Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Gabby Logan (Part One)

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

Joining us on our dog walk this week is legendary broadcaster Gabby Logan!We met Gabby at home in Buckinghamshire and we then took a lovely walk around the woods with her three dogs Milo, Maggie and Maverick. Maverick is a new addition to the Logan household since Gabby was last on the podcast - he’s an absolutely delightful standard poodle, who is VERY enthusiastic about catching tennis balls. Gabby tells us about growing up in a family whose love language was sport and how being the daughter of a professional footballer in the 1980s wasn’t as glamorous as it might be today. We also chat about how Gabby has dealt with tragedies in her life and how she stays calm when life is chaotic. She also tells us a rather brilliant story about an incident with George Clooney and a moth-eaten coat… Listen to Emily and Ray's first walk with Gabby from April 2017Follow Gabby on Instagram @gabbyloganGabby’s podcasts The Midpoint and The Sports Agents are available wherever you get your podcasts!You can get your copy Gabby's autobiography of The First Half here!You can get your copy of The Midpoint Plan hereFollow Emily: Instagram - @emilyrebeccadeanX - @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Faye LawrenceMusic: Rich Jarman Artwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you imagine how disgusting it is to lick that ball? Really don't take that as an outtake. Please, don't take that. That's the trailer. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I popped a Buckinghamshire to go for a stroll with the fabulous Gabby Logan. Gabby has appeared before on this podcast. In fact, she was one of the earliest guests I ever had

with her boxer Milo and Maggie the Labrador Poodle Cross. So do go back and give that one a listen to, but I insisted she let us come and visit her again, partly because we adore her, but also because she's got a brand new addition to the family, a beautiful standard poodle called Maverick. And may I say there was nothing at all standard about Maverick, because like his name, he's frankly a slightly hilarious-looking free spirit.

We had such a nice walk through Gabby's local countryside chatting about everything from Gabby's lifelong love of poodles to her hugely successful career as a sports presenter and a slightly embarrassing encounter she ended up having with George Clooney recently. This woman is always a total joy to spend time with, so I really think you're going to love it. You can listen to her brilliant podcast, The Midpoint, which features some fantastic guests all talking candidly about their midlife experiences.

She's also written a book to accompany it called The Midpoint Plan, and I really recommend her memoir, the first half. You can, of course, also catch her on the hugely popular podcast she does with Mark Chap. the sports agent. I'll stop talking now and hand over to the woman herself. Here's Gabby and Milo and Maggie and Maverick and Ray Rehry. Does Ray get carried the whole way around? Does he walk? Does he walk for any of the walk? Gabby Logan is already throwing shade at Raymond and she's frankly just met him. Well I just remember the last time we walked and it was a few years ago I'm sure he was walking No, he wasn't, was he?

He wasn't with us. He wasn't with us. Because I probably knew this. That's why I don't remember you carrying a dog. There's Kenny. He's just putting some lights up. We're going off. Bye, Kenny.

Oh, bye. Put the kettle on. Start getting it ready for us now. All right, love. Gabby. Come on, Raymond. What's going on between Gabby? Between Gabby and Raymond.

We'll get on to the menopause shortly. What's going on between Raymond, my dog, and Milo the boxer. Milo knows he's not coming on the walk because he doesn't walk anymore, which we can get to. Because he's nearly 30. Hang on, what month are we in?

He's nearly 13 in about two weeks time. So he doesn't do walks. He just does eating, sleeping and barking. And Raymond and obviously, Milo, I've had a chat and they've said, Raymond's trying to hide behind Milo. He's saying, I'd like to stay here with you and have a cup of tea.

Do you think she'll notice if I hide? I'm going to cry. It's very sweet. I feel like my. Milo's sort of looking after him. I think Milo's saying, don't worry. I'm here with him. It's fine.

Well, see you very soon. I love you so dearly. You're such a sweet boy. You must have to get emotional when we get to the gate and we have to leave him behind because he cannot go more than like, so there's times where he's hoodwinked to me into thinking he's able to go for a walk. And we get about 50 metres away and then he just stops and I have to walk him home again. And then the other dogs go really mad because they're like trying to get off and I know, look, he's pretending. Gabby, I've already got tears. He's pretending.

He's pretending that he's okay to go for a walk. Look, he's acting. He's going, yeah, I'm with the gang. Look, I'm still with the gang. I'm still with the gang. Oh, I've still got it, bless him. I should get you to formally introduce your dogs. I'm obviously with the wonderful Gabby Logan.

I've come to her beautiful house in Buckinghamshire. We're in Buckinghamshire. Yeah. And would you care to introduce us to your three dogs? Yeah, I know. We've grown since the last time I've seen. So Milo, who we've just been mentioning, is a boxer who is nearly 13 and he is a fit old boy, but he's just not up to going for walks. And he's aged a lot, I'm sure, since the last time you saw. He's got a lot of grey now.

He's a tan boxer with beautiful markings. There's Lois. Lois, it's Emily. Hi, Lois. But you're on a horse. It's a reasonable excuse. I mean, you couldn't make it up, could you? So this was Gavi's daughter, Lois. As it happens, looking like something out of riders, look at her, she's so glamorous. She's just about to go to uni, so she's had a gap year living her dream, which was to basically compete all over the place.

She's raised all the money herself. She's been to Spain and competed on the Sunshine Tour, and she's worked her absolute bottom off doing kind of like so much stuff with horses. And it's been a great year. But she's off to uni in a couple of weeks, so I know it's going to be me and these three. So introductions. Milo, you're done. He's the old boy. Then in, you know, kind of descending order of age, we've got Maggie, who is 10, who is a Labradoodle that never doodled. And she's aged a lot as well recently. We thought having a third dog might give Maggie a bit of a kick and she'd kind of remember her youthful chops, but it's gone the other way.

She's kind of gone, I'm not interested, like she's not interested in the slightest with the new edition, and this is Maverick. He's a black standard poodle. He is 18 months old, there he is, 18 months old, and he's barking because no dog has ever loved a ball more than Maverick. You know, in that you get a dog that does all the dog stuff. No, I don't actually, Kevin. Well, we never had them either, right? Now we have this dog that is literally, your archetypal kind of like, I do all the dog stuff, and he's a very cuddly, big bear who's totally, everybody in the family is smitten with him. And of course, he was supposed to be my 50th birthday present, a surprise, and he's ended up becoming the thing that kind of draws everybody back home again.

You know, it's like that kind of everybody just wants to be around him. So, and it didn't work in terms of giving Maggie a new lease of life. She's gone the other way and decided that he's a nuisance. You know, like that kind of, I think, you know, when you have kids and that I've got too big an age gap in the family. And the one kid just goes, oh, I'm so over the idea of having a third child. Well, she has immediately become the middle child and now behaves like that classic middle child. So, yeah. So she's, she's not, look at it.

She's not even noticing him. She just doesn't even bother. So they have an indifferent relationship. Those kinds of siblings that when the parents die, they never speak again. Do you know what I mean? They're like, they're those siblings. Whereas Milo, we'll see, you know, if Milo is the one that leaves us first, then maybe she'll kind of like get her kind of etiquette, I think it is more than anything, you know. Etiquette back.

It's very sweet. I feel Milo has been really paternalistic over Ray. He's kind of looking after him. It's ever so sweet. Oh, and Ray just rewarded him by sort of snapping. I don't think he's seen a dog that small for a long time. It's like how Kenny reacts to me when I come over. He's like, what is this small thing? Right, we're going to go on our walk. I love you so dearly, Milo. We're going to leave Maggie behind as well when we get to the gate, but we'll take, obviously, because it's a dog walk, we do have to take one of them. But Milo and Maggie, sorry, Maverick and Maggie,

who decided to give three dogs the names beginning with them. So I didn't name Maverick. Lois located him. So Lois said to Kenny, when they were discussing what to get me for my 50th last year, and they couldn't remember. Remember? There's a menopausal non-secretter. They couldn't remember what to get me.

So, you know, if you're listening back to this podcast, we will say completely nonsensical, strange things, because we are both at that time of life. So they didn't know what to get me, and Lois said, Because I don't know if you remember, they had spent most of my adult life telling me that a poodle wasn't... Oh, look, look, I can't bear it. Sorry, Milo, come on.

Milo. Oh, he really lost to me. I think you might have to bring Ray back towards the gate, prison. Come on. Come on. Come with Ray, Milo. Come on, Milo. Come on, Milo.

We love you. But this is no country for old men. So, yeah, they couldn't work out what to get me. And Glouis said, you know what? She loves poodles. I never thought I ever wanted a third dog, like I wasn't looking for a third dog. And Lois located a litter near Bath that were about to be born just before my, well, the right time, so it was my 50th. So literally I picked him up the day after I turned 50.

And she'd made this card and got this hologram of him coming out of a box on the front. And when I opened it up, I didn't know what the card was going to say. I thought, this card's okay. It's not really me, a dog card. You know, I was like, okay. So this is my last present. So I open it up and the words she'd written, I can't remember the exact words, but it was, I literally burst a tear. It was like, my name's Maverick and I'm going to love you forever.

And I just went, oh! And I actually just posted the video just recently of me, them filming me. And the kids obviously laughing their heads off at me literally bursting into tears. Because I grew up with standard poodles and my mom absolutely, you know, love them as a kid. And I was telling my guys, they're great dogs, they're great dogs. They didn't believe me. Now they think they're like the best breed ever. That thing there, that's a Shetland.

Hello, Dartland ponies, I always think of the Queen. But as if the Queen would have something like this. As if the Queen would go anywhere near. This is like something in Filey Beach in Yorkshire that you'd find. And they try and pass it off as a donkey. They'd say, yeah, do you want a donkey ride? And then somebody like, Lois will come along and go, that's a Shetland, that's not a donkey. You told me last time.

You sound like we live in a kennel, don't we? Hello, hello Logan kennels. Sorry, go on. You told me last time, and I just want to remind myself of your origin story, because I know you had a dog. Was it Sadie? Yes, Sadie. Is that your first dog or that might have been your second dog actually? Second dog, but the first one that I really remember.

Yeah. And this was growing up with your mum. Chocolate brown, stand-a-poodle, mum, dad, brother, Daniel and sister Louise. And then Jordan, who came a long later. Yeah, Sadie was still alive when Jordan came along. So she was around for a bit of, he was around for a bit of her life. Isn't this? This is Pumba.

We just on a handbrake's spin. He's doing his sprints. That was a horse just so you know. He's a beautiful boy, isn't he? Is that what you're meant to say? We've had Pumba since he was a foal. Hello Pumba. So he came here at nine months old.

Hello Pumber. This was his first summer computer. because he's five now. So he was in all the young classes this year with Lois. Oh hello darling. He's having a few months off. He's like an Olympic athlete who's just he's like having he's having field. Oh what do I do that for? I just threw the ball in the wrong in the field. Guys I'm going to have to go get that because Lois will kill me if he decides that he wants a tennis ball for dinner. No. Oh shit. Gaffey, do you want to describe what you've done? I'm so used to throwing the ball. I just threw it by accident into the field.

where the horse was instead of where the dog where the dog now the dog can't find it come on this is your job come on maverick this is what you do you hunt things down this is what your origins were this is what i tell the family all the time you got an amazing nose look he's going to get it he is going to get it don't let me down don't there you go good boy come on thanks for getting me out of the shit come on we had a near miss there didn't we can imagine if Lois had come back and gone why is the horse collapse well it just had a tennis pool for lunch and um I hope that's all right.

I thought it was quite a nice. Oh, do you know, I remember this? Do you remember this? We were at a little, what are these called? Are these styles, Gabby? Yeah, there are. We were at this style, and I remember last time, this exact point that we are going to stop just talking about what happened last time.

And do you remember, Gabby, we saw those people coming out of the woods. Yes. And they were, morning, morning. And you turned around to me afterwards, and you said, Em, bolting poo bag with them, but no dog. Well, I do wonder if this is a place where people might meet up, you know, that kind of, you know, they come for a little, because I remember finding once in the woods, a wallet that belonged to a woman, right, on the floor. And I took it home and I put it on the road WhatsApp group, nobody recognises this woman. I managed to track her down, she lived nowhere near here.

She might have met a friend in the woods for her lunch. That was my, that's what I decided. She was coming here for lunch. Who would come here for lunch? They didn't want to be seen. That's who would come for lunch. Anyway, I tracked her down, gave her a wallet back. She wasn't going to run from me for long.

You can see more, come on, Gabby. Come on, Raymond. Show her, what you do. Yes, Raymond. Oh, he's really showing off now. So, yeah, I just want to remind myself of your origin story. Yes. When you were growing up as Gabby Jorath.

With your family, initially, I mean, I always associate your family with Leeds. What was your first place that you called home? I was four when we left Leeds and then 10 when we came back. So, yeah, I'd say Leeds was home first. I was born in the family house in Leeds. Now that I'm older, all those other places I lived in seem less significant. Do you know what I mean?

At the time, when you're 18 and you lived half that time in other places, they're significant. Then when you leave Leeds, at 18 and moved down south then your those other places disappear into kind of your you know importance and Leeds is where everybody is the family are all there so yeah yeah and well the Welsh family obviously not there they're in Wales but um the Leeds family funny enough they're in Leeds I've always been so fascinated by your parents because they're the sort of parents I can imagine seeing them in the 70s and just thinking wow I

wish they were my parents because they look they're sort of quite a glamorous couple they were, weren't they? Yeah, well they were so young when they had us. By the time they were 26, they had three kids. And my dad was captain of Wales football team and captain of wherever he was playing at the time. So he had quite an interesting life. And a former footballer we should say. Yeah, sorry, he was captaining them. Yeah, not because they were scouts. Yeah. He was capturing them as a footballer. And so they got invited to interesting places and always seemed to be dressed up on Saturday nights going out. My mum had an amazing wardrobe that she used to get. She was by trade. She did beauty therapy and she knew lots of people from her college. in Manchester who did textiles and things like that and then when she came back to Leeds she had this dressmaker who used to copy all the outfits from Vogue that she used to buy and she'd had all these amazing outfits and she'd kept them all they were

all made for her and my sister and I have never been able to fit into them and we were rhythmic gymnast so just Google a rhythmic gymnast and then you'll know what I mean and we couldn't fit into them she was such a kind of lean bean you know when she's in the 60s 70s she wear these amazing mini skirted outfits and matching knickers she always She had matching knickers made because the skirts were so short. That was her thing. But yeah, she was very glamorous. What was her relationship like with your dad?

Because your dad, like I say, he was pretty well known, wasn't he? He was a high profile figure and... But I see your mum as someone who sort of knew her own mind. Oh yeah, she was very... She kind of sacrificed getting a more academic degree for him. So she was offered a place at a university down south to do... something to do with art, I think. I should probably check on that one. And he wanted her to be closer to him. She was 17, 18. And he said, if you go to Manchester, I'll pay for cabs back for you or something,

you know, from the station so that you stay near me. So she went to Manchester and did beauty therapy instead. That was perhaps a kind of maybe a sacrifice for the relationship. But then after that, I think she always wanted to work and do her own thing. And she definitely wasn't somebody who was, was going to, you know, not work or not have an idea for a business and then follow it through. You know, she was one of those people that was quite driven and dynamic and, and very much the homemaker as well because he was traveling all the time with work, but didn't seem to, she wasn't that kind of stay at home all day and make a cake, but she was around. Do you know what I mean? It was like she managed to get,

but she gives a really good role model to me in terms of being able to juggle. I was reading your brilliant autobiography first half and it was really, really interesting to me that you start your book on a very significant day in your life. I think it's, maybe it's wrong, is it 25th of May 1992? Yeah. That changed everything, didn't you? Yeah, that was the day my brother Daniel died, which has mentioned Daniel before. He was three years younger than me. And he was 15 and had a congenital heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And so it was unknown to, you know, anybody visually, there's no sign of it. And in his lifestyle, there's sign of it and he was playing football with my dad in the garden and dropped down dead so I

think when I was sitting down to write people say when you start a book and you're struggling just write like a biography just write and that was that was it I kind of felt like that was the only place to start I sat down and that first chapter came out in about two hours or something you know just kind of and and so I thought it was kind of halfway through it was almost like that was halfway through my life actually kind of almost you know what I mean that period of like from Well, it was certainly the chapter that ended was childhood, you know. So I was 19. And it does, childhood does pretty much end around them, but it definitely was that closing of the door of childhood.

And I feel, I'm going to let you navigate the style. Come on, I want to see how Maverick does this. The good thing about Ray, look. He doesn't get caught on the barbed wire. I could probably fit under that style. We've had a few, I think, cyclists coming down here, trying to get rid of all the fences and stuff, because they want to bike all the way through, their local walking society come and they make it difficult for them.

So hence this looks a bit aggressive. Not very countrysidey that, does it? Come on, Mav. He'll come. Don't worry. Come on, Mav. Yeah, I find it very moving when you talk about your brother, Daniel, because I think it's lovely that, you know, obviously I think we've discussed this before because it's something we've both experienced, which is quite a unique form of proof that sibling group. I think when someone, particularly in your brother's case, where it is that sense of, you know, obviously, it is that sense of, you know,

life slightly snatched away from someone, you don't just mourn their past, you mourn the future they never had. Yeah. And I found it one of the things that it did make me cry, but in a really lovely way, because when you talked about every time you would go to a football match and you would just have, you know, they have all the players and their ages. Yeah. And I would always kind of look for players born around the same time and think that's where he would be now. That's what he would be doing now and you know I think it was um but funny enough just recently there was a manager i can't know who it was and i thought oh god he's he's what he's dan's age and i was thinking oh my god would he be managing would he be you know would he've gone off and done that you just you know

you don't know do you so you kind of go through those for a long time i think i'm sure you do the same you go through those landmarks and and compare peers and my mom still living in leeds she bumps into loads of his friends and his school friends people that he he he knew all the time and of course they're all married with kids and it can just kind of blindside you I think even if you're having a great normal day and then somebody you know kind of you bump into and it makes you feel quite overwhelmed emotionally about that future that they never had up until that point you know because it does feel like that inevitably that changes everything in the family script doesn't it yeah and in ways you can't possibly imagine I think it changes people

and the way you all relate to each other. Because there's an empty chair there all the time. Yeah, yeah. And of course, everybody has their own way of grieving, and everybody has their own way of coping, and some of those are not healthy, and others are, you know, more productive. So, and that can cause disappointment and resentment and, you know, and all sorts of other emotions.

It takes a long time, I think, to come to peace with that idea, even, that, you know, this dynamic has totally changed and has, you know, no way of returning, you know. He's never going to get back to normal. He's trying to keep up, Gabby. He is. I mean, I'm not going to judge him if he wants to carry. So don't think, don't not carry him on my part.

I'm, I'd love to be carried right now. It's just from what I know of your house. We might be hiding in a bush, ladies. It's very rainy suddenly. We might have to finish it indoors. We might have to go hide under a tree. But Berinda Grills here knows that the woods are going to protect us. a little bit more.

What's the female bear? Oh, yeah, Berinda Grills. I love that. What is a female bird? Is there a difference? Is there? I don't know. I only know cocaine bear.

It's any type of bird grizzly and cocaine. Those are the only two bears I know, Gabby. It's interesting because your childhood, your family, I should say, inevitably with a high-profile sports person like your dad, it was competitive, wasn't it? Yeah. And, you know, we had very much a kind of sport was our love language.

So after dinner, we'd have races in the garden or we'd play tennis or, you know, my mum would say, take the kids outside and kind of, you know, just do something active while she cleared up after dinner or something. And then we all got our own sporting interests. And honestly felt like you, I mean, I cannot imagine one of us not having a sport. It would have been so weird, you know, for us not to be getting dropped off somewhere. And we did other things, you know, we tried to play musical instruments. Don't, you know, don't get me wrong.

And we tried to be bookish, but, and we all did a bit of drama, but sport was the thing, I guess, that was most natural to us because that's what we'd seen from my dad. But my mum wasn't particularly sporty. She does a lot of Pilates now. But she wasn't really into her sport. She was into making sure that we all had passions. That was her big thing. She wanted us all to have something which lit us up and something which we were dedicated to.

You know, we weren't allowed to quit. And I don't mean that in the long term, but in the short term, if we didn't like something and she'd sign us up for 10 weeks, we were going for 10 weeks. You know, just because the first one didn't go well. And I think that's really important, actually, in terms of resilience for young people because you can't just judge something that quickly and stop. I think it's important to go through with something and finish something off, even if you're not loving it. Because life's like that, isn't it? We're all going to have work periods that we're not as happy with or, you know, there are going to be bumps in a road in a relationship. And actually, all that does is kind of perhaps teach you the ability to quit a bit too quickly.

And I don't think that's any good for you mentally, actually. So looking back, I think that was a really important lesson and one that I've definitely been carrying out with my kids. you know, kind of obviously, you know, you're not going to, I would never force, like, one of the kids to have done sport for years and years and years if they hated it. But certainly, I would say, right, give it another go, you know, give this, or not necessarily even sport. Could be something else, but. I don't know, there's certainly I can sense there's the take no shit running through the parents of the Logan household. I agree, you know, it's part of that.

It's resilience, isn't it? Yeah. And, you know, and you learn, you. you will always take something from it, even the things you look back and think that wasn't the most enjoyable thing, but actually I did learn this from it, or I had this one experience that was quite joyful actually, and that gave me, you know, this moment. I've learned that I've learned today, I'm a little bit frightened of Shetland ponies. Was that what? I thought you stopped in awe. I didn't realise it was fear. I'm not very good at reading your emotions with your sunglasses on.

Well, Gabby, it's raining, can you hear? But we're not getting wet, see? Barinda Grill. yourself. Burinda Grill. It's not even a thing. Don't make it a thing, Gabby. Oh, this is so lovely out here. I love these woods.

I can imagine it must have been, though, because your dad was famous, wasn't he? And presumably when you went to school, you did get a bit of... I don't know if you would call it bullying, but harassment, maybe. Because when you're a footballer's child, you generally live in the city your dad's playing.

You know, when I was at a very young age that was in Coventry, and at the time they were in the top flight, so if Coventry lost at the weekend, then the boys at school, inevitably it was the boys, would give me a bit of stick, you know, tell me my dad wasn't a very good player. And when you're eight or nine, you don't want to ever hear that your parents are not lovely, you know,

or good or the best, or, you know. We've got plenty of time to work that out for yourselves. That is the golden age I was thinking of parenting. When your kids are between seven and, say, 11, They still think you're the most amazing thing on the planet, but they also have the ability to articulate it. You know, when they're two, they rely on you. They've got no way of telling you.

But when they're that age, they think you're incredible. So when you're at school and somebody says your dad's shit, you know, he's not. And I remember telling him once that these boys were giving me a hard time. And he said, well, just say to them, what does your dad do? And I bet it's not as exciting as being a football. And I was thinking, no, that's not what I'm going to say. I'm not going to say that.

So yeah, he didn't have an answer for me, but I should have to kind of ride through it, I think. Now, look, Burinda's going to give you some advice. I think we should just sit down on a log for a minute because I don't. Let this rain pass. I think it's a lovely idea. Because the next area we go to is going to be quite exposed. And I don't want Raymond's coat getting covered in Buckinghamshire rain. Look, there's a plane.

It just worries me a bit whenever people say, why don't we sit down on a log here? It's always when the homicidal maniac runs out of the woods in the horror movie. but we've got too big, well... This clearing looks nice. Why don't we set up camp here? What could possibly happen? I'm not finding a log that's kind of suitable for us yet. We could kind of go on here if you're okay with that.

Oh, this is quite nice, actually. This will suit our purposes. I think so. I'm just going to move this out the way. I'm going to do a bit of home improvement. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah.

Oh, Maverick looks upset with us. We'll go moving soon. Maverick's going, hang on a second, we don't stop on our walks. What's she doing? This is what happens when you bring Raymond. They stop for a picnic. If you bring it to me, Maverick, I'll throw it for you. Come here, okay.

All right, all there. If you just leave it there. There you go. So, yeah, so that's interesting. That's how your dad told you to deal with that. Yeah. Was. Not very productive.

But that was, you know, don't take any shit from people, essentially. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I suppose it was, wasn't it? And so I didn't. And then when we moved to Canada, remember the kids at school all swarming on the car. He was playing for Vancouver

Whitecaps because they wanted his autograph and I felt, you know, felt really special. So there are both sides of it where you feel and Kenny always, even now will say how I spent my childhood saying to my dad, who's that? And he go, I don't know, because people would just talk to him all the time. And yet when I do it to Kenny, he goes, uh, because I see Kenny played rugby, so a lot people come up to him and they talk to him in the street. And I go, who's that? And they goes, I don't know. And it's the same thing that happened. I thought my dad knew everybody because people were always coming up and, you know,

because people, when they see you on the telly doing something like that, I think they feel very much like you're somebody they know really well. So they don't start a conversation kind of at the beginning. They start it halfway through with real informality. And so they all felt like uncles, you know. See you see? Yes, it's that accelerated intimacy that they've experienced and you possibly haven't. Yeah.

Just not encountered them before. They're in the street going, what? It's funny, I was doing a charity thing this morning and somebody who was there who's on the telly, we were exchanging those kinds of stories where people say, oh, sorry, I know you're busy, I don't want to bother you, but can have a picture? And so, like, you've already just said, I'm busy. Or I'm sorry, you've got your, I know you've got your kids with you, but it's okay. I said to him, yeah, it's like, oh, I can see you're giving birth, but do you mind a picture?

But you kind of realize that, you know, you're in a very privileged position to do the job that you do, and part of the reason why you're still doing it is because of people liking you do what you do. So you know, you don't, and I think I have a good role water with my dad on that. He gave people time, you know. But what people perhaps don't realize is that when you hear my dad was a footballer,

people would automatically assume, oh, private jets, oh gosh, no. You know, not in massive new build house. Ford court Tina, domestic holidays. Stopping our. the M1 at the Little Chef or whatever. You did read the book. So actually I think possibly

whilst it may be prostrating at the time not to have the life for you perhaps were entitled so I certainly would have. That was a good thing maybe? Oh yeah I feel what do you think was good about the fact that you weren't living the life? But we all have... You might have lived now.

You can't say for sure but there was definitely hunger in all of us and Because my dad had come from a very poor background, living in a council house in Cardiff with his siblings older than him, kind of out at work and stuff. He used to let himself in from school at like four o'clock and maybe he'd go out and play football and his parents might not get back from their various many blue-collar jobs that they did, you know, from cleaning offices to running working men's clubs and stuff. And he'd be on his own for a long time. And, you know, he talked about being in the dark kind of thing as a kid. And so he had a really, you know, tough childhood. And my mum's wasn't any less tough.

You know, she always likes to tell us about how the first cot she had was a bottom drawer of a chest of drawers, you know, and lived in a kind of back to back in Leeds. And so I think they both came from tough backgrounds, but really solid values and really solid hardworking people who taught them a lot in terms of, you know, going out and working hard and being driven and treating people well. So I think they then wanted to pass that obviously on to us because that's kind of what, you know, your parents do. And I think if dad had been a footballer now, it'd probably have been harder, wouldn't it, to keep your kids in that. I mean, I talk to a lot of Premier League footballers who've got older kids and, you know, they talk about the challenges you have, actually, keeping them grounded. And I think what's difficult is that if you've only ever been on a private jet, how do you know that's a luxury? Yeah. How do you know you're lucky to be on that?

Yeah. And it's not your fault. You know, that's the thing as well. If you're the child of somebody who's got untold wealth and can pretty much do anything they want to do, it's not your fault, is it? That, you know, that's your lifestyle. You know, my kids see all kinds of different,

with their life and growing up with us. They see all kinds of different ways of living. I think they really get it. Do you know what I mean? Because they understand it. I've tried to, without, you know, because it's not their fault that you're on the telly. So it is that challenge of keeping your kids grounded and hungry and wanting them to...

You don't want to punish them, but you perhaps want to educate them. Yeah. You know? And have real life experiences. Yeah. You know, it isn't normal to go left on the plane all the time and go to fabulous resorts on holiday. Sorry, Ray. That's not normal.

And I think it's some of the memories they have from childhood are the most simple things that... I remember we went on holiday. It's hard because when we were... when we were kind of young parents, we were shattered wanting a really nice holiday just to collapse on a beach. But actually, that might not have been the best holiday for them. You know, so we would try and do stuff that was, I remember one of the best holidays we had was in Pembrokeshire in the rain for a week at half term. And it was a reaction to a holiday we previously had, which was in Mauritius. And I went to this rock fall with Ruben and Lois.

And two bloke walked up with their kids and they were from the same postcode as us. And I just said, no, this is not having this. This is next holiday we're driving to Narebeth in Pembrokeshire. and we're staying in these cottages at a farm and we're going to, and the kids loved it. And I think that's when you realise that actually, you know, kids just want to, you know, be happy and do things and it doesn't matter where they are actually.

You know, as long as they're with you, it's you that they really want and you that they want to play with. So, and I did get a lot of that from my parents because, you know, we, my mum was really good at putting us kind of in situations where we go on holiday, right, enter the talent competition in the Pontin's in Toro, Melino. Was she? Yeah, oh, do this.

Was your mum quite sort of aspirational for you? I think she was because I don't know how she... Sorry. He's... We can go. Let's walk. Come on. Well, son's come out.

Yeah, I think she was, but not in a... It doesn't matter what it was. She just wanted us to... As I said before, she wanted us to have passions and she wanted us to... It was sort of you're good enough to do this. Yeah. And do you want to do that? Go do it.

You know, is that what you'd like to do? No, nothing was ever off the table. You know, it wasn't kind of... If I'd said... Can't explain what you. Your wrong. The Maverick's just had a lie down. He's just, I think he's, we've been throwing the ball while we had a little, little rest

on the banquets over there. And he's just decided that maybe enough's enough. And he's having a little lie. So he'll get up. He'll follow us in a minute. Can you imagine how disgusting it is to lick that ball? Really don't take that as an outtake. Please, don't take that.

That's the trailer. There was something else. You touched on. You have touched on. in your book and I had no idea. I just don't think I'd made the connection for some reason between the fact that your dad was obviously manager of Bradford City at the time of the...

Yes, yes, the fire, yeah. Yeah, he was assistant manager, yeah, and we were... We'd been, because most of my childhood, wherever he was a manager or a player, we'd go to the home games, you know. So at Bradford, with it being 20 minutes down the road from where we lived, we all lived in Leeds, We'd go to all the home games really and that season it was a really great season. They finished top of the league.

They were the champions and so of course we were there on that final day of the season and we weren't just there. We were rows away from where the fire started. So it was an enormous and tragic, horrific thing for everybody involved. And the 56 families who died and the families who lost them, you know, it was just unimaginable. And for the club, you know, people like my dad who went to most of the funerals and had had to kind of try and pick up the pieces and get a team back together the following seasons. I think sadness and a feeling of just hollowness, I think that just really didn't ever properly go away. I think that combined from my brother's death, you know, he just didn't have any grief counselling, didn't have any support or therapy. You know, it just wasn't those times just didn't. offer those kinds of things to people. There was just no sense of needing to talk to people.

So, yeah, it was for all of us, it was horrible. For my parents and for my dad in particular, it was... Well, it made a lot of sense to me, because I know you've been very honest about the fact that, you know, your dad's had his struggles over the years, I know, with mental health issues and alcoholism and the combination I can so see that potent cocktail

of the loss of his son, and then a disaster like that where that survivor's guilt, the sense of the captain not going down with his ship almost. Do you know what I mean? And I thought, it's unprocessed trauma, isn't it? Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean, he, you know, he would, I did a documentary who helped. I was on a documentary, kind of not made by me, made by a wonderful filmmaker, who Isabel Williams,

who is actually now a psychotherapist, which made some great sports-related documentaries. and that one I thought was such a powerful one because how she described Bradford was it was like the quiet football disaster because Hillsborough obviously had these all happened in a few years Hillsborough Heisle Bradford all happened within a few years and Hillsborough has had so many even now Hillsborough still has unanswered questions and things that have corruption and you know obviously reports that were redacted and and you know people fighting. for justice for those victims. And Bradford kind of just, I don't know, it was just much more quiet in terms of the fallout. And there was a thing, a report about safety and grounds, and it did have an impact in that respect. But it didn't have necessarily the noise, the longevity of noise, I think. And so people go, oh yeah, I remember that, you know, and yeah, I don't know whether that's just a reflection maybe of the city and the people and how they dealt with it. I guess I can see that your family, it was quite incident-packed, you know, your child, at that point, how old were you then, 12 or something?

I don't know, you know. And so, actually, I know you hadn't lost your brother at that point, but you're thinking, I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, oh, around the corner, there all seems to be something you're having to deal with. Yeah, it was, there was quite a lot going on. Yeah. And I suppose you don't really know any different, do you? Because that's your lot and that's your situation. So, yeah, it became quite flexible, adaptable, I guess, you know, kind of having to deal with things that you...

And have you always been quite... You're quite calm, aren't you, Gabby? Have you always had that? Is that just an inner thing or something you learnt? Oh, no, I have. I can have a raging temper if I, yeah, if I want to, if I kind of, you know, that's totally, I think, would say now under, like, way less than I, when I was younger, you know, like, I'm way calmer now, probably than I was even like 10 years ago. But, but I sometimes would fly, you know,

kind of off the handle. I kind of go along like this, you know, kind of like steady, steady, and then something just goes, and you can kind of just go, right, enough, you know. And I think I've got better at dealing with things like that, kind of not going from naught to 10. So generally I'm very calm, I would say, although my kids listening to this, we go, she is not. If you leave a pan out of the dishwasher, you know, but you like order and control as well. Yeah. Yeah. That's not, I'm not going to argue with that. I'm not going to argue with that. Yeah, that's, that's absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty pretty, um, and that might be a, um, maybe that's a reaction to some of what you talked about when, when your childhood is a bit chaos.

because of those things, then I guess you kind of want to keep. I was like that within my little world as a child, so I liked my room to be really organized and tidy, and I loved being on time because my mum was not a great timekeeper, so I wanted to be early and I wanted to be, you know, I was very, so I kind of reacted probably against that. I just met, my childhood is me in the hall shouting up, going, come on, mum, come on, come on, we're going to be late,

we're going to be late. And she was just like, I've got two more rollers to point. I'm just seeing her with the rollers and fabulous red hair. Yeah. Yeah. And she wouldn't ever, like one of those silky robes. Yeah, she would never, a kimono maybe. Even like a quick drop off at school, she would never just put a dressing gown on because she was driving the car. She would literally have to be full makeup, everything, because you never know, you never know. Can I tell you my best you never know story? And this involves me and my mum laughed when I told her this story. She said, well, I'm not going to say I

didn't tell you so. So about six months ago I got one of those you know those emails that comes through so I asked you if you want to go to a film screening and it's called Boys in the Boat which is the George Clooney film and and Callum Turner was one of the leads and Ruben used to row my son and it was on a Sunday evening at the Kurson Theatre I thought well that would be nice we'll go to a little house have some snacks didn't know it wasn't open on Sunday have some snacks and go in there the three of us me Kenny and Rubin because Lois was away somewhere and because Ruben was home until the Monday morning because he's playing rugby and he was actually home that night.

So about an hour before we're due to leave, we were looking after our name was Vimerama and it went missing and down the road. We didn't know it got missing because Kenny had him when he was doing some work outside. Next thing we've got on the road WhatsApp group. I know it was terrible of me. A road WhatsApp group, anybody know whose dog business was and I was like, shit, it's Frank. Right. So I'm running down, named after Frank Lampard, by the way, not Frank Skinner, sadly. down the road kind of like in my jeans get this dog we get the dog back home and I'm like

everybody we've got to go we've got a bit the cursing the film starts at five get in the car so I threw on a black pole neck I'd had all the night before put my jeans on Kenny was going to go in track suit bottoms and I said no you I'm not sorry no we're not going in Lulu lemons get yourself some jeans on Ruben's wearing an old hoodie anyway we pull up and there's a lot of light going on at the curzon like a lot of light and as we're walking down the street my heart starts kind of going like it's like oh god this is a premiere this isn't a screening this is a bloody premiere, right? We turned the corner and I had this old camel coat on it. It was by a very good designer but it was very old and had a few little moth holes in it that I thought,

you know, sometimes you think I'm going to keep that for dog walks, right? So I'm dressed for today essentially. I was dressed for today. I didn't even, I had barely put lipstick on. All right Maverick. And so we turn the corner, this story has, gets even better. We turn the corner, all the flash bulbs are going. I turn, Kenny and Rubin have disappeared. Like they've gone. I can't even see them. Don't know where they've gone. This man grabs me from the woman from the PR company come on bread carpet gabby come on red carpet if you ever google those pictures i'm i'm holding my coat like this if you ever gole i'm holding my coat like this i look like some bag lady that's kind of like crept on they're going get your coat off i was

like no i've got curry stains so i'm kind of like going and they go in and they're going on it's like oh my god that was so embarrassing as we as i enter the hall in the curzon in mayfay you know it's like kenny and reuben appear they've obviously legged it round the back right so they were laughing their heads off and they're going i can't believe you got this wrong and I look over and there's Charlotte Tilbury whose best mates with George Clooney's wife is wearing full-length black velvet with like pointy shoulders and kind of full hair and makeup and everything I could not have been so I thought right just forget it let's just go and enjoy the film Charlotte Tilbury can I say it's got slight Mrs Yorith energy she's got a bit your mom

yeah go on you know Stephen mangan he's wearing a puffer jacket and he looked at me and he went you thought the same as I didn't you and I said yes thank you Stephen so we go in we sit down and all the place was full of rowers. The film's about rowing in the 1930s. And so there's all the British rowing. And they're all dressed up to the nines and like rowers never dressed up. So it's so sweet.

They're all wearing their dresses and everything. And I'm really embarrassing. We're laughing about it. And then this woman from the BR company comes along to the end of the road. And she went, Kathy, can I have quick word? And I think they're going to kick us out.

They've got somebody better dress. So I came out and she said, the person that we'd booked to do the interview with George and the cast on stage is not turned up. Do you think, would you mind doing it for? I was like, I was the curry staying. I said, I'm wearing literally a top that smells of last night's curry, a pair of old jeans.

She went, oh, you look great. So I said to Kenny, can I have my handbag, please. He goes, where are you going? I went, can do the interviews on the stage. And so, Rumin and Kenny were in stitches. You go downstairs. First of all, I'm introduced to Callan Turner, who was adorable. Then George comes along.

So I'm meeting George Clooney dressed like this, right? And I said, hi, George, I'm going to interview you on stage. Can I just say, George, I don't, I don't dress like this. This is not me. I thought I was coming to a screenie. I didn't know. And he started laughing. His wife comes along and he goes, oh, Amal, this is Gabby.

She doesn't bother dressing up on a Sunday. And then Calam Turner comes around the corner and he goes, come. If you met Gabby, she's kind of doing dress down Sunday today. She's not really giving it loads of, you know. So I'm laughing. We start chatting. Amal's chatting about twins because she's got twins with having a lovely time.

I've forgotten now that I look like Mrs. Baglady. I'm chatting to her as if I'm as glamorous. I mean, she is literally the definition of beauty. In the same cold fox. Unbelievable. And they're all lovely. Anyway, we go on stage and I introduce them all and I bring them on and then George just, before he starts to the whole film screening, everybody in there.

He goes, can we just say Gabby is nice? Gabby's made such a big effort tonight. Oh my God. Absolutely. I was obviously, and Kevin are pissing themselves. George Cleary. George Clooney. Shit talking me.

So, and then afterwards was really lovely. going out, Edward Ennifold, who was the former editor of Vogue, it bumps into me. I thought, oh, yeah, of course you'd be here, right? So he bumps it to me and goes off. And then the woman from the PR company comes up and she went, oh, thank you so much for doing that as we're leaving. She said, would you like to come to a very private gathering with George and the crew? There's only going to be about 20. I said, absolutely not. No. And Ruben was like, I cannot believe you've just turned down. What would have been one of the greatest nights of my life you've just said no to? I said, do you think I'm going to sit there for a minute longer with those beautiful people dressed like I literally was finding a dog on the street a few hours ago.

He was like, oh, mum, just put your jacket together. Kenny, he literally was wearing a bell staff thing over his tracks. He goes to the woman, yeah, I'll go. I went, no, you weren't invited. It was me. Kenny was going, I'll go, come on, we'll go. No, we're not going. But you know why, Kenny didn't mind.

He wears the cloak of confidence of the sportsman. Yes. So they don't worry. about, it's a bit like, you know, when you see, and I know you know, when you see, you've had personal experience of this, the Olympians wandering around the Olympic village with the medal and some little best.

I don't care about Dresco, look, check out the medal. They have got the medal. And he's always got the metaphorical medal. Yes, he's got the metaphor. I mean, Ruben, you know, probably not far behind him, either in that respect. So in the sense of having that kind of confidence. Yeah, well, you should have it.

So my mum said, going back to the original point of telling the story, when I told her, she just said, oh God I'm dying for you that's just awful but I don't say I haven't warned you you never know where are you going to end up and I did say to Kenny I mean that really is a lesson isn't it that and I think is I was underdressed like just for me do you know what I just was like so disappointed in myself I was so disappointed myself because normally the kids go why are you so dressed up we're only going to the every man I really hope you love part one of this week's

walking the dog if you want to hear the second part of our chat it'll be on Thursday so whatever you do don't miss it and remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week