The Phonebox Podcast With Emma Conway - Dani Harmer: THE Tracy Beaker On Being A Teen!

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Who had her first ever snog on camera? Dani Harmer that's who! She calls into The Phonebox Podcast to chat about what life was like being the ULTIMATE teenager...Tracy Beaker. She's an icon, a legend and fancied men who wore guyliner.Find Dani over on instagram here. For more of me follow @brummymummyof2 on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok and follow the all new @phoneboxpodcast account on InstagramIf you have any guest suggestions, topics you would like me to cover or send in a voice note to be featured email [e-mail] and be sure to tag so I can see where you are listening!Editing by Soundtruism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Phone Box Podcast with me, Emma Conway. How the flipping heck are you? I hope you are all well. I went to see a lot of our teenage icon, the Madonna at the weekend. And it was up when I tell you, she looks great. She sang great. She danced great. She did such a clever thing where she didn't really dance, but she had people dance around her. So it made it look like she was dancing. And I feel that's how I need to dance. I feel now when I want to dance, I'm going to get my children to really dance around me. And I'm just going to kind of move my arms. She was unbelievable. It was an absolute thrill of my life. But another thrill of my life is when I started this podcast, I had a list of people I wanted to come on. When I tell you, top Tracy Beaker, I have got Danny Harmer, aka the Tracy Beaker, aka the ultimate teenage icon on

the podcast this week. She is so fun. I was so happy to have her on. It was so much fun chatting with her. We have a proper laugh and she's just, she's just an icon, isn't she? Like if you think of a teenager, you think of Tracy Beaker probably shouting bog off at somebody. So please do enjoy this podcast. I would love it if you would give it a review. I would love for you to take part in the Spotify quiz that I'll put up there and enjoy this episode with thee, the one and only Tracy Beaker. Hello, Dani, and welcome to the Phone Box Podcast. Oh, thank you so much for having me i'm so excited your jumper is on brand spice girl spice girls spice up your flipping life now you are the ultimate eternal teenager aren't you i am i am forever a teenager forever you're an icon i um had

uh the gareth from hun's net who's an account, and I said you were coming and he was like, make sure I'm not going on after I couldn't compete because you're such an icon. Stop it, I'm going to laugh. Stop it. Okay, so what year were you 14? I was 14 in 2003. 2003. Okay, so what was the kind of music then? Was that Spice Girls or was it a bit later? It was a bit later actually. It was quite a mix. So we had like kind of the pop kind of R&B, Blue Control.

What was the song? What was the... You need to let it breathe. What's that about to be about lady? What was the... I feel like I'm hot. You need to let it breathe. What's that about to be about, lady? I should have made you learn the words before I came on this podcast. Get us in Eurovision with Blue Control. Yeah, and then obviously Crazy in Love, Beyoncé, like one of the biggest songs of all time.

Biggest video of... You can't see viewers Listeners, but I licked my thumb I wanted to Because of the thumb lick and I was there I licked my thumb And I dragged it down my black polo neck That was the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life Don't

I won't upload this clip Because all your husbands will leave you because i'll be so in love with me after seeing that jay-z give us a call so crazy love blue cantrelle um what else boy bands well it was kind of more um like teenage angst stuff so that's kind of what i was listening to so kind of like the Lincoln Park Stacey's mum came out yeah yeah Richie's um crazy inappropriate actually I was sent I think it was uh I watched a clip the other day I think it was a comedian when they proper broke down how inappropriate that song was and they were like seriously what was stacy's mom

doing going out in a towel in front of a group of teenage boys that's inappropriate what was stacy's mom doing stacy's mom was grooming it absolutely was like couldn't have gotten away with that song now no you wouldn't there's that one and also also the video for Busteds. That's what I go to school for, where the teacher's like... Miss McKenzie, and they actually end up together. It's so weird. Talking of Busted, I went to see Busted the other day. Oh, were they good? Oh, Emma, it was just the most glorious night of my life.

I just had, literally, I felt like a teenager again. Everyone's a banger. I went to see my sister isn't is McFly's number one fan of all like um I can't remember if I've told this on the podcast um McFly I'm sure somebody will correct me if you join the fan club and you're like the first I don't know 100 or 200 people to ever join the fan club I think you're called Galaxy Defenders or something and she's one of them no and we once went to an event with gm arna fletcher and we were sat there chatting and you know and then she went to the toilet and my sister went do you think it's now is the best time to

tell her i'm a galaxy defender and i went no no claire no absolutely not give it to yourself and she's like okay i won't mention it yeah i saw them when they toured with mcfly mcfly and busted oh did i make that up that i think that was a tour but yeah busted are great aren't they oh my gosh i just had the time of my life but totally forgot my age and i just bounced up and down the entire night to the point where i forgot that i just don't have pelvic floor anymore and i did the biggest jump and a bit of wheat came out. And I just, I didn't care. I just didn't care.

Do you know why? You're like, this is it. This is me. You know, take it or leave it. Matt Willis. Exactly. This is it. I've had two kids.

They don't care. They don't care. They've got loads of kids. Oh, actually, I think only one of them's got kids, haven't they? Yeah, I think so. But honestly, I just, i was just loving my life i remember every single word and to be fair yeah i still listen to the albums oh yeah well i'm forever listening to boy bands all the time what posters did you have up on your walls

kind of teenage angsty green day lincoln park i think i was trying to be really really cool but like yeah deep down I probably just wanted to be listening to musical theatre do you know what I mean like I I did I loved listening to Green Day and stuff but really I probably just wanted to put on my lamers the lamers and it's got to be the one with Michael Ball in. I was listening to it the other day. What did I listen to? And it actually made me cry. Oh my gosh.

And I was just watching the video of Michael Ball when he was like, I don't know, 25 and I was just silently weeping. I've seen that show like probably about 15 times now. And as soon as it's done and i took my partner simon to see it probably five six years ago now um i was infuriated with him because he was about oh no it's rubbish the whole way through i was like how dare you how dare you sit there with your arms crossed

looking sulky this is a masterpiece Jean Valjean's up there there's no words you are just uncouth he is this would be a strange combination but you need to go with my dad

anything was better than my father quite frankly This would be a strange combination, but you need to go with my dad. My dad. You know what? Anything was better than my father, quite frankly. My dad loves it. My dad loves it. He cries through it. I've mentioned this before. Once he went and Jasper Carrot was sat in front of us.

The pressure of watching Les Mis with Jasper Carrot, just where that microphone is. It was too much for my dad. That's real Birmingham, isn't it? Jasper Carrot watching Les Mis. Oh, he loves it. I love Les Mis. When you're listening listening to les mis what character are you all of them in it all of them every single one even the beggars at the beginning when they're all running towards you where i like master of the

house oh yes bit of madame tenardier oh my gosh much there oh my god i think musical theater is quite cool now so my daughter loves it she loves six mean girls is coming back to um the uk next year yeah they just announced it yesterday didn't they on mean girls day oh my god i've already signed up to get my tickets for that i love that i'm going to see sarah jessica parker next year and i'm gonna oh yeah so that'll be a good one. So you had Link, what are they called? Linkin Park. I can't tell you one Linkin Park song.

Oh, really? What's a famous song? You know what? Their album, Hybrid Theory, is literally one of the best albums ever, especially as a teenager. Because whenever I used to row with my mum, it was a really good storming off album yeah like when i was really angry you should like stomp up the stairs and then slam the door really loudly to whack it up really loud on my cd player and it would just do all the talking for me because he just you what's green what's

once just give me what's one song i would know i't. If somebody came up to me in the street and said, Linkin Park song or you're going to lose your life, I'm going to be like, I'm sorry. R.I.P. Goodbye. I don't know. She's gone. Gone.

In the end is probably the most famous one. Because in the end it doesn't really matter. In the end. Oh, I'd be saved. I've saved my life now. You're welcome. You're welcome. If the scenario happens, I can be saved. I've saved my life now. You're welcome. You're welcome. If the scenario happens, I can, yes.

So there we go. I'm saved. Yeah, so that was probably the most famous one. So I used to watch Kerrang! channel all the time. So I'd get back from school and that would be my go-to channel. But I think I do love the music. And I would listen to it now constantly for like nostalgic reasons in the car um yeah I'd probably shuffle all sorts of like teenage angsty music but I'd been seeing

Dean Downer I was probably mainly listening to it just to fit in but I think oh yeah that was me with the cure had a cure t-shirt no I didn't never listen to none of it but i had the t-shirt and i was pretending to be epony in my bedroom like yeah with a mug with a handsome michael ball crying over me um who was your crush your famous crush back then oh well anyone wearing guyliner to be honest i'm not gonna say liner. Well, yeah, horny teenager, anyone. Yeah. So who's a famous person with guy liner? Well, I mean, Johnny Depp was, to be fair, still now. I mean, even with everything that's gone on, he's still a handsome. He's a handsome.

Yeah, Johnny Depp is a good one. What about anybody else? Is there any British people? I think everyone over here in those days. In those days. That long ago was more the kind of curtains then, wasn't it? The floppy hair. I love a floppy hair, boy.

That wasn't really my bag. You like the guy. I've really been that floppy. That floppy. That glossy. What about Gerard Leto? Did he have guy liner then or does he wear guy liner now he probably well yeah he wears guy liner now and again he's in his 50s you know i wouldn't turn him down he's humble he's what he's in his 50s jared letter no way gosh yeah i dread to think i haven't heard great things about him either

people on this podcast when you talk about them it comes out now that not everybody's great are they and it's a bit of a shame it's like a Johnny Depp is he alright I'm unsure ok there's a knock at the door and you open it and it's Johnny Depp

again which would be unusual but would your heart still flutter? Probably not because I'd be a little bit scared of what he would do. Okay. That is a really valid point. It's a sad world that we live in, isn't it? There's a knock on the door and there's a man behind it and we're not sure what they're going to do.

We're not sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good point, good point. If there was a knock on the door okay you can choose a crush now and you are you open the door and you were happy to see them who would it be not your partner jason momoa he'd pick you up oh my gosh he'd pick you up he'd open the door and he'd just pick you up and carry you off and you'd be gone you'd be walking that'd be it he would because i'm a tiny tiny woman he'd be like you're such a tiny tiny i was

gonna try and do some sort of accent then i realized i couldn't you're such a tiny tiny woman and he'd be like and you'd just be like and i think he'd probably be in a sarong he would be in a sarong and he would pick me up like i'm a polly pocket yeah we would just like skip off into the distance and they've happened and his hair would be like his hair would all be in your face because it's all so long oh well that would be lovely wouldn't it just flowing and it would yeah in the wind oh my gosh and you'd be like see you later family yeah it was really nice knowing you bye kids see you peace out i'm now mrs momoa oh my god um where did you go did you go to school or did you learn when you were that sounded like i thought you were uneducated

i know it doesn't come across like i did but i promise i meant did you go to a conventional school or did you have to learn when you were fit like how did you go to school what kind of school did you go to yeah to be fair i i went to a theater school which was oh man it was an awful oh my god that would have been my dream why is it awful it was like um living in fame like but not in like a fun way man like it was it was weird like what a strange place but it was good for me because it meant that i could work um yeah and they didn't really have a problem with it so I think I pretty much was at the Blue Peter studio more than I was at school to be honest with you um but yeah I also had a tutor so um I did the majority of my learning

pretty much on set so it wasn't exactly conventional it was yeah that's not so what did you do about friendship groups and stuff um i was kind of one of these i was gonna say a floater that doesn't that's what i always say a floater and it doesn't sound right but i was the same i know what you mean a floater it doesn't sound particularly nice uh i'm not the turd uh i just um yeah i kind of like flitted between groups but i say that so because I went into a theatre school, there was only 13 people in my year. So the social groups were quite small. And we very much had like a larger group of kids.

And then we had like a smaller group that were the kind of like the cool ones. And so I could kind of, yeah, kind of go between both groups really. And the cool ones um and so I could kind of um yeah kind of go between both groups really and they the cooler ones liked me and then the bigger group of the sort of not as cool ones liked me too so you're like a butterfly rather than a floater let's say a butterfly butterflies are much nicer words a butterfly than a floater but I do know what you mean because I I kind of like that and also um my kids are kind of like that as well like floating around and just kind of i'm sure it's quite frustrating actually to some people because people pick a side and we're just kind of having a little float around

was it super competitive i imagine it being a really competitive yeah i do you know what actually no my my entire year of all 13 of us uh were actually just like a really nice group actually and yeah we were kind of i don't think anyone really went on to carry on in the industry to be honest with you so i think we were all kind of just really supportive of each other which was quite nice and weirdly we were all very very different so we kind of got on really well even though there was uh some really really big personalities in that year group we were yeah actually kind of mixed quite well and worked really well so yeah i i think we got quite lucky with our year group i think the teachers absolutely hated us with a passion why were you naughty

yeah we were definitely the naughty year group absolutely but i think i don't know whether naughty was the correct word i think we were just loud and big personalities and harder to aim i think whereas the other year groups were very well disciplined and a bit more academic whereas I think our year group was definitely there because yeah we just didn't fit in all the scores definitely the odd ones a bunch of misfits um we talked about the posters on your wall what was your what was your bedroom like what was the did you have like warp did you have a daydream what would you have what kind of carpet oh my god my room i don't know how the heck i ever slept in my bedroom because when i describe it to you it's the most horrific thing so my color scheme was orange yellow and green but it was like neon it was bright. I don't know what my mum was thinking, honestly.

I think she like went into Next and it was like, remember when we used to have like the Next catalogue and it must have been, I think it was one of the pages in the Next catalogue, which was like, that looks good. Let's just copy it. And yeah, so it was like the border was at the top. It was like wallpaper and it was um orange and green and yellowed flowers nice i have like a border of wallpaper at the top but then everything

in my room was the same color scheme so like everything was like she really went for it didn't she really she was like this is the theme and we're gonna go for it i mean my tv was yellow like my cd player was green do you know what i mean like it was everything matched like my mom's like proper ocd for like it was a lot it was a lot so i don't know how i slept because you needed like sunglasses as you entered the bedroom like you had like those posters up in a minute she's like oh it's not really the vibe of what i was going for to be exactly that exactly that's like oh we have green posters like it's not really now you are a bit younger than me and i understand inflatable chairs were quite popular i was just about to say i had a green inflatable chair i missed it bypassed me my friend sarah came on the podcast he's a mumsy

mum and she's like an author and she's an inflatable couch inflatable bags inflatable bins i was gonna have an inflatable bag as well they were so cool honestly i don't and i did it come deflated then you blew it up i don't understand it yeah that was part of the fun was nearly passing out while I was trying to blow it up. Where were they from? Like Argos? Where would you get it from? Yeah, I think Argos was probably a Woolworth. And were they see-through?

Yeah. I don't, I don't, I can't. So you were almost like asking to be robbed if you had the bags. And you were just like, I don't. Look up in my bag. How did they not pop? Did were just like i don't look in my bag come get me not pop did they not i don't understand was it like a lilo on your back but a bag yeah pretty much you just got to be really careful if you're walking past a bush like don't don't get caught it all sound i completely passed me right i don't understand it but she said an inflatable chair was

a real a real thing that people wanted. Oh, inflatable chairs were brilliant. And they were actually really quite comfortable, especially when they deflated just a little bit. They become a little bit squidgy. I still can't get my head around it, but I'm sure it'll come back in fashion like everything has. I'm going to get you one, definitely. Oh, yeah, please do. I really...

Yeah, I will go send you one. And my dog will sit on it and it'll just... Yeah. Exactly. Please do. I really... Yeah, I will go send you one. And my dog will sit on it and it'll just... And it'll just... Yeah. Exactly. Actually, to be honest, with my big bum, it'll probably pop. Okay, I want to know your fashion faux pas. Pretty much everything I ever wore, to be honest with you.

I've got like zero fashion... I feel, in my head, I've got this vision of you being like a mini Avril Lavigne. That's what I feel like you were going for oh absolutely I used to have I used to get the mickey ripped out of me a lot because like I would try anything I still do to be honest I see people wearing things and I might I could pull that off but I forget that I'm five foot so uh what I look like is completely different to average size human beings when they wear stuff so i once had a pair of purple corduroy uh flared uh baggy trousers and i just thought i looked the absolute oh nuts but apparently i absolutely didn't but and then i but i added like chains to them um but

like really long chains, which used to just get caught on absolutely everything. I feel the trousers, they're the kind of trousers that it would rain a bit and it would just soak up the rain from the bottom. Right, right the way up to the top and until you're just completely, completely wet. Yeah, those are the ones. Those are the ones.

But obviously for me as well, like they're already too long yeah I'm not a normal sized person I'm a hobbit so they're already already too long right just drag it and maybe got a little bit and then you wear them for so long they go a bit frayed at the back because they're just used to being wet and they just start rotting from yeah they've already rotted they've already got holes in fanduel casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling winning which beats even the 27th best feeling saying i do who wants this last parachute i do enjoy the number one feeling winning in an exciting live dealer studio exclusively on fanduel casino where winning is undefeated.

19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan you're not with fizz switch today conditions apply details at fizz.ca did you ever wear i feel like in my head this ensemble i might have included some sort of like a checkered tie or something oh yeah but like really really skinny like yes it's skinny tight

and also um you know the sweatbands? Yes. You're not exercising, but you would wear them anyway. Sometimes a little fishnet glove. Ooh. A little fishnet glove of the neon variety. Black nail varnish was very, very in chip. Of course, yeah.

It worked chip. So with the Fashion for Chip Nail Varnish, did you do it nice and then chip it? Did you do it nice and wait for it to chip? Or did you do it so it looked like it was chipped? Oh, yeah. And do it and then, like, bite it. Purposely, like, bite it so that it was chipped. You're literally blowing my mind with all of these things.

You're welcome. I'm giving you tips. So next time you do nail polish, chip it a little bit. Have a little nibble on it. Yeah. And what was something that you wore then that you'd wear now? Corduroy flare. Could you imagine if you stood up and you went, these.

And you'd turn around with an inflatable bag on and this. Oh, gosh. You know what I would probably wear baggy trousers again with the chains and stuff because I'm sure that will come back into fashion again

but maybe I would wear it so that they actually maybe are the correct length so that I don't trip over if not You've got the knowledge of maybe just taking them up yeah get them just took up or whatever yeah get a bit of wonder web

maybe I can't work wonder web it never works for me I don't understand it what you've got to do is just get an iron it's not I've tried to do all the my son's blooming oh god your kids go to Cubs or anything?

No. Or Scouts or whatever. I can't be bothered. Them badges, man. It's, I tell you what, once I sewed the jumper to my own clothes. I was sewing it and I was so livid. And I was like, I've sewn it to my own leggings. I'm not really a homemaker.

I don't know if this is coming across. Yeah, no, I'm not either. Okay, what was your greatest teenage success, do you think? Getting my first blue Peter badge, man. That was pretty epic. I mean... Did you, because you were a teenage icon did you really get it or did did you cheat by just being you and they gave it you oh yeah i totally cheated just by being a programmer engaging one i didn't earn that at all but it was so cool to like get given it and

then i got to go into all the free places that you get to go in for free anyway but you know just to be like hey got a little yeah we've my my kids went a wild for the blue peter badges they have got the sports one the green one i think they've got like a jubilee one they've got they just went mad for them now isn't there yeah whereas back then you could just it's just just the you know a regular one but yeah you can get all sorts now which is very exciting but I've actually been upgraded now I don't even just have a regular one I've got a gold one

I know I don't like to brag but is it in a safe my first one actually got nicked when I got burgled and I was so upset get they stole they came to your house they stole it they stole my gold blue peter badge i was absolutely livid but um luckily they did replace it for me so what do you get with a gold blue peter badge what is exactly the same

absolutely nothing i still get into free museums that everyone else gets into for free, Emma. But it's the thought that counts, isn't it? So, yeah, it's like I've got one. David Beckham's got one. Jason Momoa would be given one. Jason Momoa would probably have one. On his sarong, he'd definitely have that down there. Oh, love.

I know. That is a very good achievement. It is, isn't it i've got it for my services to bbbc which um sounds very strange it's like they keep me in a cage or something they do programs i don't know but um yeah it was a very exciting day and did you go on the program to get it or did you just pop it in the post no they did like a whole big sort of like ceremony and all sorts like it was presented with it and everything that was saying that's i do you know what that is a good teenage

success i i do have a blue peter badge myself my friend kathleen whittington gave it to me but i do have one i never did it in one single it's still upstairs and i often get it out and put it on for like when i'm doing like reels and stuff and people are always impressed with the blue peter badge right it is it is a good talking topic i'd say like go on with the blue peter badge yeah around the dinner table it's this a good talking topic um what's your biggest teenage flop you know what i think probably that the biggest teenage flop for me was probably having my entire teenage years documented because i went through puberty on tv so braces acne frizzy hair i mean my first kiss as well was like documented so like yeah my actual my actual first kiss with someone was actually like oh my god this

is terrible i know do you know debbie reynolds and singing in the rain i don't know if you know this reference but her first kiss was on screen as well i think with gene what's his name what's the one from singing in the rain yeah i've been gene kelly gene kelly that was her first kiss you're the same as her you and debbie reynolds i mean it's similar i mean she got jean kelly i got some ginger welsh bloke but it's it's similar it's totally oh my god did you oh yeah anxiety for that would have been really upsetting for me yeah i mean it was it was different so yeah mine was like yeah i can't remember his name now but it but it was, I think we were in a toilet. Yeah, so it was so romantic.

So, yeah. And I'd had, like, one other kiss before that. It wasn't, like, a proper one. But this was, like, on camera, like, with a bunch of crew who I'd known for, like, a couple of years, with everyone staring at me. Oh, died die like the boom guy just stood there awkwardly like by this kind of toy that like i'm not watching but i do have to kind of be an x i kind of need to record the sound i'm like oh god oh i'm broke the thought of my first kiss that will haunt

I'll be going to sleep tonight shuddering thinking of my first kiss being filmed how old were you like 15 or something like 13 and I can go and literally watch it now on iPlayer if I so wished do you know what I mean that would be my biggest flop to be honest with you

probably and I had braces at the time as well I'm a bit like I'm going to be honest with you probably and i had braces at the time as well you know a bit like is this gonna i'm gonna bang braces with him or what oh my gosh do you think your kids when they're teenagers will go back and watch it all i caught avery bell watching it yes not the kids but i went to the toilet and i thought i could hear the theme tune and i was like what's the train to be a theme tune i came in and I was like what's she doing she was like I just wanted to see you on the

tenor I was like oh it's very cute but do you want to watch that one and like not hear because it's a bit a bit wicked I'll go in your street and sit down and watch myself she was like okay yeah oh that's quite cute though isn't it it's very sweet but I've tried to like

we've put it on before and she's gone this is really boring oh charming it's my finest work well i think i think she's probably still like a bit too young for it she's very much like she's at that age where she's like between cbb's and cbbc like she'll watch the cbbc channel like thinking that she's kind of like old enough for it but really she still sat watching cbb's with her little brother and she's enjoying it so yeah it's really about nine isn't it nine or ten that you kind of graduate yeah because i still catch um my little boy i mean he's 10 now but sometimes he'll still be having a good old chocolate cbb's yeah um it's kind of yeah it's kind of a i got a bit sad when mine graduated from cbb's because when you're like

in the throes of having a young kid you know all the programs that are on cbb's you know did it yeah when my kids was like mr maker and mr bloomed and then like then they all go and I don't know who's on CBeebies anymore. The same. Is Mr Bloom still on it? Oh, I don't know about Mr Bloom, but we've still got Mr Tumble. My sister writes Mr Tumble and Giggle Bits. That's what her job is.

Really? Yeah. Well, there we go. She's never met the Tumble. She's never met the Tumble, but she does... She's never met the tumble she's never met the tumble but she does she's never met the tumble no

she writes horrible histories and she was in horrible histories because they I love horrible histories they let the people they let the writers they let the writers have a little bit part

ever so often so she's like in the background I think I feel like she was she wasn't a wench but she was something some sort of a wenchy character

oh she was she was absolutely thrilled wench but she was something some sort of a wenchy character oh she was absolutely thrilled um i do have a mr tumble story i don't know if i should tell the mr tumble story um um go on he doesn't pay see the dog's barking because she knows this is not going to be a positive tumble story she's livid um i once went to a road i feel really i once went to a road show okay if there's tumble fans out there i apologize once went to a road show. I feel really low. I once went to a road show. Okay, if there's Tumble fans out there, I apologise. I once went to a road show and I was due to interview Mr. Tumble and my kids were probably, I want to say two and four, peak Tumble. Like this is peak Tumble years, isn't it?

Two and four. Peak Tumble. Peak Tumble. You know, he puts the red nose on, he's Tumble. He's not Justin. Where's Justin gone? There's Mr. Tumble. Went out to dinner with my kids and the pr lady said um just to let you know mr tumble will meet you but he does not want to meet your children i'm sorry and i just was like i'm sorry what

yeah he doesn't feel like he's really in character to meet your the children so it'll just be like you and him and I just was like my kids I've told them all day could you imagine how often I was like we're going to see Mr Tumble yeah like every and in the end I just said thank you very much I don't want to meet Mr Tumble without my children and I walked away like I just was like no tumble not today and i just left good for you it was a strange interaction well it's a strange interaction because i've actually only ever had like good good things yeah maybe he was just having a bad day maybe as we're all entitled to but i cannot watch it because it drives me insane so there we go but hello hello is that the scene how are you oh it does you know when just it does something to my spine that I just can't

quite understand but horrible histories on the other hand is actual genius and I keep trying to get Avery to watch it because I'm like it is so funny she's very good she's done like dennis and now she's done all sorts of kids programs she she's she's she recently did the horrible history's opera so i don't know if you saw that that's what i tried to put on free free the other day yeah that's what claire claire claire wrote it there you go oh my gosh i'm definitely gonna sit down and watch down okay um are you glad you grew up um then or do you wish you were growing up now no i'm definitely glad that i grew up then because that was pre-social media i don't know what the heck i would have done had i grown up now

um and been on the telly with social media because I don't know how kids put up with it, to be quite honest with you. I mean, I like to think that I've got quite a thick skin, but I don't know how that would of horribleness of the internet until I went on Strictly. And kind of being in the public eye, I'd kind of like flown under the radar, to be honest with you. Because I'd just sort of been on Tracy Beaker and that was sort of pre-Twitter. And so the kind of main big show that i'd done since twitter and stuff had been around was strictly so i was in my 20s by that point and it was horrific i'm so sorry i bet it was people are just rotten and honestly at that point i was a size six so i literally cannot even imagine what it would be like if i did it now people are just it's so social media it's like it's so positive i've got so many beautiful

positive wonderful people that follow me but there's some real nasty pieces of work out there it's bizarre isn't it so honestly i i and you know i i am quite a thick-skinned person always have been not really you know cared what people think about me but i think when you're a teenager you are quite impressionable and you you do care and you know you do care a little bit and I just don't know how I would have felt had people just had just given their opinions on everything I was doing at the time you know having different episodes be criticized how my performance was you know people telling me that I was saying things wrong or how I was looking or I don't know how I would have hoped yeah there would have been the first kiss would have definitely

been all over TikTok wouldn't it oh that kind of yeah it is it is it is difficult I think we need to come to it I mean I don't I don't know anything about acting or actresses but I wonder if maybe we need to almost like like not like therapists that can help people get through things yeah because it is quite difficult it is you know i only get a i get a small percentage of nasty things and it one comment can ruin your whole i know but this is the thing the whole day you can get like hundreds of amazingly nice comments and it's just that one that it sticks with you and i know it shouldn't and it shouldn't matter because who cares about what bob from tunbridge wells has just said about you but for some bizarre reason even at the age of 34 it does stick with you i don't know why but it

does so you know and i i work with um a lot of young people still um like the my lovely girl Emma who plays my daughter in Tracy B Canal no amount of money would make me be a teenager now and experience what she's doing I mean she's doing an incredibly amazing job she is so strong but yeah I would definitely not want to be a teenager now they yeah it is way harder than we do they they really they they really really do and you are right it's just like takes what i can be out i can be having the day of dreams a lovely day and then just one comment and also it's really difficult to express it feels like somebody's physically punching you in the stomach it feels like a book yeah just like oh i like and it's it kind of sticks you it is it's it's very

it's yeah it's not it's not good so glad you grew up then if you could go back then and you could tell yourself one thing what would you tell yourself i would say enjoy being a kid more i think i was just too eager to be a grown-up I think because I was already basically doing an adult job from like a really young age surrounded by adults all the time basically being treated like an adult because I was basically doing an adult job I never really let myself be a kid I never really let myself be silly yeah so I think I would just say just yeah be a kid enjoy playing and don't wish your life away too much like I think and I see it a lot now I get quite a lot of teenagers coming up to me going oh you were my childhood and I'm

like you're in your childhood you are you were in your you're still in your childhood you're you're in it like please don't wish your life away like um it goes by so quick like your childhood is like the smallest little bit of your life like don't wish it away being an adult really sucks oh my god it sucks so like that you know do you ever watch because you're a musical theater person do you ever watch uh when i grow up in matilda and just cry because i'm just like my god the whole song is and my kids like why you're crying i'm like because you've got no idea yeah exactly man honestly like it's not everything it's cracked up to be like yes you can eat sweets whenever you want but that's pretty much the only good bit about being an adult.

And then you'll end up in hospital or your doctor will have a stern word with you. And it's just, it's really, yeah, they're just, that song, oh my, I just, it just breaks. It just breaks me. It just absolutely breaks me. Yeah, childhood does go by and the teenage years, and there is this kind of urgency to get the first kiss out of the way and then you know maybe sleep with somebody the first and you're just trying to get get you and then I can drive and then I can drink and then I'm an

adult and now it's rubbish yeah exactly and I just think I would have just like I just wish that I'd sort of just gone on the swings for a little bit longer or just like played with my barbie like just carried that on even though my friends were like not playing with their barbies i knew i still wanted to play with my barbies so i wish i'd just like carried on yeah and got rid of them all when i didn't really want to i didn't really feel ready do you know what i mean i was absolutely thrilled this year because i thought we were past the Smith's toy catalogue stage. The Smith's toy catalogue, you know, when you circle it. I thought, well, that's it.

And my boy was like, right, I need to get the catalogue. And I was like, yes, we've still got another year left of toys. It's brilliant. And he circled it all. And I want this and I want that. And I'm like, we're still there. I'm like, I'm literally clinging on with my nails, though. Just a little bit.

Just a little bit. Just clinging on there. Well, thanks so much for coming on the podcast it's been wonderful to have the ultimate teenager i think i need to probably end the podcast now because where am i where am i going to go from here there's no other that you are the ultimate i'm still waiting for gary barlow i'm gonna say i feel like gary barlow will probably top this so he but but the podcast can, he will never come on it.

So this podcast is going to go on for years. Hey, you never know. You never know. But you know, I wouldn't be able to do this movement. I'll tell you what, if Gary Barlow comes on this,

please do this. Listeners, I'm licking my thumb and I'm rubbing it down my top. Yeah, she is. And apologies to my my dad who's also listening I didn't really need that well thanks Danny thanks for coming on thank you so much for having me it was so fun to have Danny on the podcast she was so great but could you imagine

having your first kiss snog filmed? Oh, I can't even bear the thought of it. The thought of it being there, being filmed, being on the telly, then going to streaming services, then being available for all of my future generations to watch makes me shudder a little bit. Makes me shudder. What a legend. Oh, my gosh.

And think of some of the snogs we've had. We've had burger snogs. We've had sloppy snogs. All being filmed. No. She was a legend. It was such a joy to film this episode with her um it was just amazing i just love it and we've got so many great episodes to come up we've got some brilliant ones we've got a musical special we've got gareth coming on from hunsnet so do do stick around make sure you kind of follow the podcast so you can

keep up with what's going on. Also, I've got a phone box podcast Instagram account where we do loads of nostalgic polls over there and have lots of chats. So whatever you're doing for the rest of the day, I hope you have a fab day and, and that makes you important to us. We'd like to know more about you, what you think of this podcast, and the other podcasts you'd like to hear. So we put together a super brief survey we'd like you to fill out. Complete it, and we'll give you a chance to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards. That way, we can say thanks for your opinion. Just go to mypodcastsurvey.ca and have your say.

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