Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell - S7 EP24: Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the brilliant Olympic Gold medal winning athlete - Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill. Parenting Hell is a Spotify Podcast, available everywhere 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 Willicombe. Welcome to Parents in 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 hello you're listening to parenting hell with Arlo, can you say Rob Beckett? Rob Beckett. And can you say Josh Whittacombe? Josh Whittacombe.

Theo, can you say Rob Beckett? Rob Beckett. And can you say Josh Whittacombe? Rob Beckett. That's it, good one. Marnie, want to say Rob Beckett? No. No, okay.

There we go. No. No. Michael, I hadn't turned that on until halfway through, but I'm sure you can just rip the file, can you? Ah! Ah! Ah! What happened, Neil? Ah! Ah! Ah! Completely tapped out of the episode there, straight into a

quick meeting. A quick meeting. I just thought I'd clear it with Michael before we moved on. Sorry, Joshua, they're straight into a quick meeting. A quick meeting? I just thought I'd clear it with Michael before we moved on. Sorry, Joshua, you're really loud again. Oh, no. I'm having a shocker. Okay, how did I do this last time? My gain is at zero.

Am I going? Oh, there we go. Your gain's at zero. We're back, we're back, we're back, we're back. Okay. Fucking hell. Look at the size of my sound waves on that thing that's going along the bottom. Why are your sound waves so massive, Josh?

Right. Do you want me to start again? Oh, Rob, I've accidentally muted you. You'll have to unmute. Michael's actually... Right, I've unmuted myself. This is horrible. What a disastrous start.

Genuinely, I know we like to be a little bit ramshackle, but I genuinely think that is the worst we've ever been. Josh started talking about ripping files. He was too loud to the point where the graphic of the soundbar, it went off the chart. Michael muted me, which is, what's that's that so you can mute me but you can't unmute me yeah it's a bit of a flaw on the platform oh yeah definitely the platform's fault the old platform anyway josh who was that there'll be a few people who've gone, I do like Jessica and this hill. And do you know what?

I'm going to try this new podcast. First of all, what does rip it mean? Right. So what I meant was. What happened to you? I hadn't set my thing recording when I played the file. Yes. You weren't recording your sound, which I'd say is quite key.

Yeah. But I thought Michael, because I was playing a sound file, would just be able to use the sound file of... Sure. And where are we up to in that, Michael, from a sort of production point of view? Did we never actually confirm that? Did we always unmute it?

Can you rip it, whatever that means? Yeah, we're absolutely fine. God, absolute ripper. He's going to rip the shit out of that later. Hello, you sexy and relatable pair i'm mum of three boys under five this is my middle child arlo three and theo four saying your names with some slight babble from marley aged 15 months i absolutely love the podcast myself and my husband only discovered it last year but we've all caught up and enjoy every single every single episode

keep being a sexy sales from chel, aged 396 months from Romford. Oi, oi. That was a good one. I enjoyed that. I'd say so far the children have performed more professionally and at a better level than we have so far, Josh. Also, we've got such a big guest. Is this our first dame?

Probably. My friend is from Sheffield, and he was in a park once, and he was watching this woman run and he was like jesus she's quick you know like sometimes you see runners it's normally like a middle-aged man shuffling about yeah jesus she's quick she said it was jessica and his hill wow just running around the park i'm excited i know obviously we'll talk to her about parenting. But it's a mad existent doing the heptathlon. Because you're doing like eight events.

No, that'd be oct. Seven. Seven. Seven. Yeah, fuck. The classic all-rounder. So she's basically good at all sports. She's good at everything.

The thing is, Josh, I remember watching Jessica Ennis, as she was at the time, before she got married, when she was like winning gold medals, right? And I was looking at her like she was a sort of grown-up, full adult woman smashing life. She's literally my age. We're the same age. She's three years younger than you.

She's three years younger than me. So it's like this pathetic, what were we? I was just shuffling. I felt like a four-year-old watching her oh my god yeah so in 2012 she was that when she won the Olympics she was 26 blimey um and she's got kids now and obviously retired from athletics i'll be interested to ask her about uh kids and then resuming athletics. That's something we've never asked before. She had her kids. She missed the 2014 season. And then she came back and won the world title. That is incredible. And then she got silver at the Olympics in 2016.

So does she blame her kids for that? That's what I want to ask her. Yeah. Is it their fault you didn't have two gold medals? That's all I'm going to ask her. Yeah, that's one. Is it their fault you didn't have two gold medals? That's all I'm saying, you know. So that's what is unfair about female athletes, I think. So it's going to be good.

I'm looking forward to talking to her. Shall we do a couple of pieces of correspondence before we get her on? Yeah, let's do that. I think that's a good idea. What have you got for us, Josh? You got something there? Yeah, big time. You ready?

Yeah, I'm really ready. Oh, I haven't started recording. Can you rip it, Michael? Are you joking? I am joking. All ready. I haven't started recording. Can you rip it, Michael? Are you joking? I am joking. All right. Here we go. Give us some.

Growing up, my boomer parents made use of all the old boomer faithfuls to scare us into submission. If you watch too much television, your eyes will turn square, et cetera. As we were always resistant to going to bed on time, my dad started warning us to go to bed on time, otherwise your feet will turn into cabbages. Oh, that's a bit left-fielder. Yeah. I guess we called his bluff one too many times

because one morning we went downstairs to see my dad acting distraught with two cabbages where his feet should be. Oh, so he pretended on himself. Yes, my dad had glued real cabbage leaves onto his bare feet and was flaunting his cabbage feet as a warning to get us to bed on himself. Yes, my dad had glued real cabbage leaves onto his bare feet and was flaunting his cabbage feet as a warning to get us to bed on time. Do you know what? I don't dislike it.

Terrified we ran to bed at 6pm on the dot for many years to come for fearfully developing cabbage feet. Stay sexy and relatable. Don't let the cabbage feet get you. Sienna in London. See, what I want to know about that, Sienna, that feels like a fun light light-hearted story about her dad, right, that did the cabbage feet thing.

And it worked. Because this, if this does work, this is great news for all parents. You just threaten them with cabbage feet, and then they go to bed at six. I just want to know from Sienna, if she could just email back in, does she have any long-lasting psychological trauma from it? Can't she eat cabbage? Yeah, but if you can't,

who cares? If it gets your kids to bed early, I'm willing to sacrifice cabbages for early nights. Yeah. Shall we get on our dame? Bring on the dame. We're very excited about this. I think she's a listener of the pod as well, isn't she? Am I right in saying she contacted us as a listener? She DM'd

you, Rob? Yeah, she DM'd and I was like absolutely Dame Jess Ennis Hill. So we're very excited. Any other dames if you rob yeah she dm'd and i was like absolutely dame jess ennis hill um so we're very excited any other dames if you're listening judy dench or maggie smith if you're listening dm away welcome to the podcast dame jessica ennis hill we're very excited to have you um dame jess can i call you dame jess you can call me dame. Yeah, I like it. Dame Jess, our first Dame. I've never seen Rob so nervous to talk to someone. Well, I'm talking to a member of the British Empire.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's MBU. Slash royal family, you know. Royal family, the royal family. So we're also very excited because you are a listener of the podcast as well. I am. Which always makes it more fun because you understand understand that it is yeah yeah i understand the dynamics um so jess how many kids have you got and how old are they so i've got two kids um one has just

turned six so that's my daughter live and then my son reggie was nine in the summer so yeah kind of big kids now, actually. I still think they're like little, you know, like little dinky things, but they've changed so much. I know yours is a similar age, Rob, but... Yeah. Yeah, when they get to that age, they just, I don't know, they mature so much.

They get very independent, don't they? Yeah. I can't believe your son's not. I know that sounds weird, but I can't believe your son's nine because obviously, because you had your son during your career. Yeah. I can vividly remember you having a child. Well, not vividly remember you having a child.

Where was I, Josh, you freak? Just a little bit worrying. Yeah. No, I vividly, and it doesn't feel like that long ago, but obviously, nine. Yeah, I know. I had him, I obviously had him in 2014. But yeah, I had him and then I came back to my career

and yeah, it seems like five minutes ago, but actually it was, yeah, a very long time ago now. We did want to talk about that. What was that like resuming being an athlete after you'd had a child? Do you know, I was just so naive, like you have no idea what it's like to become a parent. And although I was like so excited, you know,

you're kind of like all the unknowns and you think that you have this like plan in your head of how it's all going to like work out. And I think being an athlete as well, you're so structured in what you do and everything's organized, everything's planned. You've got deadlines. Like it's so structured that I almost thought that when I had my son, he was just going to like slot into that like routine and I thought like you're a bit of a control freak, like you just think that everything

is going to be similar but actually it was just, it was the biggest shock, you know, becoming a parent for the first time but also then trying to get back into training trying to get back into competition trying to get everyone around me to buy into the idea that I was actually gonna come back like I was still gonna people not believe you yeah I think quite a lot of people doubted what I was trying to do and definitely people like within my like team as well they were like you know you sure you want to come back you know things are going to change quite a bit and I was like yeah they're going to change but I'm going to come back it's fine I'll take a few months off and then I'll just get back

to normal so when did you have your but was it 24 when in 2014 so I had him July 2014 right so you weren't so you in 2012 2012 you'd won the gold medal at London so then then were you trying for the baby in between the middle of the Olympics then was or was it just a happy accident or was it or was it a bit more relaxed or were you trying to slip it in almost scheduling the pregnancy yeah so it wasn't really like a scheduled and planned per se it was a little bit of a surprise planned shot yeah very small on the plan yeah it was because a lot of athletes do they plan it in and you know in the right time so they can come back for the olympics and stuff but it wasn't necessarily like that for us and i remember like going to my coach like obviously finding out i was pregnant obviously really happy we both were and then i had going to my coach like obviously finding out I was pregnant obviously

really happy we both were and then I had to go and tell like my team and I was so nervous like to tell my coach that because he'd had all this plan like he was like right you're going to do the come off games in 2014 and then worlds olympics like he had this plan and they're planning their their schedules around it as well because it's sort of a long-term thing yeah yeah their whole life is you know when you support an athlete their whole life is around you performing um and then I remember going to his house and and just being like um okay so I've I've got something to tell you I was so nervous I was like oh god sit down I was like well well, so I'm pregnant. And he was just so shocked that he didn't know what to say.

He just kind of sat there. And then he got his laptop out and he started looking at dates. He didn't even say congratulations. He was literally, he was just in such a fluster. Like what dates? When's he going to be born? When's she going to be born? You know, like what's going to happen?

And I was just sat there like, okay, congratulations. You know, anything like that would be nice. Oh, man. But, yeah, it was a big shock to the whole team, but obviously a great shock. How many months after did you do your first training session? So I kind of, like, went back into training gradually. So I went on the bike for a bit. You know, I kind of like went back into training gradually so

I went on the bike for a bit you know I kind of got a setup in my garage where I could do like some exercises and stuff so I wasn't like traveling to and from the track all the time and then I didn't really start I'd say probably like eight to ten weeks after I had him I started doing you know gentle exercise but I didn't start like hurdling or high jumping again at that stage or anything like that um but yeah it was very much like a gradual build-up like back into yeah into training and did you find your body had changed you know after because I find women after they have children their body does sort of change shape and the hormones are different and things like that did because as an athlete everything's so fine-tuned down to what you're eating and how your body reacts

did you find that there were certain things that you couldn't do as well or you could even do better after or anything did you notice that or was it pretty much once you got over the initial impact of the birth you were it was the same or was it different no no completely different yeah completely different i am you know everyone that has a baby a few months after you like look down, you're like, oh, like, why do I not look the way I used to look? And obviously I had like, I was totally ripped. Like I had a massive six pack. I don't mean to brag, but I had a six pack and, you know, really kind of strong. And then obviously your body changes so much.

And it's amazing how much your body changes so much and it's it's amazing how much your body like just transforms and you know you can carry your baby and it changes in an incredible way but yeah when I got back to training I like I was definitely not the athlete that I was before my body had changed like mentally I changed massively like your priorities all change you know yeah did it feel like it mattered less in a way yeah I think you you just have like a greater perspective so I felt like whereas before I'd had Reggie everything was like very much it's about me it's about how I train it's about how I can be the best and then once you have your baby it's like well actually none of that really like matters that much and it's how do I be the best mum and you

know how can I do all those things really well and it's about your child isn't it so you change like completely um and I think that transition from athlete to mother is like it's huge yeah because it's not even just like the time where like you know obviously your partner can have the baby look after the baby and even if you did less of it your partner does more of it there is a direct impact on the body as such you know and things did was you did it was you slower and then and in in your running and stuff like that even when you was back to full fitness or were there was there anything in particular that you noticed it that you couldn't do as well or was it just in general with your motivation no i felt that obviously because it was after the olympics so i'd had like this huge high like the pinnacle

of my career like winning a home olympics and you know once i went back into training after that i like, what am I training for? Like, this is hard. And then I had my son. I've already got an idol. Winning in Rio, how much does that matter? Once you've won in London, that's the one. It doesn't matter. I've got my gold mailbox now. That's the main thing. Exactly, exactly.

But after having Reggie, it gave me like a new sense of motivation um but yeah my body had changed so much like I couldn't I couldn't run as fast as I used to like I was in training I'd be at the like front of the pack you know beating my training buddies and just like I always had this like next gear that I could go to. I was really confident in that. Whereas after I'd had him, I was like, oh, man, like I can't even get to the top of the hills and hill runs. And yeah, I was just really, really struggling. And that's like quite a mental impact as well

when you're at the back of the group in training, but you're Olympic champion and everyone's expecting you to beat them it's tough like it's mentally really really challenging and you're doing that along with all the stuff that you do when you've got a new kid as well so your sleepless nights and was he a good sleeper do you know what looking back he i'd say he was like a typical like average babies like sleeping wise like he slept he was like up a lot at the beginning and i was like feeding through the night and stuff but he then got into a bit of a rhythm where he'd sleep for like four hours and that's like dream isn't it

you know to have like four or five hours like four hours sleep like that is an absolute you're winning there my sister-in-law's got a newborn, and I overheard Lou chatting to her mum about it and going, yeah, well, last night she got two hours in a row. I'm like, oh, brilliant, great news. And I was like, blech. Oh, my God. That's been celebrated.

I cannot even, I don't know how you do it. Like, I can't take myself back to those days. Like, you know, being up all through the night and then I'd have to get up and train in the morning and then you're back at lunch. And like, it was just crazy. But I don't know, you just do it, don't you, when you're in the thick of it. I suppose as well, you would have been at like the most,

you know, you were the poster girl really of the Olympics and you was on all the advertising, all your stuff with adidas as well so not only have you won the gold you're in your sort of like opportunities are flying at you whether it's brands and stuff like that and then you're at sort of home with the baby and then trying to juggle training and you're sort of must be quite frustrating because you want to make the most of those opportunities did you did you find it quite conflicting i found it challenging because it's still like for athletes like female

athletes it's still like a massive gray area like having kids in your career and stepping away for a bit and then coming back like with sponsors and and everything it's still very there's not like a maternity package it's not like this yeah of course so if you're not there performing then you're not you know your your deals stop and it's really dependent on on who like what companies you work with and i was super fortunate like obviously working with adidas for years they were fantastic you know they just freeze my contract and then you know just carry on pick it where you left off essentially um whereas for a lot of athletes you know you step off the track for a period of time like a season and you know you lose a lot of athletes, you know, you step off the track for a period of time, like a season.

And, you know, you lose a lot of money and a lot of, yeah, a lot of deals. Would that happen with an injury as well? Yeah. So being injured, yeah, there's like, you'd have like a bonus reduction. And obviously you're not competing, so you're not priced money. Oh my God. And it's so unfair, just like, just just genetically where like men won't have that. They can have a family and their body won't be impacted at all. But it's almost like coming back from a serious injury, isn't it?

Going through labour and being pregnant and giving birth. It's mad having that in the middle of your career. Yeah. And it's the whole like, how do you go through your pregnancy? And then like you say, how's your birth? Like, you know, you have no idea how that's going to pan out. And then it's like, how do you recover from that? How do you go through your pregnancy and then like say how's your birth like you know you have no idea how that's going to pan out um and then it's like how do you recover from that how do you get back and yeah i mean there's so many challenges but equally like in the same way it's it's probably one of my like proudest achievements ever you know being able to have them and come back and then

win a world championships and then win a silver medal at the olympics again was pretty special can i can i ask a sensitive question here jess do you think if you'd had your child three years later you would have got gold in brazil does that ever cross your mind like that jess when you're wiping his bum it's a very good question and do you know what in all honesty yeah i at that stage like i would i wouldn't have done it any other way like i had yeah the best of both worlds did he come to brazil so he came so like the whole team the gb team goes out and does like a training camp before the olympics and i opted to go and do like a training camp just with my small team in Barcelona and my husband came out

and Reggie came out so I was able to spend that time preparing with him and then I went on to Rio um by myself so. That's expensive because he would have been over two then you would have to pay for a seat to get him to Brazil. Do you know what the most stressful part of that was um the journey that my husband had to take with him to Barcelona. Because he was like two and obviously like two-year-olds on flights are not fun. And I remember just meeting my husband at the airport, like so excited to see them. And he was just like sweating. He was sweating.

He looked so stressed. And Reggie had like the reddest face. And I was like, what happened face and I was like what happened and he was like I'll tell you what happened he didn't want to let go of his bunny on the flight he wanted to shut the windows and obviously you can't not like yeah yeah yeah and he just totally lost his and he and he was like my husband was like it was the most stressful thing he's ever done even to this day he's like that barcelona flight and when you're at the olympics was there part of you going i'm getting a lovely sleep here you know like this is a real this i mean it's meant to be stressful

being at the olympics but i'll be honest it's the most chilled out i've been in three years well to be honest like my husband's always but I'll be honest, it's the most chilled out I've been in three years. Well, to be honest, like, my husband's always like, you know that holiday you had in Rio? I'm like, are you joking me? It's the Olympics. Like, it's the most stressful environment ever. But, yeah, I mean, yeah, I had a full night's sleep,

so it was a little bit of a holiday. You can't be getting up with a kid the night before you're competing in the Olympics. Oh, my gosh, no. I mean, you need full sleep, yeah. For two days of competition, you need your rest. And if you aren't, you know, happily married with kids, Josh wanted to know this, is the Olympic Village the complete fuckfest we all imagine it is? Is it like the Love Island after party?

Well, look, all I say, through the last leg leg we've done a lot of work at the paralympics yeah and there's a lot of chat that is basically fresh as week at the yeah in the in the paralympic village i i wouldn't know essentially but yeah i mean there's a lot that goes on in the village there's a lot that goes on and there's just so many different like types of people and athletes and you know when you're training so hard like all the time and you can never let yourself like go or switch off and then you put everyone into that environment together and then i'm sure you know like you know the swimmers finish quite early on in the schedule so they're all like really excited and then athletics finishes a little bit later so

there is like this whole sexual like vibe going on like everyone is just so like everyone's either like buzzing because they've won or they're sad also everyone's fit yeah exactly everyone's fit new pro athletic and everyone's yeah either like buzzing exactly. Everyone's fit. Everyone's like, new prosthetic. And everyone's, yeah, either like buzzing, like you say, because they've done so well, or they've like, you know, totally fucked up. Yeah, and then want to celebrate. So, yeah. And have you done the mum's race?

Oh, so the first year Reggie started school, they normally have a parents' race. And like yeah this is me I'm going in the sky. So are you into this or do you find it embarrassing? Like so I would say that you know before I got there I was like yeah yeah I'm going I'm going in GB kit I'm going in sky I'm rocking up I'm taking my parents out with the medal but actually do you know what I'd be so embarrassed and I probably wouldn them parents out. With the medal. With the medal. But actually, do you know what? I'd be so embarrassed and I probably wouldn't do it. And anyway, the year that Reggie started, they cancelled the parents' race.

Because of you? Not because of me, no. No, they just cancelled it. I think it's because of injuries. So they don't have one at our school that kids go to. And I said, why is that? Because every year we have to ring an ambulance to someone who rips a hamstring or someone who's never run the toxic masculinity comes out and they just i mean people do go a little bit over the top i

think in parents race have you have you both done it my wife did it and when there was a confusion i thought it was the mum's race and then the dad's race but actually it was a combination of the two and by the time I'd realised it was too late and they were on the start line so I missed out this year. So you can do it next year. You're going to do it. How did Rose get on? She was the first woman but

she came second to a man. That's good. Because the mum's and dad's race was combined. Right, you said that like a maths question. You know the cryptic ones where they go, a train leaves. So, she was the first woman, but second to a man. If it had just been the mums race, she'd have won, but there was a dad in there.

Right, that's good. That's quick. First woman, so yeah, great. First woman, so that's good, yeah. How's Reggie? Is he showing signs of athletic prowess? Well, they're both pretty sporty but I've never

I've never taken them I mean Reggie used to come to the track when I used to train like as a little baby and kind of watch and stuff

but he's they've both never done athletics I'm not that fussed about trying to get them down that route like I'd rather them find

their own sport. Golf or tennis. That's where the money is. They do tennis. They do tennis. Go tennis. I think if you're a female athlete, tennis is the mate.

Is that the best money? Tennis is good, but you spend a lot of money in tennis anyway, don't you, to get to that point. Right. Okay. So I don't know. I don't know how it balances out.

I'm just trying to work out what to get my kids to do. I'm really drawing a line through netball. I just don't think there's the money behind it yet for my daughters to be in netball. I don't want to look like a complete capitalist, but I think if you're going to dedicate your life to the sport, you might as well go for it. I think by the time your children are older, Rob,

there'll be a lot of money in women's football. I think I should send them down that route. route however i did pick my daughter up from her football and she had um her boots on the wrong feet and she'd scored so i don't know if she's found a new technique oh gosh but she was getting some predatory swaz on it yeah but with them going out like that i mean that's impressive and do your children get on with each other? How's that going? Because at six and nine, that's about when they're really finding out who they are, I suppose.

Yeah. Do you know, well, this morning they were wrestling on the bed and like my son, I don't know about your first children, but I feel like my son's like quite sensitive and he's quite emotional and he'll get upset about things and if he's done something wrong he'll you know he'll like eat away at him a little bit where my daughter's just pure like sass and like she's just she's just brutal so this morning she literally was sat on his head on the bed just and he's like can you get off me please so they do like they they

battle like that but yeah i think generally they i think they get on quite well most of the time so so how old were they when you retired from athletics full-time so i had live as a good question i don't want to say full-time as if you do it part-time. Just do the odd high jump. I do high jump every Saturday morning for three hours. So I had to live when I'd retired. So I was like 30, 31. This is like a cryptic question. It's hard to think of such a long time ago.

No, but I think that's amazing. And Reggie was three. It's amazing that you managed to, you know, achieve your dream of winning a gold olympics and still managing to spend so much time with your kids and have you know obviously do a lot of punditry work and just work with adidas and stuff like that now but it's not as intense as when you were competing so it must be amazing to have that time with them and to see them grow up rather than you know be off flying around the world training yeah it's really

important i think like that last bit of my career i did it because i knew it was like relatively grow up rather than you know be off flying around the world training yeah it's really important I think like that last bit of my career I did it because I knew it was like relatively short-lived like it was two years of coming back yeah and like making all those sacrifices whereas like now obviously I've got like say I've got the time to to do the school runs and you know do other projects and be part of athletics and sport in a different way. But I'm still like that present parent. And I think that was something that I was always really, really conscious about.

Like it was always like my number one priority. Like I want to be the best athlete and have that legacy, but I also don't want to do it at the expense of, you know, being here for the kids and them seeing me, like, regularly. And when you were going out to Brazil, I sort of forgot about it, but that was when it was the Zika virus thing, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. So how was that, like, for you and other sort of competitors

where, like, you know, you wanted more children and other people that want to have children, and you're going out there and you're worried about getting this disease that could prevent that, but where you've got to be to compete? Yeah, it completely freaked me out. I just didn't really know what to do because obviously I was preparing for the Olympics and you don't want to miss the Olympics,

but then there was all this news. And it was all about fertility, wasn't it really, the Zika virus? Yeah, but they didn't really know much about how it would affect you and whether it affected men more or how long it was in your system. And there was just a lot of confusion about it. So I remember thinking like I spent a lot of time speaking to the doctors on the team and trying to work out like how high was the risk. Yeah.

And then, you know, I ended up going obviously because it felt like it was okay to do. And that if you waited a certain amount of time after you'd done the olympics to then have another child like you're pretty safe and then obviously we had to have all the mosquito nets and everything oh god out there but i was like but i was like completely just yeah like you know just didn't want to get bitten and yeah Rio was quite a unique Olympics to be fair and you're gonna take the kids to Paris yes I was talking to my husband about this in bed the other night and he's like he's such a

stress head so he's like yeah but it's gonna be really busy and you know was you know I'm gonna be there with the two kids and I'm like it's gonna be fine like come and stop in my hotel room you just get the eurostar like it'll be fine there'll be that little bit older but i think he's just thinking like the like logistics of it all while i'm doing the bbc what because i'm out there for 10 days with the last leg for paralympics and we're gonna i think we're gonna take the kids yeah you should I wonder whether I wonder whether that's a mistake what do you think not for you Josh I think it'd be for Rose it might be when you're just shuffling off to a studio she's trying to find a soft place

I think that's why like my husband's like freaking out a little bit because they are gonna have to keep them entertained aren't they and yeah get them in and out of stadiums and quite full-on and was your husband working full-time or was he not working when you were competing and stuff how did you split the child care or did you have sort of people coming in to help as well yeah so no I mean we've got family quite close to us so we were really lucky so like my mum and dad would help and andy's parents would help babysitting so we'd have like this kind of shift thing going on and then um my husband works in construction he's a planner so in that world it's pretty much like frowned upon to like have flexi hours and right like you know it's like you go in at six o'clock and you work till five it's like this very yeah rigid world of working um and

actually when i think when we had live oh no when we had reggie he went to work and said look i need to do some flexi hours because you know my wife's going back to competing and trying to make the olympics and i need two days where i can be flexible um and they actually let him do it so oh really oh that's good. Yeah, which was amazing because it was before COVID and everything and it just wasn't the thing that you did in that industry. Well, those sort of like construction industries are still very sort of blokey, male-heavy where it's literally

you get on site at six, you work about three or four, then you go home and it's that five days a week and that's it. With big chubby strong hands. Massive, yeah, massive blowgans. And can you shed any light on how they get those big strong hands? I mean, I don't know. Andy's got quite big thumbs, I'd say. Just thumbs?

Yeah, we should have known that. But the fingers are normal, but massive thumbs. He's got quite big thumbs, yeah. Well, he's a planner. He's like, well done, lads. Just constant thumbs up. Good work. It's some good planning,

guys. Thumbs up all round. And so, you said that you're not like that fast. What are you, with them getting into athletics or whatever, you just want them to kind of find their own way. What are you guys like as parents?

You don't seem, you're very kind of jovial and smiley and friendly as a presence I can't imagine you being a stern disciplinarian although as an athlete I suppose you had a strong discipline right yes I was very like everyone would say when I was competing like oh Jess is so smiley and nice but then when I'm on the track I was like business like my granddad was like when he used to watch me compete he was like she would take an axe to her neighbor like she's when she's on the track she's fierce but I think with the kids I'm yeah I'm like I'm quite structured so I like things

like organized and yeah I'm like that with them but I don't think I'm like a disciplinarian have you got a tidy house? I can imagine you as quite a tidy house person. Quite tidy. The playroom is not tidy. But yeah, it's quite, quite tidy. Yeah. God, we need a playroom so badly.

Josh needs to move house. He's not got a big enough house. I don't need to move house, Rob. And he's in denial about it, Jess. I'm not in denial about it at all. I'm just waiting for the kids to grow up and he eventually moves. Are you moving like further out? I'm not moving. I'm not moving'm not moving he should really if he wants a better quality of life and more space but he's in denial about it but he'll work through that just don't worry i mean i would agree with rob like bit of country air you need to be a little bit further out you know it's better for

the kids nice environment josh look at me up my face and look at jessica ennis's face look at us just look how happy we are. Smiley. That's what I know. And we've not had a Brussels sprout in a gastropub. We don't need that. We can go Toby Carvery in Harvester. The kids love to sell a bar. And this is a, I'm just a, you know, a dame, you know, gold medal winner that makes great decisions and is focused, you know, so.

How was getting, how, let's move on. How was getting your dame? Who did you, who did you who did you get did you get the queen no so i i had my cbe from the queen oh here we go double bubble here it is yeah which was very very special yeah so you only got a cbe for a gold medal cbe and then when i retired for services to sport? Yeah. From Prince William. William. Oh, that's a good one.

That's a good one to get. Do you get any like perks from being a Dane? You know, like, cause my friend's a nurse and I think she gets 15% off at Nando's. So I don't know if like NHS sort of, I don't know if you're a Dane, you get anything,

any like, you can go anywhere or get access to stuff. You don't get a sheet or anything. You get, it's something like you can take, can you like, it's like when you get freedom of the city or something you can like you can get married in westminster abbey can't you and yeah i mean i'll renew your vows come on if i was listening to that as your husband i'd be worried about your reaction to that i mean um yeah maybe we'll renew our vows

can you do that as well I don't know I'm not sure Josh I've got a question for Jess why don't you have a look at the perks of being a Dame it's come up as perks of fame which is a weird thing for me to google the perks of fame

okay you carry on Rob with your question I'll find out some things when you were at school I know your kids aren't that into athletics when you were at school were you sort of naturally good at all sort of sports which is why you went into you know being a heptathlete where it's sort of everything essentially was you naturally good at stuff and then you you and you enjoyed it or did you really sort of have to graph for it or obviously it's a combination of both to get to the level you got to but were you a natural when it came to sports?

I think, I don't know. I didn't necessarily feel like a natural. Like as a kid, I was just like really small, like super skinny and just like not really that coordinated. But I think when I started athletics, I was like 10. Like I went to a summer camp and it was from that point that one of the coaches was like, oh, she looks like she's got some kind of ability. So I don't know, I probably had something, but I think it took, you know, being in the right place, in the right environment, and then, like you say,

all the hard work and, like, dedication to, yeah, to kind of get into that point. But I also, like, I'm so indecisive as well. Like, I can never decide on what to do and what I want to do. Is that why you did the heptathlon? The heptathlon was perfect. Really? Yeah.

It's like you don't have to pick. It's everything. Yeah. So it was the event for me. Do you think you could have, if you'd focused on one, do you think you could have been top at one of them? I think for me, out of the heptathlon, the high jump and the hurdles were like my

two strongest events you jumped 195 that's insane yeah how do you that's three of you in it josh yeah very very it is more than one of me though it's more than one of you as well i don't even know how you i just don't understand it i'm one 1 metre 65, so it's quite a leap. That's what I am. You're 1 metre 65? What did you mean by that? I enjoyed that. What did you mean by that?

You're a tiny man. You're a small one. I'm as small as you and I'm small. I mean, no. It's a good one. Come on, it's too late. I think we know what clips go on Instagram now. But you're Dame Jessica Ennis Hill, but Josh, you're a tiny man.

How tall are you, Rob? I'm five foot eight, but I don't know what that is in centimetres. So I'm not exactly massive. That's about one seven one, something like that. I think I'm actually five five eight and a half but if you say that it sounds like you're five foot six so i always just go there's nothing wrong with being five foot six rob yeah no there isn't you'd love it another inch we're not quite yeah we're not five foot six are we we're like sure we are are you sure I think you're 5'6 well maybe I'm not

165 then maybe I'm not I'm definitely 5'6 slightly more anyway anyway how do you jump 195

which I could reach I don't like high jump was just a good event for me like I just think I'm actually quite springy Ross still laughing'm actually quite springy.

Ross is still laughing. Sorry, sorry. Naturally quite springy. But, yeah, high jump was good for me. Everyone's reeling for that. High jump was good for me. And the hurdles. The hurdles were two good events.

So if I was to do an individual event, probably the hurdles. How was it at school? Were you involved in the school? Like, are you on the PTA? You're running stalls at Fates. You're chatting in the playground. How do you operate? They must want you to do stuff, like come in and do an inspirational speech.

The kids won't let me. They absolutely won't let me. I've said to them, like, I would actually really like to go into their school and, you know, do a little inspirational talk. And I always say, you know, because they have loads of parents come in, like they have doctors and, you know, all these people, parents that come in. And I said to Reggie, like, you know, would you like mummy to come in?

Come on, I'm a dame. You know, I could talk about athletics, Olympics. And he's just like, no, no, I don't want you to come in. Like he's so embarrassed. Yeah. And I'm like, but I can bring my medals in. And he's like no and then i thought with live i thought you know she's a little bit younger she'll she'll totally entertain it and

she was like no be so embarrassing oh god imagine listen to your parent go talk and like you know you are inspiring and it's amazing what you've done but your kids don't give a shit about you when it comes to that like you're not inspiring you're just the person that says no when i want sweets have they ever watched like clips of you because presumably three so you can't remember you competing reggie so have they ever watched you because yours was that uh golden saturday or whatever it was called wasn't it that that uh super saturday super saturday sorry quite an iconic day quite an iconic day I was at the Edinburgh

Festival I missed all of it less than iconic performance I didn't watch any of the Olympics because I was at the Edinburgh Festival

we were both in Edinburgh and the Scottish don't really care about Team GB if they're honest unless it's a Scottish person

but it was you Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford in one night wasn't it yeah Super Saturday I tell you what Rutherford he got night, wasn't it? Yeah. Super Saturday. I tell you what, Rutherford, he got on some coattails that day, didn't he? Absolutely.

No one gave a shit until that day. Then he's with the Edison Farah. He absolutely had it off, didn't he, Rutherford? What a guy. He had a great day. He had a great few years on Ruther. No, but the kids, the kids have watched. um yeah they've watched bits back and i think i think they're a little bit impressed but they're not like you say it's your parents isn't it so they're

not whatever you do they're not really that impressed until they get older so the issue is though jessica what will happen is when your boy and your daughter get to teenager age and they start, maybe he's going down the gym. A lot of young kids are into that now. That's going to the gym and that kind of stuff. And then starts, wants to go for a 5k run or whatever, or a few sprints in the park. You probably will dominate him. Yes. So that's going to be, no one really wants their mum to run faster than them.

I've actually never seen my mum run. I'd say it would be quite weird.'ve actually never seen my mum run i'd say ever i i'd say i've never seen her run if like rob imagine if online there were hundreds of photos of your mum with an incredible six pack oh my god then he gets to 15 at school you know what's even worse though what's even worse is that the school the the senior, because obviously Reggie's in year five, so he's got year six and then he's going to senior school, which is scary. But the senior school that he could potentially go to

was my old senior school. Oh, my God. So it's going to be everywhere, the home, the school that made... There's pictures of me everywhere. And there's the sports hall, which is named after me as well. Oh, wow. Amazing. Imagine struggling to throw a beanbag in the sports hall named after your own mum and on the wall is your mum it's awful honestly it gives me such stress and anxiety because i'm like yeah it's just it's awful honestly it gives me such stress and anxiety because i'm like

yeah it's just it's bullying material isn't it whether it's good or not like kids are just brutal so i don't know if your mum's as scary if you if your mum's as muscly as you that picture of you on the wall then surely you're bullying him but it's also i do think that kind of thing there will always be something you can be picked on by other kids. And it's a life lesson as you grow up with bullying. It's just harder when you're a kid because you haven't learned about life and you're still developing physically and emotionally. But essentially, whatever anyone says to you, it's not what they say.

It's how you take it in and react to it that determines how it goes. So, you know, if you go, yeah, yeah, that's right. My mum won a gold medal and she has got a six pack. Yeah, so what's the problem? That's an issue, is it? Yeah, what's your problem? I'll get my mum on you. Yeah, my mum's fit and she's won a gold medal and what?

Yeah. But it's the confidence. Like kids at that age, they don't necessarily have that confidence. Of course, it's so difficult. You just want to be like everyone else, don't you? You just want to blend in. So, yeah't you? You just want to blend in. So, yeah, it's tough, but we'll see.

Have you taken him to Bramall Lane? No, he's not into football. Both of them are not. Some of my friend's kids are absolutely obsessed with football. They love it. I wouldn't take them Bramall Lane either, to be honest. Avoid, avoid. Yeah, so, I mean,

Reggie's into tennis at the moment, so he really loves his tennis. So, I've just taken him to Wimbledon a couple of times and, to be honest, that's a little bit more exciting. Have you introduced him

to Sir Andy Murray? Are you in a WhatsApp group with all the sirs and the dames? No, no. So, he's not met Andy Murray are you in a WhatsApp group with all the sirs and the dames? No no so he's not met Andy Murray I've met him in the past like doing Adidas campaigns and stuff but actually when we went he was

so lucky we went to Wimbledon this year and we just had like the day down just me and Reggie like really nice like Mother and Sunday and then we actually met up with Judy Murray because she obviously is like you know rules the roost down there she's amazing That's lovely. Mother and Sunday. And we actually met up with Judy Murray because she obviously is like, you know, rules the roost down there.

She's amazing. And she was like, does Reggie want to come on a little tour? Like, you know, see where the players warm up and where they eat and behind the scenes where they do their press conference and all this kind of thing. So she took us and gave us the whole tour. And we actually saw like Djokovic like warming up before he went out to play.

Oh, that's incredible. And he was just literally like in awe just looking at, you know, he got to sit on the press conference table. Like I was like, how lucky are you? Like it's just insane. Like the opportunities that, you know, our kids get to have because of what you do is is yeah so special so he he felt very inspired after that day so if he doesn't become Wimbledon champion I'm gonna be

a little bit annoyed definitely after that day I struggle sometimes I mean obviously as well like if you can go there and see Djokovic warming up or you can go and watch Sheffield United lose 8-0 to Newcastle you're're going to pick Wimbledon. But I feel like sometimes when we do stuff with our kids and they can have access, you know, like, I got invited to go on Strictly, the girls are obsessed with Strictly, and they said, bring the girls if you want, and they, like, sat in the judges' chairs and was in the telly. I'm like, you just, and you want to scream in their face,

you don't realise how lucky you are to have access to it. But then if you do that, then you're just horrible because it's just what they're used to. I'd say that's the kind of thing they're telling a counsellor in 20 years' time. I got shouted at by my dad at Strictly for not realising how lucky I was. Pick up the paddle! Pick up the

fucking paddle! Pick up the paddle with 10 on it and show it to the fucking camera! The audience are looking at you! It's a really hard balance though because like when you like i was very you know grown up like working class like we grew up in the city like right in the center of sheffield didn't have much like you know you kind of struggle like as kids and a family at that stage and then your life changes through whatever you do and you want to give your kids like amazing opportunities and give them things that you've not had but then how do you stop them getting carried away and and you know like I'd say to the kids now like we've got a gate at the

front of our house I'm like you are so lucky to have a gate at the front of your house like we didn't have a gate we didn't have a drive we you know we didn't have anything like that so and it's just like the norm for them so i think they need to keep having a little like nudge and a reminder that actually this isn't necessarily everyone's reality and you are really really lucky yeah but you don't a bit bullying with it almost it feels like because it like they can't they've not chosen it and it's not up to them but you want it sort of just reminders of stuff that it's hard it's tough it's tough your dad was a jamaican right um did you have imagine he still is he still is jamaican yeah he still is jamaican it wasn't a phase no he went into really jamaican phase but yeah actually it's quite offensive in many ways

you're just pretending to be jamaican it'samaican did you have a lot of that culture coming through like when you were a kid and do you try and carry that on into your kids and how do they relate to that yeah so i actually i did some filming the other well a few months ago and did i did who do you think you are and you did it as well yeah we kind of went back it's not been on yet but we went back into that whole kind of yeah we went back to jamaica and just like followed like our whole like family and stuff which was incredible i took my dad with me as well and he wow he'd not been back to jamaica since he moved here in 1963 or something so he'd never been back so it was such an amazing experience but yeah like growing up my dad would always like cook Jamaican food we had like a banana tree in the window like

he was very much like I'm bringing like the Jamaican vibe to like the family and you know want us to kind of know where like we're from um and that's definitely like carried on like now for our kids like my my kids absolutely love granddad and they kind of love his jamaican food they're always like oh is he bringing jamaican food around like we love his dumplings we love this like it's just yeah really nice to have that yeah kind of yeah and uh and he's still jamaican he's he's still jamaican i think And he's still Jamaican. He's still Jamaican, I think. I think so.

If not the BBC are going to want a refund. Yeah. I've flown to all Jamaican. He goes, I'm just pretending, actually. Great free holiday. He's got a banana tree and cooks Jamaican food. I might have to start pretending my dad's from the Maldives and see if the BBC will take me back there for a couple of weeks to reconnect my roots.

I've met your dad, Rob. I don't reckon he could pull it off. Jessica, before we ask the final question, I wanted to ask, what are you like at the school gates? Because you're very polite and obviously very smiley and happy, but are you just constantly got parents coming up to you or do you not get involved and you just in and out, drop them and run?

What's your process at the gate? Because there are always sort of parent drinks and things like that. Do you go to them or do you not engage? What are you doing? So I didn't know what I'd be like before I started because it is like you're thrown into a new world, aren't you? And you've got all your, like, friends and you've got, like, your friendship groups and everything's established,

but then you're just thrown into a world of, like, randomness, really. Yeah, and then your kids flip-flop around different friends so it's all different people you've got to interact with and everyone must be desperate to hang out with you at the school gates right well look who's here i don't know i don't know i think it's something that i was like conscious about i didn't want i firstly didn't want like kids to be friends with my kids because of me. And you have all those worries, like you don't want it to be like, I don't know, like fake. But actually when like obviously Reggie started first, I think I did like, I definitely make an effort because I don't want him or Liv to miss out on things.

So I am in the WhatsApp groups and I I mean they do get a bit crazy like the full class whatsapp I see it's too much isn't it it is too much it's like you know does anybody know a plumber and I'm just like oh yeah it's loads of requests I felt like just putting a number for a therapist and go speak to this guy all those other questions will solve themselves there's so much so yeah and then like we kind of we've got a little breakaway mum's group and some of the mums that i'm i'm good friends with at school and yeah yeah like i'll like socialize with them and so you can sort of slack off all the ones in the main group in there no right no nothing like that no it's all harmony we actually in our class in our year the whatsapp group actually had to get shut down because we had issues at school oh really it got deleted for

another day there was there's all sorts of dramas so what's it oh wow so does it school school life as a parent going back as a parent is hard it is tricky there's a lot going on there's a lot going on but the mums and and like parents that we're friends with they are yeah they're really nice people and now uh josh do you want to ask the final question to jess yeah i mean as a fan of the show normally we don't brief people on this and we forget and they go i wish you told me but you are probably aware that we ask uh the one thing that your partner does that blows you away. You can't imagine how they're such a good parent

and the one thing that if they listen, you'll manage to communicate to them the thing they do that annoys you the most but you haven't brought up with them. Well, it's hard because I can think of lots of things that, I mean, I love my husband, but there's lots of unruly things.

But the holiday thing for me is just, that really annoys me. So whenever I'm away, because I'm here most of the time, like I can do a lot of work from home, Zoom and everything, but I do have to go away for like short bursts. Especially with athletics, it's all around the world, isn't it? Yeah, so you're kind of off um and he always says to the kids oh mummy's on holiday you know mummy's just having another holiday and you know what it's funny the first time i'll give him that yeah he's a funny guy but um you know when the kids are like casually saying oh but you know when we

went and did that thing but you you were on holiday, mummy. And they generally are just saying it. I'm like, no, no, mummy's working. Mummy was working. Turn on the TV. She sat next to Claire Balding. That is not a holiday. Yeah, mummy's working.

She's watching athletics in Barcelona. But that actually is quite stressful. It's live TV. Yeah, exactly. So that, yeah, that would be the one thing because i don't you know when kids are little like i don't want them to grow up and have this perception of like oh mommy was always away yeah no that is a bit cheeky either he said the holiday thing too yeah so that's the one thing but the thing that he does which is great as a

parent i don't know like he's i'm quite like structured like I said and I do things a particular way and he's just a little bit more let loose so you know he's always like putting on tunes in the kitchen dancing around the kitchen with the kid he's just like really good fun and I imagine like most dads you just have that kind of aura about you don't you just I don't know you're just a bit more spare of the moment let's whack the music up really loud before bedtime yeah i i imagine that's definitely the case with rob i'm incredibly uptight so that's uh yeah i don't think that's yeah because i'm weird i don't know if it's a like a male or female thing because lou is just as silly as me but i think she sometimes when stuff's going on with the kids I think I and I don't know if

it's a male thing but I'm I'm a little bit better at compartmentalizing and go that is going on but right now let's just be silly and dance to the kids where I think for Lou sometimes it's harder for her to switch into that mode if she's worried about saying but we've got to do this in a minute or we've got to do that do you know what I mean so and that's exactly what I'm like you're just always thinking about and if it's like bedtime like well but they need to get to bed at this time and he'll just like whack the music up really loud and i'll be like too loud before bed they're getting too giddy but they're loving it and it's those like moments that you know they're the memories aren't they that kids have forever so he creates a lot of moments like that but i think that goes back to like the mental load where it's

sort of more females deal with that mental load of it's hard to let loose and be the fun one when you're going well they've got bedtime tomorrow they need to pop early because it's early clubs tomorrow she's in at 7 40 and she'll be grouchy if she stays up too late and does all this so it's sort of that kind of thing but um yeah the mental load debate carries on where out of my argument with blue and the mental load is that there's unnecessary load but she argues it's necessary. So that's the sticking point. It is necessary and there's so much. That's subjective.

That's subjective. I have this argument all the time with my husband. I'm like, do you think about, you know, the school uniform, the labels on the school uniform, the clubs, like everything. There's so much that goes on in our heads. And you guys are just like yeah you know hey i'm thinking about the tomato plants in the garden did rosewater them while i was away

filming let's not get into that now mental load that's a huge mental load um jess thank you so much for doing this it's been such a joy thank you so much have you got anything to plug or anything a book or uh i don't have a book i've got who do you think you are coming out next year but i'm um i'm actually doing quite a big event with the children's hospital which is a sheffield children's hospital next year and it's all raising money for children's mental health so we've got quite a big campaign going on um it's going to be every young minds and um yeah we're just trying to raise awareness about children's mental health. It's an area that's just getting forgotten a little bit.

And yeah, trying to shine a light on it and raise a bit more money. I'm actually doing it with John Richardson. I know he's a- Oh, he's brilliant, John. He's a great guy. Well, once it's all set up, send us the info and we'll give it a shout out

under like the small business thing for the charity. That would be amazing. I don't want to just bring an end on another spooky thing but jess we're not just the same height we've got the exact same amount of followers on instagram really actually josh is that what is that what you put your hair up to get a couple more centimeters you see that job see that he was pushing 166 then the big lanky bastard

that's nothing wrong that's just how I look guys that's just how I look I don't know what your issue is Richard Osborne's turned up

look at him the absolute anyway nice to see you Shorty see you later see you later thanks for having me

bye cheers thanks Jess that was brilliant what a lovely woman she's great and she absolutely mugged you off

about your height and you still loved her no she didn't mug me off she said you're a tiny little man she didn't say I'm a tiny little man she did

michael do you know what I've always been more of a fan of Greg Rutherford he's tall what a lovely woman oh she's brilliant isn't she

but you know she did say it but she doesn't have that I've met a lot of sports people. They don't like to lose, do they? But she seems like a genuinely a normal person. Yeah.

And also she's very relaxed. I'd said, do you resent your son because you've got silver in Rio? And she answered and laughed it off. Which is, looking back, quite a rude question. I tell you what I didn't expect to say today. Zika virus. Yeah. Where did that come from? When I was on Jesse's what, I didn't expect to say today, Zika virus. Yeah, where did that come from?

When I was on Jesse's Wikipedia, I just saw Zika and I remembered it and I thought, why not, shut that in. There we go.

Right, Josh, I'll see you next week. See you next week. Bye. Bye.