The Netmums Podcast - S15 Ep10: Juggling kids, puppies, and binge-worthy TV: Alex Jones on parenting with gratitude

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

In this episode of The Netmums Podcast, Wendy Golledge and Alison Perry are joined by the absolutely delightful Alex Jones, renowned TV presenter, podcaster and mum of three, best known for her work on The One Show. In this super down to earth chat Alex shares her experiences of motherhood, the joys and challenges of raising young children (and pets!) and her recent move to the countryside. The conversation covers: - Birthday Reflections: Alex discusses her recent birthday celebrations and the importance of appreciating the gift of another year. - Parenting Adventures: From ballet classes to dealing with chickenpox and broken bones, Alex shares the ups and downs of parenting young children. - The Journey of Ageing: The trio discusses the notion of being an 'older mum' and how it has shaped Alex's parenting style and outlook on life. - Balancing Work and Family: Alex opens up about her full-time job, the challenges of juggling work with family life, and the decisions she makes to prioritise her children. - Home Renovations: Alex shares insights into her family's recent move to the countryside, the renovations of their new home, and how it has positively impacted their lives. - Recommendations: Alex hosts the ‘Binge!’ podcast with McFly’s Harry Judd, and shares a snapshot of her favourite TV shows, books, and podcasts. Stay connected with Netmums for more parenting tips, community support, engaging content: Website: netmums.com / Instagram: @netmums  Proudly produced by Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative

You're listening to The Netmums Podcast with me, Wendy Gollich. And me, Alison Perry. Coming up on this week's show... He was there in sort of dressed as one of the Three Musketeers and he had all this Gucci, big shirt, sleeves, billowing. He was so full of himself and I thought, no, no, no, no. Our audience are nice people. They deserve better than this.

And OK, you might be like a huge celebrity star and you know, you've done all these films, but it doesn't cost to be polite and nice. And anybody who can't bring those simple skills to the table, I'm out. I'm like, no, sorry. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Netmoms podcast. How's your week been? Lovely, Alison? Oh, do you know what, Wendy? I feel like I'm walking on cloud nine. Is that a phrase? I think I've amalgamated two phrases there. I'm walking on air and I'm on cloud nine. Basically, we had parents evening last night for my 14-year-old

and one of the teachers told me that I am doing an excellent job raising my teenager and I nearly cried because I just feel like it just it just made all of the doors slamming and yelling and shouting at us and telling us that we're terrible parents it made it all worthwhile and I don't know it just it balanced everything out so I'm having a great week how about you? I'm very impressed what it's all fun and games here spring is springing and I'm feeling like that makes everything better. It does everyone's in a good mood when the sun shines it's so weird isn't it? It is so weird now let's have the showbiz intro please for our wonderful guest. Well today we're joined by TV presenter and mum of three Alex Jones. Alex is of course best known

for presenting The One Show and she also hosts a brilliant podcast called Binge with McFly's Harry Judd. Alex, a warm welcome to the Netmums podcast. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really lovely to see you both. Good to see you. Thank you for joining us. Now, before we start, Little Birdie said that we might need to wish you happy birthday because wasn't it your birthday yesterday it was indeed and it was um such a gorgeous day that um instantly it was a good birthday and we didn't do anything sort of in particular but we uh I had lunch with mum and dad they happened to be here which was a lovely treat and then had some cake with the children in the evening and a glass of champagne. Perfect.

Really lovely. So are you someone who sees, do you think of getting older as a blessing or do you prefer not to think about it much? I don't think about it too much, but, you know, I think you also have to appreciate when you have another year, it's a huge gift um you know touchwood we're all healthy um and i'm really grateful for for life really and you know having i mean i had the children quite

old um older dinosaur mother um but you know just, yeah, I'm really grateful that myself and my husband are healthy. We can enjoy the children, touch, you know, mum and dad are healthy. I think when the going's good, you just feel super lucky to have another year. I mean, ageing is not something to look on negatively, I don't think. Yeah. I mean, you say that everyone's healthy, but you've actually been having a bit of a tough time a bit recently, haven't you, with broken bones and chicken pox in your house? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I've literally just come back from ballet. Sorry, that's the ring door, but I'll say it again. We've literally just come back from ballet and we signed up, I think it was five weeks ago, because we're quite new to this area. So we've been looking for little classes

and we found this lovely ballet class for Annie and we signed up, but sadly, we only made it to one week before she broke her arm and had chicken pox at the same time. So three weeks passed. So we made it this morning, which was lovely. And Miss Lucy, this really lovely ballad teacher was like hello honey we thought you weren't gonna come back i said it's been a drama i said wait

for it she broke her arm playing gladiators with her brother and then had chicken pox and she was plastered in it so uh kit who's five he had it but it was quite mild. Annie honestly looked like a pizza. I mean, literally head to toe, full of scabs. Oh, it's horrible. So unrecognisable. And they were all inside the plaster cast. So the mags were really interesting. Oh, the itching. The itching.

Did she have something to kind of like shove down it? Also, yeah. But then I was really worried that she was going to rip the scabs off by doing that but a plaster cast as we know itchy anyway chicken pox very itchy so double itchy so it's been

three weeks but we made it this morning and seeing a load of little three year olds doing ballet followed by a bit of tap was so joyful I mean so cute and really mums are not supposed to be in the class but I stood in the stairwell kind of videoing the whole thing because it just hits you sometimes doesn't it she'll never be this little again and it was it was wonderful so I've rushed back and now I'm here with you guys. So that's lovely.

You've talked quite a lot in the past about becoming a mum slightly older and the joys of being called a geriatric mother by the NHS, which is always kind of them. Do you think waiting allowed you to sort out who Alex the person was before you became Alex the mum? I don't know. I mean, to be honest, I don't think, you know, there's all this chat about older mothers, but even in the last decade, I think

it's changed so much. Most people are now having children in their 30s. So I don't feel that it's as much of a big deal anymore. And I always say it just happened the way it happened. I mean, there was no plan. You know, you don't sometimes know what's in store for you, which is the joy of life, obviously. But myself and my husband, we met, I mean, not late, really, in the grand scheme of things. We were 32, 33.

And then by the time we'd got married and all of that, we just were where we were. But I am glad because I really appreciate having the children. I don't know. I just really love having them. I think I've got more patients now than I would have in maybe my late 20s, early 30s. You know, I do look at mum and mum and I are very close and she had me when she was 24. So mum and dad are still super active. They're very hands on with the kids. And I think that won't be me. I mean, it might be, who knows? But it probably won't be, you know, I won't be the same age, obviously, when my children, if we're lucky enough to have grandchildren, have children. but it just

it's it's just what happened you know mum didn't have the career she wanted so there's always give and take you know nobody gets everything but I'm really happy with where we are um I don't feel like an older mum I mean I was just talking to some women in ballet and they were like oh my god um there was a lady and she was in her early 40s and she's pregnant with her third. And she sort of said, oh, my God, you know, I went to the hospital this morning. They were like, oh, you know, you've got to be very careful. You're a geriatric mother. But actually, I mean, it's depressing.

We know how to look after ourselves now. There's a lot more information. We take a lot more vitamins. We're careful about what we eat. We exercise, in theory, a lot more. My big exercise year will be next year. I've decided that I'm just going to any morning where I can spend it with Annie, I'm going to. So if it's Pilates or Annie, I'm going to choose Annie.

And next year, I'll get on that train, but not now. That's so nice. You know, I'll walk for now and take Scout for a walk. But, you know, all of that, there'll be time for it when she's not around in the morning. But I just think we all know how to take care of ourselves. Mum says even, she says, you know, I looked older than you did when I was 30 because it was just the fashion was different we didn't know how to look after ourselves so I feel like yes okay on paper we're older but really it's much of a muchness yeah it's all about

the attitude isn't it um now it sounds like you're having a lovely time of it, you know, hanging out with Annie and going to ballet classes. I mean, chicken pox and broken bones aside. But, you know, I always see that kind of preschool period as being like really in the trenches of parenthood. Do you feel like you're kind of getting to the end of that really tough phase of parenting now that Annie is three? Or do you still feel like you're right in the thick of it? I think it changes, doesn't it?

You know, every stage requires something different from you. So Annie's three, Kit's five, Ted's eight. Scout is also a Labrador puppy, so he was an addition that I didn't see coming. So it is like four children. Surprise baby. It sort of gets easier in that, you know, Annie still needs help with dressing as does Kit.

And Ted is just a bit lazy and just wants me to put the socks on, even though he's perfectly capable. But, you know, it's still quite physical but it does change but what the boys need now is you know there's more clubs there's more running around um so it is easy in one way but i think every stage has its own challenges um and if you want to be involved if you want to be there as much as you can it's not that it's easy or hard it's just full-on isn't it you know but I really simplify it in my mind because I think I'm a full-time working mum I want to be a full-time mum as well and this is the problem I can't be but I've made a decision to be there as much

as I can so with me it's very simple I'm either in work or I'm with the children and that could be deemed unhealthy by some people because I don't do a lot socially I try and squeeze the odd thing in but for me if it's ever a choice, I'd rather be here because these years are going to fly by. And I'm lucky because I enjoy my work. It's not a chore. So I feel like I've got quite a good balance. You know, I see the girls at work and we're all friends.

We all had children at the same time. We've worked together for 15 years. So they are my mates as well. So I see them every day. And then I come home and I just keep simple as I said about the exercise I'm not doing it this year because I've got Annie and it's my last one but it's a great attitude to have I really love it yeah well I don't know it doesn't work for everybody but that's it's the only way I find I can work things at the minute. Yeah. Now, you mentioned your gorgeous Labrador puppy Scout.

And what is this that we hear about you having a new kitten that you got from Richard Curtis? Is that a thing? It is a thing. So last week. So I've known Richard and his wife Emma for a long time because I've done quite a lot for Comic Relief and Sport Relief over the years. And Richard came onto the podcast because obviously it's Comic Relief this Friday. I don't know when this is going out, so I'll say it's Comic Relief very soon. And he came on to talk about it. And just before he left, he went, went oh just one thing um now we've got this little kitten and she needs a home because ruby wax has pulled out and um i said what funny and i said no richard no no no no no

more because we've got scout and i don't know how he'll react and he said no no no no it's better if you get them both when they're super young. So I sort of said, all right, then I could see there was some method to the madness, but I would absolutely know. And he said, well, just, you know, send it to Charlie. See what he thinks. Mistake. I sent it to my husband. He instantly went, oh, my goodness. I mean, who is she she can we have her and of course then i showed it the picture of sabrina the kitten um to my children and you were never going back from that let's be honest once you've shown the kids no the deal is never going back so we are now at capacity the b&b is absolutely full chock-a-block.

No vacancy sign is going on the window. That's it. We're done. Is it a ragdoll cat that you're getting? No, no. What is it? She's a little tabby. She's really, really cute. But we collect her this weekend.

So the children can barely sleep. How many sleeps until Sabrina? Sabrina now we didn't name her Emma had already named her because Emma Richard's wife loves um the archers and that's one of the main characters in it because Teddy was beside himself he said I'm not calling her Sabrina like Sabrina Carpenter I said what do you know about Sabrina Carpenter anyway? And he said, I hate Sabrina Carpenter. And I said, well, she's not named after Sabrina Carpenter. And Annie can't say Sabrina, so she's Bruna.

Well, if you're our age, it's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Do you remember? Exactly. I think it's quite a nice name for a pretty little kitten, but we'll see whether that stays. Who's easier to look after, the kids or the pets? Neither. I mean, they put both pretty demands in.

But I think, I tell you what, I was really dead against having a puppy when the children were this young, but it has been an absolute game changer. The Scout is such a kind little dog, but it's been really encouraging how the children have had to learn how to look after him, a sense of responsibility.

I really like that, and it encourages us to get out as a family, which is something that's really important to us. So actually, I won't tell Charlie but it's been a really positive thing for us and I absolutely adore him we won't tell anyone don't worry it's a secret now who or what is your go-to for parenting advice so when there's something happening and you're not really sure how to handle it is there an expert or a book that you love I mean clearly we know you must look at netmums, but aside from that, who do you, who's your go-to? I think, I mean, but there was no nonsense.

And she taught us a really strong work ethic. She made us, you know, ambitious. She wanted us to do well. She lost her mum when she was very young. And I think she piled all her energy into raising her two girls, myself and my sister. And although it's a different time, I guess, mum is like, she's really modern. She's, you know, always immaculate, mum. So when we were little, she'd grab myself and my sister, there were school photos, and she'd say, come here in the bathroom, and she'd get her M&S,

blush her palate out, and she'd be like, right to bathroom and she'd get her m&s blush her palette out and she'd be like right to you i'm not having my girls looking ill i'm not looking pasty i love it something about school photos they always look a little bit queasy in the school photos don't know if it's the lines you yeah yeah pallets yeah so so mum was, and she's great for advice. And she really, you know, when I told her I was pregnant with Ted, and her and dad were just so over the moon, but she never put any pressure. She said, you must do what you think.

And it would be amazing, but equally, it's amazing if you choose to have a life just the two of you I mean children were always in the plan but there was no pressure zero pressure from her and of course they're delighted now they've got five grandchildren um but they are her and dad are both super hands-on with all of the grandchildren and so if there's anything I'm ever thinking oh have I done the right thing and we all have have that, don't we? We all question ourselves daily. You know, there are some mornings we try and have a calm household in the morning here because I really want them to go to school feeling happy. But of course, not every morning works out like that.

And you end up going, just put your shoes on. And then you feel awful that that's the last thing that you've said to them, you know? I mean, there's always a kiss and a cuddle before they go. And then I'll say to mum later that day, oh, God, you know, I shouted this morning at the children. And she'll say, Alex, me and dad shouted every day at you two because we were in our 20s and, you know, we were a lot younger.

We didn't have the experience and the patience that you have. She said, don't worry about it. You know, she said, did you did you apologize? Oh, yes. And she said, well, they are then. That's a good lesson. That's the key thing, isn't it? I've heard so many experts talking about the repair. So rupture and repair. So it it's fine it's not fine to do the shouting but we all shout we all lose it you know with our kids from time to time that's okay it's the apology afterwards that's the important bit as long as you get that right then you're fine yeah and we do that you know we all do that to each other and the kids actually

are pretty good you know even if they've had a huge meltdown, Ted will often come and he'll say, I'm sorry, Mama, without any sort of us pestering him. So I think if they see you do it, they will often follow suit. That seems to have worked with us. But I mean, you know, we've all gone through the day feeling sick, feeling I can't wait to get home and just make sure that they're okay and i'll say was your day okay yeah it was great and you think oh god

what have i been beating myself up about all day yeah they literally haven't even thought about it once no exactly now you moved to the countryside last year didn't you to i'm guessing a bigger property which is just as well, considering the number of kids and the number of pets you now have. And you're renovating your new house, aren't you? So I'd really like to know how that's going. And if you are yet at the stage where you're regretting your life choices. Well, so, I mean, I sort of countryside.

Now, if my husband had us have this conversation, he'd be rolling around laughing and he said because as he keeps telling me we're 25 minutes away from Chiswick Alex how can this possibly be the countryside but it feels a lot more rural because you know we're surrounded by actually lovely places where you can walk um And it's been a game changer. I was the one who was a little bit reticent to move because I really liked our lives. I'd made a lot of friends. My best friends were my NCT gang, still are, you know. I mean, obviously my best friends are Uni Girls, et cetera.

But since we've come to London, we just, I think when you go through having babies with a gang you know there's always going to be a glue there that holds you together um and they're great girls all from different parts of the world um but they were just you know and then all the children went to the same school um and so we had a nice little gang and I was super happy, you know. But we always thought about moving out and we just looked at it. And from a practical point of view, we thought, well, we need to do it before the children are too old where it will get harder. So we looked for four years for a house and we looked at different areas. And I think it is difficult because lots of our

friends were having the same conversations but you know mum and dad are in Cardiff my husband's parents are in Auckland so we didn't have anywhere that was sort of pulling us towards it it was just basically well where's not too far from London and in the end we found this house um which is lovely it's got a lovely soul but potential that word potential that word yes it's um in a lovely way and I feel bad being dismissive of it because we feel really lucky to have the house but it's a little bit care home you know right yes yes but it's got lovely bones and a lovely feel and it felt like home from the very beginning which is lovely um but for the children it's been an absolute game changer they stopped coughing I didn't realize it was a thing but in London they'd always had this cough and it would linger and that stopped

you know we've got two very active boys Annie I'm sure well she follows them so she's pretty active as well like you know I don't know if she'll be as obsessed with football and rugby as they are, but they like two puppies. They need to run. And now we can sit in the garden and they can run and fill hours outside, which is wonderful to see. So we haven't looked back, really. We love it.

And as I say, it's still quite close. So you can do the things that we enjoyed and then come out a bit and have that sort of separation. Yeah. Which in a way is quite healthy because I work in central London every day. So it's quite nice to have this being home and then that being work, you know. So it's worked for us. But I mean, it's us but I mean it's not to say that it's not a big move you know moving the boys to different schools you know it took

a lot of planning and a lot of head work and when you're trying to do a full-time job but you're trying to settle them in schools and of course your heart is with them and all day I was thinking god are they okay are they making friends you know it's been quite a full-on few months but actually it's been a hundred percent worth it is our experience yeah it's been great well you talk about having a full-time job but you also have a podcast with Harry doing the beach podcast which we love because I just find what to watch and read and listen to so overwhelming. And so I love it that you're like, OK, well, this is good. Try this. And it's just done for me. Do you love making it?

I think I love making it. Harry and I have parallel lives. So we both have three children and Annie and Lockie, his youngest um used to go to the same play groups um because we lived not far from each other in in chiswick in west london and um we've both got a black lab as well so it's hilarious i'm trying to convince harry now that he needs a kitten he was like absolutely not um but it's harry and i knew each other because we did Strictly Together back in, oh my God, 2011. He's just such a nice boy. He's easy to get on with. And we came to this podcast because a lot of people have been saying for ages, why don't you just do a podcast? And I said, well, there are so many brilliant ones out there. I don't think there's any point doing something for the sake of it unless it sort of answers a problem or you know

and then this idea came and actually because I'm home quite late every night there's that precious hour and a half where we've got to watch something together and Harry sort of felt the same you know by the time you've got the children to bed it is sort of a golden window of opportunity to watch something and we found that if you're you know if you're sat there looking through netflix bbc iplayer you know apple all the different platforms watching trailers before you know it you go oh well it's a bit late now, isn't it? It's the first hour and a half. Should we go back? Yeah, go on. So we thought, well, what about a podcast? And we are no way, you know, proper telly reviewers.

You know, we're not those people. But we're just parents who are looking for good stuff to watch and to use that time wisely. So we thought, well, why don't we have some guests on and they can talk about what they're watching? You know, it's the chat we all have in work, isn't it? Oh, my God, have you seen dot, dot, dot? And you kind of just want it boiled down into, right, I know what we're going to watch

because I heard these people talking about it and it sounds good. So we thought, well, that feels like it's answering a problem. And so that's how it started. And, I mean, we just talk about being parents a lot you know telly is kind of the the vehicle that holds it together but there's a lot of other chat you know and we've had some lovely guests and it just feels easy and I think if something feels easy and fun it's probably a good thing to keep going with it. You know, we just love doing it.

That's so true. And you spoke this week, didn't you, about adolescence. And no spoilers, because I've only watched the first two episodes. But isn't it just a television masterpiece? I haven't dared watch it. I think it might scar me. You have to watch it, Wendy. Wendy, I think it's worth a bit of scarring dare i say um because i just love the fact it's like you've got tinkerbell in the background kylie's just fleeting around behind you that is i think that is scout running past the door and i

don't know how to turn it off great don't worry, it's Tinkerbell. It's fun. It's Tinkerbell. But with Adolescence, we had a preview because Stephen Graham, who is kind of the brains behind it and one of the main actors, was coming on with the boy that's in it. Now, this boy plays 13. He's 15 in real life. He's called Owen Cooper.

Is he 15? He's 15, yeah. Wow wow so they were coming on so we have um a preview sort of service that we can watch things and we often have to before the one show and um so i watched it with my husband well we couldn't it the thing is because it's all done in this one shot, which they've talked a lot about, but you're sitting there thinking, how on earth have they managed this? But it's also so uncomfortable, because it's in real time, you can't look away, but the thing about it is, it's, I think it does a really important job because, of course, it is drama. But it comes off the back of Stephen hearing all these stories in the news about teenagers getting sucked into social media and then the fallout of that on themselves, on their families.

And I actually think it's an important bit of television because it makes you sit there and go, shit, this could happen to us. This could easily happen to us. And I think he's opened a conversation that was already there, but it's really brought it into our, you know, into the forefront of our minds, I think. And it is a hard watch.

It's not an easy watch, but it's a worthwhile watch, A, because of the quality of the performances and the way that it's shot, but I think also because it really reminds us of what social media could be doing to our teenagers I think did it prompt those conversations I know your kids are a bit smaller but did you you have those conversations at home after you'd watched it were you like oh my god okay yeah I'm terrified I mean I am terrified of phones and and the thing is it's hard because it's a really big part of my job but I am terrified of getting to that point where they you know sort of 11 12 13 wanting a phone

so actually kids school are doing a talk on Friday morning about smartphones there's this company that you can get to come into the school and they'd originally um put it on for year four um but it was so good that some of the parents there said look can you not get them back and open it up to all the parents so we're actually going to that on friday i don't know what we do and how we navigate it it's like a wild west none of us do that's the point it's just winging this i heard a quote somebody was saying somebody from one of these big tech companies who used to work there and actually has removed herself because she can see the damage she's doing and she said in 20 years time we are going to look back and go what were we thinking what were we doing but i don't

think any of us are at fault because it's it's landed doesn't it and it's just happened and it seems to have just there you are and it's gone mad and and it's not just children parents we're all like this and if they're seeing us do it then they think well that's that's what we all should be doing you know I really try in the house I leave my phone upstairs I don't want them to sit to see me sit there scrolling aimlessly because we all know that we can fall down that rabbit hole but I I don't know I don't know what the answer is but I'm terrified of it yeah yeah so other than adolescence um if you had to recommend one thing to our listeners to watch and listen to and a book to read what would those recommendations be so i think oh my god

favorite series so hard that i loved i loved daisy jones and. That was good. I just thought that that, oh, it had it all for me. Like, it was sort of the story of Fleetwood Mac, I guess, but the costumes were so brilliant, the performances. Elvis's daughter's in it, isn't she? Yes, yeah. Oh, Sam Claflin, who plays sort of the main lead, main lead in it. They were so brilliant. And I listened, my friend and I, Liz,

who's my makeup artist, we listened to that soundtrack like teenagers for weeks afterwards because we could not move on. That is a toss-up for me between that and Normal People in my all-time favourite. Yeah, that was good. You know? But I think Daisyones and the six

if i had to choose one um books oh my goodness i love reading i'm quite um i mean when is the time but i do try and read every night before i go to sleep because i find that looking at my phone i just don't sleep at all um and i tell you what I've read recently, which was brilliant, was a book called All Fours by Miranda July. Is that what she's called? Yeah, Miranda July. And it's about a woman getting to a certain age and just losing the plot. So, I mean, I could identify. I can't identify with exactly what she did because

that's quite extreme but it's really good it's about a woman basically getting to her mid-40s and the wheels come off and she decides that she's going to go on this road trip but she actually gets 20 minutes down the road and moves into this motel and her husband thinks she's doing this big road trip but actually she's in this motel and her husband thinks she's doing this big road trip but actually she's in this motel and she gets this interior designer in to redesign it it's mad but it's brilliant so that would be a big recommendation and then what else did we say podcast um well obviously binge binge um oh i love so many different podcasts i mean i love elizabeth day's podcast um i do love the therapy crouch for just fun

but you know what i like because i'm into interiors at the minute because we do in the house i really like a podcast called The Ins and Outs, which is an interior designer and a garden designer. And they basically answer questions about the inside and the outside. And so they have a little bit of a chat about their week. And then they go, OK, well, let's start with some questions from innies. And innies will be like, OK, I've got this window and I want to know whether I should do a roman blind or a curtain and then they just go into why you should have roman blinds what type

of windows and then they'll go out to the garden what you should be planting in spring i mean i am literally a grammy that is my idea no i love that that's fun yeah you know i mean when you get to the age where you like a garden center that has a nice coffee shop oh that's fun yeah you know i mean when you get to the age where you like a garden center that has a nice coffee shop oh that's the dream you know it's game over and a nice scone that's the dream and it lets the dog come to even better yeah see that's where i am and i don't mind that at all i think this is the best stage of life so far so i think we've all got something that we've watched or read that we've kind of thought oh god that's a bit of my life i'm not going to get back my husband made me watch

something on apple tv called severance last oh wendy it's amazing do not tell me you don't like severance i hated it what i was bored don't say that, Wendy. Severance is amazing. We have one of the actors coming on the podcast. Okay. One of the actors. Oh, no, we've got Ben Stiller, who I believe wrote it. He did, yeah. He's coming on the one show.

So I cannot get out of this. I have to start it tonight. It's so good. Series one is okay. Series two is like pulling teeth. alex it is one of the best series i've ever seen how subjective having an angel and a devil on my shoulder so good but that's funny how subjective all of it is because i was really bored by it my husband absolutely loved it Alison loves it

so but do you have anything like that where you've gone like oh god I just wish I'd never started because once I've started I have to finish because otherwise it feels wrong well I mean considering I do a you know a podcast about television and films and books. I mean, it's ironic, really, because I've hated a lot of the series that everybody else has raved about. Really? Because I get really overwhelmed if there are seasons and seasons. I think, oh, is life too short?

No, I'm totally like you. If it's got four seasons, I'm like, oh, God, I don't think I've got that in me. Well, we started Yellowstone. Now this is controversial. Oh, now I might have to have a fight with you, Alex. Well, so we did four, right? And I was really excited about it

because the first person who told me it was brilliant was Ronan Keating. Now, Ronan Keating also loved Daisy Jones and the Six, loved. So I was like, well, he suggested that. So this is going to be great. And I sort of forgot about it. And then people would come on the podcast and they would be like, oh, Yellowstone's amazing. I think it's a classic thing of they overdid it. They oversold it. And then when it got to it, I'd find myself on like the school WhatsApp and answering bits. And I thought, oh, is it me? I'm not really watching.

And so, and Charlie's like loving life at this point. He's like cowboys shooting horses. Amazing. And I just couldn't, I just couldn't get into it. I'm with you, Alex. I couldn't get into it either. I think I only did one episode and I was like't I just couldn't get into it I'm with you Alex, I couldn't get into it either I think I only did one episode I loved it again, isn't it how subjective, I'm obviously just weird compared to you

T I also said in the first few episodes and probably we probably lost a lot of listeners at that point but I also said that Succession was a bit meh like it was fine but it was fine and I quite enjoyed the fourth series but I used to have the subtitles on I was like what is going on there's so much dialogue here that I I'm gonna

need help so I had to have subtitles on like a complete granny. And then I kind of got what was happening. And I thought the last season was brilliant. But the last episode towards the end, I was like, oh, there we are then. I mean, after all that investment, I was hoping for something better. I think you and me are TV twins Alex because I didn't really rate succession either so I think we're tv twins I wouldn't say I didn't like it I did like it and I appreciate it it was a good bit of television but you know and the other one what the heck is it called Charlie's dancing in front of the window now and the other one was um oh you, what's it called now? It's got that lovely man in it.

God, he's lovely. What's he called? You're not helping. So it's about, oh, my God. His name is Walter in it. Walter. Oh, Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad.

Well, I mean, we did season one, two, and three. Really enjoyed it. And then I just lost the thread. I was like, are we still going with this? It got quite grim, didn't it? I think sometimes they over, they get another season when really it should have ended. They did that with Ozark as well, I think.

Well, I think it's that thing of know when to walk away, get out on a high. And I think they kind of sometimes stretch these things out, you know, with some of my favourites little lies love that but I wanted more but there wasn't and I think that's a good end leave it there you know sometimes I'm overwhelmed by seven seasons. And I think, no thanks. No thanks. Yeah. Now, finally, Alex, you've interviewed so many incredible people on The One Show. What has been your biggest standout moment

over the years? Well, it's an interesting question because, you know, people, I think, assume that, oh, you know, it must be amazing to have these big Hollywood actors. And it, yeah, it's fine. It's fine. But I really like when we have

kind of British homegrown talent. They know the show, they know the atmosphere and they give really good interviews as a result. You know, we've had people on that are big Hollywood stars. I mean, last week we had Robert De Niro and he was lovely, but he was lovely afterwards. He was a little bit like, oh my God, this is live. And that's the thing about actors.

They don't like being themselves. They often get quite nervous. There are some who are brilliant obviously and they they very relaxed but a lot of them you know that's why they're actors and when they have to promote the film they they get into a panic you know and and the interview can be a little bit sort of staccato and it doesn't really flow um but standout moments have been, I think, Jared Leto. I hope he's not listening to Netmum's podcast. I doubt he is. He's a regular listener.

You never know. You never know. But he was there in sort of dressed as one of the three musketeers and he had all this, like, I don't know. Swoon. Gucci, big shirt, shirt sleeves billowing i mean he was so full of himself and i thought no no no no our audience are nice people and they deserve better than this and okay you might be like a huge celebrity star and, you know, you've done all these films.

But it doesn't cost to be polite and nice. Very true. And anybody who can't bring those simple skills to the table, I'm out. I'm like, no, sorry, you've not been brought up well then. I mean, I, you know, I like the moments where things go wrong. Like we had a Cyberman who fainted. That was great. That sounds good. I mean, I, you know, I like the moments where things go wrong. Like we had a Cyberman who fainted. That was great. That sounds good.

I mean, not for him. That happened to be the head of the NHS was also on the show. So, I mean, it was like synergy, like lovely. Because he was then helping this guy who'd passed out. He was perfect. And we've had some funny moments. I mean, when I started, I remember we had a Dalek on the show because it was like a big doctor who anniversary and the dalek couldn't fit through the studio door and we

were just weak because it was all built around this dalek and then suddenly the dalek was like it was coming forward but it couldn't quite squeeze in like live television is brilliant and keeps you vital. And I'm still so grateful and sort of just amazed that I'm still there. You know, not a day is the same. And I'll be going to work in a minute. I'm excited to see the team and, you know, craft tonight's show and put it all together. It's a lovely job to be in. But when things go wrong, it's really good fun.

Yeah. Because there's a bit of jeopardy. Alex, it's been such a pleasure to speak to you. Thank you for coming and talking about dogs and kids and telly and all the fun things with us. We've loved having you on. Oh, I've really loved it. Thank you so much. and congratulations on this podcast i mean it is one it's such a good one for parents makes you feel a little bit calmer and more normal oh thank you so much alex that's all right thank you pleasure don't forget you can

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