Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Dan Walker

Episode Date: October 17, 2022

This week Emily and Ray headed to Sheffield for a walk with Dan Walker and Winnie the Cockapoo. They chatted about Dan’s journey into broadcasting, his experience on Strictly and his new book, Standing on the Shoulders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I don't think, well, you tell me, you spent an hour or so with me. I don't feel like I'm passive aggressive. I don't, probably people who say that are passive aggressive. Am I passive aggressive? This week on Walking the Dog, Raymond and I went to Sheffield to take a walk with someone I'm going to call a professional walker, because it's only newsreader presenter and ex-strictly star Dan Walker. And he brought along his big orange fluffy ball of gorgeousness.

Winnie the Cockapoo. Brief headlines, Dan is lovely company and full of fascinating stories, but I think what's sold me most, which is a rather brilliant habit of saying off to everything, do I sound like Alan Partridge? It was a fabulous day, and no, we won't talk about the fact that I fell over into a leafy ditch because it simply didn't happen. I really hope you enjoy our walk with Dan and Winnie. Do check out Dan's brilliant follow-up book to remarkable people about all the incredible figures that he's met doing heroic things it's called standing on the shoulders and it's really inspiring i'll shut up now so you can hear from the man himself here's dan and winnie and ray ray right now you're going to be a good dog don't let me down on this this is important

that you produce your best behavior dan what's the significance of this park i love it um this is my local thing this is my area these are my people this is my block um no um no um So we live on the other side of the park and I was a student in Sheffield for many years. So I've been coming here for ages and ages. When I was a student I used to live over there and just up there and about a mile away. And now I live only about 500 yards away from when I first became a student in Sheffield. And this is a beautiful pot. What's that, Dan? That is like a very old bit of Sheffield stone wall right at the entrance on a famous old roundabout here.

If you say Hunter's Bar to anybody in Sheffield, I know where you are. Right, don't say this in a bad way, but this is the only place I was almost arrested in my life. There is a good reason for this, though. I was coming back from a student party at a house full of dentists, right? Come on, win. And the person who owned a house had just had a supply of new toothbrushes. and she said to everyone who came, would you like some toothbrushes? And I was a poor student, so obviously you'd take some toothbrushes.

I put them here in my coat pocket there. And as I was walking down here past the park, there was loads of police cars just outside, because they were looking for somebody in the park who had committed a robbery on Eccleswell Road here and was hiding in the park. So I thought, oh, this is fun. I'll just come in and have a little wee behind this wall.

So then as I came out from my late night, we, spotlights everywhere, what are you doing? I was like, oh, I'm an innocent civilian, nothing to do with me. And then they saw this very large, bulky lump at my chest, and they said, right, what's that? And I went, what's the problem? He said, well, we're looking for somebody who's robbed a pharmacy. And I was like, no way. This is going to look really bad.

But I can promise you I'm not guilty, because it's actually a six-pack of toothbrushes. And I explained myself and I had to say, you know, where I've done, where I'd been. Thankfully, they'd believe me. And they did find the perpetrator on the far side of Encliffe Park. So I escaped. Oh, Dan. I mean, who knew? You look so innocent.

And it turns out you are. But I like that you've got a bit of a past. Well, it's good to have a side, isn't it? Come on. Oh, hello, Winnie. Come on, Winnie. Be nice. Winnie, this is Raymond.

Look at Raymond. this little sort of ball of black fluff get involved I'm afraid Winnie doesn't really like anybody other than my wife do you know Raymond doesn't really either so they might actually get on okay Dan this could this could be a beautiful bond Emily this could this could bring us together I need to find a bin because I've got there's no easy way of saying this I'm clutching poo yeah I've bought quite a few poo bags with me because the last thing you want to do on a on a on a on a dog walking podcast is to not have a poo bag that would be the ultimate embarrassment, wouldn't it?

It's happened. We're all done it with leaves, haven't we? So, Dan, will you introduce us formally to your beautiful dog? Yes, this is Winnie. Hello, Winnie. Winnie, look at her. Winnie is seven years old, nearly eight years old,

and she is a cockapoo. She's a rusty cockapoo. Or would you like one as well, Raymond? I'm going to give Raymond a treat too. Raymond, do you like... Is it too big for you, Raymond? Do you want one of them? Go on Raymond, get involved.

Piss Raymond. I feel like we've had a special moment there, me and Raymond. I think he likes you. Go on, Raymond. Raymond, eat it. Yes, Raymond. He just likes to savour it. He treats it.

He's quite performative about eating. It's like he's appearing on Sunday brunch. Do you know what I mean? It's like I'm doing an act of eating. Yeah, when he's more of a gobbler. but she is we got her a few years ago and we got her when she was a tiny little puppy and the kids picked her out because there were nine puppies in the litter and she was the only one who wasn't black so they wanted one it was a bit unusual and she was sort of ignored by

brothers and sisters and the kids absolutely adore her and what's her what what uh type is she again she's a cocapooh she's a cocapooh full cocapooh yeah full coquipoo and I like to think we had cockapooze before everybody had cockapooze. You know, the world's got cockapoo's now, haven't they? Were you an earlier doctor? Well, my wife is. She sort of makes dog-based decisions and I just tag along really. And where did the name Winnie come from?

Well, like you, I love a dog with a male name. So I wanted to call her Steve. So I just think the idea of calling out the name Steve in a park is wonderful. But we all got a vote in the family and I was outvoted because their kids were wanted Winnie the cockapoo. So there you go. But it does suit it. You know how her name grows on you? She looks like a Winnie, doesn't she? Oh she's completely a Winnie. Yeah. Now where do you want to go in this park? Emily, we can either go over to the, you can go to the Queen Victoria statue down there. We can go round to the war memorial around the back. We can stroll past the cafe. Where do you want to go? I like the idea of the war memorial.

Okay, let's go here. Should we go there? Winnie's got a lovely walk, Dan. She's a bit of a twer. Yeah, she likes to smell the world. And so, take me back to your early years. Did you have dogs growing up? Is this in Sussex?

Yeah, I grew up in Crawley in West Sussex. And we had, I mean, Winnie is my top dog. But we had a gorgeous Labrador growing up called Honey. just this way, who was... What a great name! Oh, she was so nice. And I adored her to bits and she

sadly died right in the middle of my GCSEs which is a bit of a blow, isn't it? But we used to have pictures of her all over the house. My mum and dad loved her. My brother and sisters. She was just a huge part of the family. So when we then had our own family I was always really keen on

having a dog. But I think if you've got a dog, you've got to be responsible with the dog haven't you? Yeah. Space and time and now I'm part of the kids pocket money is to walk the dog so that's how we try and make sure she gets a walk every day. So we're talking about your dog growing up this is Honey the Labrador and this is with your folks and your your dad is a man of the cloth yeah he's retired now but he was yeah what was his official title is a pasta?

was a teacher for a long time. He taught geography for a long time. What does pastor exactly mean, Dan? Excuse my ignorance. Essentially, like a vicar. Like a vicar in the Church of England is a pastor in another, in a different church. It's just a different, I suppose it's just a name change. Same thing, though. They're like the one who does the preaching and looking after people and, you know, visitations and all that sort of stuff. So, yeah, he did that for a long time. And now he lives in Derby with my mum. They've moved a bit closer to us.

My little sister who lives in Derby. So we're sort of spread out all over the country now. I've got another sister who lives in Coventry and my other brother is still down near Crawley. So yeah. And did your mum, was your mum a homemaker? My mum was like superwoman.

Was she? She's Welsh and brilliant. And oh, good solid poo there, when he? And sorry, I always do commentary on my dog. I don't know why that is. I think that's the sport, that's the commentator of me. I just commentate on the dogs doing a poo all the time. I just, I broke off into poo commentary there.

Don't you think that when dogs poo, they try and make it as hard as possible for you to find it? Yes. There's leaves, distance from the path, and now I've taken my eyes off the poo, I can't see it. The issue is, we're in a poo hunt when there's lots of leaves that are poo coloured and acorns that look like poo. Dan?

Yes. What have you done with that poo? This is a bad poo. This is like a massive poo loss. Yes, yes. Look at that, there it is. That is a great poo find. That could have been bad.

Nobody wants to leave a poo behind. Leave no poos behind like Hollywood. So not like Hollywood. Come here. Oh, look at this. That is the worst thing that happens, isn't it? Do you want to explain what you've just seen? seen? People who leave poo bags either on trees or just anywhere. I'm going to have to pick that

up and put it in this poo bag. Just in that's a bad thing. That is the height of selfishness. It's like people who litter. I don't mind a 10 year jail sentence for littering. Do you know what, Dan? Yes. We've just been by a little brook and there was a bag there with some abandoned poo. Yeah. And what happened has told me quite a lot about you because you picked up the poo. And that tells me... Well, what do you think it tells me about you?

Because I think it suggests... I love poo. No, I think it suggests you've got a sense of right and wrong. And a lot of people would have said, oh, that's a nightmare and walked on. And I can't lie, I suspect that might have been me. And I like that you thought, Now if I don't do it, who will?

Well, I suppose that's often goes through my mind. Everybody will walk past that poo and go, oh, that's awful. Who's left out there? But it's not that difficult to pick it up and shove it in the bin, is it? So I'm picturing little Dan. Yes. Very blonde. Well, almost ginger actually.

Yeah, like powerful ginger. And a haircut by my own mother, which was awful. That's my advice to my younger self, don't let your mum cut your hair. This is the War Memorial, by the way. So this is one of the guys who appeared in my first book and is in the book I've currently written, the guy who looks after this memorial. I met him right here on the dog walk in 2019, a guy called Tony Folds. And he was an eight-year-old in the park just behind us here, behind the cafe, playing

the park in 1944 when a US bomber came over the park this way having been damaged in a bombing raid in Europe and the plane flew over the kids because it didn't want to land and potentially hurt Tony and his friends and it crashed landed right here and all 10 people on board died immediately the pilot was a guy called Lieutenant John Kriegshower and Tony is now 86 and he still looks after that memorial if you come most morning he's there. Every weekend there's normally quite a little bunch of people there having a chat with him as well. So I met him in 2019 and I had a chat with him, went away, told his story and then six weeks after that

was exactly the 75th anniversary of that plane crash and that death of those 10 men. And in the park here, imagine this, I know it's pretty empty at the minute, but there were 15,000 people in there and Tony was stood right on that spot where that guy is and he was holding the hand of the great niece of the pilot and the 10 planes came from down this way 10 US Air Force planes flew over the top in formation in a thing they called a missing man to signify the death of servicemen or women and they flew over the park here and millions of people watched on TV I think that's the best thing I've ever been involved in oh Dan how lovely is that it's nice that isn't it so tell me

about little Dan and his red hair Yeah. What sort of a child were you? Were you shy? How would someone have described you or were you extrovert? I enjoyed telling stories, telling jokes. My mum and dad would often have friends over from America or, you know, other families around. So I suppose I spent quite a bit time with adults.

So, you know, that makes you, I suppose, be a little bit more mature than you would be otherwise. But I had loads of great mates. I loved sport. I was obsessed with people like Glenn Hoddle. It's a bit of the hill this by the way. I quite like it. I'm obsessed with Glenn Hoddle, Nick Faldo, Boris Becker. I just wanted to be a, either be a sportsman or to talk about sport.

You've got the look. There's something of the Stefan Edberg about you. Well, I'll take that. I love Stefan Edberg. Although it was no Boris Becker, let's be honest. Would you like another little treat, I'll give you one and then Winnie can have one as well. Winnie? Winnie, come on.

Good girl. Here we go. Why Raymond? Well... Is it because you like Ghostbusters? No. Ray from Ghostbusters? Do you know, there's a couple of reasons and I feel I can tell you the real one

because, no, it's true. Sometimes I have a sort of, like a funny answer, which is Ray Parlor, the Ronford Pelley. However, I got him because my sister passed away, which is so sad, Dan. And my sister was called Rachel. And when we lived in Australia, everyone called her Ray.

so I thought it was kind of a nod to her without being too oddly confrontational I think that's lovely do what I mean? Dogs do those who don't love dogs or have dogs it's hard to explain but dogs understand when things are bad don't they? They just get it

they understand when you need a little bit of a cuddle and cats don't cats really don't I think the difference between dogs and cats and I'm not anti-cat but I do feel that if if you fell on the floor now and you had a cat, the cat would leave you there for about a day

and then at the point at which you're just at death's door, they'd probably eat you. Whereas Raymond here would sit by your side, probably give you a lick and when it was getting desperate, Raymond would be off trying to find somebody to help you out. That's the difference between dogs and cats. Cats would eat you if they needed to. Would he, Dan? Would he be off getting help? I reckon he would. Look at Raymond, he's thinking, yeah, I'd save you. Danny's licking his lips. All right, Raymond, you let me down there.

Winnie would do it. Winning would do it? Yeah. So did you always want to be a performer when you were growing up, Dan? No, I wanted to be a teacher. I was going to be a teacher, my history teacher at school, guy called Mr Lowles was a big factor in me doing history at university. But I did have a backup and that was to be a broadcaster.

I wrote to Deslin when I was 11 and said, Dear Des, Des, can I have your job, essentially? How do I get it? and he wrote back and he said do GCSEs do a degree don't do media do English or history and then get a job in local radio and that's what I did actually I did a history degree at university and then I got turned down for doing for being a teacher for doing a PGC course for being too mature I know and then I'm going to need a little bit more about that okay this is another one of those weird stories so I went for the interview

in a borrowed suit but I was playing football for the university that afternoon so I had my football kit on underneath and there was one nice teacher and one horrible woman who was asking all these sort of ratty questions and then halfway through she said

do you know what I think about you Daniel I went what's that and she goes I'm annoyed about the colour of your socks got these really bright socks on she said I think you're the sort of teacher who would maybe fun to be fun to be around but wouldn't teach the kids anything

and I say well hold on a minute that's a bit harsh and I stood up and dropped my trousers because I told her that the reason I've got socks on is because I'm wearing a football kit and I'm playing this afternoon and that was the end of it. Just put a big cross on my application form and that was it. Dan, why did you drop your trousers? Do you think that was a bit of a weird thing to do? Yep. I think it probably wasn't the right option when you're trying to show that you're a bit more mature. Oh, oh no. Oh, no, dog owner down. Dog owner down. Oh no. This is really bad. What? This is the second podcast I've fallen over.

This is really bad. I've taken you on a treacherous path. I'm so sorry. I just fell over. All your things have fallen out of your bag. Oh no and my car keys and my but you know what? Are you all right? Do you know what? It was a lovely softball. Yes, quite a nice area. If you're going to fall somewhere that's a good place. Hey Raymond where were you on that one? I noticed Winnie and Ray did nothing to help us. Yeah when he when he popped you a glance, Raymond just

Do you know what I think that's about? Very vacant. You know what I think that's about? Yeah. I think that's because you keep the faith and I was remonstrating with you over the clothing and I was being punished. Is that what it is? You've got a little bit of a stain there on your lovely coat. It's not really a stain, it's only leaves.

Okay, just a flesh wound. Okay, good. So go on. We were talking about this is, so you're going for the job of teacher. Oh yeah. You get turned down because you drop your trousers. And then I thought, well, okay, this is like a sliding doors moment. What do I do here?

And then I applied to do a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism, took out a career development loan for a ludicrous amount of money to pay for the course. Yeah. And then that was it, really. I signed up to do that in Sheffield. I did it. And while I was on that course, I got a job in local radio. And that was my way into the industry.

And, yeah. And were you, what were you like at school now? popular? What gang were you in? I wasn't bullied and I wasn't a bully. I was like, I think I think I was in the funny kid gang. I was in a sporty. I was going to say, were you a bit of a jock? Yeah, but not, not in that sort of taking Mickey out of all the kids type way that I was, I was, do you want to go across the famous stepping stone? Yeah, come on. I was really sporty, played, you know, football and tennis and all that. He nearly fallen over again. No, I did. doing all those things and then um but i also i also did all the other things as well so i

tried to do a bit of everything the only thing i was terrible that was art absolutely useless at art but i had a decent report card now wow look at this is raymond going to survive these stepping stones well never mind raymond given that i've already fallen over i think they are quite wet today as well this is this is a significant test of your uh foot based abilities what do you reckon Some of them have got slightly larger gap than others. Ah! Oh I love this. Winnie did fall in here once and I had to jump in to rescue her.

It does get really high when it rains up in the Peat District. There you go. Oh I do. Oh I feel like King of the World. It's a big moment that. Come on. Hey yeah. And so you went to Sheffield, Dan?

Yeah. Sheffield University. Mm-hmm. And you relocated basically then. You never left. I stayed here. I met my future wife here but then we lived in Liverpool for a bit

we lived in Manchester for a bit we lived in London for a bit and then we came back here about 10 years ago How did you know she was the one? Actually I didn't plan this I asked her out in this park Are you joking? No it wasn't probably not too far away from here actually

We're playing a game of football and I just asked whether she wanted to... I think I took her to deep pan pizza, which is over there. But it's no longer with us, but about 500 yards away over there. I took her there for a meal. Did you know her?

Did you just see her? No, I knew her, yeah. I wouldn't be quite so rashes just to say, oie, fancy going to deep pan pizza, love? No, no. I mean, if that was, if that was your game,

I don't know how many... No, it's not my game, that. No, I got to know her a bit And then, yeah, and then we got, when we get married, we got married in 2000, I should know this off of my head, one. And got married in Sheffield in a beautiful place called Botanical Gardens, which are just like the next park along over there. Did your dad marry you, Dan?

He was, he was in, yeah, that's a good question. Yes, there were other people involved in the service as well, but yes, my dad did, yeah. and obviously all the while you're working on your career which were you ambitious would you say Dan yeah but I just I've just always enjoyed the job really and I've never stayed anywhere longer than 18 months other than football focus and uh BBC breakfast every other job I've only ever stayed 18 months and then moved on something else I've just moved around a lot. I mean, it takes, you never know whether you're going to get anywhere, do you? In any industry, all you do is you just work hard and see what doors open.

And when they open, you push them, some of them slamming your face. Some of them lead to another door. Some of them lead down a horrible long corridor that goes nowhere. Do you think also that, I can imagine you're quite a nice, easy person to work with because you can be the most talented person in the world but no one wants you around if you're difficult. That's definitely true and also I've worked with some horrible people over the years and I just think I won't mention any of them are but I just think that every person you meet in life that's an opportunity to

make either make their day better or worse And I just, I can't fathom out why you'd want to make somebody more miserable by saying something horrible or being cruel or not working hard or taking the credit for something or. No, all those sorts of things you can do where you put your head on the pillow at night, you think, oh, that was a bit out of order, wasn't it? I've always convinced that you can be nice and kind and considerate and enthusiastic and still make it. but I've never been I'm not interested in I think some of the things that people think that I might be interested in considering

the job that I do I like to describe it in the Fs I'm not interested in some Fs but I am interested in the others and the Fs I don't care about are the fame the froth and the fortune and the Fs that I do care about are family

faith and friendship I think that's probably the best way of looking at it I genuinely never, never been interested in being famous or being recognised or any of that sort of thing. I just love doing the job. That's it. And did you find that when you started doing it, it took you a while to be yourself as it were? Because that's what a lot of people say about really good presenters, and particularly ones like you who've been doing it for years and can do it standing on your head.

the key is to be authentic and often people's first reaction when they get how to see a camera is to kind of perform essentially yeah i've never felt might sound a bit weird but i've never ever felt that i'm not me on camera ever i think when i first started out and i was doing some i used to do a lot of radio and then i started doing tele for grenada reports in manchester what's that what have you got emily what have you got emily Got? Oh, great choice. Dan, do you want a drink? No, I'm okay, thank you. Did you go marshmallows, Emily?

Oh, bad choice. Bad choice, Emily. I love this little cafe. It's really nice. They do an award-winning cheese toastie in it. So sounding like yourself, that's really interesting. Yeah, you just, you've always been yourself. Yeah, I've never tried to pretend to be. I think there's a, like you said, there's a lack of authenticity.

if you try and be somebody else or pretend to be somebody else or think you have to act like something else and also it's that if you if you're acting at some point in your life then you're going to have to drop that act and that's when it all comes crashing down around you whereas if you yourself the whole time you're always learning I'm constantly learning I used to when I first started out used to do this thing whereby I'd make a list every day and one thing that I did well and one thing I did badly and then then always try and repeat the thing that you did well and eradicate the thing you did badly and then every day you get better. So give me some examples. What was the thing? Like if I read a bulletin, you know, if I repeated a word in a bulletin or, you know, breathe too heavily when I was doing a sports commentary or used a word that was, didn't quite work, I'd put that on the list of things never to do again. Or if I, you know, had a really good turn of phrase, or if I introduced a guest in a great way or if I used a link that I thought oh that's great make sure I'd do that again then I just put that down on that list I don't like making mistakes yeah when I do make a

mistake I try and do that thing where you learn why it happened and then you move on from it so don't just think oh that was annoying try and work out the process of why it went wrong Look at this big old beast. Oh, I love your dog. Wow, what's that dog? I believe that's a big dog. I don't know, a really bushy one. This is the old Victorian boating lake in Encliffe Park.

Hiya. She'll ruin your trousers if she jumps up. She's lovely. That's the thing about Winnie. thing about Winnie, did you see, like they, people, people recognise Winnie more than they recognise me. Is that right? Yes, they just said, well, we love Winnie.

Oh, Winnie, they love you. They don't care about your daddy, I'm afraid. Winnie's quite well known around it. This used to be the old Victorian Boating Lake. It's got loads of sludge in it now, so you're not really allowed to put a boat in it. But apparently the Victorians would come up here and they'd set about in here and they'd do a bit of punting and a bit of rowing around here. It's nice, isn't it?

I never get fed up of a park like this. See what I mean? And down, if we walk all the way down the bottom here, you might see the Encliffe Park Kingfisher. So, I want to talk without further ado, about your brilliant book standing on the shoulders, which is just about to come out. Yes, we're on the brink.

Yeah, on the brink. And it's kind of the follow-up in a way to remarkable people. Yes. In some ways, isn't it? I wrote that two years ago, yeah. Yeah, remarkable people was a book that I wrote a few years ago because I've always felt that sometimes lots of the interviews that I do are only five minutes long, like on the telly or on the radio.

And for a lot of people that I interview, five minutes is not enough. And there's a lot of people that I've interviewed over the years where I've thought, I want to know more. They've got a hinterland, there's stuff that's happened in their life which needs explaining. And I feel that there's so much that I and other people can learn from that. So that's why I started writing remarkable people. It was just 10 chapters about 10 different situations, 10 different things that happened and the things that they'd learned about their own lives and stuff that other people could learn from them.

And it did really well and the publisher says, have you got any of other people? And I said, do you know what I have? So that's where standing on the shoulders came from. And the title is a, I don't know if you're into your history. My Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton? I love that quote. Well, it was it on, was it the pound coin or Tempe coin?

It was on one of the coins anyway. Oh yeah. Yeah. And Oasis used it as a, they had an album that's used it as well. You interviewed him, Liam, didn't he once? Yes, a few times. Yeah, I've done, when I used to do commercial radio a lot, I used to do all the big apps. Did you get on with him right?

I got, he, I had to, about five minutes in, I said, listen, I'm really enjoying this interview, but if you're going to swear this much, there's no way we can use here. What did he say? F's and Jep's and all sorts. He was dropping C-bombs, left, right and centre. The only person I've ever met whose language was worse was Rick Mail. I mean, it was brutal and unusable.

So standing on the shoulders is a collection of people and also subject matter. There's things in there like forgiveness and rehabilitation and reconciliation and reconciliation and issues like suicide and, you know, all sorts of things like that. And there's people who've been in some of the darkest places it's possible for you to be in, but they've either found the way out or they're constantly walking towards the light. And I find that fascinating.

And there's so much to learn from those sort of people. There's, as you say, there's really touching three fathers who lost their three daughters to suicide. It actually makes me cry a bit even talking about it. how they've turned that awful trauma into something incredible. Yeah, and the other thing that I find fascinating about that story is, when I wrote that chapter, that was the first chapter that I wrote. And actually, I didn't write anything else for about six weeks after that because I just didn't feel like I wasn't quite ready to move on from it.

That makes sense, because as a dad of a 15-year-old or 13-year-old and an 11-year-old, and an 11-year-old son and the two oldest ones are girls. You just put yourself in that situation. How would you react and what would you do? And I often went back to Tim, who's one of the dads, who, a month after his daughter, Emily, died, he found a suicide note in her cupboard. And the note in the cupboard said,

please don't blame yourself, but also it said, if somebody is able to learn from what I've done, please let them. And I think that has really driven Tim on and Mike and Andy to raise all this money for suicide prevention charity papyrus but also try and make sure that they can just stop maybe one other family,

one other young person from being in that situation and I have the utmost respect for them because the pain and the guilt must be crushing at times and yet they still get out of bed every day. Yeah. Yeah and there's so many incredible stories. There's a father who, was at the Manchester

Bowings with his daughter Martin. Martin and Eve, isn't it? Martin lost the use of his legs. He and his daughter Eve were the closest to the blast that survived on that night, you know the Ariana Grande concert. And Eve had a bit of shrapnel that went straight through her brain and amazingly

she survived and she's not quite got the mental capacity that she used to have but she's alive, she can eat, she can speak, and Martin was told that none of this would ever happen and he himself, I think people were just waiting for him to die as well. He's lost the use of his legs but he refuses to be defined by being in a wheelchair and I just, I find him fascinating because he says he's not, it's not his injuries that leave him disabled, it's the attitude of society that leaves him disabled.

Sorry for the noise, that's the Encliffe Park waterfall. We've got everything in his part, you know. And Martin is, just in the last few weeks, he's become only the second paraplegic in history to get to the top of Kilimanjaro. It's amazing. And I love that idea that he says, every day I climb a mountain, just getting out of bed. So I might as well actually climb one and raise money for spinal injuries association. And he's raised an incredible amount of cash. He's one of those people.

As soon as you meet him, there's a smile on your face and you think, my word, you're an unbelievable blow. I find it interesting that your dad, a lot of what he did presumably was about people had him as a figure they could talk to and that's kind of what you are as well. I suppose so I had not really thought about like that but the beauty of it for me all these people came together at the book launch and they're all in a room together and I'm introducing them all and saying have you met so and so they did this amazing thing what about this guy and then Donna Ailing Ellis who's Rose's mum so she Rosie won strictly and there's a chapter about Rose and Donna and their beautiful relationship she went up to Darren Frost and anybody remembers the

fishmongers Hall terrorist attack in London. Remember the guy with the narwhal tusk who stabbed a terrorist? That was Darren, Darren Frost, who still has night terrors about what happened. But he and another guy called Steve Gallant, who was a convicted murderer who acted also amazingly on that day. They saved lives of tens of people. And Donna goes up to Darren and says, never met before. He said, I read your chapter in the book today. I think you're incredible. And he goes, no, no, no, I read your chapter. And what you've done for your daughter, Rose, how you supported her. That's a And I think it hit me at that point, this is the beauty of it all, is they can't see how other people see them.

They don't see themselves as amazing or brilliant or inspiring. They just think, this is my life I'm getting on with it. And actual fact, what they do is amazing. Now this is the Kingfisher branch. I'm afraid, it's either normally on this one or that one over there. You can always tell when the Kingfish is about because there's loads of photographers in the park. All the birds, all the twitches come out, yeah. come out, yeah.

And I think they all ring each other and say, o'y, kingfish is about, come on. Dan, why do both dogs look to you as an authority figure? I don't know, maybe it's my, I don't know, maybe it's my voice. Hello, dogs. I wanted to just tell you, Dan, as well, because I really loved your first book as well,

remarkable people. Thank you. I was absolutely in bits, though, reading about that chapter you wrote about Gary Speed who was obviously a friend of yours and what a terrible loss I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been as somebody who spent

who was working with him the day before I mean it's now over 10 years on and I still got questions about it and I was unsure about writing that chapter I didn't know whether it was the right thing to do. I spoke a lot to his family and they were really keen for me to do it. And I think like anybody who's lost somebody like that, lost a friend,

you want to deal with it really responsibly and tenderly and carefully, especially when you're talking to his two sons. And I think of all the people I've ever interviewed, all the days I've ever lived so far, I think I wouldn't mind having that one again, because I've been over it so many times in my head what he did what he said how he looked all those things

and we should say he was on your show wasn't it yeah sorry he was on so he came on football focus and he was the current Wales manager at the time and he talked about the future he talked about leading Wales to a major tournament talked about his family talked about all sorts and then that Saturday night for what reason we don't know he decided to take his own life

and his family found him the next day and it was for anybody who remembers it was a real shock I think he was probably the first superstar footballer really well known both in football and outside of it who'd done something like that to to the extent that he did in terms of making an impact and he was on the front and the back page of every newspaper and nobody could really get their head around it.

I'd always enjoyed spending time with him and I'd always found him to be the sort of person who always asks about other people, he's always interested in you and your family and just a genuinely nice man. But it's a reminder to me that you never quite know what's going on under the surface and you never get away from those questions

of could I have helped him, should I have helped him, should I have seen something. And when I did, last year when I was on strictly, in the middle of the Strictly run it was the 10th anniversary of his death and the BBC asked me to film a sort of like a 10 years on message to men to talk about mental health and to be honest about how they felt and I didn't want to do it I said no first of all and then the family said we'd really like you to do it so I did it and I think that's probably one of the strangest days because I was dancing a rumbre

in front of 10 million people on the telly, right? And I stupidly watched the film go out on football folks in the afternoon. And I think I've been bottling it all up for probably for 10 years and it all just sort of flowed out really. And Nadia was brilliant that day. She just sort of gave me a massive hug and said all the things that she needed to say at the right time.

And then we went out there, danced the rumba, made it through to the quarterfinals. But that was a really strange day because I got some amazing messages that day, including one from a man who, the guy who said that he'd been in a really bad place, but watching that film about Gary had actually saved his life. And that made it all worth it. Because if you can save one person, or if you can stop one person from doing something that's going to affect them and everybody else for the rest of their lives, then I suppose that's a good thing.

And I do think we're better at talking about these things now than we were before. And I'm also, I don't know what you feel about this, but I'm very thankful that I don't have mental health issues. And I think my faith does help me in that enormously. Do you think so, Dan? Yeah, I feel like it gives me a real sense of perspective and I don't get carried away with the highs or dragged down by the lows because I know that my value doesn't come from what people think of me and my value doesn't come from what people say about me. and I think it's really easy, particularly in my industry, to get worried about people's opinions of you. And it's nice when people write nice things, but I think don't let the praise take you too high and don't let the criticism drag you too low.

And I think a lot of that comes from the grounding that sort of relationship with God. For me, that's how I see it. That's how I think I find perspective in life. It's also, I think it's understanding that you're not the centre of the universe and the world doesn't revolve around you. And as soon as you realise that, I think that's... I find that quite empowering because it's all about serving others, helping others, doing what you can for other people, I think.

What are you like when you're angry? I don't get angry very often, but... rudeness makes me angry no problems and littering makes me angry and injustice makes me angry and I think that's why that's why I love being a journalist I think because

the only thing that God has given me right is words and I can use them on the television I can use them in a book in a newspaper on the radio and I can use them hopefully in the right way I know journalists aren't particularly popular. They're up there with like estate agents and politicians most of the time.

But I feel that I'm very privileged to do a job where I can use a sword for people who can't defend themselves and I can be a shield for those who are under attack. And I can seek the truth and defend it and ask questions about it. And actually there aren't many jobs you can do where you can change the world. I think you can genuinely change the world and change people's perspectives and write about things and talk about things that are really important. And I think particularly now, it's always been the case, but because news has never been under more scrutiny,

it's never been more important to be truthful and accurate and fair in what you do. And we should say you move. you had a very exciting career move this year because you left the BBC to go to Channel 5 yeah and just because what was that was that a hard decision yeah very hard decision but I made it surprisingly quickly I'd done strictly I'd left Football Focus I'd written a book and then Channel 5 came and knocked on my door and said listen we We really like you. We'd quite like you to come and...

Oh, sorry. We'd quite like you to come and work with us. We think you'd be great and we don't want you to just do news. We'd like you to do... Do you want to get a drink, by the way? Yeah, shall we? Yeah. We'd like you to make loads of programmes for us.

And I just thought, what a great challenge. Something different. Something new. Don't you think... Always go where you wanted. Yeah, I'm not going to get many opportunities like this in my whole life. when someone says we like you come and work for us and do loads of stuff

I've already made a new series with them I've just it's just gone out about digging for treasure archaeology series I've got something else lined up as well hopefully going to do some other bits with them this year next year and the year after that as well so there's lots happening

look at Winnie going over there Dan here's a question what do people get wrong about you they're always surprised that I'm so tall I'm not. You're not? I think you've got a tall man energy. Okay.

I mean, I must have thousands of times, over the last few years, particularly on breakfast. Two things I always got asked was, what time do you get up in the morning? And, oh, dear me, you're much taller than I thought you were. And, yeah, those are the things that always come around. But in terms of misconceptions, I don't know. I tell you what I think.

Yeah, go on then. Give me your insight. I think there's a lightness about you. And when I say a lightness, like a lightness of energy, that I hadn't expected. But you seem a bit more high spirits and mischievous and fun. And I like that. Or did you think I was boring?

No. This is awkward, isn't it? We're outside the public toilets in the park. And I'm getting told I'm boring. I didn't think you were. boring. What I'm saying is Dan in his civvies, in his leisure where I'm seeing another side to Dan. I think it's interesting you say that. I think that's what, when you go on programs like Strictly or quiz shows or other stuff, I think lots of people have said, it was nice to see a different

side to you. And I always think I, like I say, I'm always me on the telly and I can be serious and I deal with the serious stuff hopefully well because I know it's important to get that right. But I also, I love laughing and poking fun at the same. and having good giggling. Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think you laugh at yourself. I don't take anything too seriously. Right. Come on, Dan, let's get a coffee. What should we get? We'll get it. There's no dogs allowed in. We'll stay with the dogs. Okay. That woman's one way over with a hot chocolate. Me too. Um, let's go here, Dan. Yeah. Let's have a seat. All right. Do you know, I really love this area. It's nice, isn't it? Do you find, it's interesting with the height?

thing because I'm little and I notice it becomes often wonder like because your height becomes more of a thing that people notice about you. Often I get told that people are surprised that I'm not as awkward being this tall. Do you know what I mean? So when you're six foot six I think it's easy to be awkward. My out of that is always to say I think I hide it with my incredibly muscular frame and then people normally laugh. I didn't laugh. But I think,

I'm obviously tall, but I don't feel stupidly tall. I mean, I have to get shirts lengthened and suits made and stuff like that. But that's just, I've always been confident about everything. You carry yourself. Apart from dancing. I had no, and that's why I'd said no strictly four times, because

I didn't want to do it. But going on that program, that's given, I I think that's made me a better presenter because if I had nine out of ten confidence, I've now got, and it's not arrogance, it's just confidence that you can do a good job. And I'm not a dancer, but I can dance. She taught me to dance. I only expected to be in it for three weeks, and it lasted three months. It went on forever.

Oh, I know Dan what I wanted to ask you. I'm fascinated by this. Yes. The phone contract, which I've been reading about. With the kids. Yeah, I just. think that we're quite, maybe we are quite strict, my children will show you we're quite strict but we're just careful about what they're able to do at the age

that they are at. So we let them have a phone when they were old enough to walk home from school but when Susie our eldest got her phone we made sure that I gave her piece of paper actually Susie and she signed it and I signed it and it was like these are the things you've allowed to do with it and these if you're these rules then you lose your phone for a certain amount of time. And it was things like, stuff like if I ask you, noisy dog. That's what Willie's like.

If I leave her alone, got a basketball in the background and a barking dog. Welcome to the park. Yeah, so the phone contract, Dan. Yeah. I just think there's certain things that, it's a big responsibility to have a phone. Yeah.

and they have to realise that that comes with rules and regs so they weren't allowed to go on Instagram until they're 13 and then we are also allowed to check it whenever we ask for it I mean I don't think we're breaking any parental ground here are you quite a strict parent yeah I think I am yet I Yeah. I think I'm getting less strict. Because parenting is easy, isn't it, if from a distance, but when you're sort of faced with the realities of complicated situations, you have to really careful the way to deal with girls particularly, I think. Do you know I'm obsessed by this cafe? There's a microphone. I love it here, Dan. If you ever come back, you have to come back for a cheese toastie.

Dan, you don't drink, do you? I do, just not much, hardly it. But you don't have coffee. Dan doesn't drink coffee. Never had a cup of coffee in my life. Why not? No, I don't like the smell of it. I used to work with Louise Minchin on breakfast,

and she'd have a triple espresso every morning. Oh, can you feel that wind? Every morning at five to six. How can you do a breakfast show for six and a half years and not ever have coffee? I had one cup of tea at five Thursday and that was it. Because as you can experience I'm high on life, don't need any drugs. I was a bit partridge that, wasn't it?

Have you ever been called partridge? Oh, all the time, yeah. But I think the thing about partridges is he's actually really near the truth. And it's just a slight exaggeration of the truth. And I think, I mean, I know the accidental partridges regularly said, but I'm quite purposefully partridge every now and again. I think there's nothing wrong with that. I often get tagged in by accidental partridge that account and they say another classic from Dan Walker

I'll accept that. What's the most partridge thing that you've been accused of saying? Once I was doing a they did a whole two and a half minute compilation of this stuff that I did at an FA Cup live game where it was magnificently partridge this kid had made a tinfoil FA Cup and so I said oh look at this young lap what's your name mate and he said his name and I said look at that it's a lovely little tin In fact, it's not the best Tim 4 cup, is it? Could do a bit of work at that. And his face just dropped. And it was just exactly what Partridge would do.

And then I had to get him back later in the program and apologize to him live on air because we had so many complaints about the way that I dealt with him. Are you quite a control freak? I like. Yeah, I probably am. I like.

But only, I probably am. But only not over other people, only over things that I can control. So I don't think, well, you tell me you spent an hour or so with me. I don't feel like I'm passive aggressive. I don't, probably people who say that are passive aggressive. Am I passive aggressive? But I like to plan. I'm a really good planner.

I can tell that. Just looking at you, you're immaculate. The buttons are all done up right. Look at you. You have the look of someone who makes lists. I do make a list. Do you want to say? No, I can't tell you what's on the list because it's top secret but when I was on Strictly I made a list on here called things to do things you need to do on Strictly. I won't tell you what's on it but it worked. Oh Dan, can you tell me one thing? The secret planner in me love this. You dance for 90 seconds.

every week but you also speak to Claudia for 90 seconds your VT is 90 seconds long and also you do stuff on line and on it takes two and those other three areas the VT Claudia and the other stuff that's just as important as the 90 seconds dancing so you spend four days working on your dance and hardly anybody plans what they do the rest of the time but I really thought carefully about what we did with Claudia Oh, this way. What we did with Claudia and what we did in our VTs every week. Yeah. Stuff like that. Just a little list about that. I like a list. Are you a list maker?

No. No. I have to be because you and I, possibly this is why I warmed to you, because I like organized people who are confident captains of their ship. All right. Is that how you see me? Yeah. Do you not see yourself like that? Yeah, I feel... Whereas I'm like the sort of slightly

crazy passenger screaming, we're all going to drown, let me off. I've absolutely annihilated that hot chocolate, by the way. That's gone very quickly. Do you know what? I love that. I'm calling that very Dan Walker. Anilating hot chocolate. I always think hot drinks should... They should be cold enough to be done in one. I like enough milk in my tea to be able to down it in one.

That's another partridge, isn't it? I partridge myself there. I think the way I think about it is, remember earlier, I took that a really fine line between confidence and arrogance. And I don't think that I'm arrogant, but I'm confident that I can do a good job. So I never ever would even consider in my head

that I'll make a mistake on television. No, I might do one. do one. Might make a mistake, might say something wrong, but it never crosses my mind I'm going to. And I feel that if you start worrying about making a mistake, that's when they happen. I think I am relentlessly positive. But I'm like that with everything. You know, if I, if there's two hours, I'll fill that two hours with stuff and think I can still be at the thing at the end of that two hours on time, even if it's impossible. So I can't imagine I had Michael Owen on this podcast, not long ago.

Yeah. Well, he and Gemma had come on. And Michael was saying, I have no time for people who lie in. He said, everyone gets up at seven in our house. That's the rule. Are you? No, I'm not. That's how I live.

I get up. Once I'm awake, I get up. And I wake up early. But do you have a routine every day? You up at seven every day, for example? No, because I do different things on different days. So I present on Channel 5, four days a week, but there's other days when I don't do that. And if I'm not doing that, I'm probably up doing something with the kids,

like taking them to music practice or to football or something else. So that regard, that's dictated to me by what the family are doing. But if I'm in charge of myself, yeah, I'm up. I'm either up doing some exercise or upworking, writing, thinking about something. At the end of a dog walk, these steps are quite substantial, aren't they? Oh, I nearly fell there. I nearly had a little trip there. Did you, oh.

I loved our walk, honestly. I've had a really nice time. Have you enjoyed it? I have. It's lovely because we've gone on the walk that I would normally go on. And normally, oh, he put the microphone on the dog. Right on his bottom. We've rescued the microphone.

Never seen a dog's bottom mic'd up before. It's quite part of his fan. See, once you start spotting them, they're all over the place. them they're all over the face. But this is my normal dog walk but I've done it. I don't normally chat this much. I normally stop and have a little chin wag with the occasional person but... Dan, what do you think of Raymond?

I think Raymond, who's currently not... Raymond and I have an unshakable bond. This, if you don't mind me saying, this beautiful little shaggy mess of a dog has bonded with... Winnie, look at them together. I mean, that's gorgeous, isn't it? Do you know, Dan, I think they almost tolerate each other. That's kind of what I require from a relationship.

I think in many ways they are showing us what humans should be like. Just keeping a safe distance. Just being kind and occasionally sniffing a back side. Sorry, I've partaged again there. I really hope you enjoyed listening to that. And do remember to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes. Thank you.