every day or whatever but

I just didn't see what was looking back at me in the mirror and then it was like you know you get like those horrible paparazzi shots somewhere and I was on holiday somewhere there was a shot me and I was like oh my god I can't believe I've become that guy so then I kind of completely switched my life around after that moment because it just scared me that I couldn't see it like that's what annoyed me more than anything and then I don't know it's not nice for a paparazzi like it's not nice for everyone else just yeah for sure but it's like it for everyone else to see it. Yeah, for sure. But it's like, it's whatever. And to be honest with you, I'm glad it happened. It was worth it for me to realise where life was going if I wasn't careful.

And for me, it was a case of I started getting offers from different companies to do work and go to fashion shows and whatever. And I slowly got into this different world of doing fashion and all sorts of stuff that we were doing at the time. And... Oh, hello there. The cat trying to get attention. and all sorts of stuff that we were doing at the time and oh hello there and I was like just thought I'm gonna try and be an underwear model and just see what happens I'd never really tried to do anything before so I first got an offer from a different company

and Hugo at the same time so I was like I'm just gonna see what happens so I just started training every day training every day and then turned up to the meetings trying to be in as much shape as possible so that they would hopefully come through with it and in the end it just came to fruition which for me was the first time I've ever actually set out with a goal in mind to do something and gone I'm gonna do that well I don't know you did x-factor yeah but I was that one you're just kind of hoping like it was a bit different whereas this one I was like I'm determined I'm gonna do this and how long has it taken you from when you started training I mean we're probably into I had to train prior to it to kind of show them what was possible so there's like the prior

bit which was like two months maybe then the lead up to the shoot was three and a half months then i had two weeks off where i started to get a little bit podgy again and then i had to i realized the shoot was coming back out again so i had to do another five months coming into this bit so it's been really really long actually yeah i'm fucked then for the new year you need about a month a year i think i need 10 years you'll be surprised how quickly you bounce back and it's more to be honest with you sorry how old are you me 26 so fuck you i'm like nearly 10 years older than you so yeah things don't just bounce back especially you've had two kids so yeah. You've got two kids now? Yeah.

Oh beautiful. I've got one hiding upstairs and the other one's having a sleepover. No it's cool. How old's your son now? Er he's two and a half. Two and a half? Yeah. It's fun it gets really fun.

I'll show you him because we're not on camera and no one can see so. No we've seen him before. We've seen him. Cheryl did the podcast. Oh did she? Yeah and she said how she said how gorgeous you are and you're a great dad all right how often do you see him um sometimes two times a week sometimes once every two weeks like it kind of varies with the way that the job is and what's going on in the time

but i'm trying to schedule and keep it as constant as possible which is just the hardest part of it but it's yeah it's difficult i And your parents are very involved with him. Yeah, definitely. I mean, they love him to pieces. He's awesome. He's such a good child. Like, having a child anyway is like the scariest thing ever. But he's so well behaved.

Like, he listens so well. Please and thank yous. Are you strict? Yes. Is Cheryl strict? She is. Il strict uh she is i mean she surprised me sometimes i'm like where did that come from you're frightened of her well i've been on that let's say i've been receiving end of that quite a lot so um i i kind of i mean my husband made me feel like i was superwoman when i gave birth like i

think watching that happen i think for men as well it's just wild yeah it's just wild i mean i could see two heads coming out of her body and i was like i just don't understand what is going on here two heads it was like two heads as well she's got a head and then there's a head coming out of it i'm like what's happening on yeah this is a bit weird isn't it i've got to love a swingy chair really it's a pain in the ass there's a really old interview of me

on like Lorraine Kelly when I'm like 14 or 15 and I couldn't like they put the swingy chair on the thing it's the worst thing on TV

because I'm just like doing this the whole time the whole way for the interview like yeah well no one can see you shit you've been doing it for that long

yeah it's been a while like 12 years now something like that that's crazy Liam proper nuts where are you from are you from are you Stoke Wolverhampton Yeah, it's been a while. Like... 12 years now, something like that. That's crazy, Liam. Proper nuts. Where are you from?

Are you from Stoke? Are you Stoke? Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton. You've lost the Brummie accent. I'm glad about it, to be honest with you. My mum was a Brummie. Mine was so strong when I, like, if I look back at old... All right, fish and chips.

All right, yeah, if I look back at old stuff. I mean, the worst part of it now is it's cool to be like Peaky Blinders, but I don't have it. Oh, God. Well held. Bamps. Yeah, maybe you look back at old stuff. I mean, the worst part of it now is it's cool to be like Peaky Blinders, but I don't have it. Oh, God. Well held. Bamps. Yeah, maybe you should bring it back. Maybe you should get a little cameo in Peaky Blinders.

Wow. Do you know what? I spoke to them. There's a character on this one that I met the guy who writes it a little while ago. I think his name is Nick Knight. I know Stephen Knight, I think. Okay. And we spoke about doing like some sort of character

that was from Wolverhampton so it'd be natural for me to play it so it'd almost be like playing myself but as a character like back in the day which would be

the coolest thing ever and they had this guy called Billy Beer who was obviously in the new series I haven't watched the new series but they went for

someone who was a little bit older because he had to have like been through a phase where he played football and kind of retired from it which obviously that doesn't really work

for my age but I feel like you're such an old soul. Like you've like, I felt like that even when I watched you on X Factor. Like you always seemed like the. Yeah, we remembered you from the first audition. I do.

Cause I've watched every X. I don't. Didn't you audition, you auditioned twice. Yeah. He did audition first and then he came back. Yes. And then you still didn't get into the solo i could never

win this the fucking thing i might go back on again and i'm gonna go to an interview and and then and then you went into one direction but you don't regret that no not at all i mean at first it was a bit for me personally because it was like the last chance i had to be a singer like it was like i've been doing it you're about five it was but you know it was like, I'd been doing it. You're about five. It was, but you know, when you feel like you've been doing it for a little bit and you're like, I'm not sure this is going to work.

Once you put yourself on TV twice and you fail to kind of like, that's a bit of a kick in the teeth. So for me, it was like, this is the last go. I'm going to give it. Cause I'm not just going to continue to embarrass myself in this way, but it's not going to work.

And so when they said they were going to put this in a band and I'm looking around at like these lads who've just like turned up and whatever else. And I was like, I don't really know what I'm going to do here because it was like it really meant something to me it wasn't just a thing of luck

I was aiming to do it that year like even the way when I picked the song with my dad the thought was that because you do your first audition song in the final so we were like

gunning for it and that was all I was going to do what was your audition song? it was Cry Me A River Michael Bublé which wasn't originally but it was yeah you were a bit of a crooner weren't you? I was but because I a river michael buble which wasn't oh yeah yeah yeah you

were a bit of a crooner i was but because i had a really low voice and i didn't know i could sing falsetto at that point otherwise i'd have been and now you do falsetto like all the time all the time um that was actually a complete fluke finding that out we had a song called more than this on our first album and it was really funny i went in to sing it and the guy was like oh can you go into falsetto and i didn't know what the hell he was on about i was like mate i haven't got a clue you're gonna have to explain he's like i was singing this like higher voice and i tried to and i left the room like apologizing like sorry that was really bad like oh my god i was like whatever we came back the next day to listen to it and i was telling the boys i was like honestly

really don't think very much of my bit because i'm a little bit scared about hearing it i heard it i was like hang on a minute something too there darling can i ask do you sing the sort of music you love now or given that you sang michael buble as your audition piece would you like to become more of a jazzy buble type crooner i don't know i mean the thing is i like like the hip-hop mix between pop and hip-hop that i do um there's some of the songs that haven't really meant as much to me so far as we've kind of gone through things i don't know i struggled to kind of get messages out for a little while which is difficult i just kind of went through a little phase of writing where it was so much easier to write for the band than it is for yourself it's so much more personal um but i think i think the crooner stuff more for me was just simple sings so that when i was on stage to start with my voice

just wasn't really that high and i actually used to think my voice was boring as hell i was like i hate it but i always thought you had the best voice oh thank you no i used to hate it for the longest time but i'm kind of you've got a good voice thank you i actually and speaking um about writing i remember first meeting you and you may not remember this but we were in the wendy house and i was singing with miguel and i was doing right so i was doing miguel had decided to start a session at 10 o'clock at night which was like past my bedtime i was so pissed off but i was also it's miguel and it's adore you and it's going to do this i didn't there was no point in me being on it but obviously i was like i'm going to do it yeah so i um i was there and i was fucking tired and he was really cool and he was like producing it and you were in the other

room with I think it was you and I presume it would have been Niall writing too because I feel like you two were probably wasted you were drunk but you were really infused you were with Julian so it must have been like and you were so excited about your new song

that you just made and you were like bouncing off the walls. Sounds about right. And it was so exciting to see that, like, you were there. And it was probably 1 o'clock in the morning. And you were so happy. I think I probably left about 5 on that day. Yeah.

And, like, you were just in it. And you were writing. And you were passionate. And, like, it looked really fun. Well, that's the thing for me. The mix between all of these different worlds and what i'm struggling with the most about all these different transitions of stuff is that when you're training and whatever else my brain cells just go because

i'm so tired and then they'd send me into writing sessions and i'm like my head's just not in this right now like i need to get wasted if i'm going to start spilling the truth yeah 100% like your safety now yeah i definitely struggle to get out my own way to start writing a song so I that's something that's gonna have to overcome over time I think more than anything

because that's what I was just used to doing the day was just get wasted and just say whatever I wanted and then once I got I'm so self-critical that I can't allow myself to write

just write a song that I'm trying to write the hit as it goes on sort of thing so I think for me I don't know with writing I mean I spoke to somebody about it recently

and the way they explained it which I'm sure you all agree is like 364 days of of nothing and then one day of a hit like for most writers a year that's literally it they get one big song a year and that's what they they live off i guess but i think it must be quite hard for you because you've lived within the world of basically you feel like a hit you have to have a hit every time and the pressure must be so immense i mean i was speaking i was speaking this this week with my manager about it in the car and it's like we obviously did strip that down which did like crazy billion streams like really nuts and then we did the other songs and everything was hitting like 300 million or 400 million on spotify and it

was like pretty fucking good well this is the thing but then mine in his headspace of where the hit level is is like 10 times more than it's supposed to be whereas i just like and then that was what i literally had a conversation i was like you know we are doing all right and it was like i don't know could you retire now if you wanted to i don't know i don't think so i think i think like you yeah i just think it's and that's the kind of ugly thing of being in the music industry i think and to be fair i i've never i i will never not many people will have the success that you've had within one direction and your solo career you're the best-selling artist out of 1d like yeah it yeah sort of yeah but like okay so it's it seems to be going quite well babe yeah it does i don't i don't know i think we're just we're in our little headspace of like my management and me and whatever.

We're super hypercritical about absolutely everything. It's difficult. It's hard to drop those standards once you've had. And it just, I mean, when we first really stripped that down and did what it did, it just scared the shit out of me, to be honest. Because I'd already done it all once and I was kind of just looking for something to do, if that makes sense a little bit. And then we landed on this massive thing

and it just kind of came out of nowhere and it scared the shit out of me. I'll be honest with you. I went nuts for a while. Like it was, yeah, it was really difficult. You know, I had all my personal situation going on at home as well. And I just couldn't really understand what was going on

because we just stopped. I had two months worth of absolutely nothing when I was just in my house every day in my pajamas. It was like when my dad retired i was we were talking about it together in like the first few weeks of what you go through of the little retirement phase and then slowly you start to find stuff to do and whatever else and i did like what did your dad do my dad built airplanes built airplane i went and did it i did work experience there for um two weeks in between my x factor audition so it was like doing work experience there for two weeks in between my X Factor audition. So it was like doing work experience.

So what was it? You're either going to be this or you're going to be that. So was it Rolls Royce or something? Yeah. Well, the Rolls Royce factory was behind him. I think he used to work for a place called Goodrich. Goodrich. And I loved it.

I was like adult Lego. I was like, I'm well up for this. I had a meeting with the guy. I had the apprenticeship all set up. And then in the middle of it, the week I went and did my very first X Factor audition when I was 14. And it was, yeah,

it was like doing both jobs at once, which was interesting. So when Stripped That Down came out, you may have to help me with the timeline. Were you and Cheryl together then? Or had you broken up? No, we were still together at that point, I think. And did you break up quite,

was it quite soon after that? I mean mean we broke up around uh for you actually which is quite interesting was that rita's one yeah that was i really like that song it was great i really enjoyed making it was um yeah it was a lot of fun she's great to work with as well i mean i don't know anyone who works harder to be honest with you i worry about those vocal cords boy i know i know like i know what it was like to be in one direction at the time when we were at our peak and the like different city every day but she just she's a work i mean i think there must be three of them i honestly think there's three of them like they must be at this point she can't like it's just not possible like i know how hard it is to run my world and then i just see her on instagram every day and she's like she's over here no she's over there I don't know not body clock she's having like

real time the Spice Girls used to have that they used to have a Spice Time and they'd like if they had a meeting or something they would they'd be if they were asleep it was like no they're on Spice Time that they've got to sleep right now because they were that busy amazing crazy right but did you have 1D time um I think our time schedule was just a mess I mean I used to get off stage and then you'd be that high off all the endorphins whatever get horrendously drunk get up at like five o'clock in the afternoon and then do it all again but we used to like come off the stage and because at the time towards the end of it when we were that busy it was like you would we'd write

the album in two weeks we'd record it over the course yeah we write the album in like two weeks she's crazy jesse you're a slouch oh my god they used to what i used to say the problem we had was they used to sell the tour before we'd written the album so they'd sell the tour and be like right we've sold the stadiums i feel so i feel like you need to go to a retreat babe i did well i've been to many okay fair enough i've been to many um no it was be honest with you as much as pressure it was it was so young though do you feel a bit of your childhood was stolen away

like that teenage going out getting ready for a club you know meeting a girl chatting her up not being scrutinised I guess

and not be able to do it without well yeah I mean that part of it I do feel like we went to like the weird like One Direction University

which was just like Torbjörns life and whatever else there was a certain part of it but like the constant monitoring of the public eye and the way the press are with you is they're like that's the difficult part to grow up with because i mean you're already so self-conscious at that age anyway that you know you're changing you don't really quite understand why you're changing and you're trying to figure out life as it's going on um you know for different sacrifices you have to make relationships all sorts of things that's you know that's still ongoing as as as time goes on it's that's been the most difficult bit of it i'd say for sure but we you you grow up really

fast in certain situations like becoming a businessman was like a thing that from 17 up to then it was like the one thing you're learning as you go if that's what you're interested in where it was like someone asked me how to pay car insurance i haven't got a fucking clue do you know what i mean so it's like you're really growing up in some things and other things you're interested in. Whereas like, someone asked me how to pay car insurance. I haven't got a fucking clue. Do you know what I mean? So it's like, you're really growing up in some things and other things, you're like a baby. Can you drive?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I spent, I literally spent the last two years of this in and out of doing the music, trying to learn to be a person, if that makes sense. Because it was like, That's so sweet.

But it was, it was mainly my manager actually. Like I went for a real episode or something. And then after that, I kind of had to just like right you're either gonna end up crazy child star who dies at whatever age or you're gonna live life and actually get on with it properly and that was the point for me yeah it scared the shit out of me but it was just like you have to you know realize what the possibilities are and instead of like I felt like I was a little bit of a self-destruct mode because I knew it was going really well.

And that's the worst part of it is, and the one thing I say to people who are getting into doing all this sort of stuff is like the success is the bit that will kill you more than anything. When it's not successful, you're just kind of working harder at it depending on the person you are.

But most of the time, the successful bit, it just scared the shit out of me and I wanted nothing to do with it. There's no stop button. You're like, you've got no control over your life life and that's why I lost complete control of everything and that was the last two years I've been trying to take control of life back and understanding that it's on me if that makes sense they're acting like a child you're a dad yeah exactly I haven't had no choice yeah exactly absolutely no choice are you close to all the boys no no no I mean

it's no offense I've got no bad bones with any of them we're all you you're brought together for no particular yeah and you know randomly everyone goes to work that you have people you associate yourself with at work but you don't see them outside of work and we don't really have a job together anymore so it's like with someone like harry for example i just don't have very much in common with the boy so it's like i can't you know i could go and have a drink with him fine whatever you know if you've had but you're not so busy exactly we just don't really have that much in common and that's so where are your best mates they're still in wolverhampton uh yes i have a couple of mates from school that i still see every so often but once again it's just timing and like everyone

has jobs and work and stuff do you live in london yeah yeah yeah and do you support wolverhampton wonderers no i'm a west brom fan actuallyom fan, actually. At least I was. West Brom. At least I was. Why, what's happened? Well, I haven't been in ages. I don't think you'd call yourself a fan if you just know the name of the team.

I couldn't name any players. So what football shirt does your son wear? Didn't you buy him one? No, my dad did buy... There was a little bit of a hoo-ha about this, actually. Oh, I knew there was going to be a bit of a little beef. Because both the granddads just started to get involved with whatever was going on.

So one Newcastle, one Newcastle and one West Brom and one i mean they're both stripes so i mean he's like you know just whatever go for your life yeah because i'm trying to get um jesse's children to support man you so she's like singing i'm a singing champion well no my my husband's a spurs fan right and we have moved to southeast lond. So our niche one's Millwall. So I might, I don't know. Yeah, you're not going there. I do be with our local team or not. But yeah, I'm really hungry actually now.

Are you? Yeah. Do you want me to put this stuff on? But like, yeah, my son may come down in a sec demanding his tea. I'm like weaning him and it's a fucking pain in the ass. How old? Seven months. So he's just like, it's just like you forget. You're like, you can take for and it's a pain in the yard how old seven months so he's just like it's just like you forget you're like you can take for granted it's the milk for ages and

it's fine um but i wanted to tell you that you don't want to drink sure of course he wants to drink i would honestly i would love to this is what self-restraint looks like we should i think we should put his picture i'm gonna fight me i going to spite me I feel like you're going to spite me no don't worry we're going to roof you yeah no no I'm joking no but yeah we should put the picture of Liam up on our fridge every time we go in and try and get a giant chocolate button I faint so okay so

chocolate that's the one I miss more than anything oh my god we've got buttons in there we've got lovely chocolate it's the waitrose centre love a bit of waitrose it's great I love a bit of waitrose okay's great I love a bit of Waitrose

okay so if you weren't training let's go there let's just do it like last supper if you weren't training nothing was off the menu

start a main pud and drink what would it be I mean like starter there's an airport there's an airport

in LA if you come back through there's a little Qantas there's a Qantas lounge right where they have's calamari that is it's unbelievable airport lounge calamari yeah i have to go there to get it because it's that good i'm telling you it's so fucking why why what's on it is it i don't know it's just whatever way

they cook it i order like three of them when i'm in there usually when i'm just happy to be leaving la oh well no actually I like LA I do well I live I have a place outside of LA in Calabasas which is like kind of out of the madness

oh yeah Kardashian no it's the madness Kardashian no you don't there's loads of horses about you don't really see anybody else okay so the starter

is Qantas Lounge Calamari I love you already that's alright I like calamari meet you at the lounge yeah go there's a burger place

in London that I get it's called meat liquor have you ever had that yeah dirty oh my god dirty

straight in I could eat about 10 of them what do you condiments topping what do you go I can't remember what the name of it is

but it's got like fake bacon on that's just better than real bacon if I'm honest oh really yeah it's really good is it the one

that's made out of coconuts? No idea. Coconut bacon? I have no idea what it's made out of, but it's so good. Okay, fine. So straight in for the burger. Are you having sides? Oh, yeah.

We're like mozzarella dippers straight off the bat. Oh, my God. You're disgusting. Mozzarella dippers? I'm so bad. You poor sod. I'm so bad. There's a little fat person that lives inside me.

My spirit animal is just like fat me. Mikey, you are the boy that aged my pies. Go on, go on. Okay. At the moment, I can't stop eating either. I'm so bad.

I know I've got a week until shoot happens and it's like, you have to start kind of like eating really clean at this point. Oh, it's so boring. So boring. I think one little taste

of something will... But that's the thing, one little taste leads to two and then before you know it... A lifetime on the hips, a lifetime on the hips, mother. um okay so are you having chips no you're having them i can have fries no i'd have that as well yeah we're going in do you like you don't like those sweet potato jobbies no sweet potato fries are good actually you can you can on the diet plan that i do you

can eat sweet potato fries quite a lot okay okay they're good for you because they burn differently so pudding ooh pudding what would we go for are you a sweet or a kind of savoury person I am I'm everything I just like

I love food I love you I've hit the worst job ever I've just literally been the worst job you've had the worst week to do this I know yeah

I know but he'll be able to smell the aroma of those delicious beef and mushroom I mean the smell is 90% of it so it's like so you can just smell it

okay so yeah pud when I did the last shoot when I finished the underwear commercial I was like on the bed in my pants eating like I literally ordered

everything from McDonald's I ate the fucking lot so good I think that would have been a really good that should have been the shoot yeah that should have

been the shoot okay so yeah pudding we're still waiting for the pud something to do with chocolate anything to do with chocolate I think

we've got just the thing for you no mum he can't have any of it poor thing so and then drink you're a tequila person tequila yeah would you have that with your food or wine or beer

just the all day no I like that 1942 stuff's quite good I don't know enough I always just have always done like tequila slammers have you been to Mexico yeah do you know what I get so confused about places always just have always done like tequila slammers have you been to Mexico yeah do you know what I get so confused

about places that I have and haven't been and my girlfriend's from Texas and I know I've been to Texas but I don't know anywhere else in America

she'd be like oh have you been to so and so and I'm like I haven't got a clue because we didn't see anywhere girlfriend

are we allowed to talk about that yeah of course so she's a girlfriend he's got a model girlfriend oh really yeah her name's Maya she's from Texas how did you meet, really? Yeah, her name's Maya. She's from Texas.

How did you meet? We met at like a fashion show somewhere, actually. Apparently I've asked for her number in a really sneaky way, but I don't remember doing it. How did you do it? I don't know. We were talking about something. How sneaky was it?

Because I know this jeweler in New York, and we were talking about something. Oh, is this the, who's the jeweler? Greg Unary's name is. Oh, okay, right. And she was like oh yeah I was like oh yeah I'll put you

in touch with him but then I got her number and I gave her my number or something like that but whatever she was like you were being really sneaky about and I was like

I wasn't I was just like trying to sort you out so how do you get to see your girlfriend oh well she lives in the UK now she like

she moved over here a little while ago okay great just circumstance actually it would have been nice to have her in the underwear commercial no it would have been nice to have her in the underwear but it wasn't a thing at that time actually it was like a almost a thing do you think you've got good table manners um i bet

your mum's clipped you around the ear if you haven't no i think i think i'm okay at a table sometimes i used to i used to get really hot in restaurants i just i just didn't used to like i couldn't concentrate because i felt like everyone was looking at me so i like i used to hate going to like fancy dress for a fancy restaurant are you a little bit yeah no i'm good i'm good i run hot all the time um no i just because the fame thing like the i hate getting like being in restaurants and like when you when you're trying to, and you can, like, you see everything. Like, people think I'm stupid and I don't see, like, I know what's going on. The best one is when someone tries to take a picture of you and their flash goes off and then they go, oh, like, their phone's not controlling them.

It's so funny. But I think over time I've gotten more used to it and it depends who you surround yourself with to realise that it's just part of your lifestyle. And it doesn't, you know, they're not holding a gun it's a camera like it's not gonna hurt you so it's like trying to get your head around that part of it was the bit for me but when i used to go like i used to go when i used to go shopping if i go to a shop and i'd stand in the queue for too long i don't like to stand still because that's when people notice the most so i'm like if the queue's long i'll start sweating and i have to leave i used to put the stuff back oh don't i think it's funny now but i well i mean i hope you don't mind us mentioning shell but when she talked about she can barely go out she has to wear a cap all the time and

yeah like that i mean is that how you feel you have to put a baseball cap on no i mean i think around each other we kind of we kind of rubbed off on each other a little bit in that way in a bad in a bad way actually and it was neither of our faults because we've both been through so many circumstances but all of that stuff puts so much pressure on a relationship that like like say going out for a dinner or whatever it is whereas now like my whole new thing is that i just don't give a shit like it's not worth sacrifice my happiness and it's been far too long of different relationships that that's become between me and but it's a lot of pressure on whoever you're with and I mean you know Cheryl's had that pressure for life that's been her whole deal so for her

it was like if you were going out somewhere it would take so long to get out the door before you get there because you're just so worried about what that shot's gonna look like whereas now I'm just like fuck it like just go out and have some fun I don't think you need to worry Liam I think we can safely say that your shot's not going to make you look bad you'll look gorgeous yeah I mean I do the in a sense like with my new relationship and with Maya like I just you know hope she sees the way that I see her if that makes sense because everyone's so critical of themselves and when you start getting your pictures taken relentlessly all the time I mean she's gorgeous but some people just don't see it that way so i often do worry about those sort of things because i don't like

to put pressure on people like i chose this lifestyle and i have to put up with it that's my fucking deal but for her it's like a different sacrifice if that makes sense is she finding it hard but she's she's good she's she's a model anyway so she's in the public eye yeah i mean yeah for sure but it's just like i don't know it's a weird so how do you see each other she's in Texas no she lives in London oh she lives in London we see each other all the time

where are some of your favourite food spots in London then because you must have eaten at every bloody fancy restaurant do you know what I found this really good

sushi restaurant recently called Umu where is it it's in Berkeley Square like took behind stuff somebody told me about it and it's like if you want to do like proper proper sushi it's mega pricey but it's like it was unbelievable okay but you will it's like it's almost a place you want to go to before you go out somewhere

because you know when like you go for food before you go to a club and then you're like so far you're like i don't want to go out anymore i don't remember how that feels to be honest quite small there so it kind of i was like this is actually a really good little spot before you go party um oh do you still go party well actually i don't i don't anymore i don't anymore so much sometimes um okay that's good right novikov is for me number one i've never heard of it novikov no is it russian no it's like so there's one half of it it's really random there's one i think it is owned by russians but one half of it's like's really random. There's one, I think it is owned by Russians, but one half of it's like Asian fusion. Oh, yeah. And then the other side is like Italian,

which just seems crazy. God, that sounds bizarre. But I feel like the Italian bit's a bit more of an add-on. I've never eaten there, but the Asian side is unbelievable. So you're into Asian and Japanese. Sushi. I mean, it's the best way to eat healthy, actually.

Yeah, and it's also delicious. So good. Okay, so those are two spots i i need to go to them what pie is it they look amazing by the way bless you if it was if it was a week later i would inhale that right now maybe we should freeze it we didn't know you were training but this is beef and mushroom pie perfect beef and mushroom pie made with cote de boeuf beef and it's been braised on the bone braised for four hours it's gonna just fall off you can have that stop it's good um so um yeah growing up who was cooking in your house um my dad used to cook quite a lot actually and i

learned how to cook from my dad so you're a good cook yeah i cook i cook quite a lot actually i always do like sunday dinner on sunday which is you'll make sunday dinner yeah i love making sunday dinner it's good what do you what do you make what's your i got super bougie the other day and we went out to a restaurant and i was like i'm sure i can find a way to put truffle into the chicken so i went out got a truffle truffle the chicken up did the whole thing with like garlic butter and made truffle butter and did the thing underneath. Like it was, it was good. You're a good cook.

No, I like to, I love messing around with food. That's what my mum calls it. My mum cooked for a little bit. And my mum, bless her, she did, I mean, three kids, jobs to do, whatever else. What did your mum do? My mum was a nursery nurse for, since she was 18 actually.

And she only just recently started doing it. So my mom cooked for a little bit but it was like a lot of just like quick stuff before you went to swimming class or went to scouts or beavers or whatever it was so it was all like quick quick quick and then she i think she kind of fell out of love with the idea of it so my dad loves to think he's like gordon ramsey so he like would get like recipes out the newspaper like way back in the day before internet time he'd be like i'm gonna go make this and i used to watch him and just like he'd get me to teach me stuff i didn't realize the crafty bugger was doing it so that then i could start to take over so like different things that we do he'd be like all

right you can do this today whatever um but he's like you and really enthusiastic about cooking it was good i'm glad you know i'd love to do it with bear someday but we did um he was really good at making sunday dinners with like beef and beef and like lamb ones and stuff like that. Used to do like whole grain mustard on top of the beef, which was just so good. Dauphinoise potatoes. Love that. Yeah. They call it like Britann in America, don't they?

I have to do a lot of American translating lately, which is really difficult. Are you massive in America? I think bigger than anywhere. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the most difficult thing. When I used to speak with Cheryl,l actually she was i was like when she'd do like a radio tour but she'd get back and she's exhausted i'd be like imagine if you had to go and do that overseas again and then like when when you do your first one when i did strip that down we were literally driving from like chicago to philadelphia back to chicago to like all around different places so it's not like

it's a huge country so i mean i just do new york now where they send outreach to different stations which is nice to get to that place in life but when you start out okay now so your new girlfriend's from texas good food there i'm going for thanksgiving are you yeah i can't wait i'm so excited it's gonna be fabulous do you call her bab i call her babe but oh you see you're letting the wolves wolverhampton lockdown fab um oh what are they going to in texas how do they do thanksgiving do you know everything's bigger apparently i was gonna make a rude joke get over the whole thing do you think do you think are they kind of um gone that it's big gun place isn't it texas are you asking whether his from a republican hit family no you've got to behave, otherwise they might shoot you.

Well, this is the worry, isn't it? At least we've got this on record that now I'm going to Texas where I might be found one time. He might say there's a shovel in the boot. I'm so well behaved. No, I get on really well with the family. Are you going to take presents for Thanksgiving? I don't know if it's a present-y kind of thing.

No, I don't think it is, but I think you should take something. Oh, yeah, you should take something oh yeah you should take something oh now you've put the pressure on just a scented candle always does well chocolate scented candle

always wins a mother over straight in no I actually get on really well with the family which is good that's good how long have you been going out

maybe like a month and a half oh it's crazy you're going for bloody I met a family before we were going out we had like

we were actually in Cannes together at the same time. There was a little boat party thing that was happening, which was good. But I was heavily wasted when I was chatting to my mum and dad, which is hilarious now. God, I bet they're glad you've gone on the old fitness thing now. To be fair, they actually love a party, so that's good. Good. This looks so good. It does look really does look who wants the top of my pie now that does sound like an innuendo um no we've got so we've got um honey roasted carrots aces um and some you know steamed

broccoli 10 to 10 broccoli horseradish mash and then the beef and mushroom pie. You dirty bastards. I love Liam. You're good fun Liam. I love you. You're great. So what's happening with the new music? Because you've got a new song out with a guy who has the stupidestly longest name I've ever heard in my life. There's a video we've just put online where I'm like, we obviously do these videos all the time and I've been doing them since God was a lad and where you're like, hi, my name's Liam and then someone will say, hi, my name's so and so and this is our new single. So I always just let the other person just like say their name so they don't have to do all the rest of it.

And I was like, oh, just say you're Boogie with a hoodie, da da da, I'll fill the rest in. So I'm like, hi, it's Liam here and, and then I'm waiting for him and he went, oh, sorry, I forgot. That was so funny. But can't you just call him boogie yeah i call him boogie like when i see him out i'm not i don't go full in with the name the funniest thing is trying to hear british people say boogie with a hoodie boogie with a hoodie on the radio this like last few weeks when i did like interviews everyone's, a boogie with a hoodie? I think you just say it quickly and then no one notices the mistake.

So the new song's out and then what's happening? When's the album coming out? Album is, I think December time, but I could be wrong, so I usually am. Do you mind if I have some more of this? Oh, please, Liam. There's more in there. All right.

Have some more. Bless him, the boy's hungry Poor thing There's poor management They're making him Work out so much No the thing is Everyone always tells me To stop

How great is that beef So good I know I'd like to live Inside this beef I feel like Yeah me too Make a little home in there

So Little mushroom pillows So What is the worst Table manner That you think in other people like what can't you stand when you're out for dinner and you see someone do i don't know actually who had the worst table manners out in one direction come on uh niall shut up yeah i'll tell you he's so polite he is but he's like he's a proper slobby lad lad with some stuff i'm not

gonna go into it because he actually doesn't really like me talking about him. So I'm just not going to. Do they ever say anything about you? I don't know. I don't honestly don't look at them. I just think the thing about interviews is this. Like most of the time you will have a place where you say something. Like I said something about Louis this week where I was like, oh yeah, in the band we weren't allowed to wear stripes.

Which is true because we didn't wear stripes because that was his thing. Shut up. But this is it. in the band we weren't allowed to wear stripes which is true because we didn't wear stripes because that was his thing shut up but this is it and then you say it and then like the newspapers come back and they make it into this like disgusting take on

Liam said this about Louis da da da and I'm like Louis knows me so he knows I'm not like that and like he'll phone me up and like we spoke we actually spoke about

the whole thing and I was like I never say anything offensive about anything because there's nothing offensive to say but it's just like I don't know

he took something a little bit personal that I said the other week and I was just kind of like that's you mate you carry on I never say anything offensive about anything because there's nothing offensive to say. Yeah. But it's just like, I don't know. He took something a little bit personal that I said the other week and I was just kind of like, that's you, mate. You carry on. I think as long as you know who you are and you're not really very self-conscious about stuff, none of that stuff should ever really touch you.

I think it's hard though. Like, you're kind of learning who you were in a ridiculously successful boy band. Successful? Sorry. Sure, there's plenty of sex. Successful? Sorry. Sure, there's plenty of sex, but yeah. It was an extremely successful time in life.

Some. Is your mum a big influence on you and your dad? It sounds like they are. Yeah, my parents definitely are, for sure. Like you want to please them, yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, that was a big part of me actually going in and doing the show the first time around because I wanted to...

My dad had always said it when I was younger. He was like, oh, we'll get you in front of Simon Cowell one day. Did you go to stage school? No. So why... Where was the voice from? I used to just do, like, karaoke part of the time. And I used to know that it would be impressive. What, like, in your house or...?

Um, no, just, like, when we'd be out somewhere. We went somewhere for karaoke where I just... What's your karaoke song? I don't know, it would be impressive what like in your house or no just like when we'd be out somewhere we went somewhere for karaoke where I just what's your karaoke song I don't know it's kind of changed

over the years I get super precious about karaoke because obviously like you know it's going to end up on YouTube and I'm like

I can't fuck this shit up so I did like when I was younger it was like Angels Robbie Williams and like oh my god

that fucking song is the most dread song in the world I'm sorry I'm sorry and I will say it to him when he comes on the fucking podcast. That's so funny. I'm sorry.

I was in love with Robbie Williams. But that makes me want to kill myself because they fucking, everyone plays it at funerals. Yeah. You can sing it though. Yeah, it's good. It was a good thing. It was just about low and high enough for me to be able to do when I was young because I didn't understand about my voice at all.

Yeah. I did a little bit of Justin Timberlake sometimes. Which one? Cry Me A River? No. I don't think I've voice at all. I did a little bit of Justin Timberlake sometimes. Which one? Cry Me A River? I don't think I've ever sang Cry Me A River. I think Senorita. Brilliant. It feels like something to eat enough.

Yeah. Jessie, what's your karaoke song? I don't like doing karaoke. No, I don't either. People just getting up and doing your job. It stresses me out so bad. I did, the most recent one I did was, I went bold with it to be honest with you, because I just fuck it i'm gonna try because i knew i'd sang it in the

car and it kind of sounded okay so i was like fuck it i'm gonna give it a whirl it was human nature michael jackson which was so good i went super bold with it it shut the bar down it was nice it was good great i think that's a great song do you still love singing um you know what i lost the love of it for a long time but having a little bit of a break and a little bit of a renegotiation with myself. Do you know what? After I got, I did a whole year sober where I just stopped doing everything.

You needed to. Yeah. Just a little reset button. And it was revisiting old feelings of like that. I kind of put away through drinking or whatever to get on, on stage. I started to just get really anxious about everything. I was so,

I was, I mean, it's still, still now there was like, did you see anyone? Yeah, no, definitely everything I was so I mean it's still now Did you see anyone? Yeah no definitely I think everybody should I think it's so important I think everybody should

I think you're right I'm in the middle of doing a little project With somebody at the moment That we're trying to make some sort of Something that runs around me And the way I have my life And we're doing it with a bunch of different people Starting to slowly bring more people into this position because obviously like ITV now for shows have

a psychologist who looks after all the contestants because of stuff that's happened they have it for this they have it for that whatever else but then it's like once you leave the show you're left to your own devices and it's a bit shit whereas I think there should be somebody on the team that you have that is a psychologist that can tell you what's going on and i get this every single day because i'm doing this project with this lady and she tells me how my brain works so when i went like through uh i don't know like a breakup or something or whatever it was she would tell me exactly what my brain was doing and once you've got the tools to be able to go i know what this is and you can understand it then you can kind of get through it which was nice because otherwise i'd just be thinking i was nuts in my own house thinking oh you know like those are the things that i think

everybody needs to have the first the best gift you can give yourself is to find out that you're not insane because then you can trust yourself so that was a huge thing so when you were in one you were all young when you started one direction was there anyone like a mentor or someone kind like like when boys go to the football academies they've got like child protection they have all that

shit but they don't give it you in this they're just like you are considered lucky to be here because it's the job you wanted to do whereas like

and how old were you when you were in One Direction? 16 15, 16 16 that's crazy it's mad

the funniest one about One Direction was I thought we might like to exactly like what JLS did 16. So, you know, the funniest one about One Direction was, I thought we might like do exactly like what JLS did and be really famous in the UK and it'd be like a thing. And my plan was that once I had enough, I was going to move to Australia. That was my plan. Why did you want Australia?

It was the furthest away. So I was like, I was like, cool, okay, I know what the plan is. And then once we got off the show, they were like, okay, boys, you're going to Australia. And I was like, it's a bit random, isn it this is for later on and we got there and it was crazier than the uk and i was like oh shit and then we just like every time we went somewhere and i'd be expecting it to be normal it never was so it was like we would i mean we had i'll show you a picture of me in peru where there 15,000 people outside the hotel just outside the hotel that's funny because you know I from the outside we all thought you were jumping around

so excited and just loving everything scary and you know it was honestly it was so boring at points because you were just stuck you're just stuck in a hotel time it was like I learned to become a recluse a long time ago and that was like that was life And then once you're in that pattern, you know Patterns are dangerous because you just get stuck in it But that was Liam herself what see what's the naughtiest thing someone's ever thrown on stage for you a dildo You're joking. Yeah, really big as well Really big one and I like kicked it off the stage and I was like, hit someone in the face with like a huge cock.

I've done him again. Huge cock. Oh my, I mean he really did knock her out with his cock, didn't he? That's honest. Did he?

He dropped her like it was hot right on her. Oh my God, it's a real shame, yeah. Honestly, that was kind of the thing that ruined his,

because his image is so like ultra smooth and da da da. Well that's not. And what did he do? Dropping your balls on someone's neck is just not the fucking... Depending on what situation you're in now, it could be, you know,

in some cultures, it's like, hello. So what mentality would make you want to throw a dildo on the stage? I used to just have iPhones just bouncing across the stage. Like, we had, like, a hundred-foot catwalk, and because they wanted us to use the phone to film, you'd just watch these phones just, boom,

like, bounce off here and there. Did you ever get injured? I mean, you get hit it with some stuff but not that i really remember like so when are you going to tour i don't know i don't even know how i feel about touring anymore if i'm honest i played the most amazing places through the whole time i did um one direction i've done some amazing gigs since that have been really cool in a lot of different countries I wouldn't usually get to go to and yeah I don't know I just don't know

how I feel about that lifestyle anymore when I was younger I was able for it it's like the late night writing session like I was

a boogie called me in New York the other day and he was like oh come and like do a session and I was like okay so I started writing a song

at like 2 o'clock in the afternoon in my hotel room to a beat just doing whatever I thought fit. And I'm waiting all day, waiting all day. He didn't wake up until 7pm and then was like, went and did a show. And then at midnight was like, we could go and do something.

But I was like, mate, midnight. Are you kidding me? I'm a dad, mate. I'm off to bed. Yeah. Like I'm done. Yeah. I completely agree with you.

But I think like, I mean, it seems like you seem really happy at the moment. Honestly, I'm the happiest I've ever been that's so yeah it's took a long time to get to this place and I'm glad that I'm at this stage in my life now I don't know why but 26 always seemed like a really crucial age for me like the coming of age almost in my head I'd kind of built it up that way so I have my 26th birthday recently I feel like everything's kind of working out nicely from now it's good it's very weird because I am stuck at 26 because I think I am 26 in my head I'm 26 I'm just about to meet Scott Walker again and he's going to marry me and that's where I am 26 is a great age yeah I think I just think it's the point where yeah you're done with your excuses for fucking you're not a teenager you're

a bit older more mature than 21 and you know where you're going i think a little bit which is over that border of the mid-20s isn't it so it's like up to there i feel like you have a fuck up allowance where you're allowed to screw up and go oh sorry i'm in my 20s it's you know it's part of me learning curve whatever the situation is whereas now i feel like i gotta get this shit right now and also you know i have my son have you got regrets then? Have I got regrets? About things that have happened? I mean, you're very young.

I wouldn't say I have because I'm really happy with where I'm at right now. If I didn't do it, then I wouldn't have even gotten to this stage of life, which is great. So, you know, I think a lot of people can go on being really sad and low forever, never finding out the thing because there's no extreme point where you'll have to make a turn. Otherwise, you might die. you know i mean so it was like for me that was my doorway where i was like right there's a fucking real strong choice here mate like you're either going to end up over that side or you can go forward so up to you it must be so hard it was stressful it was it was mega stressful it was mega stressful i mean i never expected that level of fame ever say to you liam i think you need to slow down or a bit worried about you

yeah were you able to hide it from them well my dad was like saying my dad said to me he's like you know he woke up one morning and was like you know he's having six-figure business conversations what am i supposed to tell him like that's what he used to say to his mates i don't know what you want me to tell him because he's doing his thing and whatever else and i'm worried about him yeah but my parents never seen anything like that we're from from Wolverhampton, like, we live by a farm. Like, they haven't got a clue what's going on. And I was going through this really crazy circumstance that you just completely lost control of. And we were definitely overworked 100% in the band.

I had no personal life. I learned nothing about myself. Like, I remember getting into therapy the one time and the guy was like, what do you like to do? You didn't know? I don't know. Oh, bang. I hadn't got a clue.

So I was just sat there in the chair going, like, i actually like do you know i mean so it's like when you get to that place of life it's like i really need to figure some shit out about myself but i just lived so long as this like reclusive pop star who was afraid of people who just stayed inside all the time was it a relief when you broke up um no it was really scary at first but i needed to stop definitely it would have killed me really 100% liam are you gonna have any more tattoos i haven't yeah it's gonna piss my mum off um there's plenty there's plenty of spots yeah i mean yeah you see how you've seen which one do you regret um tattoos come on which one's a bit shit I don't regret them now but I did regret these arrows when I first got them done because they were very much on their own. You've got them both on each side.

You've got the red arrows on your arm. No they're a bit like a road sign this way. It makes poignant. They're like chevrons. They are chevrons. They're chevrons. They're chevrons in the... yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. So why did you do that really drunk probably probably knowing someone by fucking arms no no this arm's different it's just one direction oh wow good so that's the one that you can fill that in well i did well this is the thing i did regret it and then like the stories look quite good actually i went to the tattoo shop and everyone was getting something. I thought, fuck it.

It's like four o'clock in the morning. Who's everyone but the band? The band. We're all in there. Like we take over the shop. So we're just like, all right, whatever. I was like, I'll get something. And the guy like put me on the front desk of the tattoo shop and I'm like laid out on

the desk where they're like sign people in it. Yeah. Then he put the tattoo thing on and I'd look at it and I was like, it was like my fourth or fifth tattoo. Big, scary, like biker guys doing it for me. And I'm looking at my arm and I'm thinking it's a little bit big, but I do not know what to tell him at this point. Because I'm really high and I'm really thinking about what the fuck do I say here? Because he's a lot bigger than me.

So I just let him on with it. And then I woke up the next morning and I was in a bit of a haze. And I was like, my arm's really hurting. So what does that mean? So then I looked down and I was like, oh my fucking God, I can't believe hell I was like my arm's really hurting so what does that mean so then I looked down and I was like oh my fucking god I can't believe what I've done

and then I had to go on American X Factor on the night time this is the bit and my dad's watching it at home in the UK at like one o'clock in the morning or whatever

and I went on a stage and I forgot this was my microphone hand so I put my arm up to sing and my dad sat and my sister he turned to my sister

and went I hope they're fucking stickers typical Walvo British dad line which is so good but the best part of it was i hated it for the longest time and then i feel like tattoo has kind of become a part of you so you're like i'm used to looking at my hands that way that's me it's like they're like have you got one for your son not yet i haven't but i want to get a bear somewhere but the best thing about this was this turned out to be the logo for all the Hugo Boss stuff. So even when I was like

making mad mistakes, it all came full circle. Yeah, there you go. You see? I was like, yeah, this is great. This mistake is actually making money now. There you go. Fucking hell.

I knew I was right. Dessert. Oh, this is going to torture me. Well, he can't have a dessert. I can smell it. I love smelling shit. Okay. It's chocolate.

It's chocolate. I'm going to tell Okay. It's chocolate. It's chocolate. I'm going to tell you. It's espresso. I think it's chocolate espresso torts. Look at those. It's just hella posh. They look so good and fucking shiny. I'd love to bury my face in those.

Sorry. Coconut, passion fruit, and white chocolate torts. Bring in the passion. Who are they from? Waitrose and Partners. Waitrose and Partners. Bad Boy White Chocolate Tort. We're talking.

Yeah, we're talking Mega Chocolate Talk And Liam's going to have them Actually I'm going to Start with an O He's not going to have them Because I'm going to save them For my birthday Which birthday?

Next week And she's away 26 again Again It's been such a pleasure To chat to you Thank you And really

And to really talk And talk openly and just kind of really I don't know I just can't even get over what a mental life you've already had yeah it's been quite mad

and I'm really happy for you that you're having such a lovely time and you know the new record good luck with that thank you very much and I do think you should do

some live shows babe you're a good singer yeah well I might get one. I'm sure they'll talk me into it somehow. No, but also, like, you'll get bored of doing all the bloody radio shows. Like, you need to do your own fucking shows. Well, I mean, we do a lot of different, like I say,

we do a lot of different corporate gigs, and I've got to travel the world just doing these amazing corporate gigs. And I think it kind of takes the pressure off because I'm not having to set any of the show or anything up, and it's not my responsibility for certain things. But it takes a lot of the pressure off, which has been quite nice. Should I tour?

I probably should at some point, but as of right now, I just, I'm kind of happy with the way life is. I guess you toured enough with 1D. Well, that's it. I mean,

it was like five straight years of just constant, constant on the road. And it's just, I mean, it was, by the end of it, I was tired. Yeah.

Jesse, I think he's doing all right with his billions of listens. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, good luck with the record. Thank you. And good luck at Thanksgiving. Jesse I think he's doing alright with his billions of listens Yeah I know Absolutely But yeah good luck with the record And good luck at Thanksgiving

Liam can you just strip off because we want to say something No You too You know what I liked about Liam? What? He's obviously training. He's got to be in his pants doing a proper campaign. And I know, and I get that. That's really serious.

But bless him, he was so enthusiastic about the grub. Yeah. And appreciative of the meal and was really, I felt, quite... I think he enjoyed the food. Yeah, I think he loved the food. Because it was Waitrose and Partners, number one. Their premium range, I think you could tell it was the premium range. It is quite premium these days, isn't it?

But yeah, I just, I loved, I appreciated how open he was. He was. I've got to go to Novikov. Yeah. Going to avoid the Italian side, he told me to. What's Novikov? I don't know, some fancy restaurant. Okay.

And my son making lots of noise, having his bottle for the night. So we knew it was too unfair on Liam to bring out the delicious Waitrose and Partners number one gorgeous desserts. Yeah. So. We're now eating them. We're now eating them. And they are fabulous. Yeah, they didn't last until your birthday next week.

No. I have to say, it was quite nice to just follow a recipe, wasn't it? Sometimes it really helps. Yeah, I feel like it was a lovely like holiday from doing the cookbook so thank you wait chosen partners number one that was brilliant fantastic ingredients and liam had second and delicious wine that wine was delish yeah you also were enjoying it because you got to have a glass at 4.30. 4 o'clock. Thank you for listening.

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