The Netmums Podcast - S1 Ep21: Vernon Kay on how not to embarrass your teenage daughters

Episode Date: February 9, 2021

Listen as Annie and Wendy chat I'm A Celeb, dad dancing and renewing your wedding vows with Vernon Kay. Plus what's next when no one's making any telly programmes, and what he's making for tea. Oh, and don't miss a surprise guest appearance from Tess. Hi, Tess!

You're listening to Sweat, Snot and Tears, brought to you by Netmums. I'm Annie O'Leary. And I'm Wendy Gollage. And together we talk about all of this week's sweaty, snotty and tearful parenting moments. With guests who are far more interesting than we are. Welcome to the latest episode of Sweat, Snot and Tears. I hope you're all okay. I am not okay.

I feel like I'm going to have a breakdown if I have to homeschool for one more day. So I would say the prevailing mood in my house today is tears and snot. Wendy? The sun is shining. So things have cheered up in our house today, but it does feel like lockdown day 62 billion and everyone's lost the will to live so I'm really hoping that our guest is going to cheer me up. Well he is known as a rather sunny soul with no further ado let's introduce him welcome Vernon Kaye to Sweats Not in Tears. Hi welcome welcome it's not my my podcast it's your podcast uh thank you thank you for welcoming me into your podcast. There you go. That's the right way around. Two minutes in and he's trying to take this over. I'm not sure I like this. Any sweat, snot or tears in your house so far today? Yeah, personally, lots of sweat because I think lockdown has given us all the chance to kind of declutter.

And that's what I've been doing whilst the kids have been schooling at home on their devices I've just been decluttering every orifice of the house the loft the garage any anything behind the sofa is no longer there the opportunity to kind of catch up with yourself you know because we live in a world where everything's moving at 100 mile an hour and things get left behind or things get put in places and you think, oh, I'll come to that later. Well, no, we are living the later, in inverted commas, because we're not going anywhere.

We're locked down, so we may as well use our time efficiently and effectively. And I think decluttering, it's great for the soul. It really is. I've thrown out so much garbage which I thought meant something but it actually doesn't it's just creating ill health because of all the dust it's been collecting so how old are your girls now Vernon? Phoebe is 16 and she's I wouldn't say reveling but she's unraveling the news that her GCSEs aren't going to happen this year. And then Amber is 11 and it's her first year in high school.

She's still at that stage of school where she's making new friends with the newcomers in school. So it's quite, it's a difficult time. And Tess and I have had many a conversation on how we can make sure that this transition from playing in a schoolyard and larking about the corridors of school to just sat in a chair learning at home, how that transition can be made easier. And I think even though as parents we're involved in homeschooling, it's when you close the laptop or when you close the book,

I think that's when it starts, transition of right we've done school how can we make home life feel different from what it is in your bedroom which is no school you know it's difficult it's really difficult so how do you do it tell us what do we do well I don't have all the answers and we've been going through trial and error really you know we've we've been going through trial and error, really. You know, we've camped out in the front room. We've had disco nights. Tess got a karaoke machine. I'm just going to preface this by saying she wanted a karaoke machine from me. So I bought her a karaoke machine.

It wasn't a random gift. I thought, oh, Tess will like a karaoke machine. That is a bold gift from a husband if you haven't been asked. Yeah, exactly. I've got to say. Exactly. Well, she did ask for it. So we've got a karaoke machine. So we've got a karaoke

machine. So we've done a lot of singing. We've done a lot of baking. And the worst thing about this lockdown is that it goes dark at 4.30. Yeah. And it's cold and it's horrible. And the first lockdown was great in a way, because as soon as school finished, it was straight out into the fresh air. We were thankful that we were having warm weather or decent weather, good weather enough that the kids can just forget school and then go and play in the garden or the park or wherever. And this is completely different. And I think more testing on all of us because the weather's garbage

and it goes dark so early. I know. I remember in the first lockdown, we were all really smugly wandering around saying, oh, we're so lucky the weather's nice nice it'd be awful if this happened in winter and now we're all in the winter and it is it's really tough that's why we've had more discussions in this lockdown the third lockdown because i didn't experience the second one because i was preparing to go into the castle in north wales of course yeah so this this one we've had lots of chats and discussions about how we can keep their spirits high how we can motivate them to not just come off homeschooling

and then get on netflix or an ipad or something like that and just be active be creative you know we've we've ordered oh one second tess is here hi tess say hi hi she can't Hi She can't hear you I apologise because I've got my headphones in So there you go Thank you See you later Yeah so Hobbycraft I think We should become gold card members

Or platinum card members I think every player in the country Has I just get that deep seated dreadated dread when one of them says, can we do some craft? I'm like, oh, Christ. Glitter and sequins that then the puppy eats. The thing is, I think craft is better than when they have

a bloody homeschooling art lesson. Last week I had to make a... Oh, hang on. I'm sorry. I've got to stop you there. Homeschooling dance lesson where you've got to kind of mirror the kids oh no that i wish i'd seen that's the issue daddy can we do dance class whoa well as long as i'm not in vision then yeah i'll stand behind the laptop because our kids are fortunate enough that every now and again they get a

tutorial online with the teacher which is great and it helps massively yeah so being online with daddy out of out of vision doing dance class is is something quite i can see the headline in the sun right now vernon k exposed on zoom oh well listen no one's dressing up for lockdown are they i mean we're all in our joggers or or dora say it some people might even still be wearing a dressing gown with joggers annie over to you are you dressed today i am dressed in running kit i can't say i've either had a run or a shower i'm just in my running kit i don't really know why but i i think it's great because there's no pressure this is this is one thing that i think is good for our well-being in lockdown is there's no pressure to step out of your own personal mold and create something that isn't you i.e following fashion trends having that pressure of oh do i look nice

what will the other school parents think of me when i rock up wearing this you know that there's none of that we We can be ourselves. You can be as slummingly as you want or as glam as you want in lockdown. And I think that's a real bonus. I think taking the pressure off yourself and throwing it into all things household, I think that that's a real, real positive about lockdown. Well, you've become the next Marie Kondo in lockdown

by the sound of things. You've gone full, does this spark joy or not with all of your tidying? Well, yeah, but if I didn't, honestly, if I didn't, I think I'd go bonkers. Yeah, I'm with you there. I really do because all this time twiddling our thumbs and, you know, it's dangerous having all that time because if you're not good communicators at home, it's going to be tough. And I mean, you know, with your partner or with the kids. And that's why we're consciously encouraging chitter chatter.

It doesn't matter what it is. You know, when Phoebe sits down with Tess and they talk about fashion, I step away, by the way. And they're talking about dresses and this, that and the other. And they get really into it. And Tess throws in some stories of when she was living in New York or Japan. And, you know, you can really, you see Phoebe come alive

and relish in those stories and really enjoy them. And that's quite a special moment. And I think if you don't have those conversations, when we do come out of lockdown, you've got ask yourself well what am I leaving behind you know that left a void of of nothingness yeah I read a really interesting article this morning actually because I was getting a bit frustrated about the kids squabbling and fighting quite badly and it said don't worry if they're. It said they've done studies and apparently siblings who fight

end up being better friends in adulthood because they said it's all a relationship. They said, worry if no one's speaking to each other. It doesn't matter if there's a bit of bickering, at least they're communicating. And I thought it was quite heartwarming. Can you imagine doing that study? We're looking for siblings aged between three and seven

who are willing to be monitored whilst they fight they're welcome to come and watch my thing that's fine there's a whole lot fighting oh man that's funny in a way was going into i'm a celeb a bit of a break from the monotony of covid really uh it was a good thing and a bad thing go on uh because i knew that tess would be alone with the girls for five weeks yeah that's true that's a long time yeah that is a long time and it's the longest period of time that i've ever been away from the girls or from the family unit and at first you know the first couple of days you think yeah i can have steak again i can you know i could keep i could put my feet on the sofa i don't have to take my

shoes off at the back door and all that kind of stuff but then you think actually i hate this quietness yeah i like noise i like the girls screaming or dancing when when you just walk into a room and they're doing something. I miss them. We've got two hamsters and two dogs and a goldfish. And when the hamsters come out the cage, the girls really interact with each other because they're big animal lovers. And I miss that. You know, even, I mean, God, a hamster doesn't do anything, does it?

I love it, you miss the hamsters. No, I didn't say that. Don't misquote me. I miss the interaction with each other because of the hamsters, you know, that kind of stuff. Oh, he's gone. Have you got a turner? He's back.

Sorry, sorry. Yeah, that's my – I don't know how to stop my laptop from shutting down. I apologise. Yeah, so, Vernon, tell me all about the hamsters. Yeah, so we've got these two little hamsters I think they're Siberian hamsters or something Like that I don't know their native Origin I apologise and what we've Noticed with animals because we've had rabbits

And we've had hamsters before and we've had a hedgehog And all that kind of stuff I didn't have many pets as a Kid but I've realised that Pets are so good for children, so good for kids in the way that they have to be responsible for their wellbeing, you know, feeding them, cleaning them, all that kind of stuff. And also, God forbid, when they pass away, they get to experience grief on a level which isn't as personal.

I'm choosing my words wisely here, I think, isn't as personal as a member of the family passing away. So it prepares them, in a way, for those not-so-nice moments in later life. Touch wood. Yeah, we lost Tammy in the first lockdown and had a funeral and built a coffin. And it is a good life lesson. Annie, sorry to interrupt, you're standing remuffled suddenly.

Am I? Yeah. Sorry, I haven't moved or anything. I swear to God I haven't moved or done anything. Oh, that was better then, Annie. Yeah, that's better. Yeah, you've just got better now. Yeah.

Okay, where do you want us to go from? Just your explanation about your hamster loss, I think, would be... Go back to the hamster. Let's just do a pick-up on hamster loss. So, yes, we lost Hammy in the first lockdown. It was very traumatic. Hang on, you can't do a pick-up there and we're all laughing. That's terrible.

Sorry, I've lost it. We'll get murdered. And then the hamsterade will come after us. Yeah, they will. Annie's daughter is my goddaughter. When she's older, she's going to listen to this and think, my callous godmum laughing about Annie passing away. Oh, man.

I'm shutting up. I'm sorry. Get your laughs out, Wend. Okay. So we lost Hammy, the hamster, in the first lockdown um i don't know if it was anything to do with the fact that my daughter and her next door neighbour used to pass him in a basket um between the upstairs windows of our house but anyway um but yeah we had to have a funeral and build him a coffin and i think it was all a very good life lesson they are good life lessons for kids looking after animals it you know and i think grandma and grand a very good life lesson. There are good life lessons for kids looking after animals.

I think Grandma and Grandad are hoping that some of those life lessons learned from looking after a hamster might be passed down to Grandma and Grandad. Well, I'm going to bring you back to I'm a Celeb then. First of all, have you recovered? Because it looked flipping hardcore and I can only imagine how grim some of those meals were. But do you feel like you've recovered? Was it amazing? Did you love it? So this was about the third or fourth year that they asked me to do it.

And I'd watched the show. I'd seen what happens in the show. So I kind of mentally prepared myself before going to Wales for what was to come. But my big worry, my main concern was the casting of the show. I didn't want any arguing. I just didn't want any conflict. I didn't want someone to be in there whose purpose it was to create that environment, to be the person who was a kind of look at me, look at me type person, or someone who was just in there for more Instagram followers and that kind of stuff. I just wanted, and I guess we got it, I wanted serenity. I wanted 12 people getting along with each other so that it would feel like us versus the castle or us versus the TV show. And thankfully,

that's what we got. It was the least argumentative I'm a celeb I've ever won. Yeah, I thought that as well. Yeah, it's interesting because people have said, Jordan was telling me that a few people have said to him, oh, I didn't really like it because there was no arguing. I hate the arguing. It's awful. Yeah.

Because I was thinking, well, what goes on in your life that makes you enjoy arguing? Crying. They're probably the same sort of people who watched Jeremy Kyle. Yeah, probably. Yeah, watched it, past tense. But, yeah, so conflict wasn't something that I wanted to experience in camp because it just makes it boring for everyone in there

and it separates people. It's very divisive because there's always two sides to an argument one's I guess in an ideal world one's positive and one's negative but that's never the case uh we had some good debates you know we had some really good open honest conversations about everything really and uh because we Victoria, who was very inquisitive, always asking questions and, you know, a real highbrow journalist and a very successful one at that. And we've got lots of actors and actresses who've always played characters and always played people who've been put in emotional situations. So they had experience on that. We had a couple of people who had personally experienced traumatic journeys. You know, Beverly Callard has been very open about her fight and her struggle with depression. And she, on many occasions, was honestly, I can't thank her enough for how open she was about what she had to struggle with in her own mental well-being.

Because, and she won't mind me saying this, it was horrific what she went through. The diagnosis of serious depression, the treatment for depression, the journey that she's, and I hate that word, but it was a journey, a mental journey for her to come from the deepest, darkest depths of depression to this real shining, guiding light in camp. Obviously, John Megashag would have had a massive input into how she recovered. But all joking aside, you know, a real strong character,

a real strong, powerful woman. And that's what, you know, Giovanna won because she was compassionate, I think, having watched it back. She was compassionate, she was won because she was compassionate, I think, having watched it back. She was compassionate, she was open, she was honest, and she was a great listener. And that's one thing that we didn't witness on the television show, I guess because it would make boring television, is Giovanna just listened.

She does. You know, I had a couple of bumps in the road when we were talking about the kids and missing the kids and i missed just being active because there was a lot of sitting around and she would just sit and listen and sometimes it would be three minutes sometimes it would be 25 minutes and she would never say a word because you just get it out you know it was a perfect perfect cocktail of of people we were chatting to um we chatted to jessica a couple of weeks ago and she was saying how what she hadn't realized watching it in previous years is she thought the trials would

be a version of what you see on telly she hadn't realized that no no no you actually do all of this stuff so did you think you were going in there to be, it was just going to be complete carnage and you'd be covered in bugs? Or were you thinking you might get a bit of a reprieve? No, no, I knew because I'm quite good friends with Ant and Dec. You know, we play golf on a regular basis. And in previous years, they've said, oh, it's horrific. You don't want to do what they're doing, mate. And Dec actually mentioned it in my post-show interview.

We had had a conversation. I phoned him up. I said, what do you think? He said, just go in there and enjoy it. He said, you know what's coming? There's cockroaches. There's horrific things. It stinks in the trials.

But just try and embrace it and enjoy it. And I'm quite competitive when it comes to sport and any activity I like to I don't like walking away from a task or a challenge feeling like I've not given 100% and that's the approach that I kind of took in there and it allowed me to embrace whatever they threw at us. I think anyone who watched you do the cyclone realises that you embraced it 100%. Yeah, I love that. In my head, I think I heard someone say, free Nando's!

And off I run. So was it cringey to watch back or did you enjoy watching it back? I enjoyed it because it was really entertaining. I watched it, I stepped, I don't really want to sound like a proper telly media lovey, you know, but I stepped away from being submerged in it and tried to watch it as a

viewer. And I found it really entertaining. And as soon as I, cause I was with Jordan when he was sick on the Hill at the very start. And as soon as he did that, I thought there is no way I am doing a triumph for a good a good few days because that's what we're like as a nation we see weakness and we kind of exploit it i guess especially on those kind of shows yeah i loved it on it on this if they if they phoned me

up this afternoon and said we've got this i'm a celebrity spin-off we want you to go back to wales would you do it i would go tomorrow i really would that's great that's how much I enjoyed it and so I'm interested to know what your girls thought of it when they heard you were going in were they like oh my god dad don't embarrass me or were they just like oh my god that's amazing what was their take uh well honest answer please no I'm giving you an honest answer i'm giving you an honest answer but i'm giving you an answer that will protect all parties yes it's very important yeah well we've got a 16 year old and if you revert back to when we were 16 you know peer pressure i know i know but you, peer pressure and being on trend

or being, you know, respected by your peers and all that kind of stuff. It was a big thing for Phoebe that I didn't embarrass us when I went in there, you know. And I had the old, oh, dad, don't do any of your dad jokes. Don't do any dad dancing. You know, all that kind of stuff that I revel in at home by just embarrassing the kids with silly, stupid gags and dancing.

I think that's what we realise as a parent. When your kids get to the early teens and late teens, it's like having nitrogen pumped into your car. It gives you an extra boost because they're living that life that we remember so fondly. Yeah. You know, Phoebe's listening to music artists that I've never, she's educated me.

And we've started watching a show together called, I think it's called My Girl or something like that. And there's a scene in it. I'm going off tangent and I'll come back to Amistad in a minute. And there's a scene in it, there's a scene in it with Prince. And we all know how cool Prince was, God rest his soul. He was, yeah. But she'd never heard any Prince music

We're showing our age here I know, and I said right, that's it, I said Tess this was last week, I said Tess I know what we're doing on Friday when they finish school, she said what? I said we're having a Prince barbecue I love it, can I come? That sounds awesome. Yeah, it was

freezing cold, I'd got the barbecue going, obviously I'd forgotten to clean it the last time we used it in summer, so it took me a good while to clean it off. But we had a barbecue. We ate indoors, and we just listened to Prince music. Brilliant. And we started dancing and testing out our element. And it was just a great way to educate the girls on music that we loved

and we were so passionate about. Anyway, yeah, sooebe was kind of don't embarrass me don't do this blah blah but i want you to have a really good time dad and when i came home uh i'm just gonna pause now because i'm just having a flashback and i'm welling up and i apologize when i have a moment yeah i'm having a moment. When I came home, they'd created a banner for me and they'd made cupcakes and they'd spelled I'm a celebrity on the cupcakes and welcome home, dad. And they've got a crown and I had cards and I got the biggest squeezes from the girls ever. You know, Tess was at work. I came home and Phoebe, she said, Dad, before you tell me anything, we've got to watch it together.

And on the Sky Planner, in every episode, she'd found the spot where I was involved in the show or the pivotal part of the show that I was involved with. So we went through all 20 episodes, I think there are. But she'd got every single episode lined up for where I was in. And it was amazing. And we sat and we watched it. It was so cool.

And then once we'd done that, it didn't take long. I had a million questions from both of them. Oh, really? Yeah. And Phoebe got a mention in Assembly because they were talking about kindness and that kind of them. Oh, really? Yeah, and Phoebe got a mention in Assembly because they were talking about kindness and that kind of stuff. And they mentioned the moment where I gave Ruthie Henshaw

the catch me a blanket because she was having a moment. And they said, you know, Phoebe's daddy was kind in I'm a Celebrity. And it just brings you home when you're on a show of that scale with 14 million viewers, what it means to people. Because I've never really been involved in a show that has that massive scale. It's got such a cult following, hasn't it? Yeah.

I think that's what took me aback when I came out is, oh, my God, everyone has seen us. And excuse me, trumping and flatulating in camp you know and showering i don't mind because but it's bodily functions where you're mortified you know uh but under the circumstances i guess we get away with it just but yeah you just realize oh my gosh people have seen me pull a mooney show my backside and not you know and it's nice that people have said, oh, what a great relief it was to see you all being so positive. Yeah.

Well, I was wondering whether they chose a group of people who they thought wouldn't argue because they know that the nation who were watching needed some light relief. We needed some niceness in the world. Like, I know Giovanna. I've worked with her a few times and she's such a thoroughly decent person. It was fab to see her get a chance to be in there and see that she won. And you, you're such a sunny, uplifting personality.

I think they did us all a favour by the people they chose, because it did make us all feel good, didn't it, Wend? It certainly did. I loved it. I think a part of that is great casting on behalf of the team. Yeah, yeah. But I think going into lockdown, that bit was just sheer luck, the fact that we got...

Because I kept badgering them. True, that's true. One thing that they are on I'm a Celebrity is they are so secretive. They won't let any hint, any tip, any suggestion of who who's in there what you're going to be doing they don't let any of that fall onto your ears they just shrug their shoulders and give you their i don't know because i kept asking is there anyone in there who's going to cause trouble i can't be i don't want to prepare myself for arguments or debates or, you know, like aggressive debates because, like I said, we had lots of debates. And they were like, well, no, not really.

And you kind of think, well, why have they said not really? That means that there must be someone in there who is going to argue. But there wasn't. And like you say, you know, it was fantastically well cast. And believe it or not, this is the most surprising gossip about the casting is that Jordan was last minute. Oh, really? Yeah, someone had pulled out that Jordan was last minute. Oh, really?

Yeah, someone had pulled out and Jordan was last minute. And I'm shocked because of how well he did and why he wasn't one of the original hand-picked people to go in there. But I'm so glad he was in there because watching his personal progression in the show, in the castle, and knowing what he was like before and what he's like now, because we speak quite a bit, it's been brilliant for him. It really has.

And the nation witnessed a young gentleman turn into a man. Yeah. So, Vernon, you guys, you and Tess, have done a pretty good job of keeping your girls out of the public eye, apart from, like you mentioned, you know know you get a mention in assembly now and again and that kind of thing how do you do that because you're both pretty well known in the UK for all the stuff you do how do you keep them out of the public eye we made a conscious decision when Tess was pregnant with Phoebe that we wouldn't go out and flaunt the girls. And I think that's the right word to choose.

You know, we didn't want them to be thrust or thrown into the limelight. It wasn't it was something we thought about, but it was a decision that we made very very very early on that the girls lives should remain private because at the end of the day when it comes down to brass tacks being on telly is a job you know that's what it is it's a job but it's a job that's different to most because you've got a lot of eyes a lot of intrigue surrounding uh what you go what goes on because you are you know watched by lots of people especially Tess co-hosting Strictly Come Dancing at the time there was a lot of uh yeah a lot of intrigue a lot a lot of questions about you know stuff as there always is in in telly and showbiz and the crazy world of I hate saying it celebrity. So we made a decision early on that if ever we were out with the girls,

we would protect their faces, we'd hide their faces. We wouldn't do any of the magazines with the girls in them. And we've been offered, you know, the usual family kind of stuff. And we thought we would wait. And I think having I'm a Celebrity gave us the opportunity to introduce the girls to the world at an age that they can deal with it and handle it and make sense of it. Because I think that's what's important. Yeah, I was going to say that they can understand it.

Yeah. It's an age before you really understand what it means, don't you? Yeah. And the impact that it has, you know, simple things uh the first thing that we did because we were out of lockdown when i when i came out um we were still allowed to go to restaurants and cafes and we've got a wonderful cafe in the village where we live and we went in and the first thing i did i parked the car up we all got out and we were only 20 yards from the front door of the cafe. I opened the door first for the girls and a lady came forward and I had my mask on and she said,

oh, we love to have a celebrity. It was amazing. Thank you so much. I'm like, wow, I've only been home 12 hours. And the first person I meet that isn't within our household is someone congratulating us on the castle. And it's those little things that when you're young you don't know what it means you like daddy why why why do they want

a picture of you why why are they asking questions about you know a tv show or whatever and i always revert back to a story that i've told a few times now is when phoebe and i were watching strictly come dancing once she turned around to me and said, Daddy, is my mummy Tess Daly? So she'd only ever known Tess as mummy. So it took her a while to figure out that mummy at home is Tess Daly on telly. And it was really sweet. Yeah, and I'm glad I was there for that moment because it was quite a big moment. So, yeah, we've made a conscious decision to keep them out of the limelight

and we thought that with I'm a celebrity and me talking about the girls so much, we kind of made a decision that if it needs be, let's put a picture out. And that was kind of us introducing Phoebe to the world at 16 and Amber at 11. So I think we've done, we're quite proud of that, to be honest with you.

Yeah, I think it's really admirable because that is not easy to do, especially when you're both famous. It's not even just proud of that, to be honest with you. Yeah, I think it's really admirable because that is not easy to do, especially when you're both famous. It's not even just one of you, it's both of you. Yeah, and I remember there was one time when the cast of High School Musical were at Radio 1 and I managed to get Phoebe in to meet them. And that's one of the privileges and the joys of working on a network like Radio 1 is you meet people that your kids love on a regular basis.

And it's just amazing to see their faces that's maximum dad points when they actually meet the kid from high school musical Zac Efron that it's something I'll never forget and Phoebe has got the picture that they took as a canvas on their bedroom wall which is pretty cool of course she has yeah I think she was only like five or four or five, five or six, I don't know. But there were paparazzi outside and I remember her, I said, right, are you ready? And she's like, yep. And I picked her up and without me even asking, she just put her face in the nape of my neck and we walked out because she was like, mummy and daddy don't want them to see me, so I'm going to hide.

And it was quite sweet, but it's also quite sad. Now, speaking of mummy being test daily you've got to tell us the renewing your vows story again okay and i've been talking about this annie will cry so just brace yourself she cried when g was on the podcast and sang edelweiss as well so so go on tell us your renewing your vows story please yeah so it was something that i'd wanted to do and it was something that tess mentioned renewing the votes as a throwaway comment but she she kind of threw it away more than once and any partner will know that if you hear a throwaway comment more than once it's not a throwaway comment there is no such thing as a throwaway

comment they're all hints people they are all hints yeah and it's a hint that needs actioning we all know that so i thought okay well let me see if i can do something here and the timing was right the timing was perfect so what i thought was right we'll go to france to our favorite hotel as a as a weekend a long weekend away. So I booked that. But what Tess didn't know was I'd also booked flights for the kids, my brother, my parents, and Tess's mum to fly out on exactly the same flight, but an hour later. So sneaky. I love it. Yeah. So they were following us. And then at the time, Tess was on Strictly

and she had an amazing stylist. So I said to her stylist I said I need a favor I need four dresses four dresses with jewelry and accompanying shoes and she's like why I said well you have to keep this a secret and she was the only person that I I told apart from obviously my parents and the kids and and I said we're going to renew the virus shot right leave it with me and she provided four amazing dresses for Tess to choose from so we get to our favourite hotel we check in uh we we go down the beach and we just wander around we have a bit of lunch I said come on let's go back and we'll just chill and she's like well what's the rush I said well let's

just let's go back so we went back to the room and I said, here, I've got you. It was for our wedding anniversary. That's the reason why we went there. I said, there's your anniversary card. And it said, congratulations. Today we renew our vows and we get married again, or words to that effect. I think I've still got the card upstairs. And she said, what does this mean?

I said, well, read it again. She read it again. She said, renew our vows? I said, well, read it again. She read it again. She said, renew our vote. I said, yeah, yeah. I booked a church. What? Yeah, yeah. What?

She said, I've got nothing to wear. I said, well, leave that to me. And I opened the wardrobe. And while she was having a shower after lunch, I'd arranged all the dresses with the accompanying jewellery, with the shoes at the bottom. and I just said, pick one. So she picked a stunning, I think there's a picture of it on my Twitter feed, she picked a stunning white Gucci gown, which was just really, really plain.

It's just a classic, classic gown, Gucci gown. And we went downstairs, we were all dressed i was wearing a my favorite sean connery suit a silver suit with the three piece with the waistcoat and we went downstairs and in reception were tessie's mom my parents my brother the kids the girls had matching dresses on and she literally just burst into tears and And then we went up to this chapel. Now you try finding a Catholic church in the south of France. Not the easiest thing.

Booty dresses are easier to come by, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we had this guy, we renewed our vows. We had a lovely supper and then we had a little bit of a boogie on the balcony of the hotel. And then we spent the following day on the beach together as one family. It was an awesome experience.

And like I said, the timing was right. Everything was just, you know, it was teed up and we knocked it out of the park. I love it. But can I just ask the question that's bothering me because I worry about everything. What were you going to do if she was like, oh, I'm not ready. I don't want to do it today. Were you nervous? How did you manage to do if she was like, oh, I'm not ready. I don't want to do it today. Were you nervous? How did you manage to get on your nerves?

Well, I think we said it earlier on. We all know that when you hear that subtle hint, it's got to be actioned. And it just took a couple of minutes for her to get her head around it because Tess is really emotional, really romantic. She loves the family unit. And because we were all there, that was my next statement was, well, listen, everyone's downstairs. We've got to do it.

But I'm glad it didn't come to that because the surprise reaction. Because our favourite hotel has a glass lift. It's got a glass elevator. So as you come down, you see reception. And she saw them all in reception. Oh, lovely. It lovely just an amazing amazing i think someone needs to make a film of it please i feel sorry for the inspired partners now who right they're going oh god that'd be a really great idea damn you vernon they don't have a

bloody stylist on hand you could just go imagine what would have happened if you'd have picked the five dresses. That's why I was so, it all, what's the word I'm looking for? It all... Came together. Came together, but it was all about the dresses. Because I thought if I can't, if she hasn't got the right dress, she's going to feel uncomfortable in whatever she's wearing. So that's why I took a selection.

And what was funny was at the airport, she went, you've got a lot of luggage. I said, well, you know, I just kind of, you don't know what we'll, what we'll be up to. So I love it. Style it out quick. Don't tell her there's fox in there. And shoes and jewellery.

And shoes and jewellery. I'd love it if they'd searched your bag at customs. Yeah. Oh, can you imagine? So what is next for Vernon Kaye? Yeah. To be honest with you, I'm going to try and get this lockdown, I'm going to try and get through this lockdown in a positive manner

because it's tough for everyone. And like I said, you know, this one's a lot more difficult than the previous two. I think next for me, I'm still wanting to do the electric motor racing, which I do, which takes me around the world, which is a great education, both culinary and otherwise, you know,

having real dim sum in China is completely different from having dim sum in your local Chinese restaurant. Yeah. An experience in Chinese culture and, you know, going to South America has been amazing. I think there's a couple of things in the pipeline at ITV. So we'll just see how it goes. But I think for me personally, I'm a Celebrity was so fulfilling and so enjoyable that I think it's going to take me a little bit longer to just

get down off the high that it's given us all. You know, our WhatsApp group is so much fun and it's a real buzz to read and watch what people post on there. So I think I'm just going to relish in this for a little bit longer. And then once we get out of this lockdown, everything's covid i dare i say it's bloody covid related isn't it what's next for me all depends on what we can bloody do in the outside world oh that is so weird and out of our control isn't it it really is you know and whatever people have got in the pipeline for me or whatever ideas they've got it doesn't matter because we can't record them anyway

because of COVID protocols. Yeah, absolutely. Now, as we get to the end of our pod, we always ask our guests the same three questions, the first of which is a pretty profound one. Are you ready? I'm ready. How do you want to be remembered, Vernon Kaye?

Oh, that's a great question. How do you want to be remembered Vernon Kaye? Oh that's a great question Don't tell me he's gone again Yeah I'd gone because I was thinking I'm surprised you couldn't hear the cogs whirring I think I'd like to be remembered as that guy off the telly who was always smiling and always had positive

energy just be remembered That guy off the telly who was always smiling and always had positive energy. I think you just be remembered in a positive light because of the fun I've had on telly. There you go. That's nice. I think the world needs positivity right now. Right, Wendy, over to you for the second to last question. This one's a bit easier.

What's for tea? Oh, I love that question question uh well last night was was chippy night so we had fish and chips last night uh we snuck in a takeaway which was great yesterday i i braved a trip to the supermarket and i went in quite late so here's a top tip. Cash saving tip. I got there just as they were putting the reduced labels on some of the meat and poultry items. Shopping tips from

Vernon Kay. There we go. Whatever we have for tea tonight will probably be out of date today, but I got it at a bargain price. Going to the supermarket feels like a spa day at the moment it's the only thing I get to do oh it does

that is such a good analogy it really is it bloody is especially if you get a bargain on your chicken bun if you get a yellow sticker it's more than worth it I know I'm telling you I got a ribeye steak, a massive ribeye steak,

because Tess doesn't eat red meat and the girls don't eat it much. So for me, a ribeye is a treat. And there was literally a third off face value because it went out of date today. So they had to sell it yesterday. I love it. This is where all our listeners switch off. Talking about ribeye steak.

But it's true though. Yeah, it is. It's great. Right, go go on annie hit him up with the last question all right so we're going to go into our last question which is often tricky but everyone does it and we ask it of everyone we're not just asking you okay yeah fire away you've got to imagine putting me and and Wendy into bed and you're going to sing us your family lullaby. So try and remember when the girls were little and couldn't sleep, what was your go-to song? And please will you sing it for us? Right, okay.

So I'm going to revert back to my student days. And this is a song that I sing on a regular basis or I used to sing on a regular basis to the girls. And it's by The Doors. And it goes like this. I love you the best

better than all the rest that I meet Better than all the rest That I meet In the summer Indian summer There you go. Vernon, who knew you had it in you to sing like that?

I'm well impressed. Jim Morrison, eat your heart out. Thank you so much, Vernon. You gave us loads. I really like that. I'm well impressed. Jim Morrison, eat your heart out. Thank you so much, Vernon. You gave us loads. I really enjoyed that. It's just nice to sit and chew the fat, I guess. It's a nice Friday afternoon

thing to do, isn't it? That was lovely. Yeah. Yeah, it really is. Thanks for having me on. I really appreciate that. No, any time. And thank you for being

a brilliant contestant in I'm a Celeb. You lifted everybody's spirits. Thank you. But we also want your wife. Tell her she's got to come and talk to us next.ant in I'm a Celeb. You lifted everybody's spirits. Thank you. But we also want your wife, tell her she's got to come and talk to us next. Yeah. I'd love to test.

Yeah, I will. I will. Tell her the next Friday afternoon chat is us and her. We get to hear everything from her side then. Yeah. She'll, she'll tell you about the dress choices of when we review her.

Exactly. Well, have a lovely weekend, Vernon. Thank you so much. Take care. All the best. Bye.

Bye.