Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Jake Bhardwaj (Part One)

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

This week Emily and Ray take a stroll with comedy creator, writer, actor, producer and quizmaster Jake Bhardwaj.You might know Jake from the hugely popular podcast Joe Marler Will See You Now, which he co-hosts with Joe Marler and has recently welcomed guests including Prince Harry. He’s also been hosting the behind-the-scenes content for Saturday Night Live UK and recently popped up in the new Diane Morgan series Ann Droid.Jake chats to Emily about the brilliantly varied route he’s taken through the comedy industry, from one of his first jobs writing questions for The Chase, to years spent working behind the scenes as a comedy producer with the likes of Romesh Ranganathan and Joe Lycett. He also reveals what finally convinced him to step in front of the camera himself, posting comedy videos online and eventually becoming a full-time performer.They also talk about Jake’s other life as a quizmaster. His live show Not Another Quiz Night has become a sell-out hit and is at the Gilded Balloon throughout the Edinburgh Festival until August 30th. Tickets are available now at https://www.edfringe.com.It’s a funny, warm and fascinating chat with someone who’s spent years grafting behind the scenes in comedy and is now very deservedly having his own moment in the spotlight. And most importantly, Jake adored Ray, so he passes the Walking The Dog test with flying colours.Follow Emily:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrebeccadeanX: https://twitter.com/divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone came up to me the other day and said, someone just said, you've got an Instagram account. I said, thank you. I said, thank you. You're on Instagram, aren't you? I said, yeah, thanks. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I went for a stroll with the multi-talented comedy creator, writer, actor, producer and quiz master

Jake Bardwodge. So you might well have come across Jake from the incredibly popular podcast he co-hosts with Joe Marla which Prince Harry recently guested on It's called Joe Marla will see you now. Jake has also been hosting all the behind-the-scenes content for Saturday Night Live UK. And he also popped up in an acting role in Diane Morgan's latest series, Android. In fact, this man is so in demand right now. I'm amazed he found time for me and old Ray Ray.

But I'm thrilled he did because this man is a genuine delight. And we had the loveliest chat with Jake talking about his childhood, his first big break in TV, writing questions for the show. I'm absolutely obsessed with that era of his life. And the years he spent as a comedy producer working with people like Rommish Rangor Nathan and Joe Lyset until he finally decided to start posting his own comedy videos online

and became a full-time performer himself and it turned out to be a very good decision because Jake is genuinely hilarious. He's also got another impressive side hustle as a quiz master. His live show, Not Another Quiz Night, gets consistently amazing reviews, It also sells out fast, so do make sure to go and see it if you're up at the Edinburgh Festival in August. It's on at the Gilded Balloon until August the 30th, and you can book your tickets now at Edfringe.com.

Ray and I absolutely loved chatting with Jake. He's one of those people who's just spent years really grafting behind the scenes in the comedy industry, and it's just really nice to see him suddenly getting all the love and success he deserves. Oh, and he also adored Ray, so that kind of swung it a bit too. Hope you enjoy part one. Here's Jake and Ray Wray. Why don't we go and sit on a nice quiet bench, Jake? That'd be lovely. What do you think?

I'd love to find. I mean, this is just a gorgeous spot to be in. There'll be loads of sort of like shady, shady areas. So I've brought you rather like a sleazy bachelor on the dating scene. I brought you to my usual spot. Yeah, I've heard of those guys that do that and you find and you go into, I've actually had that, Jay. I've gone into a restaurant and it's like, hello, all the staff. Back again, are you?

The usual, is it? Do you have moves that you did that you did on dates? Moves? Yeah. Did I? Yeah. No, not really. It's more, I was just very aware of kind of what I didn't recognize was like game at the time.

Do you know what I mean? That it was like, oh, okay, this is a ritual. Like, you'll go on the date and think, oh, he's got a glass of champagne waiting for me. How did he know I like champagne? What I didn't realise, that's a massive red flag. Like, what if I don't drink? What if I don't like champagne? Yeah, I didn't realise that.

I was told on a date, I sort of was there ahead of time, I just text, what would you like? Please don't do that. Don't get me anything. Is that what they say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Jake, I'm so thrilled you've done this, you're doing this podcast.

I'm so thrilled to be here. Are you? I have a deep dark secret. Go on. I used to listen to you every night as I went to sleep. Oh, you're my neighbour. I used to download your podcast with Frank on my iPod Mini, put my sort of wired headphones in and listen every single night. And I still listen. I think that was the sort of first of, maybe the first podcast I did that with and I still go to sleep with podcasts every night now.

That's so nice. How lovely. It was sort of you and David Mitchell had this thing called David Mitchell's Soapbox. Yeah. Which you could sort of download. And it sort of felt like, I don't know, podcasts always feel quite personal to people, don't they? Because you put it into your routine and you sort of like make it part of your week. But I think even back then, because you weren't being recommended stuff, you'd have to really seek it out. Yeah.

So it was like, wow, I'm sort of pals with these guys. And now, full circle moment, I'm hanging out with you. It's amazing. We are pals, Jake. Well, I feel similarly about you because we're going to get onto the whole thorny question of why on earth you haven't turned up with a dog in a minute. Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. But I've come across your work relatively recently. Oh yeah?

And I'm going to call your rise meteoric. Wow. Because even though my father used to get, there's a pedantic and used to say it doesn't work that because meteors fall down. He still really wind him up. But it's been quite the year you've had because you've gone and we're going to talk about this from you were a, TV producer, essentially a sort of behind the scenes person. Yeah, yeah. And I feel like in the last year, you're bloody everywhere because you've made the shift

into performing. And I first came across you from your brilliant work you've been doing on Saturday Night Live UK doing sort of the social media coverage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now you've started this podcast with Joe Marla. And it's fair to say you've done quite well on the guest front because you get on, Prince Harry was one of your bloody guests. If something or someone is doing well, I've basically been able to ride the coattails of that. So Joe Marla does well, let's get involved. SNL's going to do well, let's get involved.

Oh, this is a lovely bench. Do you like it here, Joe? Are you comfortable sitting here? We'll sit here with Raymond in the middle. Oh, no, Will. So this is really awkward. There's not enough room for my producer. And now we're like the mean girls.

You can't sit with us. Can you not sit? Are you sure, Will? Oh Will. I feel really bad. So do I. Oh. So? Yeah, it's felt like if something's doing well, I can sort of ride the coattails of it essentially.

Yeah. Do you know, it's something about deciding to go for something different when maybe you're like 30, in your 30s rather than doing it from your 20s where, I don't know. I think I think I'm just sort of thinking if I'm going to do it now, I've really got to do it in. So let's just throw yourself into every single thing. Yeah. And what's fascinating? Because presumably I imagine, are you getting, because you've got quite a big social media following,

but it has been really, you know, the last six months to a year, really. I suppose your profile has risen enormously. What's it like? Are you sort of being recognised more? Occasionally. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I suppose so. But I don't know, it's, it, it, it, it, It messes with your head a little bit, doesn't it?

Someone came up to me the other day and said, someone just said, you've got an Instagram account. I said, thank you. I said, thank you. You're on Instagram, aren't you? I said, yeah, thanks. Thanks for what? They just pointed out that I've got an account.

We need to work on this. You're new to fame. I was in a bar the other day, and there was a woman across the bar. It's quite noisy. And she was sort of pointing at me going like, you're on the thing. I said, oh yeah, yeah, I'm on, yeah, thanks so much.

She said, I didn't say it was good. I just said you're on the internet. I didn't say it was, I just said you on the, but that means that she's taking the choice. It was her choice to say, from what I didn't realize what was going on, she's just shouting across the bar going like, you're on the internet. And I've said thank you. And she said, I didn't say it was good.

How embarrassing. It's horrible. But yeah, I suppose people, people are very nice. I think if you're, if you live in East London and you're, sort of between 25 and 35, you'll come over to me and say, hello, which is quite nice. Well, we're going to get on to that, because I'm really interested in this quite dramatic life change you made, where you sort of almost broke cover and said, actually, you know what, I kind of want to perform. I'm really sorry I didn't mention it before.

And it turns out you're very good at it. So I want to get into that a bit. But before we do, we should just establish the dog situation. Because I turned up with Ray. You seemed very comfortable with Ray. I wasn't sure whether you would be. Sometimes non-dog owners aren't dog people. But you were very, you immediately held him and liked him.

What's the current situation with pets? I used to be very scared of dogs. Did you, Jake? It used to be very scared of dogs. As I think most British Indian people are. They don't, we don't have dogs and we don't swim. We don't go. Actually, we don't fish either. I remember asking my dad if we could go fishing once. He said, we don't do that. I think he just didn't want to go. The dog thing is interesting. What does that to do with me?

I don't know what it is, but I would say that we're all scared of dogs. It's not part of, it doesn't, well, it's not part of, I think, the first generation. Right. Of, of, yeah, but then as things progress and then during COVID, my mum, who was really scared of dogs. She just sort of she decided she wanted to sort of to get a cockapoo. No. And just did. Your mum's got a cockapoo now. Yeah and that and mango. So, um, and mango has bought endless joy to everyone's life. Um, and are your folks still together? No, no, no, no. And I would say she's happier with the dog than she ever was with my dad.

Which I think is wonderful. I need to meet up with your mother. You should, you do, you do, you do. Her and I have a lot in comments. Um, so mango brings a lot of joy to, to, to, to, to, the world so I was going to bring mango but we just couldn't arrange a drop-off pick-up situation plus I think similarly he's not a big fan of the heat as well so maybe yeah and was um so have you grown to love mango there yeah yeah massively yeah oh Jake I love that yeah I think um I wasn't always scared of dogs I just I was I wasn't comfortable with them really I just didn't think we didn't understand each other

um and growing like I was told I was told things like a young age like But if you look a dog in the eye, they'll come for you. They'll go for you, yeah. Whereas now I sort of realise that basically there is pretty much no dog that will ever go for you. They just love being around you. Yeah. So that's completely shifted. And growing up, where did you grow up, Jake?

In Maidenhead. Born in Birmingham. Born in Birmingham. Born in Birmingham. I had a little Brummy accent as a kid. Did you? There's a, it's like a home video of me coming down the stairs on Christmas Day going. we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year the voice was higher I don't know it was like a deep man's

Brummy voice why were you in Berk was that where your parents grew up my dad grew up in Birmingham right okay dad grew up in Birmingham my mum grew up in Hounslow and then yeah so grew up so until I was like five there and then maidenhead was and then you got siblings yeah younger sister younger sister and then we grew up in maidenhead from the age of like five and why was what was the move about My dad got a job that was like closer to London and and we moved I don't know I think just took for I think they were all a bit I think that they were a little bit sick of Birmingham my dad had grown up there my mum didn't really know anyone there they wanted something different I should give you Frank Skinner's number yeah well my dad massive Frank Skinner fan is he yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah in the Birmingham connection so yeah grew up a maidenhead which is a very it's just just very plain, I suppose, isn't it? It's right next door to Slower, the office is filmed. If you put that on TripAdvisor.

Yeah, it's just very plain. Spice Girls living there, Parkinson, living there. It's like some sort of... So is it quite a wealthy area made, isn't it? I guess there are parts of it are, yeah. It's described, would estate agents call it leafy? Leafy. Yeah.

Very leafy, yeah, yeah. And then they'd stress the commute to London. Yeah. 22 minutes or whatever they always say about Reading. They were talking about crossrail. That's it. From the moment I moved there in 1998, so that was the big thing that Maidenhead was known for

was that Crossrail might appear. And now there's nothing to talk about, but it's here. Yeah. And what did your parents do? Did your mum work? Was she a homemaker? And what did your dad do? She worked at Markson Spencer for most of the time,

for most of my early childhood. So did you get freebies? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What did you get? Just big on discount, big on the discount. Every day was a sale. And then she moved to local hospital and it was like organizing the district nurses for the NHS at the local hospital. I just spent a lot of time at that hospital just like, I think I'd just go with my mum to work quite a lot just sort of in the summer holidays.

And then my dad was a sort of like consultant, business consultant type thing. Oh, he's business. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So is he quite successful? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he lives in Stratford, Claven. with his wife. That's leafy as well.

That's leafy. It's a big leafy theme. It's leafy here. I now live in sort of near Greenwich, also very leafy. So he remarried your dad. How did you feel about that? It was tricky at the time because it was very quick. I think that they were, I think the divorce was on the cards forever, I would say.

I don't think that it was never a surprise. In fact, I think it got to the point where in my sort of teenage years, where I was just saying, come on guys, I think this would be the best thing. I was sort of advocating for it, which was a hard thing to do, I suppose. Because then when it happened, there was a sort of a guess, a bit of guilt. Like, because I mean, even though I wanted it to happen, and I think everyone wanted it to happen, The reality of, oh, hi.

Hello, look at the doggy. Hello. Hello, doggy. That, oh, she didn't like the dog. See what I mean, even from a young age, Asians aren't fussed with our dogs. They have to go. And it doesn't matter what kind of Asian you are. Although, can I say, Ray is Farmer-Hisha.

No way. Well, originally because Shih Tzu's, they were Chinese Emperor's dogs. Really? Tibetan monks would gift them to the Chinese emperors. I know a lot about the history. This is my Roman Empire. And they were so prized by the imperial Chinese family. You were not allowed to own one outside of royal circles.

It was illegal. And they were bred to be palace dogs, which is why they were bred to be carried around. It's why Shih Tzu's often are quite entitled and don't like to walk. Really? And that's carried on through the breeding. That's how that's evolved. So they were bred to sort of lie around on chaise long and at the end of beds and things.

So... Do you know what? I've always thought, because you know, the caste system in India has been sort of like so ingrained in society and has been for thousands and thousands of years. I think that... I think historically we were in sort of like the sort of. of like priest. Is that Brahmin?

Yeah. I know. Because when I've been to Indra, I'm fascinated by just that cultural side of the things and history. So that's a Brahmin name, is it? Bardwaj. But I always have wondered is the reason why I sort of have no muscle mass? Because you're Brahmin?

And long spindly fingers for sort of writing and turning pages. You're Brahmin? Maybe. Because for 3,000 years, I've not done any manual labour. I don't know. Maybe. And so that means... Am I the Shih Tzu of... Am I the Shih Tzu of the Indian culture? I don't know. I don't know. I'm asking you. I'm asking you. I mean, essentially, chitzoos are essentially Nepo baby. Yeah, they are. They are. They are.

Yes, I'm fascinated by that. Well, I'll ask you about that. Because is that... Is the car system then? Is that largely... So it's not in use anymore? Or... It's not in use anymore. Is that... No, it is. People would know your name. It is in use. It's in use informally. From what I understand, I think people who are living in big cities and generally speaking, the younger generation, it's not okay.

It's not, it's not, I don't think it's, it's, in law, it's sort of, you cannot base any decisions based on it, but it's still there. Right. It's still prejudice that exists. Yeah. And actually, God, I felt, I mean, they've given up now, but maybe six, seven years ago, my grandparents, they were like sort of encouraging me to start looking at the idea of getting married. And my granddad, this is on my mum's side,

he set up the first, there's so many qualifiers here that actually, it's not that impressive. The first Hindu temple in the South Ealing area in the 1970s. Connie Huck is going to die. So, well, no, I don't want that to happen. No, just anything to do with Ealing, she gets obsessed. I'll say, I drove through Ealing once for two minutes. And she goes, oh my God, because she's obsessed by Ealing.

Yeah, well, she might know it. It's the Aria Smarge temple. Okay. And yeah, so he's been involved in that since the 70s. And yeah, I'm quite proud of him for doing that. I mean, it's quite an amazing thing. Setting up his own, you know, coming here with no community, setting his own up. But part of that is how.

having like a marital introduction service that exists. Which I'm a big fan of by the way. Are you? I like it. Yeah. I mean, obviously there's even in reason there should be choice. Introduction is a very different thing to arrangement in the sense of meeting your spouse on the day of the wedding. Introduction is, you know, it's just, I guess it's another.

That's what people pay dating agencies for. It's the same thing, I suppose. And I sort of think why I'm pro it, obviously like we say, I'm sure we're both on the same page here with the caveat that you got a choice, obviously. But I just think often what relationships fall down over is one thing, which is not having shared values. I see it time and time again. It's actually not about, it's a bigger thing than people realise. What's your attitude to money? What's your attitude to, you know, raising kids? What's your attitude to your future? It's those bigger questions. You cannot really resolve those conflicts. It's kind of who you are. And I sometimes

think with those kind of introductions that shared values thing you're coming at things from a very different perspective rather than just meeting some completely random person you know nothing about how are they brought up what their values but however just to counter that I do think the problem with it often is that it's under a wider context of pressure to get married right I think if it was right I see what you're saying it's not like oh yeah see how it works out and it's like well if that didn't work, you've got to find someone in this time period and the people were going to introduce you to match our values, you know, as parents. And your values may be different. And your parents might be different from your parents. I mean, this introduction service that,

I mean, my grandparents don't push you about it. Are you in the introduction service? No, no, no, no, they just sort of showed me, you know, this how it works. It was like, um, there's no pictures. It was, it was more, it looked more like a car parts like catalogue. Like there were, what did you mean? It was just, it was just a document. It was just a little book with no colour, no pictures, just a, it was a long table. Was it very early days of Microsoft lesson? It looked like, it looked like a spreadsheet. And you would have, you would have no name, no picture,

you just have age, cast, star sign, veg or non-vege, just, you know, because you gotta work out who's, what we're doing for the catering. There's a weird thing in Indian culture where no one says they're vegetarian, because vegetarian is the default. So either your veg or your non-vege. Do you see what I mean?

Yeah. Vege or non-vege? Divorce, not divorced, and occupation. So you'd be trying to work out your purpose. And is it all, people sort of Hindu? Yeah, on that, yeah. They're all in that sort of temple. So you're trying to work out whether you fancy this person based on like, okay, so.

Vege. 26, all right, I'm 27 at this point. That works. Non-vege, we can have a cab at the end of it. That'd be nice. And then you sort of go to height and it's like, six foot. Oh, okay. That's not going to, let's go again. All right. Okay. So, non-vege, fine.

Five, five, five, fine. Divorced, okay, fine. And does it have... But this one's in like centimetres. And it's like, okay, you've not gone for the... And you realise actually this person's sort of like three foot two. And you just sort of work... You're trying to piece together who this person is.

And would you only be really eligible to me? I don't sound a crazy question, but would it say the cut... Would it say Brahmin? I can't, I think it, I think it did have cast on there, which I think is a bit of a shame, really. But then again, I don't know if, essentially, if you have been able to, I mean, essentially, if you've been able to, the sad reality is if you've been able to, I suppose, emigrate, then you probably will be of a higher caste. A higher caste, yeah, yeah. And also it's education often, you know, it's being educated as well, isn't it, that they can buy you out of, of. you know. But I guess some of these marriages have worked for, you know,

I mean, my grandparents are of that generation that really did meet probably a few days before the wedding. Yeah. And they're, you know, they're celebrating that I think, so how was my grand. My granddad's about 95 now. And I think he got married when he was about 23. How lovely. So, yeah, you know, that's a 70 year wedding anniversary. Isn't that nice?

Is that nice? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know what that woman's had to. bear I always take the woman's side sorry Jay no I think it's fair enough I think it's fair enough so let's get back to you and your childhood growing up in Birmingham and then Maidenhead what's young Jake like are you showing signs of being

interested are you obsessed by comedy and TV and entertainment I have you got performing signs at that age I suppose so for TV massively obsessed with. Like everything was not just a show. It was my programme. Mum, my programme's on. It's my programme. What was your programme? Well, she's been mentioned already, but Connie Huck was a big part of my life. Oh God. I was obsessed with her. Blue Peter. Have you ever seen her on blockbusters? They've shown the clip sometimes. She was an early, because she's super bright, Connie. Economics at Cambridge. Wow. And she went on blockbusters. And she still taught. to me about there was a miscarriage of justice with one of the questions.

All right, you've gone on to do all right. I would have got rid about it. Don't let that define you. And she's like, no, but you don't understand them. It was just wrong. It was actually inaccurate the way they phrased that question. People get very, very, very passionate about quiz and when it's been an injustice. Well, we'll talk about that because you're the man on that.

So anyway, so you're interested. We had John, do you remember John Sargent? Yes. We had John Sargent on the chase when I was working on the celebrity chase. And he had a question that was... Because we always start with an easy question just to get them off the mark. What on the chase? I didn't know this.

Oh yeah, we would start with an easy one. So what would you ask me? Well, for John's one, we wanted to get him off the mark. So the question was in the 80s hit by the jam, where were they going? Underground, overground or Wumbling Free. Oh, don't say. He went Wombling Free. And afterwards, he was like, I told your researchers I didn't do pop music.

But John, that's not really pop music. I know. I mean, we filmed this in 2018, I think, so... I told you I don't do popular music. I like the job. I'm going Wombling Free. I like, you know what I love? There's so much to it, isn't it? It's not current music, but also, even if you don't like pop music,

pop music, Wombling Free just feels like the outlier in that situation, doesn't it? Also, I love that because poor Weller Blessing does take himself incredibly seriously. I like that I'd have been watching that with his family. Reduced to a quiz question. That's what you never want to be, Emily. You never want to be reduced to a quiz question. Oh God, that's funny Jake. So, yeah, so Mini Jake, I think I would have liked Mini Jake. Yes, I was obsessed with TV. I was obsessed with Michael Jackson I was obsessed with. Oh, how's that working out for you? Yeah, I know.

I can't listen to his music now, Jake. It's really difficult. I know a lot of people think I'm a bit hardcore about that, but... No, I think that's fair enough. I just, like... I sort of... I just can't not think about it. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's an interesting thing of, like, how good... For a large ways of the population. How good does the music have to be before you excuse it? Yeah. You know, and that I guess that is the answer. I used to, there was a VHS of his music videos that I used to put on endlessly and dance to on the fireplace.

But I used to, I used to say, I think I, my mum used to say like, yeah, you'd say, you'd say, I don't want the white one. It's too scary. Apparently the white one, as I would say, was too scary, but like happy with the thriller video. And the white one meaning, meaning like when he did roll. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you didn't like the white one? I didn't like it later. Oh, you didn't like the white one?

Yeah, I got a bit scared. Well, you were right. But yeah. I used to be dancing to Michael Jackson and used to be watching loads of TV and just like... Did you think I want to work in television in some form? Or did it not seem achievable? No, I didn't know that was a job. Really?

I didn't know that was a job. Until I was at university and... And I saw an apprenticeship, internship, internship scheme to be a question. scheme to be a question writer on the chase. Well, we're going to get to that. That was the first time I knew about that. It's my favourite job you've ever had. So at the time, I just, I just loved, I just loved the feeling of laughing and other people laughing.

I thought I was just the best thing in the world. So I would like always be asking for, I mean, it was so, I was a very annoying kid. I was like asking for practical joke sets and joke books and things like that. You might have gone down the road of magician with a mini waistcoat. Yeah. Oh God. I had a mini waistcoat. I was doing magic.

I would do the entertainment at my young sister's birthday parties. So I would do magic tricks and like little chalk odd. And like, not any of my own material as an eight-year-old, but stuff like reading out of a joke book. And I was very annoyed one year because, so we went to a Catholic primary school, my sister and I. Did you? Yeah.

Not because we were Catholic, just to fill a quota. Yeah. But we, I remember, like, you still, you still, you still feel all of those, you know, the sort of, you, you feel like a Catholic, basically, because you're, you're doing mass at school. And why are you religious at all your family or? No, no, no, no, no, we went along now and again to my, my, my granddad's temple, like Diwali and stuff, but no, not really. But I felt like, I felt very, I felt quite Catholic, really. I would sort of like do my Hell Mary's at night and stuff, because it was, you were doing mass every week. week.

I can see, I know people, Frank, Skinner's a Catholic and I think there's a structure to that religion that people, I can see why it's quite comforting in some ways. I like the idea of confession, it's sort of essentially a form of therapy. It's a relief, isn't it? Yeah, that atonement, you know. It will be, you will be okay

if you just admit to it. But we, I was, I had one year of like, the big gig at my sister's birthday party, but she'd been given a hamster that year for a birthday. She was so excited to show all these other seven-year-olds like the hamster and all the kids arrived she unveiled the hamster and it died it died over she caught the hamster the day before and it died

how did it die i just i don't think hamsters don't have a huge i mean like i think it's just bad luck really and they're the heartbreak pets we ended up we ended up having a funeral on her birthday party and we and it was no and it obviously cut with see my gig got bumped for the hamster burial and it was just a group of seven-year-olds um so burying a hole for this hamster in shoebox yeah because that was your only pet was it you didn't have pets in the barred wash family no no no no no pets in the barbush family a couple of hamsters we got through and that was it that was it yeah not until mango came along much later tell me about um at school were you academic To be honest, yeah, I think I was.

I think I did, I think I've enjoyed it. I enjoyed, I enjoyed anything like humanities type of stuff. Oh, he really likes you, Jay. It's such a buzz when an animal likes you, isn't it? Why does he? He really loves you. It's such a buzz. You're confident with him, that's why. That's what it is, isn't it?

Which is weird considering you were frightened of dogs for so long. Well, because I learnt that the confidence meant that they'll like you. It's all sort of like a... It's like a performer. It's like a cycle. Yeah, one causes the other. Crowds, audiences smell fear. They do.

They do. Yeah, I did like school. I mean, I think I got away with a lot. I sort of got away with being able. Were you cheeky and funny? I think so. I got away with being able to sort of dick about because then I would sort of get the work done.

And that was a nice mix. You ended up, did you go to Manchester? Is that right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I went to school-wise, I was at sort of the Catholic school, and then I went to a grammar school. Grammar school's interesting. They're interesting, aren't they?

They're almost quite disciplined and structured, much like a public school almost. Do you know what I mean by that, isn't it? Yeah, it felt a little bit at times like I was on a scholarship at a private school? Yeah. Because the school itself was in this lovely little village. Marlowe. Yeah. Marlowe, I drove through there once. Weirdly I got lost with Shappi, I was driving her back from a party. You've got a lot of Asian friends, haven't you?

Who have I? Me, Connie, Shappi. Now I'm worried it sounds like I'm just lying because I don't want to seem racist. How are the only Dean? Fine, she kept bringing up all all Asian, mate. That's a bit weird. I promise that's just a total coincidence. I remember when I was with Sanjee Vasqar and I, and I... This is terrible. Then you'll listen to my interviews. So you had Bella Hull on recently.

Yeah, typical. Tell me, how was Adel re... No, I'm so sorry. It sounds awful. No, but you might just have a lot of Indian friends. I don't know. No, she's Iranian. Oh, of course.

So you're the racist here. I'm the racist. Who's the racist now? It always ends up happening. Sorry, Shappi. Excuse me. But yeah, she's Iranian, actually. But we were driving through Marlow.

We got lost. I ran out of petrol. We were going to my friend Adam Kay, who's a writer and comedian. We were going to Adam Kay. He's Jewish. He's Jewish. Adam Kay's Jewish, just so you know. Yep, yep, yep.

Emily's just great. She's so multicultural. Anyway, we were going to Adam Kay's party, and we drove back, and we both got hopelessly lost. sort of like hideous cliche of menopausal ADHD women and we ended up in Marlow and I said Shabby I think I've actually died and gone to heaven this is like a fantasy like the yeah it was so beautiful Jake best kept village of the in of the year I think for every year of the Nauties there was a sign another sign that

it was almost like it's something like you'd see in like hot fuzz like it was just like another sign another sign another sign of time yeah it's beautiful it really is and yeah it was it was gorgeous but it wasn't where I lived I lived in Maidenhead which obviously is a very nice place but it's not it's not Marlon it's not that so everyone and this is the I mean this is sort of I guess the problem with grammar schools is that it essentially becomes a private school because if you can have the house prices go up the area becomes like that and then so then yeah and then and then only if you can afford to live there so I was

sort of I just about got in I only just about got in both because of my 11 plus score which is a scarring thing to do as an 11 year old anyway because you I think it's wrong to make it's too yeah you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and I've got a mate of mine who from primary school you're being judged at a very young age aren't you? He from primary school who I saw recently he didn't get past 11 class was like oh yeah well obviously I went to the thick school you went to the good school and it's still with him still with me it's very strange but yeah I would travel in and like you know I had a lovely lovely sort of upbringing in the sense of like we didn't we were we were all right but you're

quite well off you know this was this was different this was everyone's got a swimming pool everyone's got um four bedrooms yeah everyone's got you know your gates yeah so it was um it was different what different does that have because i had a similar thing in that i went to a girl's private school but in while i was there my parents split up and then suddenly i was with a single parent mom who didn't have much money and you know our circumstances changed quite dramatically overnight and you know what it had definitely had an impact on me I think because it's a weird Crimea River the poorest girl at the private school but it does impact you totally I totally get it and it's combined with also being sort of

I guess one of the only non-white people there as well were you I yeah yeah so you sort of I mean on the first day I just remember thinking like God this is a bit of a different sort of vibe here and we were actually I tell you what I remember were looking we were we were we were in year seven on the first day we were sort of like talking a group of us were like talking about like who we fancied or whatever and then some guy just like was like oh you realize at a school like this like someone like you doesn't get girlfriends so just you know manage your expectations mate and I thought how does he use the phrase manage your expectations at 11

years old that's strange um but someone like you what does that well I mean is it yeah I guess it's I guess it's the brown thing or is it the sort of like sniffing the fact I'm not like super wealthy thing, maybe it's a combination of both, but a bit of a sort of, that took me a little bit by surprise, but then very quickly I just sort of decided, well, if I can be, if I can just be sort of very loud, try and get, you know, a couple of laughs a lesson in, um, then no one can really touch me and that sort of worked. to the point where I went from being like a little bit intimidated by the school to loving it to being like oh this is this is my sort of domain now so you found your your place there by sort of being he's a laugh was that sort of your what was your spice girl moniker who were you funny spice or uh yeah I suppose so I mean yeah I suppose so I wouldn't have said it then I wouldn't have said it then I mean the problem with all of this Emily is as you know from being a inherently charming person is that the moment you say I'm the funny one or I'm the charming

one that spell is completely broken no one finds funny the girl that goes I'm just like the funny one in my friendship group no one finds her funny I'm just like a girl in our friendship group does she describe herself as a funny one she was getting angry because someone had said you know something about how you know something complimentary about me being like she was going no I'm the joker oh god you're being really aggressive oh my god you're not saying anything like you're have to earn that title. Oh my gosh. She's going to, I'm the funny one.

I'm the Joker. Everything between my waist and knees tensed up just then. That was horrific. She said that. I mean, it's sort of what we see playing out on most panel shows, but that's another story. Well, yeah, but I just, I think there's a,

there is a, if you're, I think I think if you, if you, yeah, if you are saying that you're not that, I suppose. So I get it. So you would never consciously think that, but I can. imagine it god knows i thought it you're allowed to say you thought it but but now i've accidentally just said it damn i've been doing this a long time yeah i guess i guess that was that

was the easy way you know my parents weren't really getting on for most of me growing up so it was a great distraction tactic to be like you know look at me isn't this a funny thing to be doing instead of arguing or having, you know, big, big dramas. So that was where I found my most comfortable place, yeah. And when you graduated, you decided, did you go straight into behind-the-scenes production at television? No, I didn't know what I was going to do. I did law at university at Manchester. If I'm honestly with you, I feel a bit like I wasted my time there.

Did you? A law degree is a useful thing to have. Yeah, that is, that part great, but I was, I was just, had all these ambitions to be part, I'm going to stand up when I get up there, I'm going to get, be part of like, the, I'm going to write for the newspaper. This is at university, yeah, I'm going to be involved in radio, I'm going to do all these, because all these things I was excited, I just loved TV, I loved comedy. Why didn't you? I just got too sucked into dicking about and going out. I really did. And then it's not, it's not a very, uh, cool or fun thing to say in retrospect, but I just loved going out and I just did that way more than

than anything productive. Do you think there's also an element? And I'm speaking from my own experience here, but I think when, you know, I was doing English and that kind of stuff and I, I think there was a part of me that felt I was almost embarrassed to acknowledge that I was interested in performing, that there was something embarrassing about putting myself out there, because you're sort of saying, I think I'm funny or I think I'm talented in this area. I think the best thing that I ever happened to me and it happened maybe five years ago,

fully. It started happening in my 20s, but fully was just letting go of any sense of anything being cringe. Apart from your friend who you just described, cringe. But I more mean in the sense of giving something, trying earnestly at something being cringe. I think that element I let go of. I think I wish I'd, no, I don't wish because, you know,

lovely things are happening now. But it would have been nice perhaps if that had happened earlier because, you know, you're going out, you're going to club nights, you're going to house parties, you're, I don't know, doing whatever. And is it cool to be saying like, actually I'm not coming out because I've got the radio the next day or I've got to write an article for the newspaper?

Probably not. And the other thing that was happening at the same time was I was experiencing like, I didn't know what they were, but quite intense panic attacks. Right. From my second year of uni all the way to now, I would say. Really? Which then became dehabilitating. It's so strange.

I don't, I mean. How long do they last it? Well, they can, they, they don't sort of last in the same way that they used to. I used to have panic attacks that were like panic attacks and I would be, you know have to you know sit down and find a way it through it and it would last between five minutes and 20 minutes and then still feel the sort of general anxiety for the rest of the day now just I guess anxious moments happen I can feel it rising and I but I can sort of like get through it I suppose but but it completely changed my life I think

I went from being very confident in any situation and would do anything to yeah from second year of university onwards I wouldn't want to sit in seminars because as soon as the door closed I thought I was trapped and I couldn't get out and I didn't want to get on trains I didn't want to go on holidays I didn't want to do anything with anyone where I felt like I might be trapped in a situation it was all about being trapped for me and so then confidence to do anything outside of yes you're having to keep your life a little bit smaller maybe so my life became so small especially when I came out of university.

I moved in with a girlfriend who I'd met in the third year of Manchester. I'd then done a master's in Leeds, but life was always small. In Leeds I was a bit, I'd made a bit of progress in terms of being able to do things like radio and got involved in political stuff a little bit. But yeah, when I moved to London, I got this amazing job, but it had to, it was always dance. because we would film The Chase in Elst... So what was the amazing job, the chase? So yeah, it was...

So you applied to be a question setter on that? Yeah, I did law at university, wanted to become a human rights lawyer. Your parents must have been so proud. The good news is, the degree went well. Yeah, well, I just didn't want to admit that I loved... Basically, comedy was this dirty secret. I didn't want to admit it for some reason. I don't know why, she didn't want to admit it.

So it did law, that was never going to happen. Too dry, too, too, to... It just made me feel more. miserable. So then this master's degree I found an opportunity to do that in political communication. I've been watching loads of the thick of it. Yeah. Loved it. So that feels like a compromise ramp for you. Yeah. Because it's got communications in it. Communication and media. It's like but you don't have to say mum, dad, I've got something terrible to tell you. I think I want to be a comedian. Spot on. And then I just saw this job. There was like we want people to

right young people to write questions on the chase applied got it and I was like I'm gonna do this and where is it based in in do you know the IT the big ITV tower that's closed down now it was not there it was it was just behind there yeah on the south bank yeah because years ago I worked on this morning and it's like an old building it's almost like a sort of Victorian building I think yeah I know Dorset house yeah yeah that's where I worked absolutely Wow. Yeah, we were there and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But with that, I was living in Lewisham and having to get buses everywhere to work because I couldn't get on a tube because the moment the door's shut. Oh, you get post-a-phobic, yeah. Yeah. I mean, it really was any situation of feeling trapped. It was lit. Did you have therapy for that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Talking therapy. I do, I have done, I haven't recently, but I have.

I mean for the last, I sort of go in and out basically just to sort of make sure that I'm always working on it because it can slip back into it I can slip back into it. It's a frustrating thing. You've got to keep an eye on those things as well and particularly I think it's interesting when your life changes which yours has quite considerably in the last six months just in terms of the increased profile you're getting and the focus on you and it's just always good to keep an eye on that kind of stuff I think as well because you're just thinking right. It's changes sometimes. And you're aware of it. You're like, right, I know, it's really helpful to acknowledge it because you know it's panic attacks, you know what it is, and you think when you sense,

it's having depression or something, which I've had before. When you feel it coming on, I think, right, why is this happening now? What's happening in my life? Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. Do you find as well that the most really powerful thing into having your arsenal is a knowledge and memory.

of all of those times where you got out of it. 100%. It's just so little, because basically that's what I didn't have when I was 23, and now I'm 33, I've got countless examples of when it was fine. It will get better. You know, and that gave me the confidence to start doing things and when it started,

I mean, I was lucky enough, lucky enough to be asked to be on a panel, for example, recently at BBC Comedy Festival, with Jimmy Mulville, who I worked for his company, And now I'm on a pound with him talking about comedy. And as soon as I stepped onto the stage, I was like, oh, you're here. That voice was like, oh, you're here now for an hour,

you can't leave. And the rush happened. And I was like, yeah, but you've also been on stage for 90 minutes and you didn't want to leave. And it was fine. And it came. When we started walking the dog just now, it came. It was like, oh, you're going to be here now for 90 minutes.

And as soon as I was like, yeah, but you get to chat with someone who you always wanted to chat with, it goes away. So I think no. And at least we're outdoors. I hope does that help it a bit a bit of it. Oh, but the thing is it's fleeting and because of, it becomes more and more fleeting, it's not like, yeah, it needs to be helped. I get it.

It's not like you can control it. It's a fleeting, it's like an intrusive thought. Yeah, totally. You know? It will happen if it will happen and I have to manage it for a longer period of time. Yeah. Like I would a panic attack if I'm, say, on a train that's not going to stop for two hours. If that happens and in it happens.

I get it because I think it's things like sort of, I have a weird thing. Do you know misophonia? I have misoferonia is noise sort of intolerance. So I have a thing called misoconnesia, which is repetitive movement. So what happens? And it's really difficult to explain to people, but it actually sends me, like I have the equivalent of a panic attack. I have to leave. Wow.

It's when someone is sort of, if I'm in, when I'm in an enclosed space, I've had it before, I've had to walk out of things. And then it was only when I realized what it was. It's a thing. I didn't know this. There's a woman. her hair repeatedly next to me and it went on and on and I thought I can't I can't be it's it's repetitive movement which in a confined space sounds very weird

no no it sounds absolutely I can totally see it so someone was doing that you're so locked on to I'm locked in you can't see anything else I can't focus on anything else and I sometimes have it with tapping of keyboard as well yeah like the noise if I'm doing a podcast and someone or a producer in the studio is I can see their fingers going off and down. I have to say, please, can you not do that? You're going to explode. And people are like kill people and things.

They get really extreme. What? People have killed over? No, people just get very extreme reactions. Anyway, this isn't about my miscognizia. What I'm saying is I get it in that it's... Have you, have you had therapy for that? Well, it's, yeah.

I mean, it's one of those things where it's harder to get therapy for that because it's connected to misophonia. Missophonia is more I can't bear noise. Piano Belli has that. I don't love noise, but I don't react in the way that I would react over the repetitive movement. So if I'm on a tube and a man is jiggling his leg, you know when people do that repeatedly.

I can handle it for a bit, like if you do that. But you know when someone's doing it, I have to get up and move carriages. Or I will scream and have a panic attack. I can't bear it. Wow. But that's really tricky because, You can't control other people.

You can sort of, to an extent, control your environment because you can take yourself in and out of it. But if you're, yeah, like you take a confined space. It's confined spaces, you know. Anyway, you know what you're doing, which is really clever. It's not clever. That implies there's something cynical about it. It's not.

But because you've spent so many years being a producer, what that means is you're hardwired to bring the best out of people. Well, I was thinking that about you. But you know you are, I suppose. No, but you're doing that to me now. It's interesting and I'm, I should know better. Look what he's done. What a horrible, what a horrible trap trying to get the best out of each other.

No, you're trying to get the best out of me. No, fuck you, you're trying to get the best out of me. No, piss off, you are. 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 out on Thursday, so whatever you do, don't miss it. miss it and remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.