That Lionesses Podcast - Hemp & Morgan: DIY Haircuts, Camp DJ & Biscuit the Cat | That Lionesses Podcast Connected by EE

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Looking ahead to England’s next game against The Netherlands, Harriet is joined by besties Lauren Hemp and Esme Morgan! They lift the lid on what the team are focusing on in training, share the seating arrangements on the coach and explain why Esme trusted Lauren to cut her hair…  Follow @lionesses on Instagram, WhatsApp and X, plus @england on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube so you don’t miss a thing! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So I messaged Lauren before camp and I said, would you like to cut my hair on camp? And she just said, yeah. So I went and grabbed the physio scissors. The physio scissors? That doesn't sound like good hair cutting scissors. Well, the front desk did actually accuse me of bringing the rain.

He was like, oh, did you bring this with you? That line gets old, doesn't it? Because whenever it rains in America, they're always accusing me. It's not funny anymore. It's like. It's made me really triggered by that one. The back of the bus is where the music comes from.

So that's like collection of DJs back there. And then as it goes further forward, pretty much. Yeah, they're all back there. Calvin Harris. Hello and welcome to another episode of That Lioness' podcast, Connected by EE. I'm Harriet Rose and today we're looking ahead to England's second game in the group stage against the Netherlands. We will be hearing all about how training is going, what the team are focusing on ahead of the next game and how the players have been switching off with their loved ones.

And with me today are two besties. It's Lauren Hemp and Esme Morgan. Yay! Woo! Woo! Welcome, welcome, welcome. Esme, not the first time for you, but Lauren, this is your first rodeo. It is.

I think I'm the last person. You're the last person. Thanks for finally asking me to be here. Yeah, honestly, that has got nothing to do with me, so please don't make it awkward. I heard you kept saying no. No, it's lovely to have you here. Thanks for coming. First and foremost, do you like what we've done with the space, Esme? Yeah, gorgeous. I love the burnt orangey sofa and chair. It's lovely. Thank you. I want to get into first off your lovely, gorgeous friendship, which I see all over TikTok.

You guys obviously lived together when you played together at Man City. So being in camp must be easy peasy for you two. Yeah, it is. We haven't seen each other in a good while before, like in between camps and stuff, because obviously I'm over in America now. But when we get back together,

it's as if we never left one another, it's so nice. How long has it been since you last sort of like hung out properly? Well the previous camp before this one so it wasn't too long but before that it would have been like six months or something. I was injured for a little while so I mean yeah and we didn't play we haven't played with each other for what like a year and a bit? Yeah and we're not very good at keeping in touch away from camp like we don't really communicate that much, but when we're in person, it's just back to normal. That's the best friendships though, you know, when you don't speak and then when you do speak. Totally agree. I think it does actually show a mark of an amazing friendship where you have the solid core bones of it

to the point where you don't have to speak, but the next time you see each other, it's like you never were apart. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Like there's all different kinds of friendship, but you need that in this kind of realm because you guys are obviously pretty focused on the sport. Yeah. Busy, busy. Busy, busy and different time zone for you. Exactly. It can be a little bit awkward.

I don't speak to anyone that much from the UK, to be honest. I think my family would like to hear more from me, but I just get on with life and kind of forget about things. Yeah do you well I mean you're pretty busy are you the girl that's leaving everyone unread because I kind of if I'm busy no one's hearing from me first. No that's Lauren. I always read it and then I think I'm gonna reply in a little while you know not seem too keen and then I end up leaving it for days. You're not meant to admit that on camera. Sorry everyone, it's not personal.

You should never admit that you actually read the message. My genuine response to everyone is, oh my god, I only just saw this. LIE! Every time. Do you know what, I respect your honesty on that. Yeah, I mean, I do always feel bad, but I'm like, when you see me, it's fine. All my closest friends know that that's the deal. I spend the first couple of days addressing all the messages I've sent Lauren, and say, can you now respond to this in person?

It's worse because we have a best mate, it's obviously at Washington as well. So she'll message me. Sometimes I forget to reply to Ayres and I'll message Sandy back and then vice versa and then I'm like, God they're literally... Yeah, because I'll say, oh Sandy I've messaged Lauren about this and she's like, oh yes she's just replied to me and I'll be like, Lauren! I know you're responding to people.

I'm obsessed you're getting caught out in your own best friend circle. That's the kind of best friends you need though. Yeah. They're not going to call you out. You've got to hold each other accountable. caught out in your own best friend circle. That's the kind of best friends you need though. Yeah. That's what are gonna call you out. Gotta hold each other accountable. Exactly. Now you're living together again, sort of,

like obviously not in the same rooms this time, but who had the sort of like never putting the bins out, Monica, of the two of you? Like who was the one that had the bad traits while you were living together? Why are you looking at me? I'm just laughing. Are you just laughing and staring directly at me? No reason. Who put the bins out of the two of you?

I think it was me. But since we've been apart, I've grown up a bit more. She's had to step up. Yeah, I've stepped up to my duties of living alone and putting the bins out. And realised if you don't do it, no one will. No one's gonna do it, yeah. But we used to share cooking and stuff, like lots of little jobs around the house. Everyone's got their skills.

Yeah. Everyone's got their skills. Who's the better cook? Er, I don't know. We both shared it. We both have our strengths. Yeah, we used to split. Lauren makes great enchiladas and tacos and anything Mexican food. She shines

Oh, I'm more past the dishes We don't do anything fancy no Mexican can be quite complicated. Yes Full taste profile if you ask me my favorite cuisines. Um Let's really get to the nitty-gritty of the info. You two used to do live concerts on socials. Have you done any performances for your teammates whilst you've been here? No. Why are you laughing at me? Because I think it would be a great morale builder. I think that would be traumatic for both of us.

And maybe for the rest of the team. Bear in mind that was about four or five years ago. Yeah. Oh, it's my favourite. You got you on the piano. It's like some sort of like... And maybe for the rest of the team? That was about four or five years ago, wasn't it? Yeah. Oh, it's my favourite, you got you on the piano. I've not played the piano in so long, I actually don't think I'd be able to produce a performance. We'd have to get Hannah Hampton involved because she can play the piano. Okay, well let's get her on piano.

You could make quite a bit of a band. And I'd just sub myself out. Or I could be a backing singer maybe. Well I don't want to be there then if you're not in. No, because you're the lead vocalist. I could be in backing singer maybe. Well I don't want to be there then if you're not in. No because you're the lead vocalist I could be in the background doing all of this. That's so true because actually you do need a backing vocalist in a band. Yeah. Like you can be lead singer and you can be doing whatever that was in the background. Well that's what all the backing dancers do don't they? From the 1950s for sure. So I really do think post euros good idea for a little performance perhaps end of the euros you could just put a little performance on together lead singer backing, Hannah on piano perhaps we

can rope I'm sure there is some other someone plays the drums. Someone said they used to play the saxophone. Michelle plays about 17 instruments. Really? No joke. I think she plays guitar. I'm pretty sure she plays piano and one other. She could be a one man band. She could be involved. Yeah, she can play all of those whilst you sing. You do that usual dance. I don't want to be on the singing. No, it's too late, Lauren.

Lauren, you're great when you get going. What's your favourite song at karaoke? Oh, what have I done before? Do you know what she's brilliant at? Walking in the air. As in, we're walking in the air. Yeah, she does it incredibly. That's a haunting song.

I really feel like... But I can't have anyone looking at me when I'm doing it. OK. No, I'm not doing that. Go for it. No, I'm not doing that. Do you promise to do it for me at some point? Maybe at some point,'s no way I'm not doing that. Do you promise to do it for me at some point?

Maybe at some point, yeah. If I do this? Yeah. Nobody look. Everyone turn away! Well, I'm looking forward to some potential reuniting of the musical variety at some point, but do let me know if that goes down in camp. I think it would go down a storm. Before coming here,

Lauren, you cut Esme's hair at SGP. Is that correct? That is correct. Talk me through that because the fear I would have of anyone cutting my hair that isn't a professional hairdresser. Talk me through that. How did that come about? Well, you wanted me to cut your hair, right? Yeah, it just needed a cut, so I messaged Lauren before camp and I said, would you like to cut my hair on camp? And she just said, yeah. So it's not something that you thought, Lauren, do you know what,

she gives off the energy of a great hairdresser. I just needed it, dear, and I thought, I trust my best friend, she'll be fine. And I don't have anything fancy done. I don't have layers or anything. Choppy bob. Literally, it's just straight trim., I don't have layers or anything. Choppy bob. Literally is just straight trim, so I thought anyone can do that. So I went and grabbed the physio scissors. The physio scissors?

That doesn't sound like good hair cutting scissors. We raided the medical room. Yeah, they were pretty sharp to be fair. And me and Jess part, we've done a good job I think. Well, Jessie P actually conned us all. Yes. Because she said said prior to starting, oh my mum was a hairdresser back in the day so I know what I'm doing

and she was behaving as if she knew what she was doing. Yeah so I'd do a bit of it and then Jess would like try and straighten it out but she claimed that her mum was a hairdresser. Anyway word later came out, haircuts long been done, that Jess's mum worked in a hair salon but she only used to sweep the floors from the hair. So we were conned the whole time. Yeah but you know what the thing is, fake it till you make it. No exactly, that gave me great confidence so it's a good job I didn't know that. You haven't got a shaved head so things obviously went fairly well.

They went great, yeah. Since then we've actually had a few more people. Are you open for bookings now? I am, yeah. And I actually charge a lot less than a normal hairdresser. Do you know what? Zero training gets you cheaper prices and I'd say that's a good deal. And it sounds like you're pretty good.

Do you cut your own hair? No, I haven't done that yet, but I've done mayors and at prep camp I've done blinks. Yeah. No one else yet has trusted me, but... Well, perhaps as a celebration you can do mine later in the series. Okay, let's do that. I really wish I hadn't said that. Now I've said it. All right, less than 48 hours to go before the next match against the Netherlands. Summarise the feeling with an emoji of the head of the game.

How are you feeling about the game emoji wise? I only like to hear answers in emoji form you see. You know that one that's like, it's like the shut eyes with a smile. God I was thinking of that one. Because I'm just like excited about it. Shut eyes with a smile. Yeah, do you know what I mean? That's horrible. I can't, I don't think I can remember that.. Shut eyes with a smile. Yeah, do you know what I mean?

That's horrible. I can't, I don't think I can remember that. Like the eyes are like little Oh yeah! Like exciting. And then they're grinning, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay, are you the same? Maybe, well, I would be the same,

but that's a bit more, as in if we were the same, not that the emoji's boring. I'll probably do the one that's like Yeah! Yeah, with the, of the ice shirts. Bit cheeky and also excited. Let's get it. Let's get it.

Okay, amazing. Obviously a bit of a weather change as we were just talking about earlier. It was boiling and now it's cold and rainy. How's that affected the training? Is it ideal training conditions? Do you want to train in this kind of weather? Yeah, I'd say it's pretty ideal.

I mean, we're used to it in England, aren't we? Of course we are. The weather there, obviously it's nice being hot, but I think we're used to getting wet, so. Yeah. Well, the front desk did actually accuse me of bringing the rain. He was like, oh, did you bring this with you?

That line gets old, doesn't it? Because whenever it rains in America, they're always accusing me. It's not funny anymore. It's like you're really triggered by that one. It rains everywhere, it's not my fault. And it's not your fault. It might be mine though.

I think we bring the sunshine with our good vibes. Absolutely, and you know what, it was sunny earlier. And no one was saying that last week, were they? You brought the sun. Honestly. I know. You're absolutely right though, to be fair. I do feel like I bring the rain wherever I go. I want to talk a bit about the coach seating. How does it work on the way to training? Because I feel like there's been some like tea that I've been hearing on the grapevine that there's been people nabbing people's seats on the training coach. What info have you got about this guys? I feel like me as a neave are a little like throuple I guess. Yeah. And so when it's a two seater it's just a bit hard isn't

it to accommodate for everyone. Big time. So then one of us just flicks and finds a new accomplice for the journey usually. So are you back seat girls or front seat? Absolutely not. No. We're like in the middle. Oh, what happens when it goes down in the middle? Or is it just like, this is where you sit?

Well, because I feel like both have got quite different energies. The back of the bus is where the music comes from, so that's like a collection of DJs back there and then as it goes further forward pretty much yeah they're all back there Calvin Harris but as you sort of move forward it's more you go through like the chatters to then the ones who like to be on their own and just quiet and in their own space. Okay so it's like silent yappers in their own space. Okay, so it's like silent, yappers, DJ.

Yeah. That actually is very, like that makes sense to me. It's quite a smooth transition between the groups, I'd say. I think I'm on the cusp of silence to yapping. Are you? It depends on. Silence to yapping, depending on the day.

Dependent on the mood, yeah. Nice, how are you feeling today? Yap or silence? I'd say I've been pretty sociable today. There was a bit of chatter today. It's nice to have a bit of both I think. Yeah. Are either of you ever bopping down to the back to have a boogie or not really? I mean the music carries forward so sometimes I'll have a little headbuff and a sing along if the music's good. I can always count on you. Tell me a little bit about what areas

you guys have been focusing on in training. What's been the sort of main focus, no secrets of course, as we talked about yesterday, we don't wanna give anything away, but what's the kind of things that you've been taking away that have been the focus for you? I think just positive energy and intensity. Yesterday, there were those of us

who didn't play on the pitch, and we were just trying to have good vibes, good energy, sort of working hard, getting back on the ball and sort of trying to lift the confidence of the group and then today we were all back together as a team so it was kind of just shifting to what our game plan is going to be from the game and everyone getting on the same page and feeling good about Wednesday. I love that. Alex celebrated her 100th cap yesterday which is incredible. How important is it to celebrate those wins even during

difficult times? Yeah massive. I mean obviously after the disappointing result it's it's really nice to be able to celebrate someone's achievement like that and I mean I'm lucky enough to play with Alex at City as well and obviously we've both had really tough injuries to come back from. So for her to be able to achieve that as well, it's just an incredible milestone for her. And it's so nice to also have your family,

friends around you. Yeah. That must've been a real uplift yesterday. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. How would you say you, as a team and individually, stay connected and motivated in your downtime? Because obviously in the training, you know what you're doing, like it's a kind of directive, you know exactly what's going on. But in the downtime, how do you stay connected and sort of motivated?

We have like an area where like anyone can go and chill out. And I feel like we always spend quite a lot of time with each other in that area, whether it's people playing games, there's also like a darts board, you can play as well. Are you good at darts? I'd say I'm actually alright. She's pretty good. Is she? I'm inconsistent.

Inconsistently rubbish. Inconsistently rubbish. Well that's better than consistently rubbish. Esme, you're a bit of a game player though aren't you? Like you like a game. Like sports and stuff. No like I thought you guys were talking to me last time when you came in about there was some card games. Oh yeah we've had a bit of legretto, we like the mind. Have you heard of the mind? No. Everyone basically gets a card and only they know what it is and it's from zero to 100. And you're trying to get from one to 100

without making a mess of the order. So for example, if I've got the 100 card, I know I'm not coming in for a long time. No, I've heard of this game. It's so fun, because everyone has different perceptions of what's close and what's a big jump and stuff. So it's good for trying to get on the same page as people. And it's nice that you're working as a team.

Because a lot of games you're against one another whereas on that one we're all on the same team which is fun because then when we win, we win together. It's pretty competitive when you're playing isn't it? Like when in the ones that are competitive. Oh very. So it's good to have a lighthearted one. We were all shouting at Neve Charles the other day

because we were playing Legretto which is the fast paced one. And she was just jabbering the whole time and we were all trying to concentrate and no one could think because Niamh was just jabbering we were like Niamh no talking or you're not playing anymore. Wow that would be me yeah that's why I would not be there's definitely more arguments in card games than there is probably on the pitch which is great get them out in the card games right get them out in the card games I mean honestly Mon them out in the card games. I mean, honestly, Monopoly has nearly ended my family many times, so it's normal.

There's a lot of girls who play Monopoly Deal, actually. I've heard of Monopoly Deal, but I've never played it. It's like mini-Monopoly, right? Yeah, it's a really fast-paced, and you can steal other people's properties and stuff. It gets quite tactical and can be a bit personal sometimes, because if someone's stolen something from you you want to get them back. Especially if it's Park Lane. What's special about Park Lane? Most expensive

property on the board. Oh is it? I thought Mayfair was. Oh maybe. I'm not a monopoly expert. Those are the only ones I care about on the game. Yeah the blue ones. Yeah the blue ones are the best. You love Lego don't you? Have you been taking some Lego time whilst you've been here? Well I've actually ordered a set but it's not arrived yet so yeah. Each day I'm standing there by the parcel bin. It's just not there. It's like a music video. Yeah yeah yeah. You hand on the window waiting for the postman. Literally yeah. Every day. What is it? It's like your music video. You hand on the window waiting for the postman. Literally, yeah, every day.

What is it? It's like this castle. Basically, when I went to Australia when playing the World Cup, I basically had to bring about three different sets of Lego and Es helped me out with that. And obviously that was like a 20 hour journey. So I thought this time I'm only gonna get one set

and an hour and a half flight easy to take back and it's just not coming. A touchy subject. Okay next question. Your friends and family are out here how was it seeing them yesterday? Yeah we Yeah, so nice. Yeah. We got the afternoon off, which was nice, and managed to go into Zurich and have some food. And so it was really nice to just switch off. Yeah. And just, yeah, see what it's like around there. Because we actually don't get much time

to go and have a look around. No. So it's nice when you do get the opportunity to do that. And what do you think of Zurich? It's nice. I really like it, yeah. The houses are amazing. Yeah, stunning. Some of them look like they're from a film. I think they're like gothic-y, manchiny ones.

Yeah, very cool. I really love it. Are there any family members of players? Because you know when you're at school and at the school gates all the parents would hang out with each other and chat. Is that happening into players? Because I feel like all the parents would like hang out with each other and chat. Is that happening into like players? Cause I feel like all the parents like chatting to each other, family, friends, is there any like alliances that are forming or bestie groups or?

I think they all get along so well. Cause obviously they're just bonded by coming and supporting us and they have so much shared experience of coming to the games. They might go for food together beforehand or go for a drink to sort of get up for it. So they all get so close. It's such a nice community.

It's really sweet isn't it? They're all in like the fan zones before all the games. Meeting up and having a little boogie which is cute. That is so nice. And I bet it just completely lifts your spirits to have them near, right? Yeah, definitely. It's always nice to have, like when you see them

in the crowds and stuff just before the games. What difference do moments of rest make mentally and physically because I find it for myself like to have that downtime is like I can't not have it. Like how is it for you guys? Yeah I think it's really important like it's so nice to just be able to obviously work hard in training and then maybe spend a bit of time together and then just switch off in the evenings, watch a bit of the football. So obviously that's all on now. And we all love getting together, watching the football matches all together.

But it's also nice to just go back to your room and just have half an hour or an hour, dependent on, yeah, what you feel like you need in that day. I think it's so important to be able to just, I don't know, reflect, just get with your own thoughts and helps you throughout the tournament. Because obviously there's a long time that you're away from all your friends and family from home. And so it's nice to just have a bit of time to yourself. Well, just so you know, yesterday we gave Alex a duck to celebrate the fact that she had a hundred cats.

Obviously she was so excited and pleased and thrilled. I think she said it was the best thing she'd ever been given. I think that's a quote directly. She'd just been given a golden cap. Yeah, no, the duck was I think. What was the duck for? Well, it's just a rubber duck.

But if you wanted to borrow it, I know that she is offering it out for bath time. Even though she loves it. No, no, she loves it and she wants to shower well. So if you find yourself in downtime and you want to go for a bath. With Alex. Alex. That's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying Alex is duck, a hundred cap duck. It's floating around and it's going to become the mascot, I'm sure of it. Because he's dressed in a little lederhosen. At the 20s World Cup in France we had a duck which we named Dave and he came everywhere with us. A real duck? No. Imagine the storyline.

Like a real duck follows the Euros girls to victory. A big rubber duck and he wore an England shirt and he was called Dave and we got a bronze medal so it was okay. Oh my god that was the World Cup not the Euros. rubber duck and he wore an England shirt and he was called Dave and we got a bronze medal so it was okay. Oh my god that was the World Cup not the Euros. Yeah under 20s World Cup. Amazing. Okay well you've got a duck this time too so if you need him.

Boats well. Boats well. Esme I need to talk to you about your kitten. I love talking about it. I think Lauren's getting a bit sick of hearing about biscuits touit to be honest. Cause I just thrust my phone out, Lauren look. Well, you can do that to me anytime cause I love Kat. Oh yay. I love Kat so much.

How are you feeling? Cause Biscuit is, is it a girl or a boy? She's a girl, yeah. Girl. Biscuit the girl, Kat, is at home in America. She is, yeah. Are you getting FaceTime updates or anything? Regular updates, yeah. Are you getting I was going to say, as such a young cat, that's amazing that shit worked out. What's that? She's a bright girl. Yeah, as she should be.

But yes, she's so cute. It honestly makes me so happy. The only thing I want to warn you as a long-standing cat owner, my cat is nine, is it gets pretty passock when you get home after a long time away. As in she's not going to be happy with me? My cat won't talk to me for a minimum of two days. Does she normally speak then? Yeah.

I'll say sorry. He's actually very chatty and speaks Spanish. So, well I speak Spanish to him. He truly will not look me in the eye for two days when I get home. No, my heart would break. That's not optional. I say this isn't optional.

You're coming for cuddles. Okay, well I hope that biscuits are nicer cat than mine. They're wonderful, but cats, you know, they are very, the people they love, they love forever. Where's your cat than mine. They're wonderful, but cats, you know, they are very the people they love They love forever. Where's your cat right now? In my flat with my friend luckily he is being looked after but he will not look me in the eye when I get back Looking ahead to the Netherlands game. We are so excited. How are you feeling? Yeah, I think everyone's really excited Like it's such an important game. It's basically like a final for us.

We know that we need to win the next two games to progress through. We know what's up for state, but this team performs so well under pressure. I think we're all really excited for it. Echo that. Just really looking forward to it. Feel confident, feel ready. As Lauren said, I feel like those high pressure situations bring out the best in people so we're looking forward to the challenge. Oh I can't wait. So what challenges are you expecting from the Dutch team?

They're always very physical, very athletic, well organised defensively, quite direct and dangerous on the counter attack and there's a lot of players who we play against at club that we know well, have very good technical ability, good finishers so there's a lot of players who we play against at club that we know well have very good technical ability, good finishers so there's a lot to be prepared for but we're also aware of the weaknesses that they have and we spoke about how we're going to exploit those today. And what can we expect to see more from you guys this time around, more from the Lionesses? What can we expect? I think there's a lot of positives we could have taken from the other day.

I think we showed in the last 20 minutes how much it means to us and the fight that we showed to try and get back into that game. I think you'll definitely see more of that come the next game. The team spirit is incredible from this team. I think as long as we stick together and push through the hard moments of the game because it's not always going to be simple and just expressing ourselves and just showing our qualities and yeah doing that together as a team and I mean we've all been in high-pressured situations before and been in massive games so we know what it takes to win. Exactly and is there is there a sense of determination

to put things right from the last game now that you're gonna be bringing in? Yeah, definitely. I mean, it was such a disappointing result. Like France are an incredible team, but so are we. And we came close even though we weren't our best and we realized that, but we've reflected on the game. And like I said, there's still so much up for grabs and yeah, we're gonna try our best to make sure that we win that but we've reflected on the game and like I said there's still so much up for grabs

and yeah we're going to try our best to make sure that we win that game. Amazing, amazing well we are all behind you and we can I personally am so excited and I know all the fans back home and here in Switzerland are right behind you and ready to support you. So good luck. Yeah. Lauren and Esme, thank you so much for joining me on That Lioness' podcast, connected by EE. Wishing you all the best of luck. As I said, you've got this and we're going to be back on Friday to react to the result of the Netherlands game. So if you haven't already, hit subscribe or follow wherever you watch or listen because you do not want to miss a thing. See you next time. Bye!