Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell - S6 EP52: Natalie Cassidy

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the brilliant actress - Natalie Cassidy. Natalie has played Sonia Fowler in Eastenders since 1993 and was also a contestant on the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing and the ninth series of Celebrity Big Brother. Parenting Hell is available exclusively (for free!) only on Spotify every Tuesday and Friday. Please leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs... xx If you want to get in touch with the show here's how: EMAIL: [e-mail] INSTAGRAM: @parentinghell MAILING LIST: parentinghellpodcast.mailchimpsites.com  A 'Keep It Light Media' Production  Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello I'm Rob Beckett and I'm Josh Willickham. Welcome to Parenting Hell the show in which Josh and I discuss what it's really like to be a parent which I would say can be a little tricky. So to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern-day parenting each week we'll

be chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping or hopefully how they're not coping and we'll also be hearing from you the listener with your tips advice and of course tales of parenting woe because let's be honest there are plenty of times where none of us know what we're doing this episode is brought to you by secret secret deodorant gives you 72 hours of clinically proven odor protection free of aluminum, parabens, dyes, talc, and baking soda. It's made with pH balancing minerals and crafted with skin conditioning oils. So whether you're going for a run or just running late, do what life throws your way and smell like you didn't.

Find Secret at your nearest Walmart or Shoppers Drug Mart today. Whoa, what are you listening to this for? you didn't. Find Secret at your nearest Walmart or Shoppers Drug Mart today. Purchase a 2024 Escape ST line all-wheel drive with Tech Pack at 3.49% APR for 72 months with down payment. That's just $267 bi-weekly. Cash value of $40,294. Plus, eligible Ford owners get a $1,000 bonus. For details, visit your local Ford store or Ford.ca. Hello, you're listening to Parents in Hell with... Bradley, say Rob. Rob.

Say Beckett. Beckett. Say Josh. Rob. Say Beckett. Say Josh. Josh. Say Whitcomb. Whitcomb. Good boy. Good boy.

Right, I know where that is. Yeah. It's not East London, it's not Essex. It's either Hertfordshire or Kent. I'm going to go with Kent. It is Kent. Yes. Can I guess Square, Kent? Yeah.

I think it's sort of like Chatham-y Maidstone way. Neither of those, but I don't know whether it might be that way because I don't know where this place is. Tell me now. Seven Oaks. Ah, yeah, it's not far. It's so near me. The boy, it was the boy.

They give it away. Hi, Rob and Josh. That was the sound of our two-year-old son, Bradley, during bath time and our eight-month-old, Joey. Bradley will only ever punch a nearby object whenever I say the word Beckett, which is that bang you heard. Make of that what you will.

Thank you for providing some much-needed laughs during what feels like a never-ending night, feet and pram naps, the joys of having two under two. Keep being sexy and relatable, Kyle and Sally, Seven Oaks, in Kent. 40 minutes away from chat. Maidstone from Seven Oaks is 30 minutes away,

so I absolutely nailed that. I found, I said chat and Maidstone away, got it right fucking dead centre, Josh. Yeah, bang. Because you know what annoyed me? Someone did on instagram they did like a parent in hell bingo well things that we'd say do you want me to read them out to you and you can see if people agree with these yeah is this going to put me in my place is this going to make me really worry that i'm just a repetitive loser uh yes okay good um so this is i made a parent in hell bingo because i don't have kids and therefore i have a ridiculous amount of spare time this is all dot books dot and dot some dot

two right this is a bingo this is where you have to like play bingo or you could do it as a drinking game have a shot they moan about traffic yeah josh says i'll tell you that for free oh yeah rob says in response to a joke lovely stuff yeah I'd say that as well something goes wrong that happens a lot Josh exaggerates how bad something was slash went

Josh says I'll tell you that for free a second time unbelievable they go off on a very long tangent don't talk about kids for at least 50% of the podcast yeah fair rob's laugh makes me laugh judge says i'll tell you that for free and i'll tell you that for free um rob tries to guess where somebody's from and gets it wrong fuck you say something negative about their own podcast. Yeah, fair.

That's pretty fair, isn't it? Yeah, that's good. Can I say thank you for getting headphones? Oh, nice, isn't it? Hasn't it been seamless? It has been seamless. And they're not big ones. The best eight quid I've ever spent.

Yeah, exactly. Not big ones. And tax deductible. Make your head sweat. No, exactly. Have you got anything to say before today's guest? We've got seven minutes left till they come home. Don't say it like that because it makes people

think that you don't care about the podcast Josh yes I do I do care about the podcast this is presented as like a free-flowing chat on a countdown churning out whatever your contractually obliged to do if I had to say the bit I care least about on the podcast it'd be the ten minutes before the guest on the Friday I like it I like it because we never know what it's

going to be I think there's a freedom to it there's an excitement to it Josh it's like jazz it I like it because we never know what it's going to be. I think there's a freedom to it. There's an excitement to it, Josh. It's like jazz. You're talking jazz? Do you want some child jazz? That does sound a bit weird, but yeah. Well, so this will make you laugh. My daughter, my five-year-old, called me.

She went, hurry up, Mr. Travel. Mr. Travel? I went, what? What am I doing? You're Mr. Travel. I went, why? She went, because you're always traveling somewhere oh that's good yeah that was felt a bit barbed yeah yeah yeah okay yeah i was

like normally dropping you to fucking school didn't say that too bloody right um so she's been calling me mr travel and then the older one who's like seven now yeah is getting really grown up so she was invited to my five-year-olds my five-year-old had a birthday party of a girl from school um all five-year-olds there but my seven-year-old was invited because the kid whose birthday it was has got an older sibling who's eight or something like that so um they went there and then the five-year-olds planning the party and the seven-year-olds allowed to plan the party but they found the seven the seven year old in the cafe section of this big sports like this hall place having some maltesers and a drink sat chatting with the eight year old and was like you're right girls you don't want to join the party but no no it's a bit busy

in there we're having a bit of peace and quiet they just sat there like two sort of mums on a coffee morning and the other thing as well, she's got an Elsa swimming bag. And she said, this is a seven-year-old, she went, Mummy, can I not have the Elsa bag anymore? I was like, yeah, but the bag still works. Like, why? Because the bag is not broke or anything. She went, yeah, but no one, I don't like Elsa.

No one really likes Elsa anymore at school. She just wants a plain one. And I was like, oh, okay, but do you like else yeah i quite like else but no one really likes elsa anymore and i was like oh god it's not oh god and then it was like well when we go to disney would do you still want to go to see the princesses and you know and elsa and all the frozen yeah yeah but it's different at disney isn't it because it would just be us oh no i know oh no suppressing who she is already rob i know and then so i i was okay don't worry we'll give you a plain bag so we've got a big like cupboard full of bags you

know like carry bags or reusable bags yeah anyway so i just saw a black one there was like a black material one grab that tote because so she needed to take she's doing a she's in a i've told you about she's in this musical with the school lucky in year production yeah she's playing a b queen b so she has to do a haughty face right and she has to all look like pissed off anyway she had to have a crown and a mirror for it so we got that and she'd take that into school she wouldn't use her else a bag she doesn't like that bag grab this black bag put her stuff in it just about to leave the house i see the other side of it it's a bafta bag when i hosted the baftas they gave me a bottle of champagne say thank you and a card in a bag that's got the british academy and film television amazing amazing so now my daughter's carrying her props oh my god for a debut in a year two musical with a BAFTA bag and

I went can I have that bag back she went well she doesn't know what that means obviously of course no no it's the wrong one I need that bag because I've never been so close to an anecdote that will ruin my life like by pure accident as well it wouldn't even it wasn't on like fair enough if you on purpose get that bag and give it to your kid it's like what you're doing that's weird it would have been a complete accident accident but it would have been if you heard about that what beckett's doing fucking wanker sending his kids called the bafta bag fucking prick as soon as i was so happy that i clocked it or it'd been incredible superb that was awful um other things that have happened we've just found out that my five-year-old's trainer you know the i've not had this on my shoes for years oh i try i thought you meant trainer no but she hasn't

got a trainer but like a running shoes trainers the ones she wears for pe and because they go in in their pe kit like two or three days a week they're wearing them a lot the sole you can peel it back all the way you know what it looks like a mouth at the bottom of the shoe yeah but we didn't realize how bad it was she didn't tell us so we couldn't literally peel all of it off she's been slapping along like that no wonder she dropped a second this year exactly i'll get some running spikes for next year it's gonna be like high altitude training that isn't it because when she gets back into the like proper shoes with a pair of sketches she's got no chance yeah exactly so we discovered that so we felt bad

so she's been wearing her older sister's trainers for the last few weeks she can't buy um yeah she's got big feet she's got same size feet as her sister um that's maybe why she's quick but yeah so she's been wearing her sister's because you can't buy new trainers now it's madness you can't just wear any trainer to school no you have to be like white white ones you know so i don't know why god forbid anyone has a personality at school. What is the point in uniform? Jesus Christ. I just think it was so archaic, isn't it?

But it does make it easy, Rob. Does it? Oh, every morning. Because my daughter... Yeah, but you'd probably end up getting your own uniform. Like Einstein, we just wore like a white shirt and blue suit. Yeah, Steve Jobs. But everyone does their own uniform, and Einstein, we just wore like a white shirt and blue suit. Yeah, yeah. Steve Jobs. But they just do their own.

Everyone does their own uniform. And they just put a massive markup on it so they can stick a fucking badge on it. I know. I think I might own one of those shops that just sells the uniform. It's an absolute. You don't have to work one week a year, innit? Last week of August. Fucking hammering out.

Everyone's queuing. It's the dream. I see those people queuing the last week of August. And it's like, that looks stressful. Do you not do it online? You can do it online, but also you want to go in for sizes. That's the difference because they grow so quick. Of course.

But also as well, and like, you know, we're in a very privileged position and we weren't such growing up, but there'll be people that can't afford to buy the uniform until payday. So if payday's end of August on the 31st and your kid starts on the 3rd, you can't go there two weeks earlier because you haven't got your money in. Do you know what I mean? We've got a good thing at the school where it's like, um,

the secondhand, the secondhand uniform. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Um, but, um,

oh yeah, so this is funny. Um, Lou's been getting up really early. Don't know why, but she's getting up early. And anyway, I was,

it was about 6am and I sort of rolled over to sort of give Lou a hug. Right. And I was like, and I was so not with it and a bit tired and groggy. Basically my, Lou was in the shower and it was my five-year-old and I panicked and thought Lou had shrunk. Obviously just my kid,

but I was like, why is she so small? Why is Lou tiny? Oh, that really made me laugh. That is funny. what is Lou Tidy oh that already made me laugh so did you continue with the like no I just put my I went over and left the armour and I was like

because she's so much smaller my hand sort of touched the bed and then I could feel something under my elbow bit and I was like I patted down and then she went and then she was like alright dad and I was like oh it's you but for a second I was like she oh, it's you. But for a second, I was like, she's shrunk. That's a bit of a... It's like big.

It's like the scene in Big. The scene in Big. It's exactly that. But I mean, it just rang me off. But I've been enjoying doing the rehearsals for Queen Bee. Have you been playing the other parts? Yes, but it's more the way they do it. It's really clever actually the way they write these musicals for the kids

is that it's not a lot relying on other people. Yeah. It's sort of like if she's got a couple of lines that start from the queen enters, she sort of does her lines. Oh, that's good. And then it will be like into a song. Yeah. And so there's not loads.

So you're not waiting for the queue of six kids in a row exactly and also if it's longer lines you're not waiting for like someone if they they finish on a different line to confuse the other kids and stuff like that but um it's my daughter's doing hamlet and it's just it's tough man no she's not no she's not of course not well my daughter's in a musical about bumblebees. And one of the stage directors, it says, the queen enters with a haughty facial expression. Yeah, I don't even know really what haughty is. What's haughty?

Like kind of pompous? Dismissively arrogant, yeah. So I Googled it. But the teacher told her, she went, just haughty. She went, just basically act like everyone in this room smells. Oh, that's good yeah so she's been doing that face which is good so i'm looking forward to seeing that but um yeah that's sort of um what we're up to but the good news is rob yeah we've outstayed our welcome tell you what you

should i should get your fee for that what do you mean i just spoke at you for seven minutes look at that you just coasted through coasted through but i just you wait, Rob. One day. Come a bit after the guest. I'm really going to bring it. You're going to absolutely fire. But also, some days, you know, I just, one episode, we just listened to Michael have a breakdown about bringing his knees home. I'd say it was a classic. That was an absolute classic.

So we all, it's a team effort. We all look after each other at different points, don't we, Josh? Anyway, here's Sonia Jackson. Here's Natalie Cassidy, who we absolutely legend she's i love this one see if you can see if i'm nervous natalie cassidy welcome to parenting hell it's been a long time coming oh do you know what i'm honored boy it's really really lovely to see you both well i got a bit starstruck actually i was listening to chatterbix you know you did with dav honoured, boys. Really, really lovely to see you both. Well, I got a bit starstruck, actually, while I was listening to Chatterbix.

You know, you did with David Earl and Joe Wilkinson. Yeah. And you started talking about this podcast and about how much you like it and you wanted to come on. I was like, man, Lee Cassidy. I didn't know about this. We didn't know about this. They were a bit upset. They were a bit upset because they always want to get in the top 10.

They can't get there. So I don't think they were happy with it, but you go first things first could you you know when sonia was was she playing the saxophone the trumpet josh trumpet fuck's sake josh do your research do us a favor no no surely the first question should be how many kids you got what age no let's not go on to trumpet and sonia immediately that's like what Wellard like? That this is not okay. I know, but what was he like? He was lovely. It was a girl, actually, and the dog's name was Zenna,

and she was a delight. There we go. Right, how many kids you got? Two. I've got two girls. Josh, if you want to do Wellard chat, let's save it when we get Dean Gaffney on. Okay, right.

Exactly. If you want to do Trumpet, fair enough. Martin F when we get Dean Gaffney on. Okay. Right. Exactly. If you want to do trumpet, fair enough. Martin Fowler, Sonia, we'll get onto that later. But come and save your Wellard stuff for Gaffney. Do you still speak to Gaffney, Natalie? All the time. Do you? All the time.

Yeah, he's fantastic. I love Gaffney. He's just brilliant. Always. He's always flying around the world. I don't know how he does it. He's got friends in high places and he just makes me die. He makes me laugh.

He's brilliant. He's a funny bloke. We've got to get gaffers on. Listen, I'm not sitting here talking about Dean if you don't mind. Come on. Let's talk about your kids. How old are your kids, Natalie? So, Joni is six.

She'll be seven August the 16th. And Eliza is 12, going on 102. Yeah, I've been speaking to a lot of people who've got kids that are like sort of pre-teenage, 10 to 12, and it feels intense. It's the phrase tweenage when they're like teenagers early. It is, but I'm not having any of it. Eliza is already a teenager.

Is she? It's crazy stuff. I tell you, i promise you once she started playing the trumpets they're not she's not playing the trumpet please josh josh he's actually been a bit of a prick isn't he i think oh come on now i think he's been a bit of a player i'm so excited this is finally happening when your kids are in year six right at primary school and they're going on their leavers tour and you think aren't they grown up right they have the summer holiday and they go into year seven yeah they're like different human they just get out of bed one day after a week of

being at secondary school and they're completely different human beings really it's incredible because of the responsibility they have she's got her laptop she's emailing teachers it's crazy and my daughter my daughter didn't have a phone until about um uh two months two three months ago so she went into year seven without a phone um and she did a couple of terms without it that was quite quite hard because every single person had one apart from her. But now she's got her phone and it's crazy stuff. Oh, God. Oh, mate.

What are your, have you got to have phone rules? Like, is it? Oh, massive ones. She's got no social media. She's got Be Real, which is the one where you just take one photo a day. I'm fine with that. Yeah. But she's not allowed Snapchat.

She's not allowed Instagram. She's not allowed any of that. She has WhatsApp to talk to her friends and the phone remains downstairs on charge uh when she goes to bed and stuff she's good with it yeah but she's waited so long she's like anything will do oh god oh god i'm so scared about it all did you don't give in that's all i'm saying i don't care about anyone says at 10 there were kids in i'm not being funny at the primary school my six year old there's a couple of kids with phones there's seven six seven yeah seven bloody hell and i just was like i'm not following any i don't care what anyone says you can hate me you are not having a phone until i

feel that it's needed yeah do you know what's because someone our friends of ours their daughter's eight and they've got like an ipod touch thing which the girls have and it means they can message the mum and dad and take photos and stuff like that but you can still get all the apps on it so in a way like the actually ringing someone's the least bad bit of a phone absolutely absolutely like an ipad's actually worse in a way if they can have access to the... We were talking about messages. I've just got a message off my wife. This is a live bit of parenting and marriage. Why?

If the doorbell goes, answer it as it could be your socks. Isn't that a low moment? So I'm going to have to leave the interview if the doorbell goes. I do apologise, Natalie. What socks are they? I've ordered some sports socks. Do you have to have weird ones because of your feet? I haven't got weird feet.

People have specialist things for different parts of the body. Why would I have specialist things? Because of the hair and the size. They're normal hair. Sorry about this Natalie. They're not normal Josh. They're like big hobbit ones. I've got really bad feet as well. Have you?

No, not as well. I haven't got bad feet. No, I've got feet like yours. You've both got disgusting feet. That's correct. So it's fine. You sound like, to me, you don't take any shit. No, not at all.

And has that always been the case? Or did that come at the age of, fuck, right, this is now phones, this is now serious, or were you like, no chocolate? No, I've always been, no. It's everything in moderation, isn't it? I've seen, I've had children around before.

Yeah. And if they haven't got a sweet drawer or a crisp drawer, they come in here and they're like animals. Yeah. They just want to eat everything, because they have't got a sweet drawer or a crisp drawer, they come in here and they're like animals. Yeah. They just want to eat everything because they have never got it. Whereas mine, they take it or leave it. We've got the drawer. They're not in there all the time.

You know, I think everything in moderation is good. My little Joanie is, she's quite feral. She's sort of always got her hair in her face. Yeah. She's, you know, when it's really hot, you're like,'re like darling come on let's get your sun cream out your head she don't care she just wanders about she's got a free spirit eliza's completely opposite she was the one who we've you know had to cut all the labels out she hated seams in the socks she was very she's always been very particular so they're completely different children um but eliza now i feel as they get older you have to pick your battles you can't

you can't get annoyed over things that perhaps you would do with the younger ones because you've got bigger battle big bigger fish to fry it's harder because you like when they're in school if you go no we're not doing that they they literally come back and go it's almost like interviewing a politician where they go well so-and-so's, well, so-and-so's doing it and so-and-so's doing it. And you're like, well, and then, you know. With that, I just say I don't care. I'm not interested in what other people are doing.

Why are you talking to me about that? That's a good way of doing it because I want to go, well, I'll tell you what, their mum and dad are a fucking pair of pricks. And their kid's going to turn out like them. I have to say it has been said, Rob. You're not wrong. You're not wrong.

Well, the little known fact about your friend, I hate their parents, and I've hung up with them for 13 years at this school, and I don't need to be told about what they do, because you know what? I fundamentally disagree with everything they do. Or you could just go, I don't care. It's probably a bit probably a better way to... Do you think Carol Jackson was a good mum?

She was a great mum on screen. A great mum, Josh. She wasn't my real mum, you do know that, don't you? No, no, I'm fully aware of that. Josh is treating this interview like he's sort of confused about between fiction and reality and just totally overwhelmed.

I'm extremely shocked that Josh has even seen it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, he's not that kind of guy, is he? I loved it in the 90s. Fucking hell. The bit where, I think it was slightly before your time, but the bit where Grant Mitchell finds out

that Phil's been sleeping with Sharon. Oh, with a voice recorder. Oh, yes. Injected into my veins. It's so good, that episode. Oh, with a voice recorder. Oh, yes. Inject it into my veins. It's so good, that episode. I would say EastEnders, when it was in its peak around that time, was so much better than all... It's still good, Rob.

It's still in its peak, don't you? No, it's still good. But at that point, that was when it was... Oh, my word. You were in it when you were younger and the pregnancy stuff and all that kind of stuff.

It's still, you know... Pregnancy. Blimey, Riley. It went beyond soap soap it just felt like something everyone was watching and everyone spoke about i'll tell you something obviously in october i've been there for 30 years right since i was 10 i mean i had a break and stuff but i've been affiliated with it for that long and all those times like you say was sort of the golden ages and we've had peaks and troughs as every show does but I have to say that we've just won the soap award

passed the morale like everyone at work at the moment I feel like all the stories are really good it's building up it's becoming golden again it's really really good, it's a lovely place to be being an exters as a child

and how you'd feel about your children acting, because you were seven, right, when you first appeared in EastEnders? Ten. Ten? I'll tell you something, your Wikipedia is shit. He's falling apart.

I knew about that, Natalie. Don't worry about that. Oh, fuck off, Rob. So you were ten. So your daughter is basically would have already been in eastenders two years yeah yeah and have they expressed any interest in child acting they both enjoy it and eliza actually my eldest has done she just played trunchbull in our school production oh wow and she was she was brilliant she's really good at it

so i wouldn't mind her doing it but to to be honest, it's all very well. But auditions come through on my phone and I'm like, that's too much time off school and I just ignore it. So I've said yes, but I'm not sure it'll ever come to anything. So we'll have to see. But I do want her to go to school. I missed a lot of school. Yeah, how did it work?

Well, I loved my job. Yeah. But from 10 to 13 the rules were 40 days off a year yeah from 13 to 16 you could have 80 days off a year and then 16 onward it was a job so i was kind of there doing really well and i just carried it on which is amazing i'm very lucky i've had a brilliant life but i i'm i've missed out on a lot of learning, which I think I'll probably do at a later stage because I do love learning. So I want my kids to enjoy learning and go to school and get good grades.

And I do want them to do that because I didn't. Also as well, you've got, there's plenty of time in life for them to become actors where you only get this time once. And I think it helps you develop as a person. I mean, it must've been really difficult for you as well, because we have social media now for your kids and they don't have that. You were so famous in this country at a young age and that must have been quite difficult because you know what the press is like, especially back then, 20, 30 years ago, way more brutal.

Did that make you a stronger person or did you find it difficult? Has it helped you give them advice and stuff? Yeah stuff yeah i mean i have to be honest with you i just think i've been very lucky i've got a very thick skin and i've grown up with a family that are so normal do you know what i mean there was no oh isn't it marvelous that you're on the telly like there was none of that at all which for me i just went to work and it's always just been my job. So I think going into it at 10 is actually better than getting a soap opera, say, at 17 because you kind of want it and you get the ego and you get, not saying everyone does, but do you know what I mean?

So for me, I grew up with it. It's like being recognised. People say everyone's like, you go out and what's it like? And I said, I don't remember not doing that. You've been famous longer than you've been alive. So it's just, it's what it is, isn't it? Not longer than you've been alive, but longer than not famous. Sorry.

I caught myself in my own cryptic. Rob, fucking hell, you did my Wikipedias bad. You've got some really dodgy facts. You were Sonia two years before you were born. Is that right? So I'm philosophical. Yeah, just like that. I'll go really deep then.

It's just like you've been famous longer than you've been not famous, is what I'm trying to say, not a lot. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have. And does that, when you take your kids out in public, does it, that must be quite, because I'd say soap people get a lot more like,

they get a different type of attention to people like me and Rob. I think they get a weird type of attention because, and you're not going to believe this, there's some people that struggle to separate the character from the actor. I'm not one of them myself. Absolutely not. I'm absolutely not one of them myself. He just struggles to separate the trumpet from the saxophone.

Come on now, come on now. I'm absolutely not one of them myself. He just struggles to separate the trumpet from the saxophone. Come on now, come on now. I was panicking. Genuinely, I'm going to admit it, we've interviewed, I don't get starstruck by when we interviewed Robbie Williams. I didn't really give a shit. This is the most starstruck I've been. He's panicking now.

I'm panicking because this is... You're going to have to get me on the last leg, Josh, aren't you? Oh, yes, please. I would love to have you on the last leg, Josh, aren't you? Oh, yes, please. I would love to have you on the last leg. Yeah. No, so going back to what you said, when you go out, you're absolutely right because you're in people's living rooms... Yeah. ..four times a week or whenever...

Yeah. ..and they've grown up with you, they treat you like a family member. Yeah. And I'm very lucky because Sonia's a nurse. She's never killed anyone. She's the nice one. Everyone loves Sonia, yeah. Yeah. So they're like, all lucky because Sonia's a nurse. She's never killed anyone. She's the nice one. Everyone loves Sonia, yeah. So they're like, all right, Sonia.

And they come over and they just talk to you. And it was when my kids were little, little, they didn't really notice. But Eliza now at 12, she's like, and I'm like, please don't be rude because it's part of my job, Eliza. And she's like, no, I'm not happy with it. I'm really not.

I just want to, you know, can they just not leave you alone? And she gets kind of. Yeah, they get pretentious. Yeah, yeah, totally. And I get it. I get it. And I hate it. You must get it as well.

But the one thing I will, two things I hate, people taking a picture of you not asking you. Yeah, that's awful. I call it out. I call it out immediately. I'm like, hello? You know, and they shit themselves. I'm just if they're doing it i ignore it if it's just me but if it's with the kids i have to say something because i've got photos of my children yeah yeah absolutely absolutely and the other one is when you're eating and they just come up to you

at a restaurant yeah can i finish my plate of food before you come out? Are you stupid? That mouthful of a... The thing is, because you've got your... As a parent, you're like, these are the rules, but you're funny, right? You are naturally... Even when you said then,

what are you, stupid? I couldn't help laughing. I couldn't... I struggled to see who was an authority figure, Natalie. Oh, I can see it. I do make them laugh, but I think if you're with me every day, I'm a bit annoying. Listen, with Eliza, Eliza's very much like me, so we clash. When we argue and stuff, she gives as good as she... I say to her, you're going to be a barrister.

You've got to be a barrister. Please be a barrister, because she'll tell me that is a mug and i'll believe her by the end of it yeah natalie's holding up a glass yeah yeah yeah there'll be a pint glass she was pointing at me in 10 minutes i'm like i'm really sorry it is a mug a red mug do they get on because this is what, what, six-year gap? Yeah, six, nearly seven. They do. They get on a lot more. I think probably about 18 months ago there was a real clash

where Eliza wanted to be on her own and her hormones started flowing and all of that. But Eliza's kind of through all that now and she's like a little lady already at 12. And she loves her sister. They spend quite a lot of time apart now. Yeah. But when they are together, and I try and get them together,

I'm like, come on, let's play a board game. Let's play guess who. We're big board gamers. You know, I like to be together. Eliza's now just getting to that sad stage of wanting to be in her bedroom all the time, and I'm, like, knocking on the door. Oh, my. I'm going to come down.

Or I do, Alexa, talk to kids room. room get downstairs i've not seen you for two hours do you um do you have a situation now where you're thinking right soon i'm making decisions on her going out her going like well not i mean she's 12 but like alcohol or like parties and all that kind of stuff is is not a million miles away it's not a million miles away so she sent me a voice note yesterday so she's just started coming out of school because now she has the mobile yeah obviously she can contact myself or my nanny or mark or whatever And my little one is swimming on a Wednesday night. So she goes swimming from 5.30 to 6. Eliza comes out of school at 5.

So yesterday she was like, I'd like to pop into town with a couple of friends and then, you know, Laura can pick me up on the way home. And I was like, I don't know. And I was like, that's fair. She's bored stiff at a swimming pool, baking hot. Yeah, weight training. She's had a day at school. That's fine. I get a voice note.

Hi, Mummy, just to let you know, I had some more Latin prep. Finishing it off, we were just having a Starbucks, and I was just like, she's like a 30-year-old. But she's a good girl. She's a good girl. Although when she got home, I'd done spaghetti and meatballs last night, and trust me, my kids eat well, and she ate like half of her favourite dinner I was like you sure you just had a drink

I bet she smashed down a couple of cakes she didn't eat all her dinner when she got here yeah she's done you there she's absolutely done you what did you think of Sid Owen's single Good Thing Going in the year 2000 what a random that was.

Girl, you gotta do the thing you're going. It's a good song, isn't it? It's a cracking song, isn't it? It's so good. I couldn't believe it's the year 2000. Sorry, I just thought, God, Sid Owen wrote a single. I wonder what she thought about it. Do you remember it? 23 years ago, is that?

That's right. If you could ask ask You know questions To Natalie that's not Revolving all around her castmates From in the past 20 years No I've done some I've done a load of I've done

So Natalie You recently had your 40th On the 13th of May You was born in 1983 I did How did you celebrate that? How was that for you? We're the same age

We're only a month apart Natalie Can you believe that? Yeah What do you think think about that do you think I look older than you younger than you what do you reckon well it's difficult because I know no I think you look younger than me but also I've known you since you were 10 I've known you since you were playing the clarinet on screen at the age of 10 do you know what i mean so trumpet i'm joking rob rob i'm too excited i'm too excited you know sometimes i'll tell you what it's like you know you're in the pub with two people yeah and you're having a nice time but you want to talk to the other one a little bit more and everyone keeps interrupting

that's all that's all. That's all it is. Oh, superb. No, it is strange, isn't it? Rob, I had a fantastic birthday. I've got a local. We live in a village and I've got a local.

We hired the local. And what was amazing, I'll tell you what Mark did. This is my fiancé, my other half it was incredible so a couple of weeks before we went to um i had to sort my party out we went to kalani and we had a couple of nights in kalani in ireland and we just wanted we've never been away for more than one night on our own without the children yeah so we went away and it's all the fiddly diddly pubs right amazing you know you're out a proper lovely weekend together right so there was this lady beautiful girl with a guitar in this pub her voice she was doing cranberry all stuff that i love like cranberries and all the lannies and i was nearly crying i said she is

unbelievable anyway cut a long story short. Three weeks later, I walk into my local and she's sat in my local with a guitar. Oh my word. Mark had got in contact with her, flown her over. Oh my God, Mark. Bloody hell, Mark. How good is that?

Marry me, Mark. That is unbelievable. How can we marry to Mark? I don't even like him. That was so good. Such a better bet than Martin Fowler. Such a good guy. Oh, well, that's really raised the stakes, isn't it?

Going back to the Starbucks thing, if she's buying stuff, has she got pocket money or how is she operating at 12 and she's getting to school on a bus or what's going on for that independence? No, so I'll drop her to school, Mark will drop her to school or I have childcare that drops her. And is that because you're in a village, there's not much transport links kind of thing? There's not a lot of transport about.

And also there is a school bus, but don't want her on it really. I feel like there's a lot that goes on in those buses. You know what I mean? Things get organised. A lot gets talked about. I think that's where the dodgy stuff can either happen or be organised. I don't want to there. Do you know what? When I used to come home from school the the walk home or the the bus was where it all kicked off after school and if you're getting picked up you do swerve a bit of that

yeah that's when all the fighting was or the things that were going on or you end up getting caught up in trouble i remember walking home from school and this so a naughty boy had stole a bottle of wine from like there was a pta meeting that night so boy had stole a bottle of wine from like, there was a PTA meeting that night. So he was like, I can lick the bottle of wine. So he was like drunk a bit of wine in the woods. It was horrible. Just like, because it was like exciting.

I got put on report. Of course. Of course. But yeah. Yeah. For a week. You know, after each lesson, the teacher has to write how you did and stuff like that. And you have to go and see it.

But I got put on report for a week. And I remember telling my mum I was so ashamed was it difficult like did you get not have that chance to rebel yourself because you were kind of working and in the public eye and stuff like that i i let's be i'll tell you something i think i did quite well with it if i'm honest i think i rebelled as much as i needed to and got away with it so i did quite well no social media back there was there absolutely yeah you couldn't do it now the girl the kids now at work are amazing yeah you know that's 14 15 6 all they talk about is meditation yoga and going to the gym is it it's incredible it's incredible amazing. Honestly, they're absolutely brilliant.

Oh, fair play to them. They're so professional. They're so great. Oh, they're not like us. We were in China White still for a book in the morning. Yeah, well, my... On a Wednesday. My wife was friends with Gemma Bissicks,

who was in EastEnders. Oh, lovely Gemma, who played Claire. Yeah, at the same time as you, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so she was kind of the other... That would have been a great first question, Josh, to get Win Natalie over. Sorry. That's great. No, I'm enjoying, though. You're rebuilding the other... That would have been a great first question, Josh, to get Win Natalie over. Sorry.

That's great. No, I'm enjoying, though. You're rebuilding the rapport, though. It's good. Rebuilding the rapport, yeah. This is good. We're back as a three now. This is great.

Yeah. Do you think Nick Cotton killed any of our... No, sorry. Right. Oh, dear. Here's a question for you, because I've just... Do you ever now, when we're at sort of our age is there any conversation in your house about another one yeah do you know what my son was being

very cute this morning and i it the thought entered my head and then i thought fuck no no there is occasional chat about another one i think think, because we're, as you say, the age thing's interesting because you're basically then 60 when your children have grown up. So that's a long way off. Do you know what I mean? I mean, I know Al Pacino's just had a kid at 83.

I think we're all young enough to have another kid. I know, yeah, yeah. I think 60's fine. Rob, I'm just trying... Rob, I'm working on my excuses, Rob. But really, it's only the first five years that are really mental.

And then once they're in school, it gets easier and easier. And there are mental challenges with phones and they've upset me and all that. That'll always be a thing. But the actual

tiring graft of it all is the sort of four or five year window. I think if i could have an 18 month old now that slept i i'd love that but the the thought of rose being pregnant for nine months with two kids is that's going to be really tough for her if it's twins i'd fucking love if it was twins it It'd be so good for the podcast. Please. That's his face.

Please. Just think of the content. We could go up another level, I think. That would be so terrible. We'd go worldwide. If you had twins, your life would be a fucking mess, and I would want to hear about it 24-7. Yeah, I mean, I'd tune in now,

but I would be tuning in much more. Yeah, I'll tell you what you'd be hearing about, Rob. My life as a divorced man. Great. We haven't got enough bedrooms either. Why am I coming up with excuses? This chat's... Do you have the chat, though?

Do you have the chat, Natalie? The only reason I was asking, because obviously this is a kid podcast thing. Do you have that chat, then? About a year ago, maybe 18 months ago, I was genuinely, I was talking about it a lot, thinking about it a lot. I was like, fuck, I didn't do that.

Seriously. I feel now I'm out, like you said, I'm out of the woods. I can have a lay-in. My kids get up, they'll get a bowl of cereal and come and say hello. You know what I mean? It's different now. And then I've got nephew. So my niece and nephew, they're in their 30s,

so they've just had children. So I've got great nieces and nephews that I babysit for, that I look after. Like a nan, but we're all very very very close family so i've got all of that and they're fucking hard work i thought you were gonna say they're lovely and cute and i get it from them but no they're wonderful they're wonderful but it is tough when they go home i'm like oh it is hard work they're brilliant but i just think i could not do that age anymore i couldn't do it my brother's got like a three-month-old and she's brilliant and she sleeps and she's

the cutest most well-behaved baby i've ever seen but even when they're sleeping and well-behaved they are constantly just holding the thing that's making noise and and you can see them they're like like you know it's just so unrelenting. Yeah, absolutely. No break. But I think, like, you know, we've spoken about it before when we see little cute babies and stuff. But it's like what you're doing is you're chasing for that hit of cute little young that sort of – but it's the same way as people that still live in their uni town

and go out to uni nights out. You're trying to long for a moment in time that's passed. And if you constantly keep looking backwards, you'll never appreciate what's happening now. You don't appreciate now. And I think I have had those times. I'm sure I'll have them again. But, you know, when you feel your heart hurts where they're growing up,

you're absolutely heartbroken. The pain of seeing – I've had that pain where I think I can't believe that they're not little anymore and the way they're talking and the stages have gone, that heartbreak. But now I don't know what's happened. I think, well, whatever, but I've just gone now, nah, forget all that. Let's enjoy all the different stages now. Going shopping with a lion's eye.

Yeah, yeah. Doing, you know, nice, fantastic, me and Joni now. You can get on a train. You don't need anything. You can just go out go and get lunch somewhere they're not fussy you know it's great and you're not like neglecting that by going hold on a second while you hold a baby and you can't really communicate with your daughter and properly you know and it does happen like i um yesterday we're coming back from a uh uh

my daughter did a recorder thingy and lou took my other daughter in another car and i was just with her because they're thicker sleeves there's two of them two year age gap they just yabber on each other all the time i just sat with my oldest chatting i was like oh i don't realize we don't actually just talk to each other that much normally it's like yeah there's a four or it's me with them two and it's sort of like them two versus me and they're going yada yada but she'll just chatting and i was like this is so lovely and i think you can keep looking you can either be anxious about what they're going to be like when they're older or go oh i wish i just had a little cute one again but you then you you miss out on the you're missing on what you've got now

haven't you yeah definitely and i'm very very conscious of um having the time with them apart yeah i think that's quite important you know so eliza because she's grown up we will do something together uh you know if i'm working really really hard i mean even with the six and twelve and of an evening i still find stressful i still feel guilty because i'm with the six-year-old doing the homework doing the reading bath time or what have you she still wants a story i still we still you know do a story what have you and then i'm like oh and she's very very alive you know she'll get out of space book at quarter past eight and she's like well then the

sun goes when i'm like it's too late i can't do this now i can't talk her brain is full on yeah but by the time she goes to sleep usually about half eight and i'm like not seen eliza yet she needs to go to bed at nine half nine yeah so you've still got that even with that gap yeah it's so difficult to balance if you chuck a third one in the mix yeah that's the thing no i think i want i already i just want to make the most of my two children that I've got. Do you know what I mean? I don't see why I should make it more difficult. And we've only got two hands to cross the road with.

Do you know what I mean? Exactly. And the car, you have to get a different car. The fucking car. I'd have to buy a new car. I'd have to buy a new car and house. I don't need that. That's a big bit of pressure on top of a baby.

Yeah. Nine months. Well, I suppose, oh, God. Oh, God, it's too much stress. Josh, you're all talking about it. It's not Patty Palmer-like. What's Patty Palmer like? She's lovely.

She lives in Malibu. She's great. She lives in Malibu? Yeah. Oh, wow. Have I said this before, Rob, that my agent got sent a character description of any new eastenders character saying that they thought i'd be perfect for it eastenders said and it was the the guy was a

bookish nerd who wore cardigans well how did who got it john richardson i don't know as it this was about six months cardigans yeah this was about six months ago no you're lying this is a setup i swear on my life i swear it's not a liar i i swear you would now be playing my boyfriend no no what's his name why didn't i do it brilliant that would have been so funny you again you're far too busy you couldn't do stenders yeah that's what i said i said i'd have loved to have done it but i'm too busy but you should come in maybe you could come in on it as his brother or something just for an episode a word in that'll be amazing i'm sure he's doing a much i mean i'm not sure i know he's doing a much but oh my god i'd have been your boyfriend that is so weird i reckon that was the part the way you described it i would imagine about six months ago would'd have been your boyfriend. That is so weird. I reckon that was the part, the way you described it, I would imagine.

About six months ago, would that have been when it would have been? Johnny Freeman. That's it. There he is. He's got a card in him. Johnny does it now. Let's be very clear. I wasn't offered the role.

I was asked. Yeah, let's just be very clear on that. Let's face it, though. I'm probably going to end up landlord of the Queen Vic, surely, at some point in my career. Oh, Rob. It feels like somewhere that seems a safe haven for me in the you know the shane richie danny dyer footsteps yeah what did you think when they changed the map to include the millennium dome did you think that was needed i think so yeah i think it's good to keep it up to date don't you yeah have you enjoyed my line of questioning because i do you know what you

thought i wasn't a fan of eastenders i think i've proved you otherwise i'm shocked i'm really shocked i'm very very pleased i can say now when it comes a fan of the show when i go to work they're all going to be very pleased and he was nearly your boyfriend oh god boyfriend gutted absolutely yeah it would have been too much you're too popular popular, you're too busy, trust me. You couldn't do it at the moment. That's what I was going to ask. You know, we've been trying to get you on here for ages, and your schedule is really busy.

It is. And it comes in quite late, isn't it? So when do you know what you're doing? How do you plan your parenting and your childcare around that? Well, I'm just extremely lucky that I kiss my child's feet. I'm so sorry I mean it's the worst job in the world because then she's got to organise her life

I get it on a Thursday evening for next week for Monday morning oh my god and then I'll just sit work it all out, see if Mark's got any time off, see what he's doing he's super busy at the moment.

Go for everything. And then work it out like that. I mean, I've looked at the calendar this morning and I'm like, oh my God, she's got an inset day on Monday. There was an inset day before the summer holidays. What's going on? What's happening? We've just had every bank holiday off for May.

We don't need another one. I've never known my kids to have so many days off. Seriously. Of course, they're Thursday nights. And how many days are you in normally? Again, completely dependent. I've got kind of a little provisional schedule, but it gives you no times and it is very...

Could it be zero? Just because you're not in the... Could be zero. Could be zero. Could be one day, two days. Could be six days. Can I ask one more question? We always end on this. We always end on this.

We always end on this. Yeah. Which do you think was the better moment? When Frank hit Tiffany in the car? Yeah. Or when Kat shouted out, yes, I am, to Zoe saying, you're not my mum. I'm going to go for the Slater moment.

Yeah, that's the bigger, that's the better. You ain't my mother yes oh my god i get goosebumps thinking about that josh would you like that's not what we always end on no do you want to answer your question yes if you could say one thing that your partner does as a parent that is blows your mind show shows you that you know that is parenting i could never do that's incredible what would that be and one thing that annoys them annoys you you know this you've listened i know this i know this i do listen i'm not making it up um i the the thing that i love about mark which is amazing at is his ability to remain calm uh because my tolerance levels aren't great and he's fantastic it remains calm in all situations when i

want to smash the place up you know go mad he's brilliant and he's very very calm in any situation and he makes yeah the house a very lovely place nice but the downside of that is he's so laid back we can all be going out going out somewhere we're already in the car and then he's still sort of strolling around getting bits and pieces so we can be late for things and i don't do late no i don't like being late yes okay so that's it that's it that's pretty good actually it's pretty happy functional family natalie we are we really are i'm very lucky like i said well good luck with the uh the teenage years but i think you've got a handle on it thanks very much i'll come back in a couple of years and tell you how it's going it's been a long wait to make this happen but genuinely we'll email you on a thursday

night so we know what you're doing next week yeah all right cheers that was brilliant thank you so much take care bye bye see ya i thought i played that cool Rob Do you know what I felt like you You had a patchy opening But I think you really You really clawed it back Towards the end I just loved the glory period

Of EastEnders Rob And I couldn't get over it It was a great period I'm more interested in it Than parenting I can't Sue me Yeah

The cat's later You ate my mother Was the greatest thing I've ever seen on TV Oh my god So good And she had a birth on TV. Oh, my God. So good. And she gave birth on TV, didn't she, Natalie? Sonia, yeah.

Oh, we should have asked her about that. Get her back. Oh, yeah. Get her back. We did a parenting podcast. We didn't talk about giving birth on camera. Well, she didn't actually give birth, though. It was just acting.

No, but I'm interested in that. We can say, what we should have asked was, looking back on your performance of giving birth, once you actually gave birth, what did you do right and wrong have you got her number michael we'll get her next time don't you worry um right thank you natalie we love you see you later bye