Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S9 Ep 8: Nick Grimshaw
Episode Date: March 25, 2020It's lockdown. But that isn't going to stop us serving you Tables Manners, even in special circumstances.I've moved the family out to an Airbnb to make sure Corona can't get her mitts on Lennie, Dr Al...ex is on the frontline, so it's a quiet (and clean) house for mum and means this is our first episode recorded remotely.Via the internet the wonderful, funny and gorgeous Grimmy joined us for a virtual dinner with mum and I. We talk bulk buying Hobnobs whilst in isolation, growing up in Manchester, eating luxuriously late now he isn't on breakfast radio and living on Freddos when he made it to London. Although gutted to not have him over and give him a kiss, cuddle and chicken soup it was a Zoom revelation and a welcome relief from a heavy week! X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and this is an attempt by us to bring
Table Manners to you remotely. So I'm here with my mum via Zoom. Hello mum.
Zooming in Jess, zooming in.
Do you kind of feel like a war correspondent mum?
No, I bloody don't. I feel like an isolated old person at the minute.
How are you, Mum?
Fed up with being isolated from you.
Got another 12 months of this.
This is the closest I've been to people all day.
And you're all in little boxes.
Oh, Mum, stop.
It's really sad.
To explain, I decided to move out of my mum's.
Not because we weren't getting on very well, we were actually getting on quite well.
Even post-promo of our Sunday Times bestseller cookbook, Table Manners of the Cookbook,
we just got too worried about being in the house of mum and not that we can call mum elderly, but she's getting up there.
Not that we can call mum elderly, but she's getting up there.
And so we thought we'd move.
So I'm currently in an Airbnb in the highest Corona area,
Southwark, so that's cool.
But I'm staying at home, so that's fine.
And you're at home.
And then we have dear Alice, our producer editor, also in.
And we're going to have Nick Grimshaw coming in in a minute.
We hope.
We hope.
I'm incredibly proud of mum for actually managing to work out how to use a microphone, plug it in herself and use an app.
So well done, mum.
Jessie, shut your gob.
I know what I'm doing.
Okay, fine.
Sorry.
She's still got her fire.
Darling.
Didn't have your fire at the beginning of the week,
but she's come back.
No, it's waning. I can tell you. your fire at the beginning of the week, but she's come back. No.
It's waning, I can tell you.
I do miss you, Mum.
Good darling.
We've had a few moments where I've seen you, I've dropped off some food to you.
You're taking it very seriously, the stay at home.
So you ask for eggs and milk every day.
So I dropped off some food to you and you greeted me with white Michael Jackson gloves and a big mask.
And that you're just, know rocking it and then bless you a jewish mother couldn't go without delivering some minestrone
soup to me and uh moving your son the doctor alex into his flat because also alex has moved out
because he's too much of a risk to giving you something can't get any food because everyone's eating it all yeah so you came to me and you had
like what can only be described as if anybody's seen the handmaid's tale the workers that get
taken to the barren lands the the people that are rejected from society um they are working
in like this toxic land and the people that work and the guards have these huge gas masks and you
had that on and it kind of looked a bit kinky your daughter looked at me and she was so excited to
see me and she had a big smile on her face and she looked at me and the smile just evaporated
like this woman is a lunatic yeah it's um it's interesting times but we thought you know so many of you are
listening to us and wants this to continue so we thought we'd try and find a way to bring table
manners to you via all our homes and so obviously the format is going to be slightly amended because
we can no longer cook for people so we thought it was kind of good to ask everyone to cook their
own meal and we're just going to ask everybody what they're having for their tea or what they're drinking.
And it will be the same kind of table manners.
Just none of us will be in the same room.
But this is how we have to do it.
So I think also I was very worried about mum not having anything to do now that she doesn't have two grandchildren in the house and a daughter and a son.
I mean, you're home alone now.
So this is just charity, really.
Thanks, Jess.
I've got plenty to do because I'm still working
and I've been busy all day working remotely.
But I have got to really try and punctuate my day a bit.
I must say, good old Janet Buck has put...
Oh, Janet Buck. She's put exercises on YouTube Mrs Janet
Buck's exercises and they're wonderful and I urge people to look can we just comment about Janet
Buck is a Clapham Abbeville Road legend who has looked like Kate Bush since I've known her. She's always done the aerobics class down in the contact centre.
And she is the most zany, fantastic woman
who has the most beautiful porcelain skin
and does an aerobics class.
And so have you joined in yet, Mum?
So she's put exercises on YouTube and I'm going to have a go.
I guess the doorbell will be when Groomie joins us.
So we'll just keep on chatting.
But this is a trial run for us and we want to make sure that we can keep on bringing you table manners also so
that I get to chat about food with mum every week if we're not going to be cooking together but it's
really exciting we've got Nick Grimshaw because I've been I've been longing to meet him for two
years three years since we started the podcast and i won't be able to
there he is
nick grimshaw welcome to table manners thank you jesse um thanks for uh doing this this is
obviously the first time we've done this but but we had you in the diary for tonight.
So we thought, why not try this whilst we're all at home?
I have been wanting to go on this podcast for so long.
And honestly, I'm not just saying this
because we are face-to-face now.
I love talking to you, Jessie.
You know that.
So I've been like trying to do this podcast
and make it work
for probably years and i cannot believe that now we are doing it we are not even together and you're
missing my chicken soup i'm livid at missing the food i'm i've been on house party talking to my
friends about what i'm up to tonight and everyone's like what's going on and i've been like oh i'm
cooking and going on the podcast and everyone's like you're missing the food I was like I'll send you some
this sucks but like mum is that allowed in these times yeah maybe I don't know I don't know how
long's uber gonna last for who knows I don't know I think maybe you could pop it in an envelope
we'll send you the recipe how are you oh yeah the recipe yeah, the recipe. Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good.
It's been like quite a weird, it's been a really weird week. And it's been like quite a weird few weeks, actually.
It's been like loads going on.
And I don't know, life feels really precious, I guess, at the moment.
It feels very real right now.
But for me, it's like I'm still going to work.
I'm still doing the radio show.
But it's just, it's so odd going to do the radio every day
in like a derelict building essentially and it's just me and my producer and but i think times
like this like people really are relying on it and people are really getting involved so
i'm as horrible as it is and as bad as it is i am enjoying this sort of
sense of community that is is going around and we're all feeling but how is it yeah how is it
where you are do you feel like there is a huge sense of community are you just talking about
like the wider I mean in your actual area are people being kind people are kind anyway around
here like we said me and me my boyfriend went to the shop before and we just ran into one of our
neighbors and I was like do you know what we have like a really good crew around here and we always
chat and always like
see each other and like occasionally we'll get together and have a wine or we'll have them over
at christmas and stuff so there's it's a good vibe around here and i think it's um i don't know it's
nice getting those texts from neighbors like if you need anything and like we've been texting
neighbors being like we're here all day if you need anything so that's kind of like the silver
lining i guess in all of this i'm really intrigued because I'm in I'm currently in like a rental Airbnb because I was living with
mum and I'm about to move into our place that we kind of half done um but we're hoping we get in
before there's like a potential like lockdown but so I'm in an Airbnb so it's not my area but I'm
like and everyone's like you need it sounds like you need to stop saying hi to people
you need to chill out that's what i get told off for saying hi to people
misha today's like why are you saying hi to everybody because it's like wartime spirit i'm
like we're in this together i'm like hello stranger well i'm doing it for you mum seeing
as you can't come out of the house it's's horrible. I just find it really hard because I've had everyone living with me and everyone's moved out this week.
And I'm on my own. So the people I see most are my next door neighbours who make sure I've got tonic and wine.
And yeah, that's the essentials, really.
How's your mum doing?
Yeah, my mum is good good we were actually quite lucky that
we were up um last weekend in Manchester so we went home um for the weekend and I had to do sport
relief on the on the Friday so we went up and did that and then um Mish my boyfriend was meant to be
away and he it was meant to be on a film in Budapest for a couple of weeks so I was like oh
I'll go for like a longer time in Manchester because he's away.
And then his work got cancelled.
So he came back because of all of this.
And then both of us went up to Manchester and we got to spend like four or five days or something with my mum.
And we went and stayed with my mum and we got to see her and my sister and like the whole family.
My sister had 19 people around for lunch on Sunday.
So we saw like all the grim. Is feeling okay yeah everyone's good everyone's really healthy like
my sister lives a street away from my mum um so my mum goes and visits and stands outside
and he's like hi so um yeah everyone's everyone's good and my mum's um i've made my mum get this app house party
which is basically like it's kind of like zoom or like a communal facetime but you can have like
all your friends on it so you can have like 10 people or something at the same time and there's
all games on it and stuff so i've made my mum download it so me and my mum have been playing
like pictionary together and like my little niece joined us last night for a game of Pictionary.
So I've just been trying to make sure that she's not too alone.
But I think she's going to go and stay with her sisters
because they're like three single gals in their 70s.
So I think they're all going to sort of bunker down together.
I have to say, I saw on your Insta stories,
you did like this big kind of Sunday lunch, it seemed like.
And I saw a really
impressive trifle yes that was my mother's work what does she do that's so special about it i
don't know like i actually don't like trifle sorry what i'm so sorry to to talk like this at a time
like this but um i don't i'm just not really i don't know i've never really liked it i don't
know if it reminds me of school or something um but i actually didn't try the trifle you didn't
try it no i didn't see who is he oh i know we've got it on the back of our cookbook for fuck's sake
we love trifle sorry my husband i'm just gonna have to tell my husband sam babe you're like
literally clattering and i'm trying to be professional. Can you just be a bit quieter, please?
You can turn the kettle on, just close the door.
God, this professionalism, for God's sake.
So what have you found is the thing that you've bought during this corona, you know, going to the shop.
So you're like, I absolutely need this and I can't live without it.
Hobnobs, milk chocolate hobnobs. Ohbs I really with the toffee in or not no not the toffee in just like the do you like the toffee in
yeah oh no I don't know if that's too much too much chew it's nice though um so just regular
milk chocolate hobnobs and we bought load of canned stuff like be like we eat really healthy and like
i do like cooking not like proper cooking but we'll make dinner every night but we've had a
lot of beans we've had bought a lot of cereal pringles i was trying to think what would last
frozen kievs oh i think it might be good retro yeah like a good throwback what are you having tonight what were you cooking
onions is it hot dogs and onions oh I wish I love that uh no tonight we're having a curry
so I've sort of we ate our lunch because it feels a bit like that time of um year in between like
Christmas and New Year's or something at the moment so like all the rules go out the window
yeah like totally
getting fat totally eating like oreos and hobnobs just as i pass them in the cupboard like it's fine
um i'm having a beer right now just like it's christmas um so we ate lunch at 5 p.m today
oh so you're not hungry so we're not actually hungry so you'll have curry at 11 yeah so we're
gonna have curry later so i've started it and I've got sort of
the base going on
and I've not put any vegetables in yet,
but we're going to make,
yeah,
like really yummy veggie curry tonight.
Is it somebody's recipe?
Yeah,
it was from
Wendy Rose book.
Do you know her?
The makeup artist?
Yeah.
How funny.
Yeah,
so she's a makeup artist
and I,
I met her at something.
I met her,
where did I meet her?
I can't remember.
My friend George knew her and I met her at a party and I didn't know she was a makeup artist anything
and I just I properly got on with her I just loved her and um I don't know she brought out
a cookery book and and sent it to me and there's one I have a million cookery books as well and
oh I'll try that oh don't have a blender can't do that. So it's like the easiest thing in her cookbook years ago.
And it's just like a really delicious vegan curry.
And I'm not vegan, but it's dead easy.
And then over the years, like my friends who are really good at cooking have told me to add certain things and use these spices and make a paste first.
So it's kind of a sort of patchwork of various different people's recipes
throughout the years what did you eat when you did sports relief and you did that oh my god it was
actually really yum actually like because we were men are being mongolia doing this sport relief
challenge and then they had to change it so when we're in mongolia the food they were warning us
they were like it's going to be freeze-dried rations because it's so
cold they said you're just going to be out there on the ice nothing can have moisture in it so if
you know because if it does it freeze so we were just like it's going to be kind of like fine but
I was kind of looking forward to actually like a kind of like pot noodley things um but then when
we changed to Namibia um we ended up having like a cook with us
and they made us like really delicious stews every night like really hearty meals like really great
curries and stuff so the food was not the problem at all like the food was great no what was the
problem with sports relief I mean obviously you did amazing things you you raised a lot of money
but you had an absolute mare on the first day yeah it was a
lot it was like we I trained for it like you were saying like I'd been preparing for it for months
and like before Christmas and then for ice skating though no yeah for ice skating and walking as well
like it's a hundred miles but it was flat so I was like oh this will be fun like it'll be long
but you can walk if you have to, you know, for a good cause.
And then it changed to like the other extreme.
It was 43 degrees the first day we started and it was a bike ride.
And I was like, oh, I'll be cool.
I'll be all right on this bike ride.
And then it got to like half five.
We'd set off at like eight or nine in the morning.
And the doctor went past me and she was like, oh, you look weird.
And there's a picture of me actually at that time.
And my skin looks like sort of like an oil spill.
I've never really seen like it's sort of like iridescent, purpley, gray, like not.
I was not a well woman.
And they pulled me and I got like heat exhaustion, which I thought sounds like not that bad.
But it was it was it was really gnarly.
It was really it was properly the most scared and most traumatic thing I've ever, ever experienced.
And then you've got a camera in your face, too.
And you don't have any of your family there.
Yeah. And you don't know anyone like we just landed and like you don't know any of these people or any of the crew.
And I was like, but then they, I mean, it was,
it brought on like a horrible, like physical panic attack
that just went on from probably like six o'clock maybe
to like 11 at night.
But I was like, like this, like, and I was freaking out.
And then the good thing was,
was they had to inject me with Valium.
So I had intravenous Valium.
Oh, that's awesome.
No, it's nice.
It was like a light switch.
I was like, I feel fine.
I want to go out.
I was literally like, oh.
And then after that passed,
I like, it was hard.
And like all day on that Monday, it was hard,
but it was like the right level of hard.
I mean, it was like the hardest thing I've ever done.
But I really thought I'd hate that sort of thing.
But I really don't know.
There was something about that extreme challenge that I really enjoyed.
Like, I didn't think that was me.
You raised so much money and it was amazing.
And I watched the documentary and I feel like.
It was amazing.
Yeah, but fuck that shit
man like that looked fucking hard it was jesse it was so so hard so it wasn't like i was going to a
cycle class no no no no no i will laugh at any other exercise anyone ever asked me to do because
it was it's not like hot i was like how hot can it be, how hot? Can it be hotter than Ibiza? Can it be hotter than like LA?
Yes.
It was like being in an oven for a week
and it was just relentless.
And obviously like sand,
it's like you can't cycle on it.
So it was the hardest thing ever.
But also if you said,
do you want to do it again?
I'd say yeah.
But Grimmie, what did your mum think?
Was she worried about you?
I don't think she was on the way.
I think my mum was quite, oh, he'll be fine.
You know, he goes to his spin classes.
He'll be all right.
And then I think I didn't get to speak to her until the day after I got pulled out of the race.
Like the doctors wouldn't let me do it on the second day.
So I didn't get to speak to her until that evening. And I was really upset. out of the of the race like the doctors wouldn't let me do it for this on the the second day so i
didn't get to speak to her till that evening and i was really upset and i um because you know it was
something that i'd focused on and trained for and i felt like i'd let like the team down and also i
felt like i'd let people down who'd donated so i was having like this like crisis of like oh my god
i've let like all these people down and i'm trying to do this thing and I can't do it so when I called my mum because there was
no phone service like we're 200 miles from the nearest city so we were like nightmare yeah um
no shopping nothing um and when I called her I was like really trying to hold it together and then I
was like oh mum it was really bad and then i like
properly properly cried and i don't think i've like cried to my mom as an adult and i think it
was probably like really traumatic to be called and be like nearly died um but yeah she thought
it was completely insane when she watched the doc she was just like don't do that again do it again
nearly had a heart attack don't do it again. Don't do it again. I nearly had a heart attack.
Don't do it again.
I mean, talking about your mum, growing up, who was cooking the meals?
And what is your kind of earliest memory of food?
Cooking in our house, we'd always, always have a Sunday roast.
Like without fail.
Always.
What would that have? It would be either beef or lamb or pork we'd never really have chicken
and i remember my brother my brother because my brother's 13 years older than me have you met my
brother no i've met your i've met your niece who was on google books with you yeah who is amazing
we love live um but yeah my brother is like the polar opposite to me like he has a skinhead
he's like fucking hell alright
like used to like love
going to the football for a fight
like going down having a fight like loved
it like makes friends with all the
Turkish shopkeepers around here because he like
has this mad knowledge of Galatasaray
and great fights that happened
Man United versus Galatasaray in the 90s
and he's like I I remember that, 96.
It's like the total opposite to me.
So when we were growing up and it'd be Sunday roast,
it'd be like, no chicken, I'm not having chicken.
I want a proper, proper meat.
I don't like chicken.
So we honestly never had chicken.
Because of your loud brother.
And I think it was because of my brother.
Like he just thought that chicken wasn't good enough
for a Sunday roast.
So we always had beef or lamb.
Chicken isn't really a Sunday roast.
Do you think, Jess?
Yeah.
I think it's beef or lamb, really.
You do it a lot.
Yeah, but.
I feel like it's special when you're having lamb or beef.
Yeah.
Because like, I don't know about you.
Like, do you ever have your Yorkshire's with a
chicken roast oh 100% okay fine 100% 100% but go on tell me about your mum cooking so my mum would
do everything and I felt like a Sunday roast like my mum would be cooking for like from Saturday
morning to Sunday at three like it felt like such an event and like the kitchen was a thousand degrees and i just
remember my mom always like emerging sort of beetroot with like two soggy tea towels on her
shoulders like guys it's ready and and everyone had to be like pulled away from like watching
united playing or something she'd be like guys i've done
it and she's shell shocked and doesn't really want to eat anymore and never wants to eat yeah
and she's like polished off a bottle of red so you can go in the kitchen but we'd have everything
my dad didn't cook but my dad's only job was he'd carve and he had like an electric carving knife
that he'd like bring out we kept it in a wicker basket and he'd like bring it down here it is
do you come from a rural area no not at all like all my family from um manchester
yeah my dad's from like miles platten and my mum's from Moss Side. Miles Platten. Yeah. Well, I was brought up in that.
I know that.
Yeah, because I knew that you guys were United fans.
Yeah.
Where are you from?
Prestwich.
Oh, Prestwich.
They're where the Jewish people live.
That's where my friend Molly's from.
She's from Prestwich.
Is she?
Yeah.
Molly Grosberg.
That's where we come from.
She's Jewish.
Oh, you call us, yeah.
Molly.
Love Molly.
Love Molly. Love Molly. I know the Grosberg. Do you? Of course yeah. Moller. We love Moller. Love Moller.
Love Moller.
I know the Grosberg.
Do you?
Of course, we all know everyone.
Do you know what?
We went to, like, my mum and dad, Roman Catholic,
and I went to, like, Roman Catholic primary school and high school.
But my dad, every Sunday, would go to Cheetham Hill
and get bagels from the Jewish baker's.
Oh, the bagels are the best in Manchester.
How funny.
Always have them. Without doubt. Yeah. So what would you have with them on a Sunday? get bagels from the jewish oh the bagels are the best in manchester how funny always without doubt
yeah yeah so what would you have with them on the sunday you'd have like cream cheese smoked salmon
yeah for brekkie on a sunday manchester bagels are the best they're really good and my dad would
go yeah like every sunday and for some reason he'd come back with like 50 it's like yeah of course
why do we need 50 bagels but isn't it funny because
like you live in east london and i'm sure you've had a brick lane bagel and they're pretty good
but nothing compares to manchester bagel no the chewiness the chewiness well our friend amy who
lives on the next street to me she is a new yorker and jewish family and she protests that
you cannot get a bagel or side note a decent mani pedi in this country so that's her two main
grievances and when her family come to stay like her mom and dad ike and carol they stay with me
because we're like a street away.
So they always come and stay here
and they'll come and stay for a few weeks.
And Ike's always like, can't get a bagel.
They're not done it right.
No bagels.
And it is the biggest,
it's one of the most talked about conversations
in this household is where can we get Ike a bagel from?
And they go to various, various different delis.
He doesn't like a Brooklyn bagel.
No, I don't blame him. I understand that. You need to go to Ronnie's various different delis. He doesn't like a Brooklyn bagel. No, I don't blame him.
I understand that.
You need to go to Ronnie's in Golders Green.
Oh, that's what we need to do.
Golders Green.
Yeah, Ronnie's Golders Green.
It's great.
Who does most cooking?
You or your boyfriend? I do most cooking because i really really like it he
loves doing all kinds of housework like he's mad for cleaning oh my god you're the perfect couple
and i i want the house clean but i hate doing it and i love cooking because i think it gives me
like a distraction and it gives me like time to be on my own and not talk.
So I really love cooking and he genuinely enjoys cleaning.
And even if he cooks dinner, I'll say, oh, I'll clean it because you cook dinner.
He's like, no, no, no, let me do it.
Oh, my God.
Marry him.
But if you're doing the evening show, when do you prepare your food before you go out?
No, because I usually get home for like just before eight or something.
And when I was doing breakfast, there were so many years of eating my dinner at like 6 p.m. or something.
Oh, God.
And I felt like a toddler or like a nan or something.
I hated eating at like 6 p.m.
So I now think it's really glamorous to be in dinner
at like 9 p.m do you know what I mean so I we never prepared dinner before we just sort of do
it when we I agree I agree and I love eating late ask Jessie what time she likes to eat oh but babies
maybe yeah bloody kids so okay I'll tell you what I've made tonight so I've I too you know
watched a lot of Instagrams of people being like you know this is you know how you should cook
during corona um and I love Melissa Hemsley and she put she did like a tray bake cauliflower
chickpea curry and I was like okay wow that, that can work. Like, mum, shut up. That's mum taking
the piss because it doesn't have meat in it. So exciting. Oh, piss off. Anyway, like my children
have been living off like pizza and scampi and chips. So I was like, right, I'm going to give
them that. And also it was the podcast. I thought I should probably make an effort. But I gave it to
my children. I put too much chili in it my son was like
my son who can't speak
was like
his first word was
ay caramba
like bless him
poor little thing
and my daughter
took one taste
and she was like
nah
nah
so I basically
polished off their meal
so I've already eaten but I love eating at five o'clock.
I absolutely love it.
Oh, I hate it.
Me too.
I hate it.
I remember we always ate late in our house when we were kids
and I don't know why.
And my mum and dad, who like could not be more working class,
salt of the earth Mancunians,
were like the only thing they were snobby about was like,
number six, eat their dinner at six I completely agree the only thing they were snobby about so unsophisticated
isn't it we'd be having like a findus crispy pancake at 8 p.m and they thought they were like
la-di-da um mum what are you eating tonight I'm now like an old person because I made roast chicken last night
and it was enough for two nights.
But it is my favourite.
I do love roast chicken.
So I've got roast chicken tonight.
That was a difficult chicken to find for you, I tell you, in Peckham.
How did your mish meet?
We met actually in real life, which no one seems to do anymore.
When I was doing my breakfast show, I remember saying to my friend Amy,
like, I'm like, we want to meet someone and it's really hard and I'm doing this show.
And I remember really clearly Amy saying to me a few years ago, she's like, listen,
when you're doing this show, you just need to do that show.
Like, that's your job.
That's your focus.
When you finish, you'll meet someone nice I promise you
so I was like no I just don't know if I am I won't be single or on the radio forever and then I
finished the breakfast show on the Thursday and I met Meshack on the Friday
not kidding she was right Amy she's a prophet she's a prophet. She's a prophet, a soothsayer. Yeah.
And I met him and weirdly, neither of us wanted to go out.
And it was a Friday night.
And I was meant to be going on holiday on the Saturday.
And my friend Makita came around and she said, why don't we just go out tonight?
And I said, I can't because I'm going on holiday tomorrow.
She went, what time's your flight?
I said, 7am.
She went, so you're gonna have to wake up and be at the airport for 6am.
She said, what are you doing?
You just finished the breakfast show.
Stop with the earlies.
Stop, cancel it and come out with me.
And I said, I can't, the flight's at 7.
She went, just get another one.
We're going out.
So I was like, okay.
And so we went out and we went to
the pub and then when we got to the pub then she's like you just gotta pop into this club with me I
was like no I'm not going to a club she said just just come to this club with me she did for half
an hour I was like okay which club was it it was at this club called Metropolis in Hackney which
is this old strip club and um it used to be like a gentleman's club if you will
and then now it's turned into this like really fun gay night so they do a really fun night on
a Friday and a really fun night on a Saturday and on the Friday they do a night called Dollar Baby
and um that's hosted by this really great really fun really talented DJ drag queen called Jodie
Harsh and Jodie was one of the first people who employed
me actually in London when I was like 21. Really? Yeah Jodie I used to DJ at Jodie's
night circus in Soho and I'd be the resident DJ. Oh my god you are so cool Nick you are so cool.
I'd do that when I was like 21. Anyway so we thought we'll go there and Makita wanted to go
and as we were in the queue to like come in the queue was on
one side and the smoking area was opposite the queue so makita's in front of me we get to the
front she goes in and then i went in and as i went in i saw mishak smoking and when i got into the
club makita went oh my god there's a guy outside who i think needs to be your husband and i went
oh my god i just saw
him too so she's like okay so we went to the bar and we got a drink okay let's just make this happen
and then misha came in we didn't know his name then obviously and misha came in and then makita
just was like let's just go and introduce ourselves i was like absolutely no way we'll
just ignore him all night and she's like like, no, I'm going over.
So she went over and just shoulder barged him and was like, oh, I'm so sorry.
What's your name?
And he was like, oh, Meshack.
And she's like, oh, so sorry.
And then she was like, this is my friend, Nick.
And then she said to me, oh, feel Meshack.
He's wearing suede.
So I had to like physically touch his arm like that.
And then I was like, wow.
And then she was like wow and then she was
like I think we should all go for a cigarette together so let's go out and I remember going
out so on it she was so on it and I remember going outside and the lighting was like floodlit
and I remember being like oh my god this is rude lighting like it was like actual flood lighting
meat market lighting I was like oh my god and then we ended up like having a really fun night
and I was like did not want to go out ended up like having a really fun night and I was
like did not want to go out Meshack also didn't want to go out he didn't want to go to the club
and he was in the same situation that his friend had dragged him there as well and he didn't want
to be there so we sort of bonded over the fact that we didn't want to be there and then we ended
up staying there till 6am just me and him talking And then I didn't go on holiday the next day or the next day after that.
Because you were just hanging out with Misha?
Yeah.
Oh, and the rest is history.
And the rest is history.
How long have you been together?
Like over a year and a half.
So it's like August 2018.
I feel like even though you are quite young,
like you have lived a London life.
Like the fact that you
you came like the bright lights of the sun coming from Manchester and you come and you get you kind
of get pulled into this very it crowd you know Kate Moss uh Queens of Noise Sadie Frost it was
like you were right in there and I just kind of wonder what it's like for a 20 what three-year-old from Manchester
coming in and then being 20 21 22 when I moved I think did you always want to come to London
uh yeah I always wanted to come to London I I always the thing that drove me was I always loved
music and I always wanted to have music on and my brother and sister always played great music and I
used to try every instrument and I could
never play it and I still now if I can't do something instantly I'd like don't want to do it
like me she's learning to knit and I'm like that was stupid I don't want to do it so I was like
that with instruments um and and so I thought the next best thing was being a DJ basically
but I used to when as a kid be like I'd be like oh my god I'm gonna be a singer like Jessie Ware I'd be like yeah just like you Jess I guess like you uh I don't know when I was
a kid I was like oh my god I want to be a singer and then my voice was absolutely horrific so I
thought DJ was the next best thing because you'd get to you know be at gigs and be at festivals
and and be around music all the time and then um yeah I don't know like I remember just
really falling in love with John Peel on Radio One and listening to him at night times and then
I started listening to Sarah Cox doing The Breakfast Show and I just remember thinking like
that is so fun and so in fact DIY as well like both of them are amazing at their jobs but they're
not like polished they're so charming and they're're sort of imperfect, which is why they're so great.
And I remember being like 11 and being like, I want to do the Radio 1 Breakfast Show and being really specific about it.
And telling my brother's wife, Leanne, like, oh, I want to do this.
And she's like, why don't you do it? And I it's a bit silly though isn't it it's like saying you want to be an astronaut or be a
footballer and Leanne is my was my brother's ex-wife now but she was like um she was like a
doer and a go-getter and she just said to me like people are footballers and people are astronauts
so just figure it out like what do you need to do so I was like I don't
know I need to like probably like practice doing radio and like meet some music people and move to
London she's like do it then and I was like 11 and I was like okay 11 what did you do at university
I went when my mum and dad were like very keen that I went to uni and did a proper degree like did law or um they'd want me to go and do
like yeah law or business studies was sort of the aim so I wanted to go and do a media studies degree
and my dad was like not a chance like no way like you don't need a degree in it and I was like well
maybe I won't go to uni and they're like well you've got to go to uni because that's how you do so I found this degree at Liverpool University it was the first year of of it happening where they
did a business and media like joint honours thing and my dad was like joint honours in a proper
degree you need to go to a red brick and do a proper degree so I ended up convincing him and
I went and did yeah business and media at Liverpool.
That's good.
Yeah.
So I thought it was like half and half.
Did you enjoy Liverpool?
I loved Liverpool.
Like I really, really, really loved it.
And my brother was like, could not believe that I was going to Liverpool.
Like as a diehard United fan, he was like, you're a traitor.
You're a traitor.
And I was just like, I don't like football.
So I'm just going because it's down the road.
So yeah, I proper loved Liverpool
because it was quite like Manchester.
It reminded me of like, of Manchester
and I love Scousers.
I love like the whole vibe there,
like really, really suited me.
It was like perfect at the time
for me to go to uni there, I think.
So when you were a student um and then
when you moved to London what were you living off pasta and cheese like the rest of pasta and pesto
like the rest of us yeah when I was at uni um we lived in a house there was nine of us in a house
oh Jesus and we all lived in a house and just used to go out like constant. I don't think I drank water for three years.
Honestly, just was out, out.
Like so going out a lot.
And going to raves for days.
And just like, I just like really was not healthy.
But I guess that's what you meant to do at university, I think.
But eating-wise, I remember the day my friend Grania told me at uni that flapjacks weren't healthy.
And I was like, yeah, they are.
And she went, it's oats.
And she's like, it's sugar and syrup.
I was like, flapjacks is like diet food.
And she was like, no, it's not.
I was like, yeah, it is.
So I was just eating like flapjacks, sandwiches, pasta, McDonald's, no water, beer, cider.
And then, yeah, when I moved to London, I remember when I moved to London, actually,
some of the food that people introduced me to in London, like I'd straight up never heard of.
And it was stuff like mung beans and like alfalfa sprouts.
I don't think I'd had like an avocado or anything.
I honestly don't think I had
um but when I moved down I worked at MTV I didn't have any money I was an intern at MTV for a year
and then I used to DJ as well um but I DJ for four hours and get like 75 quid and I remember
like eating like collecting change to go and go to the shop and be like what can i eat and i'd eat
like a diet of freddos like i remember being like freddos 10p i'll get a few freddos and then i'll
go and dj for jodie harsh it's so bad it's like gives me anxiety when i think back to those times
um i want to know we ask all our guests but what would be on your last supper um you've got a
starter main pud and drink of choice oh i'd go starter i might go for a classic prawn cocktail
like i love you're not the first and you won't be the last or i'd go for some sort of black pudding
thing like sometimes you're gonna get like a black pudding creamy what black pudding thing. Like sometimes you're going to get like a black pudding. Grimy.
What?
Black pudding.
I love black pudding.
I do too.
So good.
Really, really love it.
Is there a particular place that you absolutely love to have it?
No, I will eat any.
I think actually like the worse, the better. Like I sometimes, oh no, where was that posh place we went?
I would eat any black pudding, but we did go to like this posh,
you guys don't know the name of it,
it's Raymond Blanc's restaurant in Oxfordshire.
Quatre Saisons.
What's it?
The one that we wanted to get to.
Quatre Saisons.
Le Manoir.
Le Manoir.
Le Manoir.
Yeah, you had a lovely weekend there.
I saw that.
So we went there
and I don't normally like fussy food.
Like I don't eat,
I don't enjoy any posh food.
And the food there was really, really posh.
And he has like two Michelin stars.
Obviously, it was delicious and phenomenal and like such an experience.
But the thing that was the highlight was the next morning I ordered a fry up and it came with black pudding.
I've never tasted anything like it in my life. It was the best was the next morning i ordered a fry up and it came with black pudding i've never tasted anything like it in my life it was the best black pudding so i'd start with raymond
blanc's black pudding there you bloody go that makes me look like you've changed i know yeah
i'm really normal so raymond blanc's black pudding and I'd have that. I think my favorite meal is a quarter pounder from McDonald's.
Like nothing brings me more joy.
Creamy.
Than a quarter pounder from McDonald's.
You're the first person that's done this.
And I love you for it.
I love it.
I love it because you know exactly what you're going to get.
And I find it really, really comforting.
I can still remember my first McDonald's because my mum was very anti me going.
I remember my sister taking me to McDonald's in Oldham.
So I think it's a mixture of nostalgic and also factually delicious.
So I just I don't know.
I find it like really comforting having a McDonald's.
But don't you get hungry straight after like within about a quarter of an hour?
No, I don't know.
I know people do because people are always like, it doesn't fill you up.
But I, and maybe I get too much.
But when I got back from Namibia and we've been in the desert, that was what we did.
We got into bed and at McDonald's and watched a film.
It was my dream.
That is my favourite meal.
So will it be just the quarter pounder, like with fries and drink?
With fries and sweet and sour sauce is my favourite.
Oh my God.
It's so good.
I know.
I mean, I like the barbecue sauce, but I never go to sweet and sour.
Oh, sweet and sour or sweet curry.
I love as well.
You are Northern.
Yeah, it's really Northern.
I feel like you've really balanced out your, you know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, you've got Raymond there
and then you've got a quarter pounder and I was genuinely thinking about this because I knew I was
coming on and I know you guys asked this and I was like I can't think of something nicer like I've
been to nice restaurants I've ate nice I don't think I that makes me the happiest so I thought
rather than say an annoying food thing I thought I'd be honest. And then drink of choice?
I mean, I always try to like wine and I don't mind a wine.
I like a rosé in the summer.
A whispering angel.
I love a whispering angel.
Got it here.
And I remember once, actually, we went on holiday, the gang of us, years ago.
And we were pretty young and we didn't know anything about wine.
And we got this, I was DJing.
And when we were out there, they were like, what wine would you like?
I was like, I don't know.
I don't know.
So I looked at the wine list and I was like, I don't know.
And then I saw someone having Whispering Angel.
And I was like, oh, my God, get that.
Because my friend has that. And then I saw someone having Whispering Angel. And I was like, oh my God, get that. Because my friend has that.
And she's like, she's rich.
So that must be nice wine.
So we got that.
And it was, we were in the Maldives where they have to like ship everything in.
So it was $150 for a bottle.
And I was like, yeah, but do you know what, guys?
We're on our holiday.
Let's just do it.
It's dead nice wine.
My friend drinks it.
She's dead.
She was not going to drink shit wine.
Got it.
We drank like however many bottles of it.
We got the bill.
We were like, do you know what?
We've had this posh wine.
Then we got back and it's like, it's like 11 quid in Tesco.
And then my friend who I told this story to, was like i don't like nice wine i just like that
it's like 12 quid a summer so um i do like a rose but i think my favorite drinks beer i love a beer
what are you drinking now i'm having a peroni but only because we're out of asahi's so i'd
actually go for an asahi japanese lager is my favorite and then pud pud I'd go for I really like an apple pie
like I know that's a bit basic or whatever but a really really good apple pie or an apple crumble
I really really enjoy I don't really love desserts like I'm not a crazy as discussed earlier with the
trifle debacle I'm not like crazy for sweet stuff, but apple pie, I love.
Like a good homemade custard.
Homemade custard?
No, no, no, no, no.
Homemade apple pie and then custard, yeah.
Okay, lovely.
Can you make custard at home?
Yeah, you make it with eggs and sugar,
but yeah, but you just, you use custard powder.
We just use birds.
Yeah, no, yeah.
Yeah.
Just buy it.
Have you got good table manners?
Do you know what?
I think I do have good table manners.
I think I have good manners.
I remember getting in trouble with our elbows on the table when I was a kid.
Yeah.
But I think that's like conversational.
I always would say to my mum, I say, look, it's quite Italian.
And she's like, well, you're not Italian.
I'd be like, I just think we should have our elbows on the table and she's like no elbows off so my my dad he did
he never ever cooked but my dad would always set the table every single night we would have the
table set with a tablecloth knife and fork and everything like he would have it like immaculate
and so you weren't allowed like your elbows on the table you weren't allowed to eat on your knee you weren't allowed to eat watching the telly or anything and now I sometimes do still struggle with eating
watching the telly like most nights we will sit at the the dining room table and me and me shouldn't
eat like you get catholic guilt yeah get catholic guilt um but yeah good manners the only thing I
don't like in the manners world is and i think we should
get rid of it but i'm ready for thoughts on this is like waiting for others oh yeah like i don't
mind it if i'm serving up i i think it's worse to make someone wait if i'm serving up and there's
loads of people around for a roast i might just start and people are like no, that makes me feel sad that you're just not eating that Yorkshire pudding.
And I'm still doing something with peas.
We had, we had Keith of Sutherland on.
And he said that it's actually good table manners to start.
Because.
It's hot.
You want your guests to eat their food when it's hot.
Yeah.
So actually it's very good table manners to start as soon as you get
your food, which makes a lot of sense to me. It's inviting just to be like, just start.
Absolutely. Do you have a karaoke song?
I love going to karaoke. Like I really, really love it because I love singing and I have
the most, it's like flatter than my talking voice. It's horrible.
I think you've got a gorgeous voice actually.
No, but it's not for singing. no I do I love listening to you it's like I did it once in New York karaoke and genuinely the guy who ran the karaoke bar was like can you not sing again like it's that is so unfair
and he was like just it's not really it sounds bad and I was like i'm not i'm not coming in there saying i'm celine dion um so we at karaoke i love rapping stuff i love doing little kim um i attempt eminem but eminem
is always hard but recently um me and mish went to our friends she always has a karaoke birthday
and i respect for that and we performed a stunning rendition of tonyxton's Unbreak My Heart Oh wow. Yeah, it was very special
It's the best, that song
It gets a lot of emotion
Unbreak my heart
Say you'll love me forever
Love me again. Oh is it again, not forever?
Yeah. Again
So Grim, thank you
Stay strong, keep giving us the music
Keep making scarves
Meshack
we will
and I'll see you
on the other side
when we're about
two stone heavier
please
please please
and when this is all over
I really want
one of the first places
I come to
is your house
for this suit
oh my god
you're on
really serious
be safe
wash your hands
and
and we'll see you soon.
Thanks so much, Graham.
Thank you so much, guys.
Well, you know, I feel like this was a brilliant trial to how...
He was so lovely and so natural.
He's just a lovely, lovely person.
I love him so much.
He's the best and he's so brilliant and he's brilliant on the radio
and he's just funny and generous and kind and sweet.
And he looks... He's just terrific fun.
Yeah, he is.
But thank you so much, Nick Grimshaw,
for coming on to Table Manners via the internet,
via us not all being in the same room.
Table Manners special circumstances.
Oh my God, is that what we're going to call it?
Yeah, I think so.
That's quite good.
Yeah.
Thank you so much to everybody who's listened.
We will try and keep this going for as long as we can.
And as long as you want it.
Please stay safe.
Please wash your hands.
Please stay at home.
My brother is an anaesthetics doctor and...
Is working in intensive care.
And really, honestly, it's no joke what's going on in there.
And it's incredibly hard hearing the stories that he's telling us and how overwhelmed and exhausted they all are.
So please stay at home.
But on a lighter note, thank you for joining us for this trial run of Table Manners Remotely Special Circumstances.
I love that, Mum.
Table Manners Special Circumstances.
Wash your damn hands and we'll see you again soon.
Lots of love.
Bye.
I love that Mum's waving at the screen
oh sorry
no
thank you for listening
the music you've heard
on Table Manners
is by Peter Duffy
and Pete Fraser
Table Manners is produced
by Alice Williams