That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Jill Halfpenny

Episode Date: March 7, 2022

In this episode Gaby chats with actress Jill Halfpenny. She talks about what it has been like working in show business since she was 13 years old and they discuss her many TV shows such as 'Byker Grove', 'Eastenders', 'Waterloo Road' and recent hit 'The Drowning' and of course what it was like to win the second season of 'Strictly Come Dancing'. She also stars in the new Channel 5 Original drama ‘The Holiday’ which is available to stream now on My5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to that Gabby Rosin podcast, part of the A-Cast Creator Network. Jill Halfpenny is my guest this week, known for many stage and TV shows like Biker Grove, EastEnders, Waterloo Road in the club, and her recent hit The Drowning, and of course winning the second season of Strictly. She now also stars in the new Channel 5 original drama The Holiday, and all the episodes are now streaming on my 5. I have devoured them, and I urge you to do the same. is so good. This is a very honest chat about her life. It's very personal and her honesty is very powerful. She's wise and talks about how it is for her working in show business since she was only 13 years old. I hope you enjoy listening to Jill as much as I loved chatting to her.

Please can I ask you a favour? Would you mind following and subscribing please by clicking the follow or subscribe button? This is completely and utterly free by the way and you can also rate and review on Apple Podcasts, which is the purple app on your iPhone or iPad. Simply scroll down to the bottom of all of the episodes. I know there have been quite a few now. And you'll see the stars where you can tap and rate and also please write a review. Thank you so much. Jill, the first time I interviewed you was on Saturday morning kids' telly, Motormouth.

And that was when we were both about three years old. I think we must have started. That's crazy until you said the word motor mouth. I've forgotten all about that. Because you guys came on. We had a Biker Grove special or something. And the only reason I remembered it, and this is freakies, so I knew I was going to be chatting to you.

I was so looking forward to chatting to you. And I dreamt about being on Motemouth, and you guys all coming on, how weird is that? And then I thought it did happen. I'm sure, I know it did happen. I remember it. Well, I definitely remember because there was obviously going live. Now you say Motor Mouth,

There was also, was it called Ghost Train with Jenny Powell? Yes. Yeah, that was in the summer. Remember, we just did the rounds, yeah. Yeah, you did. You did them all. But you, I think you were 14 or 15 or something, weren't you with Biker Grove? Yeah, so I was 13 when I got the roll and then, yeah, sort of 17 by the time I left.

And isn't it, do you mind that people still talk about it? Not at all, actually. Really? No, I don't. I think, if I'm really, if I'm really, I'm. really honest with you, there might have been a part of my life, maybe my late 20s, where I sort of felt like, no, I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about things that I'm doing now or, you know, for in the future.

But I think you get to an age where you're like, listen, it's all part of the kind of tapestry, isn't it? So I wouldn't be sat here with you if it wasn't for that, I don't think. So it's, I try not to push anything away now. I try to sort of just accept it all. Isn't that lovely? It's very funny. I have the same thing about a breakfast show that I did and people always talk about it and they always say, do you mind that we mention it? And I say, no, because I wouldn't have done all the other things and it's just part of the stuff I did and happy memories.

Because you, I mean, whenever I read about you talking about Biker Grove and obviously, you know, you're still friends with the lovely couple of lads who were in it and all of that, it's just you all have such fond memories and that's such a precious thing to be able to hold on to. Yeah, I think so. And it's like, you know, what you just said. I mean, when you did the big breakfast, I was so into it that I used to record the bits that I couldn't watch because I had to leave the school. And then I would watch them when I came back from school. I mean, that's pretty sort of hardcore fan base, isn't it? Somebody who records a breakfast show and then watches the bit they didn't say when they come back. And I've realized over the years, like exactly what you said. Like, I've heard people like Barry Manilow say, you know, but people say, do you get bored when people ask you to sing? hits and say of course I don't they're my hits like it doesn't really it's not about the fact that we haven't gone on to do things that we've loved that have been equally as good blah blah blah it's just about what people hold in their hearts what people like people have a real nostalgia for things from their childhood and things from their teens and and and and I don't want to squash that I never want to be that person who's like oh let's not talk about that it's like oh but that seems

really crap. It's like people want to sort of go back to those memories and and have fun, like thinking about it. Do you know what I thought you were going to say? I thought you were going to say that Barry Manilow used to watch Biker Grove. What? He did. He did. I think Nicola was his favorite character. Can you imagine. Oh, that was honestly my, my breath, I held my breath thinking, oh yeah, Biker. I think he was going to change his song. Her name is Lola to her name was Nicla. Her Nicola Dawson, she will be.

Oh, talking of you singing, I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube and watched you singing. And you singing with Shane Ritchie? Oh, God. Yeah. God, they, I mean, there's such like, you sort of, I think back to those things, I mean, for anyone that's listening sort of every year,

every year in EastEnders, you know, I think it was for a children in need, I think. It was children in need. Yeah, EastEnders would get asked to do, you know, some sort of like musical numbers or bits and bulbs and they're always such fun, but it's funny, isn't it? Because they're always done at the time

when you're most busy. And I think it's the same for everybody's experience of doing anything for like comic relief or children in need. Everybody wants to do them, but you're so busy at the time. everything seems to be just piling up. So it's really weird, like when I think back to that memory of doing it, it's very like muddy because I can't,

everything's just so full on that it's only when you, somebody reminds you of it, but you look back and you think, yeah, I did do that, didn't I sound, I sang a song with St. Richie in the pub. Like, it's bizarre. You did. You did, it was a Christmas song. But it's just wonderful. But I've actually, I mean, I've seen you in your musical.

So I remember coming to see you, in Legally Blonde. You and I were lucky enough to both be in Chicago, but not at the same time. But I thought you were wonderful as Roxy. Oh, thank you.

In Chicago. So for people who don't know, Chicago is a musical, it's an amazing musical. And was it after Strictly? You then were at Roxy? It was directly after Strictly, yeah. Yeah, and I think it's such a good part.

You were Roxy as well, weren't you? No, no, I was Mama. Oh, no. I can't dance. Oh, yeah, you were. I bet you can dance. No, you and mama, right? So it's a great musical, isn't it?

And it's funny, I don't know if you've thought this as well, but I think back again, I always do this with my jobs, but I think back to that time. And, you know, I was 29 when I played Roxy. And actually, I think the sort of perfect age to play Roxy is probably about 39. Like, I feel like she should be so much more knowing and so much more sort of past it. and...

No, no, no, stop. Stop. No, I'm going to actually make you stop because I came to see you in it and I thought you were phenomenal. I really... I'm not just because you're on. No, no, no. I don't need to say that.

I can say, oh, you were Roxy and then I don't need to say anymore. But you were and I never thought for one second. Oh, she's too young to play Roxy. Yeah. Oh, well. Well, there you go. I mean, this is the thing with me.

I, you know, I think any sort of creative person and sort of the minute, it's almost like the minute the job finishes, the very next morning you wake up and you think, why did I do it like that? Why didn't I make that decision instead? Yes, yes. Are you hypercritical then of yourself? Awful. I mean, honestly, I've worked on it a lot,

so I'm much better than I used to be. I used to be almost to the point where it was hard for me to even experience joy from what I did because it was so, oh yeah, like so critical and so, so judgmental of myself and then I realized that that was that was going to get me nowhere. So I started to try and really embrace everything like embrace the sort of imperfections as well and in this idea, you know, of trying to somehow be perfect and you know, as we all know there is not perfect and what is one thing to one person is not to another anyway. So I just sort of try to drop all that maybe in the last 10 years or so and think, you know,

know, like, I'm just going to do what I've got right now and no doubt I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll think of something different. But that's all right. Like, that's really all right. That's very interesting because, you know, so many people, there's a lot, especially over the past couple of years, that anxiety and mental health issues come to the fall. And a lot of people have been incredibly judgmental of themselves over the years and especially, as I say, over the past two years. So I'm quite interested to see how you managed to turn it around and create. joyful situation because you say you didn't let yourself feel joy. That was there a moment that you thought you sat back and watched this and thought,

I can't do this anymore or did somebody say something? I mean, how did that switch happen? I think it was incremental. It was very incremental. It was very, it was slow. It was a very slow process for me and as time went on and, you know, life happens to you and I think I just became more and more cracked over. cracked open by life and the armour fell off, if you like.

And I also decided a long time ago to live a sober life. It was what I thought would be best for me and for my head. And that changed me a lot. It's amazing, isn't it? Yeah, and I started to not just feel like, yeah, like people are imperfect. It's like, it's funny, you know these things cereally, but you've got to really feel them, you've got to really believe them.

And then I started to not only know that, I start to really love imperfections. And actually, I say this all the time now, and I say it to my niece, Chelsea as well, who's an actress. Don't ever try and be perfect on stage. It's really boring. People don't want that.

People want you to move them. People want to feel something from you, whether that's joy or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or pain or excitement, whatever it is, whatever the story is, you're telling. But nobody ever walks off stage and somebody goes, well, that was perfect. That's not what telling stories are about.

It's like, is it that Maya Angelou, or Crawl? You know, you very rarely remember what people say, but you remember how they made you feel. You just, you know, it's about making somebody feel something. And that's what art and creativity is. It's a response to something. It's like, I remember how I felt when I left the theater that night or when I watched that episode or when I see,

that performance. And I just started to really understand that all the people that I loved, all the people that I was attracted to, all the people that I thought had a great career, they were not being Little Miss Perfect. And I think Little Miss Perfect is very much rooted for me in fear anyway, like fear of not being good enough. So if you feel that you have low self-worth and you're not good enough, then you have to be perfect because if you're not perfect, you're going to be booted out right that's the kind of narrative so once i sort of realized that i wasn't going to be rejected for not being perfect i started to try and allow myself to sort of free myself up in the way that you know when you watch children play or sing or dance and they just

don't care do they because they're not thinking about being judged in any way they're just in it they're present and they're just they're just loving the moment and whenever i start to feel really tight and really wound up and really sort of self-aware. I try and think of that sort of beautiful joy that kids have where you just go, you know what? Stop caring about what other people think because what other people think is none of my business. What's so interesting is that us as performers, we put ourselves out there and we're all

hypercritical or we're annoyed with whatever performance or we get, we, we, we, we, we, we, feel that people are being judged and yet we'd still put ourselves out there and that's a that for me it's always fascinated me because I've always I talk about very openly about how desperately shy I am and actually since giving up booze four years ago it helps and I'm like you say living a sober life is is gives you more confidence it's quite extraordinary everybody thinks that booze makes you more confident but actually being in the moment being present is a very it's a it's a very empowering thing But it's funny that we put ourselves out there. That's exactly it.

Yeah. Well, I think what it is is if you're shy, like I am as well, I really relate to that. People can't get their head around why a shy person would perform. But it's not just I am shy full stop. It's I am shy and I have low self-worth and I would like affirmation from people to make me feel better. And also, obviously, the other side of it is that we obviously do. like to perform we obviously enjoy our work and our art but sometimes you walk towards the thing that most frightens you as well because what i've found is a lot of people who are like this

the way you describe yourself as well is you're also quite courageous people so you walk towards the thing that frightens you and what you really hope for is is the affirmation and the applause and aren't you great and aren't you wonderful but when you are met with maybe something else there's something yeah like quite toxic about taking the criticism and taken the negative feedback and telling yourself i must do better i must be better whereas and i think there was a part of me that was attracted to that as well that um like i didn't i the worst thing in the world would would be for me to read a really terrible review of myself and yet was there a little part of me that wanted that because somehow it was like, yeah, yeah, I know, I know I'm bad

and I know I need to be better and this is just going to give me the impetus that I need to just be better in every way and it's it's really unhealthy and when you drop the, when you drop the booze or drop anything else that you're using on in your life, it's really strange. It's like you say, you think you would run a mile but actually what you do is you just think, oh no, I can really see the bigger picture here. I can really see that I need to be doing this for the right reasons and I need to do it because ultimately I am that little girl who just loved performing. As I've got older, I've added all these things on top of it and almost spoilt my enjoyment of it. So it's like going back to the purity of it, isn't it? And saying, I just like it.

You've got a very wise, wise head on young shoulders. Then with all of that, You then go and put yourself on strictly. Yes, you won and you were the champion of champions. I remember because you were in the early days when it first started. But my goodness me, that's being judged. Live television, judges sitting in front of you, audience judging. Wow. I know.

I remember because I think, you know, it's, I think it's been pretty well reported that like when I grew up, I went to dance school. You know, I went to like a church hall on Saturday. And, you know, there was a part in my childhood, possibly where I don't know whether I ever thought I wanted to be a dancer, but I thought that dance would be a part of what I would do. And then suddenly I was in Biker Grove and I went to drama school. And I guess for lots of different reasons, I just thought, I'm not good enough to be a dancer. I don't have, I'm physically, I'm not right and all of those things.

And I sort of talked myself away from it. And I remember Chris Parker had done the first season of Strictly, and he was showing us a tape of one of the episodes in the Green Room and he distend us. And I remember watching it thinking, oh, wow, like, you get to learn all these dancers. And oh my God, like, I've missed dancing so much. And then it's one of those kind of manifest and things, isn't it?

And then, you know, a few months later, Sharon, head of publicity, brings me up and hey you know they're interested in you for strictly what do you think and the minute she asked me i remember saying i'll think about it overnight and i'll ring you in the morning but i knew i knew immediately i was going to say yes i was like there is no way i am turning this opportunity to down because i knew i would love it but i know what you're saying it was also the most terrifying thing because i i often say this it's like again like if you're doing a performance and you read a review there's been time between you getting off stage to that newspaper being printed or seeing something online. But on strictly, you're literally like you're still out of breath while somebody's telling you what they thought of you.

And because of that, you are very, very open. And I think that's why some people react the way they do to to the criticism. It's you don't you don't have time to build yourself back up again. And dancing is like it's a very exposed and very vulnerable feeling. especially if you're doing something that means something to you or people are dancing to a song that perhaps has meaning for them. You can see their faces, and it's tough. It's really tough being judged the minute you've literally the minute.

Yes. Well, you did fantastically, in it? I mean, obviously, it changed so much of your life because we knew you for the TV shows. I mean, EastEnders, I've never missed an episode. I always go on about that. And I love EastEnders. I remember you so well in EastEnders.

And Corrie, you were in and Waterloo Road. Wow, you've done them all. I'll say one of my favourists was in the club, if I'm allowed to say that. Oh, yes. Love that. I loved that. But all of those TV shows, I think people had perceived you as the child star, you know, great actress.

You'd gone on, you'd done all of these things. You'd done strictly. And then suddenly, I don't, do you feel like people perceive you as a different actress because of the drowning and then the holiday, which is literally, you know, it's going to be the show that everybody's talking about on Channel 5. Do you feel people perceive you differently now? I guess like going back to what we were talking about

at the very beginning, I made a conscious decision to neither push away any of my past and not to be ashamed of it in any way either or embarrassed by it because I just, I knew that that was a ridiculous notion. Yeah, and you know, and we just put so much judgment on ourselves, you know, because of, you know, what people might think about choices we've made. But I think I've also, maybe conversely to that, you know, I have thought about what I wanted

to do next. And I am not in any way in a position to sit down at my agent's table and say, okay, out of the eight scripts I have, which one am I going to do? That is not my career at all. I'm very lucky that sometimes I get offered things, but I often, well, I still audition all the time. So I don't want to make this, oh, all the time. So I wouldn't want to make this out like I just choose my work.

But what I'm trying to say is that I have tried very hard to fight for or to take the opportunities that have come my way that may just nudge people in, to an area of she's not just that, you know, whatever that is. And I don't even want to say that whatever that is is a bad thing either because I wouldn't want to be that judgey person. Yeah, I get that. You sort of have to take people with you a little bit.

And I think that, like you said it before, like that sort of child actor, I understand it and I understand that people kind of hold you in their hearts and kind of think, oh, yeah, I remember saying them on Grangell or Biker or whatever. But I think one of the things about our business is really longevity. And you're sat here with me today. And, you know, I'm 46 and I've been doing this since I was 13. Well, actually since I was 10, I was doing professional shows. So I hope there's a certain amount of respect that you get for the fact that,

hey, there's got to be something there if you're still doing it after all this time, you know. And there is. But you are a superb actress. You've done so many interesting things. And it's, I'm very surprised that you have to audition because I would think that you're up there as one of those people. I mean, I loved the drowning.

I know we're going to talk about the holiday, but I loved the drowning. Yeah, and I, well, I think as well, I think that it was really, the drowning was the first show that I led on my own. I'd previously done some shows where I'd sort of co-starred, if you like. And that's, yeah, maybe that's something else about what you were referring to.

There's a point where people have to put their trust in you and you have to convince somebody that I can lead a show. You can give me that amount of responsibility. You can give me that amount of, you know, weight on my shoulders and I will take it and I will run with it. Now, there's so many different factors to a show work. So it isn't never just about the person who's leading the show. It's about every single person involved.

But I think, yes, it's taken a while for, I think, for people to think, yes, let's run with that. She can do that. She's got this, you know? That's mad. Why, after 36 years in this industry, should you still having to prove yourself? Anyway, that's me. Anyone that's listening who makes the TV shows, stop doing that. She doesn't need to prove herself anymore.

So the holiday now, it's not the film with Kate Winslet we're talking about. No, no, no. This is the Channel 5 show. See, I think we've all now, we have an appetite for those gripping shows. And I just want more. Yeah, I think it's, you know, we all seem to love a thriller at the moment. We all like a bit of suspense and we like to get very involved very quickly. And basically, yeah, so it's about a group of.

a group of 40-year-old friends who've known each other since uni, they go away on holiday for their 40th birthday and they, in their wisdom, decide to bring their husbands and all their children with them. And my character is, well, she, I guess she, when we first meet her, she, you know, she's very self-assured, she works in the police force, she has a fantastic husband and a fantastic marriage, and then, and then, you know, in the sort of very beginning of the the first episode, she finds something incriminating on her husband's phone. And it's just a really interesting portrayal of how, you know, I was talking to the director

about this. Sometimes you imagine that somebody who is a very suspicious, untrusting and paranoid person would deal with the idea of their husband having an affair much worse than somebody who's very self-assured. But actually, I think part of my character's downfall, is that her reputation is Kate's very together, Kate's got a great marriage, Kate's got a lovely husband. So there's a huge, everything about who she is

and everything about what she knows to be true about her life. She feels as being challenged immediately. And because of that, I think she makes some very strange decisions and acts, you know, in a way that I would hope that I wouldn't. But then again, I've never been in that position, So I don't know. I can imagine that some of the interviews for this, people are saying,

so have you ever found yourself in that position? I want to get sensationalist about that. I promise you, I wasn't going to ask you that at all, I promise. But it's one of those, you're watching and you go, oh, is it? Did they? How did it?

Oh, is it? And I love that feeling. Again, it's Channel 5. And I think Channel 5, I mean, I've worked at Channel 5, and I'm a huge fan of Channel 5. I work with them, gosh, over many, many different things over the years. And it's such an interesting channel

because they know what their audience wants. And again, with the drowning and then with the holiday, they're giving the audience what they want. And the audience are going to love this. Yeah, it's an interesting point you make there because I think, like you say, other channels and networks, you, of course, after so many years, you garner a reputation for being this or that.

and we do this really well or we do that. But Channel 5 are like they're really only interested in giving their audiences what they want rather than like, we are Channel 5, this is what we do? They say, what does all audience want? And I think that's pretty powerful actually. Just like a little round of applause. Because it's a bit like, you know, when Netflix first started out, I mean, remember those little leaflets that came through the door and like for $2 a month? You know, it's like, what is this Netflix?

But my God, I mean, look. at how powerful they are now and I feel like that's what they did. They were just like, what are people want? What are people want? Let's give them it. Let's not tell people what they want. Let's listen to them and then give them what they want. Do you choose things for, okay, that's quite interesting. Do you choose things that you know obviously going to work for you, but that you know that people are going to like? Because the things you've chosen, you haven't chosen any stinkers. And it's you know what it's, as if you have that feeling of knowing, probably because you started so young, but you know

what the audience want. And it's as if you're delivering that delicious meal. You're saying, look, I know exactly what you want to eat. Here we go. Well, I think I'm pretty good at reading a script and knowing straight away if I'm going to dislike it. I think it's harder to know if I'm going to really like it because there's so many different factors that come into that. But yeah, I think when I'm reading them, I definitely put myself in the position of an audience member as well, for sure. I don't just think, like, will I, Jill just enjoy doing this? I think, well, will the audience like this? But, I mean, it's always a gamble.

And sometimes I've done work that, you know, I've really been so proud of and I've loved every second. But audience-wise, it's not really done much. So you just never know. And does that worry you? If the numbers, you know, with that craziness of the numbers and the ratings, or do you just say no? Yeah, I think, no, it does. It does. But it doesn't worry me as in keeps me up at night.

It worries me because you think it might have an effect on the next thing or the next thing. But it doesn't, I'm at the point now where it's much more important to me when I watch it, whether I think I've done a decent job. and if I enjoyed it or not, that becomes much higher on the list to how many people watched it. Because really, you know, it's out of my control. It's not really, for me, that job's completely done now. It's done a long time ago.

So I have to like, I was interviewing Anthony Gormley two weeks ago, the sculptor. Yes. And, you know, and he, you know, I was asking him about his works and how he feels. about what people say about them. And he was like, but they're not mine. And I was like, yeah, but Anthony, like,

they must be yours at some point in the process. And he was like, well, I know what you're saying. He said, but in a way, like the minute, the minute, like the angel of the north was, he said, before it was even made, he said, it didn't feel like mine because I needed so many other people to help me make that. He said, it just felt like it was such a communal effort that he said, I just don't buy into that sort of personal, being personally affronted if somebody doesn't like it because it just feels like there's hundreds of people involved. And I guess like that's the

same with me. Like I cannot make something on my own. There's hundreds of us and I have to sort of be proud of what hundreds of us did together, you know? Well, you should absolutely you should be. Do you know, it's quite extraordinary when I was sitting there and going and doing all my research on you. My word, people are interested in your private life. And there are some people, it's very funny because we've had such an incredible mixture of actors and performers on the two seasons of this podcast. And there are some people that they're just obsessed with their private life. I am not interested in your private life. It's your business. It's your private life. But my word, they want to know, I know you've gone through utter heartbreak with your dad and with your partner.

and you've been very open and you've spoken about their deaths. But they always want to know who you're going out with. I mean, just does that side of it, does that drive you completely bananas? I think I really understand it. I think I understand that. Yeah, because I think that people imagine that people in the public eye have something they haven't got. I think they really believe that people who are on the TV have,

a life that's sprinkled with fairy dust and it's a bit magical and and they have access to things that they don't have access to and although you know you could argue that some of that is true but the stuff that you would have access to is really in the grand scheme of things completely meaningless and I think that people people I think we all want to feel like we're all right like like like we're doing okay and that way that that way I think I think people are so invested in other people's personal life because it makes them feel more normal like if somebody split up with someone or if somebody's lost someone I don't think for a minute anyone's thinking ha ha I don't not that I think people think oh yeah yeah yeah that's real life the real stuff's

happening yeah so I think that's I think that's what it is and Obviously, there's certain publications that, in my opinion, go way too far and sensationalize things. But I think it's really natural. It's like since the dawn of time, since, you know, Doris Day and Heather Garblah, I think everybody was still like, and who are they with? And, you know, who are they in a romance with and what's happened? It's not anybody's business. And I love that that's how you're able to hold on to just being you, I suppose.

Carrying on being you without the show busy thing. You're not very show busy, which is lovely. I'm not show busy at all, actually. And I think people are really surprised when they meet me how really normal my life is. It's really, really unshow busy. And I really mean that. I'm not just saying that. I just, I don't, I mean, I, you know, I live back up in the northeast now.

So if it was not even show busy in London, it's even less so up here. But I think people are like, just attuned to gossip, aren't there? Like, it's, I don't know, it's, it's, everybody feels a little bit, you know, they just, every, I just think everybody wonders, through their life wondering if other people have got, I mean, I used to think that, like,

one day I was gonna go to drama school and I would find out, like, the secret to acting. And I think sometimes I think that's what I thought about life. One day, I'll wake up and I'll crack it. I'll understand exactly, what life is and how to live it and how to be. And I think that the secret to life is that there is no secret. I don't know if that sounds like, but it's just, yeah. But I do think that people's obsession with the gossipy side of things is just to make people feel better. It really is. I mean,

you know, used to do it in the school playground, didn't you? And I hate being the subject of gossip. I hate it because that's what I meant. I think that's what I meant. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, that introverted part of me and the proud part of me as well and my ego gets dented. And I just think, I can't think of anything worse than the idea that people are laughing about me or giggling about me. But I've also like, I just don't invest much time and thinking about that anymore. It just seems so pointless. And I just think, oh, you know. Absolutely.

Oh, good for you. Now, obviously a really important question. Can you still play your nose? Yes. Oh, yes. The nose is still intact. Really? Thank you. Let's have, can we have a listen?

Now, nobody's going to know what we're talking about. I know. I should say to you, I found strange things on the internet. So this is you, you can play your nose. Like a, what is it? What's the instrument? Like a sitter? Yes.

Yeah. Okay, ready? Do do do do do do do. You loony! I love it. Oh my goodness, that's how you party trick. So on this podcast we always ask everybody what makes them belly laugh. And I can imagine you having a right giggle. So what makes you properly belly laugh?

Honestly, it's such a cliché answer, I know, but my son, he's, he has a very unusual and unique way of thinking about things. He's very, um, he's just, he's just, he just does things that I wouldn't ever do. And he just makes me laugh because of it. I find him, I'm, I'm quite jealous of the freedom he has in his head. He's a, he's a daydreamer and I'm jealous of daydreamers because I would probably tend to be in the sort of more obsessive. or what do I need to do camp or I'm holding 10 thoughts in my head and which one am I going to do first? Like, it's been a long time since I feel like I've just completely daydreamed.

And although, you know, when I'm asking him to get ready for school, that can be annoying. I actually do look at him sometimes when you'll be like putting a pair of pants on and you'll put one foot in and I'll see him. And then honestly, five minutes later I can come back to his room and he still just has that foot in because he's daydreaming. And I think, God, that's what? wonderful that. That is just...

Do it. Why don't you do it? Do it. That's really weird. I've just written about that. Have you? For the magazine that I do. Yeah. About how adults aren't able to daydream. Because I daydream. I fantasize and daydream about all sorts of, you know, all this is happening and then this and all that. But it's quite a tough thing. A lot of adults find it difficult. You should actually give yourself five minutes of every day, whether you call it meditation or daydreaming or using your imagination.

Just do that because it can take you all sorts of places. Yeah, that sounds good. I'm going to do that. Try and do it. Get it from your son. So I love the idea that him with two legs in one pair of underpants is the thing that makes you giggle. Well, he just said to me, he went for a meal the other day with his friend.

And I said, what did you have for starter? And he said, chips. I said, chips for your starter? And you went, yeah? And I said, what would you have for mains? He said, steak and chips. I said, why did you have chips for your starter? He said, well, the waitress asked me something

and I didn't know what she said and I didn't want to say pardon, so I just said yes. So I'm presuming she must have said, are you sure you want chips for starter? He said, I said, yes, I do. And I was like, wow, like just say pardon, but then, you know, I actually don't want to change him

because I like it when he comes back with those silly souls. I love that. What did he have for pudding? Please tell me he had more chips. No, he didn't have pudding because he was so full from the first portion of chips. He didn't even get a chance to eat all the steak. I was like, oh. Oh, bless him.

And Jill, thank you. It's so lovely to have a proper chat with you. And as I said, you've got a very wise head on those shoulders, my lovely. And good luck with the holiday and good luck with all the shows that you do. And I hope it's, I hope that my dream didn't just, it wasn't a strange fantasy about you coming on Motemouth because I'm sure you did. I'm almost sure we did as well. I absolutely remember that show. But yeah, it's really good to speak to you, Gabby.

And like you say, it's quite amazing, really, to be talking to you now, thinking that we met all those years ago and like I've watched your career. And it's just life is just, it's a bit of a ride, isn't it? It is. And we're very, very lucky. We are. Bless you. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Cheers, Gabby. That Gabby Rosalind podcast is. proudly produced by Cameo Productions. Music by Beth Macari. Could you please tap the follow or subscribe button and thanks so much for your amazing reviews. We honestly read every single one and they need the world to us. Thank you so much.