Ep 276: Emily Campbell

James, huge news from the world of off-menu and indeed the world of the world.

Yes.

Ever heard of the Royal Albert Hall?

I have.

We've done live shows there.

And guess what?

We're doing more live shows there next year.

Sure, a lot of them are sold out already.

But we thought, hey, throw these guys a bone.

Let's put on one final Royal Albert Hall show in that run.

The show will be on Monday, the 16th of March.

It's going to be a tasting menu, a returning guest coming back, receiving the menu of another previous guest.

Those shows have been a lot of fun.

We cannot wait to do them live.

Who will we pull out of our little magic bag?

You'll have to come along on the 16th of March to find out.

If I'm correct in thinking, presale tickets go on pre-sale on the 10th of September.

Pre-sale tickets are 10th of September at 10 a.m.

And then the general sale is 12th of September at 10 a.m.

So if you miss out on the pre-sale, don't forget general sale is only two days later.

The day in between is for reflecting.

Get your tickets from royalalberthall.com Hall.com or offmenupodcast.co.uk.

Did you know adults 60 plus lose more than $60 billion each year to financial exploitation?

Green Light's new Family Shield plan empowers you to monitor your accounts for suspicious activity, protect yourself with up to $1 million identity theft coverage, and reassure loved ones that you're safe with location sharing and place alerts.

Get peace of mind today at greenlight.com/slash protect.

That's greenlight.com/slash protect.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with select phone trade-in and my plan and lock down a low price for three years on any plan with my plan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Let's be real.

Life happens.

Kids spill.

Pets shed.

And accidents are inevitable.

Find a sofa that can keep up at washable sofas.com.

Starting at just $699, our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out.

So you can say goodbye to stains and hello to worry-free living.

Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics.

They're kid-proof, pet-friendly, and built for everyday life.

Plus, changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want.

Neat flexibility?

Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa anytime to fit your space, whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment.

Plus, they're earth-friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers.

It's time to upgrade to a stress-free, mess-proof sofa.

Visit washablesofas.com today and save.

That's washablesofas.com.

Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Our public schools are a place where all kids feel like they belong.

My children, my family, my community.

All students.

All students.

All students belong in a great public school.

Let's get ready for back to school at nea.org/slash back to school.

Welcome to the Off-Menu podcast, taking the Weetabix of Conversation.

Yes.

Pouring over the cold milk of chat

and sprinkling on the raisins of humour.

Raisins.

Ah, yes.

Very nice way to have your Ouieta Bix.

This morning.

Paul Foot.

This morning I didn't have my usual supplies for my Ouietabix, so I went with dried mango and grapes.

Hello.

Not really the best combo.

The grapes actually...

Well, the grapes are juicy and the dried mango is chewy yeah yeah so you've gone for a wild variety what i'd usually go for i just went for what was in the the kitchen oh i've got those up to hand i'll have them but like yes it wasn't i think you go one or the other on those really yeah i think so i should have done that i think it'd be grapes for me Yeah, well, I don't know.

Yeah, anyway.

That's it, Gamble.

My name is James A.

Caster.

Together

we own a dream restaurant and every single week we invite a guest in and ask in their favourite ever start and make us dessert, cider shan drink, not in that order.

And and this week our guest is emily campbell

if you watch the olympics you will know emily campbell she is a medal winning weightlifter phenomenal phenomenal absolutely incredible she's won medals in the last two olympics yeah she is so fantastic i've met emily before on the show great british menu

She loves talking about food.

She's great fun.

I can't wait for this episode.

Yeah, very excited.

Is this our first Olympian?

Yes, I believe it is our first Olympian, James.

Very excited.

So not our last.

Not our last, please.

If any other Olympians are listening,

not any other.

Huh?

Not any other.

Not any other.

They've got to be a laugh as well.

Yeah, you've got to be a laugh.

Yeah.

Very laugh.

They're skateboarders or something.

Skateboarders are cool.

Yeah.

No, hopefully some more Olympians to come, but so excited to have Emily on.

Yeah, really excited.

And look, even though we're excited...

as possibly two little boys can be,

we will kick Emily out of the dream restaurant if she chooses a a secret ingredient, an ingredient which we deem to be unacceptable.

And this week, the secret ingredient is...

Cream of chicken, Campbell's soup.

Cream of chicken, Campbell's soup.

Campbell's, Emily Campbell.

But we've already done Campbell's soup because it was Babatunde, Alescher's secret ingredient, because he was wearing the off-menu Campbell's soup t-shirt.

You'd think it would have been Sam Campbell's secret ingredient.

It wasn't.

Too late.

We should have done it for Babatunde.

Yeah, but then apparently we're okay.

We're using it now.

Yeah.

We should have done it for Sam and done a specific flavour.

Yeah.

And then done a different specific flavour for Emily.

And then everyone who's called Campbell should have always done a different flavour of Campbell's soup.

Yeah.

Which we're going to do from now on.

Yeah.

So watch out, Alistair.

Alistair, Bruce.

There's so many Campbell's we've still got to have on.

There's two.

Yeah.

Any others?

Yeah.

Who?

Max Campbell went and schooled him.

Hey, Max Campbell.

He's the ultimate Campbell.

Yeah.

Campbell sounds a bit like Gamble, I suppose, as well.

Yeah.

Campbell and Gamble.

Were you hanging out together?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We were a good game.

Max Campbell and Ed Gamble.

Yeah, yeah.

Fucking hell, that would have have been funny.

Many people think Gamble is actually a derivation of Campbell.

I would not have been able to get over that.

Campbell and Gamble.

If I went to school with Campbell and Gamble and they were running around.

And also, Max Campbell and Ed Gamble as well.

There's something about those names.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

I would not have been able to get over it.

I would have found it so funny.

I think he might listen to this as well.

So, hello.

Look, mate, it's funny.

And, like, if I ever have to leave this podcast, you know, let's say, I don't know, maybe, maybe I'll die before Ed.

Max Campbell, you've got to replace me.

Right, should we get on with the episode now, James?

Yes, yeah, yeah.

Enough of our nonsense.

We have an Olympian to talk to.

This is the off-menu menu of Emily Campbell.

Welcome, Emily, to the Dream Restaurant.

Thank you very much for having me.

Welcome, Emily Campbell, to the Dream Restaurant.

I've been expecting you for some time.

Finally,

I heard the queue was long, so I'm glad you finally let me in.

Yeah, well, do you like queuing?

Hate queues?

No, it's very British thing, isn't it?

Really frustrates me.

Like, I was going on training camp to Tenerife, and everybody's queuing just for the sake of queuing.

Then they're announcing that the flight's going to leave, so I start going through the queue.

Everyone's getting really mad at me.

I'm like, well, you guys can stand here.

I'm going to get on the flight that's just about to leave.

It's just, we just queue because we think we should queue.

Like, there's actually no real purpose to it.

Yeah, somebody, why you stood there?

I don't actually know because everyone else has stood there.

Flights are the maddest ones as well.

They try everything.

They give you a group number number to board.

They do it by row number.

No matter what they do, everyone's just standing up queuing.

Yeah.

Drives me up a lot.

Stressed as hell.

Yeah.

Also, if you've not got much luggage, it's really great to just like sit there and watch everyone and be like, look at these idiots.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Queuing for a seat that you've paid for is beyond me.

It's like you've paid for that seat.

That is yours.

No one else has taken it.

I've been sat there for like an hour.

And I'm like, yeah,

I think it's a very British thing, definitely.

I think you should just walk on the plane if you're one of those people who doesn't queue and just sit down and when the person arrives be like i'll beat you here you should have been further ahead of the queue yeah sorry i'm playing by your rules yeah sorry that you're in the window seat yeah it's my row now

i reckon you could pull that off emily yeah you could be just show your bronze medal yeah and just be like look i win yeah sorry flight center said this is my seat now do you put that in your carry-on or in the or in your do you check it in your luggage great question because i would think like that's going to affect the the weight either way that's a hefty medal yeah no definitely not that it's a problem for you you're a weightlifter but you know what you where you're putting it yeah no definitely carry on yeah because um obviously you know you've seen how they throw them suitcases in the in the bottom there's just like a little you know fling and you know you get about 10 000 dents by the time you get your suitcase back on you so yeah keep it keep it with you there's like a trend where a lot of the athletes like put it on underneath them then go through the scanner and obviously it goes off and then they go oh sorry

and then pull it out it's quite funny to be fair i've never done it myself personally but i've seen it on the the seen it on the grab have you ever tried to get an upgrade by wearing the medal at check-in um

no i did i did on the way back from tokyo which was pretty cool but that was just because like they already knew but i do have the rings tattooed on the inside of my arm so sometimes you know it's just a quick fix of the hair or something do you know what i mean so they're not too obvious and then they're like oh what do you do and i'm like oh well it was funny you ask

yeah but i could do that yeah you get tattoos all the time yeah i could just get one and then see if it works that's it yeah no one no one will ever know yeah but then if they say what sport do you do then i have to make something up you do and i don't know let's get your story straight now then yeah but what so what sport do you think i could say and potentially get away with it with a i mean you could say equestrian yeah okay the two posh's ones all right

i i i was at king's cross st pancras uh or just st pancras actually uh when uh you know they're two rival uh boroughs uh i was in st pancreas

have you been there it's nuts like a side story um i was at st pancras when everyone came back from the Olympics this year and everyone was wearing their medals.

And I didn't know it was going to happen.

I wasn't there to greet all the athletes or nothing.

I'd say goodbye to my friend and sent him off to Ketwin.

He wasn't even wearing a medal.

And then turned around and all these people with Team GB t-shirts.

And I was like, oh, that's cool.

People have got the merch.

And then I realised they're also wearing medals.

It was all of you had come back.

All of us.

On the Eurostar.

Yeah.

I think that might have been.

I might have been in that queue.

I didn't see you.

Another queue.

Yeah, yeah, because another queue for us all to get out.

Yeah, they make a a big thing of it and make you aware.

We had like a homecoming Eurostar and it was all, it was all going on.

I mean, carriage one was not the most exciting, though.

We was all so tired that all of us just fell asleep and this guy came up with his guitar and Team GB was like, I don't think you want to go in there because if they beat you up, I can't help you.

So he just stood at the door and went, okay.

And we just literally was all conked out.

But apparently, down the rest of the train, they had a great time.

They was partying.

We saw footage and we was like, wow, can't believe that was the same train.

What was the craziest carriage?

Which athletes like throw down hard i think it was actually the rowers you know the rowers were really going for it rowers and i think the hockey lot were in there as well yeah but they were having a riot party yeah it was it was all going down and yeah i just saw it on social media later and i was like wow didn't know that was the same train well the rowers they know i mean they never get to see like people's faces half the time so it must have been nice just to be like in a carriage and partying with everyone rather than just looking at the back of someone's head and sitting down it's pretty boring it's a fair point to be fair and they they all came back as well because they was finished so a lot of people came back for the closing ceremony which honestly, I wouldn't have bothered, but

it was uh, it was interesting.

Um, but yeah, a lot of people came back.

So, it was a little more of a like a united front because a lot of people had gone home because they'd finished like a week ago or whatever.

So, they'd gone home.

And obviously, because it was only Paris, people just popped back on the Eurostar and came back, so it was a bit of a bigger crew to go.

So, yeah, we had quite a homecoming train, which was pretty cool.

So, yeah, you probably got to see a little snippet of that.

Yeah, I was very excited.

Yeah, felt like I was watching proper history, you know, when coming back.

I saw one of the rowers actually having a selfie with someone, but she didn't look happy about it.

To be fair to her.

I'd also seen her be interviewed on TV and being like,

this is

bullshit, man.

She was like,

she liked winning the gold medal, but she was like, this press stuff afterwards couldn't absolutely go efforts.

It's true.

Everyone doesn't remind you of what comes with when you get a medal.

You get really excited about the medal and then you realise what actually comes with it.

And it's like kind of obligatory.

And you're like,

I mean, you can't press out and say, you know what, I don't want to do press.

I don't want to do do it but then you just like a dick though don't you yeah you don't speak to anybody so you can't win either weekend you're you've got to be just miserable and get through it

we um we haven't had many athletes on the podcast so we don't haven't really got to talk about you know the diet of an athlete and like how you know what when you're a weightlifter What's it look like?

When you're eating and like you're getting ready for a competition, does it change?

No, it's pretty much the same to be fair.

But it's just a lot of food all the time.

So it's like, I have this real like love-hate relationship with food because I'm Caribbean.

So food is like everything.

Like, you know, every time we have a party, food has to be immaculate.

Else, you know, it's just not a good party and things like that.

So I've grown up like eating really great food and love food.

But then obviously when I became an athlete, I'm super heavyweight.

So I had to keep my body weight up to a certain like level.

And just eating is a chore.

Like it's just when you finish eating and you still fall, it's like eat again.

Like it's, I can't remember the last time I felt hungry.

So that way it's, it gets to a point where you're like, I'm not actually sure what hunger feels like because you literally still fall from the snack that you've just eaten and then it's lunchtime and then you've got to eat another snack before training.

And then after training, probably the first time that you feel hungry because you've done obviously a workout for like two hours and then you eat that and then it's 45 minutes later, it's dinner time.

And then it's pre-bed snack.

And it's just, yeah, it just doesn't stop.

I mean, I have a fantastic nutritionist.

Like, she is excellent.

Like, she's so good.

And she's so good at trying to vary things and keep it exciting because she knows we have to eat a lot.

But yeah, sometimes it's just, get it, it down y'all that pre-bed one would kill me the most i think the pre-beds the pre-bed pre-oh yeah it's got to be 30 minutes essentially before you fall asleep uh-huh so then that's the so it's working overnight basically what's the pressure there though and falling asleep because i if i know i've got to get to sleep at a certain time i can't i'll lay there awake but if i'm like right i've had my pre-bed snack in that 30 minutes i've got to be asleep yeah i can't relate sorry i'm like fall asleep like anywhere kind of person at any time like i I have a real skill for sleeping I don't know if it's a skill or if I should get it checked out I'm not sure I might on the border of it but I could literally be chilling like having a conversation with someone the next minute I'm fast asleep well we'll see what happens later on in this episode so

just start boring me guys sorry I don't think I'd want that characteristic if I was a weightlifter yeah if I if I was halfway through a competition if I've got the weights above my my head and I doze off I'm in trouble yeah that's why you take a lot of caffeine don't worry about that we would do that to counteract that that happening but yeah but no you haven't sometimes it's nice to have a nap before as well because we weigh in two hours before and then you just got this horrible time where you just sat there waiting there's nothing ready to do you can't warm up too early or you can't do anything so it's just like eat a little bit of something and then sometimes i think oh you know what get a quick 20 minutes in power nap wake up and then ready to go so pre-nap snap snack pre-nap snack yeah so that would probably be like so on competition day is a little bit different in terms of like depending on when you compete she'll like basically collate me like a table and tell me exactly what time to eat everything so that's normally like it's not really exciting to be fair because she pulls you off fiber she pulls you off spice and everything that like stops you from absorbing carbs properly um spice stops you from absorbing carbs yeah sometimes yeah it's it's not sometimes if you if you're like a gut that doesn't agree with it or whatever or you're not used to it yeah sometimes it can interfere with the way that you like absorb stuff so yeah she pulls you off that so normally it's like a chicken sandwich with mayo but you know sometimes the the staples do the job don't they you know you can't you can't go wrong as long as the chicken's not dry because there is nothing worse in life than dry chicken.

Completely agree.

Like, that poor chicken did not deserve to die for it to be dry and unseasoned.

Do you know what I mean?

Like,

that's the stuff that kind of makes me think, you know what, I'll go vegetarian because, like, how are you going to destroy the chicken like that for it not to be even just treated with a little bit of care?

Like, do you know what I mean?

That's my opinion.

Yeah, no,

I think that poor dry chicken probably make a lot of people go veggie.

We all start with still the sparkling water still water if you drink sparkling water you're a psychopath yeah

standard it's not nice you can't convince anybody that it's nice it's just not that we have a lot of guests on this that absolutely love sparkling water

are they all psychopaths yeah absolutely absolutely yeah or they're just doing it to please their friends or something it's not nice also i think anytime we do have like people who are like like sports people or whatever on they choose still water because they're not drinking sparkling and then going and exercise because you've got to drink a lot of water as well yeah absolutely i mean i'm not going to front like water in general is just not the nicest really like i'm one of those like i'm a squash person yeah like i've got those little like travel ones and you know i have a little but i'd rather drink squash than drink water water's just boring isn't it it's just there for hydration we'll let you have squash as your water course if we want yeah would you yeah oh that's great yeah i love like a um like an orange and pineapple nice or a tropical or something along those lines yeah solid oh that's good.

That just got better, didn't it, already?

Do you want one of those squeezy little pouches?

Is that what you're talking about?

The little squeezes?

They're just convenient, aren't they?

But, you know, any

squash works.

You don't want to go double strength, really, because you don't want it to be like weak.

Crazy, the double strength, man.

It is.

You have to be really careful with that, you know, because if you get a bit too, it can get a bit too, bit too much.

You go to space.

It's crazy.

Yeah.

I have my really sweet as well, apparently, because I remember once we was catching a flight and I was with a couple of the lads that we was going to an international and I said, oh, come on, finish this, because I can't finish it all.

And they were like, Emily, what the hell is that?

Like, how much juice is in there?

And I was like, Are these white?

Are these white boys?

Yeah, these are weird.

These big boys, problem big boys, yeah, because I travel with all the heavyweights, so all the heavyweight boys.

I was like, Just finish that.

And they were like, That is awful, Emily.

They was like, Have you got half a bottle of squash in there?

And I was like, No, like, I didn't even think it was that sweet as I've been drinking it my whole life.

You're hardcore,

yeah,

you're strong like the squash, yeah.

That's what you gotta tell them.

Wow,

go and tell those boys this squash is stronger than you guys.

Yeah, wow, I'm gonna go put that in my hinge profile.

Have you ever got one of those little pouches and thought about shot in it?

Yeah.

Oh, no, that is pretty.

Wow.

You went to a dark place for that, didn't you?

I bet someone said it.

Shotting squash.

Someone must have done it.

Someone's got to have done it.

Someone definitely.

What does that squirt in the mouth?

You know how some, like, you see some weightlifters, they use like smelling salts or something.

We do, yeah.

You could do it instead of that.

You could just get a shot, shot it, and then go for a one rep max.

Maybe we've been getting it wrong the whole time.

Maybe squash has been the one.

Did you not know about the smelling salts?

I don't know.

Smelling salts.

Was that if you pass out?

Well, yeah, that's used because weightlifters do pass out a lot, especially in the cleaning jerks.

Sometimes if you have a heavy clean, you can get like, and then obviously the bars here.

So then if you don't, like, sometimes if you have to look down to like try and release your ear wings a little bit.

But yeah, just in general, it just kind of wakes you up and just gets you like a little bit alert or whatever.

So yeah.

And then obviously on the market now, there's stupid strong ones.

Like they're getting crazy with making them.

Because obviously once we've made something, we have to make it like 10 times worse, don't we?

So yeah, there's like some really, really like strong ones but yeah most weightlifters you will see use uh sniffing salts i don't tend to use them on the snatch but i use them on the cleaning jokes so it looks i it's the most stressful sport to watch

i'm just like you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna crumple i can really see the stress in your eyes as well you look really worried every time every time you lift it lift it i'm like are you fucking kidding me

you're gonna you're gonna fall over it's gonna trap you Like,

especially when you put it on the front.

When it's on the back, it looks that's bad enough.

But when it's on the front and your wrists are bending backwards and it's basically going to cut your head off.

I'm like, what are they doing?

But you know they train so it's not going to trap them, right?

They're going to fall over.

But they're pushing themselves.

You got a PB.

I'm like, shit, done that before.

Is that wise?

What are you doing?

I mean, if you're going to get a PB, do it at the Olympics.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, I would love to disagree with everything you're saying, but you've actually got some really strong points.

Some really fair points.

Yeah.

Would you drop it on the floor at the end?

Yeah, that's the fun bit, though.

That's the fun bit.

That's going to bounce up and hit someone in the face, wouldn't it?

Well, if it, yeah, if it's too light, but if it's heavy enough, it'll grind.

Oh, you're going to drop it on your feet.

That's what I always think.

When you're going, bam, like that.

Yeah.

Well, as long as you keep your feet inside the bar, and obviously, the bar's like that much off the floor, so the bar will never hit your feet.

Even like if you fall back with it as well, as long as you keep your head on the floor, the bar will just roll straight over your head because of the height it is off the floor.

So you're all right with that.

But yeah, I mean, yeah,

there's been some accidents, and there's been some people, especially people on the internet that see it and think, oh, that's really cool.

I'm going to give that a try.

And then they end up, like you said, folding themselves like a deck chair.

And yeah, it's really, it's really interesting.

And we're like, people are laughing at it, but in our heads, we're like, oh my God, that is so bad.

Yeah, that is so bad.

They are going to be literally killing.

And they've got people that have dropped out on legs and quads and stuff and ended up like tearing stuff and got like big bruises all the way up.

Yeah, it's rough.

I mean, when you get to our level, you learn how to bail out of stuff.

But yeah, in the beginning, you do.

Yeah, I mean, you hit yourself with a bar we do it we do a we do a lift called a muscle snatch and it's just basically where you bring the bar through without re-bending your legs underneath sometimes you bring your head too and smack the bar so we've got people have duck eggs in the middle of their head and it won't be the first and last time you do it it's one of those you know could happen anytime like

so yeah it's it's not for the faint-hearted assboard no i'll definitely give you that it's you've got to be it's so awful smashing yourself in the head with the bar and your first thought is i'll probably do that again yeah yeah awful and you've got a rest of your session as well because normally muscle snatches like the beginning of the session as well so it's like, well, get over it because you've got to get the rest of the session done.

Yeah.

You got your post-session snack in a minute.

Exactly.

And it's a duck egg annoying.

Yeah.

You hear a thing as well.

You lift it over your head and then you're like, you're smiling and everything.

You're like, ha ha!

Like, it's the best thing ever.

That's it.

I'm like, you're not stressed out?

No.

I'd have it over my head.

I'd be like, someone get this fucking thing off me.

Next time I'm in Trainer, I'm going to think about it though.

You're Get this fucking thing off me.

Yeah, next big competition, you say the worlds are in December, right?

Yes.

I want you to do a snatch and scream, get this fucking thing off me.

And the people who've heard this will know what it's in reference to.

Yeah, definitely.

I'll probably have to lift a swearing at though, because we get told off a swearing.

Yeah.

They

pop prunes about that stuff.

Yeah.

If you swear or whatever, like if you're like coaching from the side as well and you swear at your athlete or whatever, they're like, shy, you're sure.

It's because the problem is in our sport, right?

the officials are made to feel dead special they get their own little walker and everyone claps for them and everyone they get to go their name and it's like oh behave like behave you're here to do a job everybody knows you you're great at your job thank you very much just go and sit in your seats and get it done like but yeah they get this like they line us up announce all of us and then they line all the officials up we've been trying to get rid of it for ages it's dead boring like nobody cares like it's literally to fill time and it is the deadest space of filled time you've ever seen in your life so yeah so they all feel like they're dead important because they get the little waving announcement at the beginning.

So yeah, they get a little bit of a mouse with power now.

Yeah, this is it.

This is it.

You give people an inch, take a mile, don't they?

Yeah.

I mean, no one's meeting them off the Eurostar.

Well,

well shit.

Pop dumps or bread.

Pop dumps or bread, Emily Campbell.

Pop dumps or bread.

Pop or bread.

Pop dumps are like, do you know what I mean?

They're strong, but I feel like they have to go with the full Indian meal.

I think on their own, they're a little bit random, aren't they?

But bread, all different types of bread.

I mean, people do the whole bread and olive oil thing which is a bit a bit weird to me like i've noticed it before and i'm like oh you're just dipping that in oil that's like really strange like i'm more of a like bread and butter kind of girl yeah yeah

and bread forms part of your like pre-competition diet as well you say you have yes chicken mayo sandwich yes yeah definitely yeah bread is a is a good staple you know have it in breakfast have it for you can have it for meals as well um but yeah just don't think you can go wrong when the bread's warm as well it's got to be warm warm put the butter on straight away melts, jobs are good.

And in Paris, did you have many uh like warm, fresh baguettes from the bakery?

We had a control to be fair, yeah.

We stayed in Saint-Germain on Ney for prep camp, which was pretty bougie to be fair.

It was really nice, and there was a bakery across the road, which was lovely, and you could smell it every morning as well, which was, I mean, there's nothing better than the smell of fresh bread in the morning, so yeah, that was really good.

But when you're on the way to training, you know, you can't have the bread quite yet till later, it's not

ideal, but yeah, no, it was really good.

And then they had a bakery in the village as well,

which was pretty cool.

And yeah, the bread, the bread they did not lack in Paris, as you can imagine,

their bread skills.

And it was really funny actually watching people because they literally just buy baguettes, break it off and eat it, like walking through the street, like it's normal.

And I'm like, that's really weird.

Because obviously we just don't see that, do we?

But that's such a normal thing in France.

Because it's so good, you can just have a little nibble of it on the way home.

Yeah.

Buy the top off.

When you're away with the other weightlifters and you can like buy bread and you're having to eat all this food, do the other athletes from other other sports get really jealous of you?

Is there like climbers sat there going, oh, fucking hell, I don't want to buy it.

They're not satisfied.

Well, it's funny actually because obviously the other weightlifters, they're all in weight classes.

So they have to cut weight.

So a lot of them, by the time we get to competition, are very reduced food.

So they're very hungry.

So they're the opposite.

I'm moaning because I've got too much to eat and they're moaning because they want some of what I'm eating.

So you've got like the contrast between.

But then, yeah, do you know what?

Most, I was really surprised actually.

You know, the sports where you think, well, they probably don't eat that much or whatever.

But like, like your marathon runners, your long-distance runners, all them, they have to get so many calories in because they run so far that actually you see a plate of food and you think, go on, like, you didn't think they'd be able to put that kind of food away.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, it's really impressive how they eat and you know, tri-athletes, you know, to keep yourself fueled and that.

So, really, to be fair, there's not many sports that you will see like really restricting.

It's just your weight category sports as they get closer to competition.

They've got to cut down because they've got to make weight.

So, your taekwondo, your judo, weightlifting, etc.

Yeah, they've all got to make weight.

So,

the guys who are going up the wall fast.

And honestly, it's like a hundred meter sprint vertical.

Oh, it's mad that.

Bonkers.

Crazy.

It's so impressive.

So impressive.

Yeah, I was watching it and I was just like, wow.

And apparently, like, they know that course.

So they know what they're going to do.

They know like where they're going to put their hands.

It's just essentially like, how fast can they do it?

Yeah.

So each time they've just got to nail it as fast as possible.

But yeah, yeah, surely they can't be eating loads of bread.

No, certainly not immediately before.

No.

Put some bread at the top of the wall.

Yeah.

Now you're talking.

Now you're fast.

Straight up there.

What did that war be?

You'd need to get a ball.

Yeah.

You're going to smell it.

Put your bread at the top.

Put an ice cream at the top.

You're straight up there.

Oh, yeah.

I'll be straight.

I'd win the Olympics.

If there's an ice cream at the top,

I wouldn't even need to know the course.

It's straight up there.

Just like hasn't done it.

A novice?

It's just one.

Doesn't turn up for the medal ceremony because you've got your prize.

Yeah, I've got your ice cream.

Thanks.

It's been real.

Am I at Simpson?

Am I cone around my neck?

I'm a champ.

Get a specific type of bread off you, actually.

Oh.

I know you want warm bread with butter.

Yeah.

You can't go wrong with a good chia butter, to be fair.

Yeah.

You're like a focaccia.

I can give you both little baskets.

Yeah, yeah.

A little Italian bread basket.

That's it.

Yeah, do a little pick and mix.

So your dream starter.

So I would probably have to say either some like buttermilk breaded chicken strips or chicken wings, one of the two.

I'm not, I'm not, not forced, but it's got to be in like a honey and sriracha like sauce so like when it's like it's fried seasoned well and then tossed in the sauce so it's like nice and hot then with like a garlic dip of some kind yeah I feel like yeah that's a great starter this is yeah solid and this is I mean we know this chicken's gonna be nice and moist

absolutely that is number one moist is such a weird word in it it is a weird word

I mean I'm absolutely fine with it but it's just it does just sound sounds don't know I don't don't know what it sounds like, but it just doesn't.

Weirdly, I think if you're saying, I want the chicken to be moist, that was fine to me initially.

But now you've pointed out that moist's weird.

When I just said, I want the chicken to be moist, that made me feel odd.

Maybe you feel weird.

Sorry about that.

Yeah, I just made something out of nothing, didn't I?

Yeah, you've ruined chicken for weird.

You know, other people have done that.

You're only thinking it because other people have said it to you.

Yeah.

And it's a long chain of just people saying it's weird.

Yeah.

Because one person said it wasn't.

Whoever that person was in the world that said it to me ruined it for everyone.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

But what else do you you say?

The juicy?

You say you want the chicken to be juicy?

That's

also sounds weird.

Yeah, each one of you.

Something worse, isn't it?

Wow.

Wow.

End of the podcast.

That's good.

It's been real.

That's it, man.

That's it.

Where do we go from here?

Sorry.

Is there a certain place where you've had chicken strips or chicken wings, which you'd be like, I want it from there?

I went to like a winged place in America where I had, I think they they were mango habanero though like yeah that was they were really good they were like they were really hot but the just sweetness just made you forget about how much it was like burning your mouth um but they they were really good but actually something I really like to make at home something I make at home all the time yeah so I either make the yeah make the strips or make the wings and then just like bit of butter like sriracha buffalo sauce and honey and then bubble it down on the stove and then flip them in and just when they're nice and hot it's really good yeah well you can have your own ones yeah you can have your homemade strips, homemade wings.

Yeah, I think both, you know, yeah, yeah, again, like just do mix and match.

You see, the thing is, right, because I'm Caribbean, like, we have about a thousand things on a plate.

Like, every time we have dinner, it's about how many items can you fit on there.

You'll go to a party and you'll have like jerk chicken, rice, and peas, plantain dumplings, coleslaw, like, steamed cabbage.

There's like ten thousand things on a plate, so we don't know how to just be like, okay, protein, carbs, veg.

It doesn't make sense to us.

We're like, why don't we have 100 carbs, 100 proteins, and 100 veg?

Because, yeah, it's just, I think it's just the way we are.

So I'm just greedy.

You want a bit of everything.

I understand that.

Yeah, that impulse.

If it's all on offer.

Well, this is it, yeah.

And like you said, it's dream, isn't it?

So do what we want.

Yeah, I think starter having the both of them is great with the dip as well.

Because it's your dream.

We'll make sure it's the exact right amount of dip as well.

You're not running out.

Yeah.

Or having loads left off.

Or having loads left over having to get your weightlifter buddies to finish it for you this is it story of my life um but yeah no i always feel like you know when you've got loads of dip left over it's such a waste isn't it you know you go get like loads of mayo packets and you squirt them all light and then you've got like loads left you're like oh just wasted all that mayo for no reason no i'm just imagining you carrying around those little squash sachets and mayo packets you've just got so many sachets on you at all times yeah absolutely yeah yeah you should see when i go to internationals i take that seasoning out with me and everything because i'm like yeah how do you get into like weightlifting in the first place as well you were saying about growing up it just made me think about how like how how do you like discover that's my sport yeah so i was actually 21 when i started weightlifting so i was at uni i went to leeds beckett and i did athletics so i threw hammer shot discus

um and i was i was all right like i i enjoyed it like to be fair just loved more of the social side of it and going to competitions and i was like oh you know if i push myself a little bit harder like how you know how well could i be at it and then everyone was like you should try weightlifting because weightlifting will help you throw the shot further because you'll get stronger and it's good for transfer power etc etc so there's a coach at the time and i just asked him i said will you teach me this weightlifting stuff like everyone said it helped me throw the shot further so yeah he started teaching me the technique of it started doing it and just really fell in love with it like i just fell in love with the complexity of it one day i went and it was going really well and i was thinking i'm getting getting good at this and the next day i look like i'd never done it in my life and it was so frustrating i just wanted to keep going back and like make trying to get better and better And then, yeah, at one point, I started, I started it probably when I went back to uni.

So I was in my final year in 2015 and started it.

And then the coach said to me, well, we're going to have like a, what we call max outs.

That's basically you go as heavy as you can until you fail.

And we had a max out and I maxed out what you needed to qualify for the British seniors.

Wow.

And he was like, I know you didn't want to do a comp because obviously you just want it for your athletics.

But do you want to just give it a go, see what happens?

And I was like, oh, why, whatever.

So I went to this comp and it ended up being this, this open actually was near where I live in Nottingham, it was in Mansfield.

And I remember saying to my dad, I was like, Dad, do you fancy coming to this weightlifting competition with me?

He said, weightlifting.

He went, yeah, all right, whatever.

Like, he's just, my parents are just so supportive.

Like, literally, I told him, I was like, I can go try weightlifting.

And mom said, oh, God, here we go.

Like, do you know what I mean?

To say, oh, God, it is a crazy idea.

Because I'm one of them.

I'm not really that fit, scared to fail.

Like, I just think, give it a whack.

If it works, it works.

If it don't, it don't.

I'll just move on and find somewhere else.

Like, we can't be good at everything, can we?

And yeah,

talk my dad to this this comp with me blah blah and then I qualified for the British seniors from that from that competition and my dad got in the car he's a man of many few words but he talked to me and he went yeah you're all right that you know and I was like cheers dad and then that kind of literally how it started really and then yeah just started going to you know national competitions and then I won my first national title as a junior and then I won my first national title as a senior and then yeah it just spiraled from there and then they said to me oh we think you could go to Commonwealth Games and I was thinking that this is getting out of control like i've been lifting five minutes i know i'm all right

yeah yeah i was like you've not forgot what i actually came for yeah um and then yeah i uh had a crack qualifying for gold coast 2018 had one qualifier to do it and i nailed it i went six or six not the girl out the rankings that was already currently in the rankings put myself

not really not really we love you

um but yeah just basically did exactly what they asked of me and then yeah got selected for gold coast and that was when really really the serious, because up in that point, I was winging it.

I was just out with a blast.

I was thinking, I'm getting to go to these countries for free.

And I lifted a few heavy weights and didn't really have like any structure or anything.

It was just like a bit of a, you know, I was still working and everything.

It was just like a, you know, hobby for me, really, that I was really good at.

And then after Gold Coast, I was like, yeah, if this is sick, imagine what the Olympics is like.

I was like, let me try and see if I can make the Olympics.

I mean, at that point, if you'd have looked at me on paper, I'd have said, all right, babes, dream on.

Yeah, no way on this planet I would have made it.

But yeah, no, I just, you know, then I started like making decisions that was kind of around training instead of like training being around my life.

And then it was just like dialing in with things like nutrition and training harder and that kind of thing.

And, you know, really dialing in and went from strength to strength and then qualified for my first Olympics in 2021.

So yeah, exactly five years after I started the sport.

Wow.

Wow.

Amazing.

I think five years into stand-up.

Oh, that's still shit.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They saw me.

Yeah.

I saw you.

Do you know what though

it is so much harder than like people make out like everyone thinks oh yeah i'm dead funny i'm dead funny and then go stand in front of a group of people and be dead funny it's a whole different ballgame innit like well yeah

see i thought you were starting to talk about weightlifting yeah and i was like yep and then when it was like stand up i was like no no no it's not i'm not putting the weight on the front of my neck

I'm not doing all that stuff.

Do you get people like that?

Have you had that with weightlifting?

People going, I reckon I could do that.

Oh, yeah, all the time.

Obviously, especially men.

Bless them.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

Shout out, fellas.

Yeah.

Shout out.

Shout out to my dogs.

Yeah.

When they do it, they're like, yeah, yeah, it's dead easy.

Like, I remember once, actually, I had a party at my house, and some of my friends came over and he bought a couple of his friends.

And he was like chilling with his boys outside.

And one of his boys was like, yeah, dead easy.

And his friend just went, don't ever embarrass me like that again.

It's not that easy.

You can't do what she does.

Don't embarrass me, please.

Like, but his boy was probably like, yeah, it's easy, man.

I can do it.

I can do it.

And his friend, my friend just looked at him and just went, don't you dare ever again.

But yeah, it is funny.

But the thing is, it's really funny, actually, because

at an elite level, it is probably one of the hardest sports that you can do.

But actually, grassroots is very accessible.

It looks hard, but if you have the right people around you and you start in the correct way and you start with the correct weights, then it is really easy.

And people will be really surprised actually what they can achieve.

So I do think in that way you can.

It's just when these people just think, oh, because I've deadlifted 70 kilos, I'm going to try and clean it.

Like it don't work like that.

It don't translate.

It's so technical.

It's like, it's not just the weight, which I think a lot of people go, I could do that.

Definitely couldn't even do the weight.

It's every single...

Movement and you've got to have it completely locked in, haven't you?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah,

it's so technique.

Like when I started, I was obviously really strong from the shot and I'd trained hard and I was humbled, like absolutely.

And weights that I I was probably strength-wise capable of, I was nowhere near in weightlifting because my technique wasn't there.

And it is just about drilling and keep doing going over and over again.

And this is why, you know, technically we like to get kids into weightlifting around eight years old because they're really good at learning the technique.

And it's not about putting the weight on.

You can give them a wooden pole or bar or PVC or whatever.

And it's just about them drilling the movement over and over again.

Because then once you've got that locked in, then getting strong is the easy bit.

Whereas when you have to do it in reverse, you have to like really humble yourself because you're like, I've got to go back down to basics and get this bit right until I can actually put some weight on.

So, yeah.

That's why it's a lot easier just to say, oh, I could do that and then never try.

Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, you'd have to find a way to do that.

I wish I'd done that with stand-up.

Yeah.

I wish I'd been one of the...

I'd be well happy now.

There's a bloke in the pub just saying, I could have done it.

I'm funny.

I could have done that.

I could have done it.

Listen to off-menu with Ed Gamble and Ishkamar.

And just go, oh, I'll be funnier than these pricks.

Be great.

God, that would be a good good podcast.

The technique thing's mad.

Wait,

watching you, when you bend down to pick it up, you put your hands on the bar and then you move them to somewhere else on the bar.

I remember watching it and being like, I wouldn't have thought of that.

She's not riffing it in the moment.

I'd be absolutely fucked before I even picked it up.

You put them on and then you go, what?

And then you move them again.

I don't even know what that means.

But you seem to be imagining it as if you're in the Olympics and you've never weightlifted before.

Because you would have done some trick.

you'd be taught how to do it.

I don't know, man.

Everyone's different to be fair.

What it is, is there's there's like what we call rings on the bar in between the nerlings

and it's me measuring that my hands are in the right place.

So I'm about a thumb and a half whips away from those where those rings are.

So it's just me measuring that out so that I make sure I put my hands in the right position each time.

Junior.

Because again, yeah, if you if your grip's off, you know, because we have to be completely locked out.

So if you've got one arm that's in and then you obviously flip right and this one goes in after they'll do you for it so and honestly i mean i mean tokyo olympics if you wobbled your eye in the wrong way they did you for it it was being so savage was unbelievable so you have to make sure everything's like bang on the money and perfect officials man yeah honestly i told you it's because they get that walkout

walk out and wave no one cares honestly and it must be annoying especially in your spot knowing that you could beat them up yeah i mean they were that's the thing they're all

some of them are ex-weightlifters not sure how good they were but yeah yeah that's uh so they're livid, they're jealous, basically.

They're jealous, probably.

Never even thought, bye-load, yeah, they are.

That's why they give us so many red lights.

Wow, a bunch of pip squeaks.

You should call them pip squeaks for their face.

I haven't heard that phrase in a long time.

Strong one, though, isn't it?

Yeah, pip squeaks.

How about that as a compromise?

They're allowed their walkout, but someone has to say, please welcome the pip squeaks.

That's actually genius.

There you go, every time.

I'm going to recommend it when I go back.

And they play music, but it's just one long fast sound effect.

Please welcome the pip squeak.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade In MyPlan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then-current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Tired of spills and stains on your sofa?

WashableSofas.com has your back, featuring the Annibay collection, the only designer sofa that's machine-washable inside and out, where designer quality meets budget-friendly prices.

That's right, sofas started just $699.

Enjoy a no-risk experience with pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and changeable slip covers made with performance fabrics.

Experience cloud-like comfort with high-resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing.

The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity, and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime.

Check out washable sofas.com and get up to 60% off your Anibay sofa, backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund.

No return shipping or restocking fees, every penny back.

Upgrade now at washablesofas.com.

Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Did you know adults 60 plus lose more than 60 billion dollars each year to financial exploitation?

Greenlight's new Family Shield plan empowers you to monitor your accounts for suspicious activity, protect yourself with up to $1 million identity theft coverage, and reassure loved ones that you're safe with location sharing and place alerts.

Get peace of mind today at greenlight.com/slash protect.

That's greenlight.com/slash protect.

your dream main course

so i am massive seafood fan so a seafood boil oh god like one of those you just like rip the bag open let it all fall down all the different seafoods potatoes in there eggs get a bib on get your gloves on yeah crack it all open yeah love it absolutely love it yeah proper just messy food as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Proper messy, but it just tastes so good.

Loads of like garlic butter to dip your lobster and your crab and that in.

So there's lobster, there's crab, shrimp, shrimp, yeah, big, big king prawns.

Yeah.

So you feel, I do like mussels.

So yeah, just I'm like any seafood, really.

There's not really a seafood.

Yeah, we're both going to make a shit joke there when you said

yeah, I do like mussels, and then we're like, oh, duh, why bother?

Oh well,

it's just, i mean

we both looked at each other and went yeah wait that's good muscles yeah muscles yeah yeah i mean all the listeners just did it at home anyway

just did the joke do you like your light bustles yeah no pointers

you got enough of those already yeah exactly

shells on with the muscles yeah you're getting into them yeah yeah getting to them it's not a dainty meal is it i mean you may as well leave the shells in just get that's it

i feel like it's part of the experience though that you know cracking it open yeah and digging it out and you know, all of that.

Obviously, it is fiddly work, isn't it?

You know, getting everything out and whatever.

But hopefully, they've

cleaned everything properly before it's been boiled.

But, yeah, corn on the cob in there as well.

Corn on the cob.

So,

absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

Gotta have a bit of edge, aren't you?

Yeah, just a little bit, you know, just to say you tick the box, yeah, yeah, but really, no one actually really cares about it.

Tell everything go down,

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Got up the first

popping song about corn on the cob makes the

perfect guy, yeah.

I'll remember it.

But my friend Tom does seafood boils for delivery.

And then it has like the instructions and you just do it all in the middle.

You can do it all.

Yeah.

It's amazing.

That's Decatur.

That's brilliant because that's been needed for a very long time because it is a nightmare to try and go out and get all the ingredients separately.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

He does like pop-ups as well.

So it's well worth looking out for.

Decatur is the name of the company.

Decatur.

Yeah.

Hold on, Tom.

What do you want on your bib?

Do you want a design on it?

This is your dream meal.

You get your dream bib.

A dream bib.

Because we haven't had a bib on the pod yet.

I don't think we have had a bib on the pod.

I don't think we've had a bib on the pod.

Yeah.

Joe, what's that fun to say?

It's bib on the pod.

Bib on the pod.

Bib on the pod is quite fun to say.

I think it'd have to stay thick and juicy, because that's what I am.

Yeah, yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Say that on it.

100%.

A little cartoon prawn on there or something?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, rocking up.

Why not?

Doing some weightlifting?

Yeah, why not?

Why not?

You know, because obviously it's my whole identity now, so, you know, it has to be part of everybody.

Well, it's part of your brand, right?

If you're wearing the thick and juicy bib, then it's got to have a weightlifting prawn on it.

It's got to have a weightlifting prawn on it, yeah.

Yeah.

It could have like a little, like, you know, the hammer on the floor to represent your past.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, just in the distance.

In the distance, yeah.

Shop port.

Yeah, why not?

Are you allowed to?

Let's get a story on there, guys.

Would you be allowed to do two categories?

You absolutely can, yeah.

You can qualify for two sports, but obviously you would have to qualify within both sports.

So whatever.

Because every sport has their own qualification system in terms of making the Olympics.

So you just have to make sure that you participate in the two of them.

But yeah, I'm not sure if I'd be

able to be world class at two of them.

I mean, especially the women's shot at the moment.

The women's shot is like off the chain at the moment.

The girls are throwing like 21 meters.

So if you think about that, like how far that actually is, it's yeah, it's insane.

It also seems to me that everyone who's at the Olympics has dedicated their entire life to that one sport.

So

you can't dedicate two lives to something.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it it takes a very special person i mean my good friend kadina she in tokyo and rio did cycling and athletics and she managed to win gold in both what yeah first woman in 56 years to do it something crazy like that i mean she is absolute superwoman but yeah she's the 500 meter sprint in cycling and then 400 meters on the track um but i know how tough it has been for her to be to train for the two sports like to try and split your time between the two you just cycle to running training

yeah that's the point i think i don't think you get credit

If one of them's cycling,

I've got mates who cycle to the office.

Wow.

This is it.

Do you know what I mean?

Do you ever go up to the people who are doing shop and stuff?

And because you used to do it,

be like the guy at your party.

Be like, I could have done that.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I can run the village.

I talk to each other all the time.

Well, your sport's easy.

I tell Tom Dean all the time, like, swimming's dead easy.

Like, just get in, don't die.

Swim to the other side.

Get in, don't die.

Yeah, because he's always like, oh, you always train.

I'm like, yeah, well, we don't have to, we have to actually train for our sport.

I was like, You just do a couple of sessions a week, you'll be fine.

I'll be first a swimmer, so I know it's actually hard, but if what if part of the technique is don't die, it's quite a hard sport.

Yeah, I'd say if don't die, it's one of the things you've got to focus on, but it's pretty hard.

That's a broad note for everything.

I mean, to be fair, yeah, you could apply that to every sport, right?

Yeah, don't die.

I mean, some of those team sports are savage, they're like smacking into each other.

You ever seen like wheelchair rugby?

Yeah, them guys are wow, yeah, it really really is something i'll be absolutely i wouldn't even move as soon as the whistle blew i'd just be in my chair but i'm not going i'm not doing this

dream side dish i'd probably say a mac and cheese yeah yeah yeah nicely baked as well you don't want the you don't want the cheese sauce too runny you want a bit of sauce but like in the caribbean like we have it like it's like like a pie essentially good bread crumbs on the top nice melt bit of parsley to finish it off.

I watched a video on YouTube of, I think it was five people all made their mac and cheese.

I think they were all from the Caribbean as well.

And then they were trying each other's ones and scoring them.

They were savage in how they were scoring each other's mac and

scoring each other's mac and cheese.

They were like, this is pretty cool.

I can imagine that's the start of World War.

That's pretty close to starting a world war.

That's wild being.

Specifically in the Caribbean.

Yeah, yeah, just in the Caribbean.

But yeah, no, that is, yeah, I can imagine that got pretty intense.

For a lot of the criteria you just described as well, people were like, this is too runny.

I would not serve this at a party.

And also, but bigging up their own ones, obviously, because they were like really proud of it.

Every time I have a barbecue, everyone comes over.

Everyone loves this.

People can't get enough of it.

Everyone asks for thirds.

It's true.

It's pressure.

Yeah, I actually remember my friends had a party and I cooked like two real big trays of it.

And I was like sweating the whole time because I'm thinking,

I think I'm banging at mac and cheese.

And if these people don't like it, then this just basically threw everything out the window of what I believed in myself.

everything wow yeah that's quite

for an Olympian to say that that's pretty everything you believed about yourself is mainly that you make good mac and cheese

yeah absolutely but thankfully they all loved it unless they was lying to me but you know you got a secret when you make it

like a can I reveal that yeah so that's like that's what you gotta that's what you've gotta ask yourself you need to get a good hot sauce a good hot sauce that goes into the into the cheese cheese sauce then and take time with your cheese sauce as well you know people like to rush cheese sauces but you've got to make you know you've got to make your roux properly and then it's got to be the the right amount of cheese and and milk and that in there and you've got to you've got it's all about layering so what about layering your sauce layering the cheese do you talk to your cheese sauce as you're making it absolutely yeah

fair enough if the answer is yes but well just the way emily just the way emily said you've got to take time with the cheese sauce oh yeah yeah so it's just it seemed like a wild question but then the answer was yes so fair enough i i i you know good intuition education Yeah, but you taste it along the way and you get excited because it's starting to come together.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I just had to talk in general anyway.

When I'm cooking, like, honestly, I think you could make a show out of like people sat in another room hearing me cook in the kitchen.

I'm on my own completely.

And you would think I'd be having a conversation with someone.

So yeah, you just get into it.

You know, once you get the tunes on and you get right rocking and rolling and you know, you've got 100, like we said, you know, got 100 dishes to get.

to get on one plate you know you've got to get cracking you got to get in the mode yeah so what do you say to the cheese sauce are you kind to the cheese sauce or are you like come on you come and you cheese sauce bitch

i think it depends on uh yeah i think it depends on how it's going yeah you know if it's working with you or not yeah that's it we're all we're all happy when things are going well aren't we

when it's not

all of a sudden a side comes out of the stone you know we didn't know we had what hot sauce do you use i actually it's a homemade one and i can't remember the brand um but they used to come on not in your christmas market every year you don't come anymore so if you you know who you are, you need to come back, please.

And he's got like this, basically his own brand hot sauce on there.

It's like, it's called a Caribbean hot sauce.

But it's got a little bit sweet, a bit spicy, and it's really nice.

It really, it really complements the mac and cheese well.

I mean, I've got like one bottle left, but yeah, I need to find out who that person is and track them down.

What else is on this Nottingham Market?

Is it Christmas market?

It's Christmas Market.

We have a good Christmas market, to be fair in Nottingham.

Yeah, we have a good one.

There's quite a few bits and bobs.

I mean, lots more food and stuff now.

And then obviously they've done like a bar and we have the ice skating rink and all that nonsense But there used to be some like really good stores of yeah, just cheesers hot sauces things like that and then there was like obviously little trinkets, you know, the ones your mum loves to go and walk around and get farms and things from and she's dragging you oh look at this oh look at this and you're like yeah that's lovely mum that's lovely that's same as the one you just picked up that's really nice that is you know you get dragged around for like an hour everyone's done it everyone's been there uh but she's your mum so you do it

yeah it's quite a good quite a good good market to be fair we try and make an effort to go down each year and and have a look and see see what they've got got on stall but yeah it definitely taking more of like the food stands are taking over a little bit more now than the actual stores but yeah no i like to buy from small businesses small businesses people that are you know different and and out there right i try and you know things like that i like a lot of black owned art as well so i try and find artwork for my house that from black artists and things like that so yeah that's something that's quite um close to me so anything like that i'm i'm pretty sold what's the uh what's got pride of place amongst the art that you got in your house what's your what's your favorite piece that you show off to people i've got canvas in my room that's a pretty cool one that i actually had for a shoot um i had to have an imaginary bedroom for a shoot and they gave it to me after which is really cool so that's now in my bedroom but it's like um of a woman and it's got um like flowers painted behind her and it's got like really powerful words like all over her all over her body Ed's actually in my house as well.

It's a photo from when we was on the Great British menu.

It's a good photo.

yeah ed's in my living room yeah you know it's a good photo we look good yeah you got a lovely day you got that cool school shirt on or whatever it was yeah i'm a cool guy yeah we look we look good i keep telling him i'll say i'm a cool guy

is the opposite of black owned art

the whitest thing you could put in your house

Ed Gamble on Great British Menu.

Yeah.

Are you kidding me?

Or is he eating a souffle?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think he ate his fish here.

Is that

Yeah.

But yeah, no.

But no, I'm definitely on the hunt for some more.

I need some more for my stairs and landing.

Everyone's say send Emily as much art as you can.

Yeah.

Try and get on that stairs and landing.

Also, you know, British comedians, if Ed Gamble could get on the wall.

Yeah.

We've all got to try and get on the stairs.

You've got to get on the stairs.

I've got to get on those stairs.

That's it.

But we're going to have a photo after this.

Yeah, maybe

we'll send you a picture.

We'll have a little bit off.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We'll send you a decent.

Sounds good.

Sounds good.

When you're talking about hot sauce there, I just remembered a hot sauce that I love, but I haven't had for ages, which is Caribbean hot sauce, Aunt Maze.

Have you had Aunt May's?

Oh, Aunt Maze is a good one.

And it comes in like the, it looks like a lemonade box.

Yes.

So good.

Yes, that is a good one.

I can't remember where I tried that.

I think that was at like a family friend's house or something.

And I was like, oh, this is really good.

Like, I think it's like from Barbados.

Yeah, I think it's like, yeah, I think it is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've never heard of it.

You've got to get some Aunt Mays.

Got to get some Art Maze in your life, change your life.

And then you get on the stairs.

Finally.

Picture me on the stairs with a slug in a bottle of Art Maze.

That's it.

I mean, that's black-owned, isn't it?

Yeah, there you go.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade-In and MyPlan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to them current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Did you know adults 60 plus lose more than $60 billion each year to financial exploitation?

Greenlight's new Family Shield plan empowers you to monitor your accounts for suspicious activity, protect yourself with up to $1 million identity theft coverage, and reassure loved ones that you're safe with location sharing and place alerts.

Get peace of mind today at greenlight.com slash protect.

That's greenlight.com slash protect

uh your drink drink so I'm kind of like I don't really drink alcohol like it has to be like really really special occasion and I'm just not a massive drinker anyway I'd rather not drink so for me I like mocktails so like anything like really fruity like tropical so I'd say probably like something with like pineapple juice maybe a bit of grenadine in it mango mango daiquiris mango daiquiris a strong one drinking that in Jamaica quite a lot but yeah anything like anything mocktail style basically just a load of fruit juices banged together with something fizzy posh squash sold posh squash yeah

but we'll save the squirty squash for the for the water sure yeah we won't get that involved as a mocktail drinker do you get annoyed when they stick virgin on the front of a normal cocktail?

Because I hate asking for that.

Because I'm like, cover virgin mojito and I have to have to every five of me is trying to say to them I've had sex

yeah

I'm not a virgin I just want the drink that hasn't have alcohol in it but you know they're not thinking that they are thinking that dragon it's impossible to say

virgin daiquiri and they're like this boy never had sexual intercourse

Do you know what I mean?

That might be your vibe rather than I was about to say I can't say that I've ever felt that way.

But yeah, I guess when you carry yourself the way that I do, you do have to feel like everyone thinks I'm a virgin.

And I have to explain it all the time to people.

I swear down.

Do you not think explaining it's making it worse, though?

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

They don't seem to believe me.

I have had sex.

Yeah.

Or when people are like, no, you haven't.

No, I really have.

Yeah.

I swear.

Yeah.

I've had it and it was great.

Two thumbs up.

Yeah.

Kiddie used to sit next to me in school and he would just, you know, everyone else was pretending they'd had sex at that age.

They'd be like, you know, get back from summer holidays and been like, yeah, yeah, I totally did it with someone.

And she goes to another school or she lives in another country or whatever.

But he was like saying to me, he was like, I've never had sex.

Have you?

I'm a virgin.

And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He was like, man, it's going to feel so good.

I can't wait till we get to have sex with people one day.

Can you imagine?

And he would sit next to me in RE class and he'd go, can you imagine how good it's going to be?

I can't wait to do it.

And I'll be like, yeah, but it'd be good.

You'll be like, no, it will be amazing, Jake.

I can't wait.

All I want to do is do it.

I want to have sex so badly.

Wow.

I really hope his first time was everything it was all cracked up to beat.

That's a lot of pressure to put on.

Surely, too much pressure.

That is a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

God bless him.

Actually, I took, I mean, we cannot talk about this if you want.

This is just, I didn't plan, but I had to write something once, a scripted thing about the Olympic village and do research into it.

No virgins there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That place is bananas.

It's It's a bit.

We don't have to talk about it.

No, no, absolutely.

I mean, everybody wants to know, don't they?

Everyone always asks the question.

But yeah, obviously, you just got to imagine it's like lots of very good looking people all in one place that have been disciplined for four years and now you're not disciplined anymore because the one thing that your whole life has been dedicated to for four years is now over.

So you can do whatever you want.

for the next, you know, how many days.

And you're not going to see these people.

You might never see these people again you might not see them until another four years so yeah people just get a bit um

you know that sounds very that sounds pretty reasonable actually yeah that's what you mean you put it like that

yeah i mean some people i don't think wait until their event's done um but that's their business what do you yeah get disqualified for that but yeah we're not actually at the event but you know in the downtime but yeah i think it's um

of humour sorry yeah that's perfect that's perfect for me that's just like deliberately misunderstanding something yeah he loves it yeah it's good yeah

the swimmers apparently there though yeah i heard they're pretty well i mean they are wild like i'm not sure about the sexual activities they're in their trunks all the time they're uh yeah

yeah yeah 100 that's what i mean but they are yeah they're absolutely wild they they when they when they party after they finish they yeah they really party because they finish early they finish early

always finish in the first week so yeah they love to party when everyone else is still trying to compete.

I mean, I missed them this time because I was the last day of the game.

So I actually didn't get into the village until the Swimmers Lord left.

But yeah, I heard they was partying hard again.

I mean, in Tokyo, yeah, there was like swimming.

There was like these fountains, and apparently they were swimming in the fountains and all sorts.

And yeah,

they were having a real good time.

They just love it.

You know what I mean?

It's just them.

It's their identity, you know.

What mocktoe are we going for specifically?

I know, we didn't really nail it down, that was a bit wishy-washy.

As you said, mango daiquiri.

mango daiquiri is a strong one yes really with that

your dream dessert we arrive at the dessert my favorite course

so i very controversially don't really like chocolate if i do it has to be white white chocolate but i think my dessert would be a cheesecake so plain and simple New York cheesecake with fresh fruit or a fresh compot.

I do like strawberries, raspberries,

that kind of vibe, I think, with a compot and then some form of like ice cream on the side can't beat a bit of cheesecake yeah I mean tummy stuff

you hear that it's been mumbling every now and again throughout the whole day it has been I'm hungry I didn't have breakfast and then we started talking about seafood boils so yeah yeah as soon as I started talking about the seafood boil that's when I heard it the first time it's really tipped you yeah it's gone why don't you like chocolate don't know I just think it's very overrated I don't really yeah I don't It just doesn't do anything for me.

James was really worried when he said controversially, I don't like, he thought you were going to say desserts.

so he was all ready to get really angry with you I can't I can't get angry with you yeah kick the fucking shit out

I'm I can't fight so it's all right

come on I'm a virgin mate so like

it's true I'm not gonna get angry at you yes but I would have been sad if you didn't produce a dessert no I've definitely got a sweet tooth like love desserts or whatever but just not chocolate based desserts like if I was to give him like a chocolate pudding or cake or briny or anything that's like my worst nightmare um so yeah your worst nightmare yeah

nice pretty nice life i guess yeah yeah yeah if the brownie is your worst nightmare how does this grab you i've got a slice of cheesecake in my fridge at the moment if you think this this has gone too far

apparently it's protein cheesecake oh honestly they want to make everything protein based these days innit it's mad just give it up it's got a cartoon of a barbell on the side has it actually

looks outrageous does it taste all right oh i've not i've not had it yet as an individual slice i don't know i don't know know why I've had it, to be honest.

It's probably made out of like cork or something, isn't it?

Yeah.

Something weird like that.

Honestly, this is a big gripe of mine, this whole protein thing.

Like, we don't need to make everything protein.

Like, they're literally going to, like, they've even tried to make water protein now.

Like, it's actually getting out of control.

Like, there's foods that have protein in them.

They're just fine.

They're lovely.

Like, the foods that haven't, just leave them without.

Like, we don't need to keep doing it all the time.

It's like we keep making these protein yogurts.

Yogurt has protein in it.

Like, already, why are we putting more protein into something that already has protein?

Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Yeah, it's just this whole new like fad and whatever.

And it's people that have no clue what they're doing, bless them, going out and buying.

And really, I said, like, unless you can, like, unless as a female, you can squat over like 60, 70 kilos, and there's a man over 120, stop buying protein products.

They're not going to help you.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah.

I saw a really,

I'm fine.

I saw a really tough looking guy.

225.

Tough looking guy.

Like, really solid, tough-looking guy come out of Tesco eating a crunch corner.

That was funny.

You see someone really, really tough.

Crunch corner.

Just like standing in the street.

Yeah.

As well, he had to put it on.

It was a style.

Well, he had to put it on top of a bin.

to open it up.

Yeah.

And then

he didn't tip it actually.

He didn't tip it.

He had his shades on and he was acting like he was too cool to tip it.

He talked to his friend walking along and his friend was much shorter than him.

And they're just walking.

He's got a crunch corner in his hand and they're talking about what they're going to get up to.

He's like, the day is young.

Come on, let's go out and get it.

You've got a crunch corner, man.

And the one with the little

cocoa balls.

Yeah, yeah.

That one as well.

So he didn't tip it.

So he was like...

I didn't know.

He didn't tip it when I was.

He didn't witness the tip.

I didn't witness the tip.

Maybe his small friend had the little balls.

Gave him it as a little shot.

Yeah.

Yeah, tore it off of him.

There you go.

There you go, buddy.

There you go, bud.

I love the yogurt.

Protein.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Protein, yogurt.

Oh, man.

I didn't know all this about protein.

I know protein water.

Yeah.

And they're like

protein, pancakes, protein.

There's like literally like a whole range now of everything that's just like protein.

And it's like, sometimes it's even a rip-off.

Like, I eat a lot of cottage cheese.

I've got like one of the most elite snacks.

I get sweet chili rice crackers and cottage cheese and like eat them together after trailing.

So good.

And they was like, oh, protein, cottage cheese.

So I picked it up and I looked at the back of it and it probably has 0.2 or 3 more grams of protein in than the normal cottage cheese.

So it's like they're charging you probably another one, two pound more for something that actually really don't have much difference than the normal cottage cheese.

It's just a lot of marketing, isn't it?

They're hoping that if someone sees protein on something, they're like, I'm going to eat that and I'm going to get such big muscles.

Yeah, I'm going to be hench and you are absolutely not.

Yeah.

I still bought the cheesecake.

Dude, yeah.

Yeah, working on these kind of idiots.

I'm a sucker.

I'm pointing that head.

For the listener.

I mean, you've got to let us know how that cheesecake tastes now.

Yeah, I will.

When you're meeting it,

you've got to have it on another episode and you can tell us how nice that is.

I bet it's not good.

And it's only like 12 grams of protein or something.

It's ever an egg.

I'm going to read your menu back to you now.

See how you feel about it.

You would like...

Orange and pineapple squash.

Double strength.

For your water.

You want warm chapata and focaccia.

Bread basket with butter.

Starter, you would like buttermilk, breaded chicken strips, and wings with honey and sriracha sauce made by yourself.

Main course, a seafood boil with your own bib, custom-made bib.

Side dish, baked mac and cheese, also made by yourself.

Drink, you would like a mango daiquiri, mocktail.

Dessert, new year.

Show some goddamn respect.

Some of us are saving ourselves.

I can't wait

i can't be amazing it's gonna feel so good it's gonna feel so great i can't wait to do it i can't wait i've done it all the time

we know when you order a mojito that you've done it what

mojito please go back to the same place hold the virgin

that's that's our that's that's our thing to start

uh dessert A New York cheesecake with berry compost and ice cream.

Yeah.

Good menu?

I'm pretty pretty happy with that.

I think

that is good.

Yeah.

Does sound weird.

Quite a lot of your own cooking on there as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which is great.

Don't get me wrong, I love eating out, but I think that's a lot of what I do is like I eat out and I think, oh, how can I recreate that home?

Yeah.

And then I go home and try and like make my own version of it.

But yeah, no, I just love cooking.

I love cooking.

I think it's something you definitely do on your own.

You don't do with others.

Really?

Can cook with others?

Yeah, people in my kitchen stresses me out.

What do you do when people come in your kitchen?

Get out.

Thank you.

It's really nice to see you.

But if you're going to stay there, can you stand over there, please?

And coming back to what we started talking about at the start of the episode, if you ate all of that, if that was your meal, how soon after that would you have to eat again?

To be fair, that's like incorporating snacks, I think, and everything.

That's a pretty big, that's a pretty big meal.

So I probably could get away with probably not eating for probably about four hours.

And then I'd probably have to eat again.

And then pre-bed snacks.

And then the clutch cheese comes up.

Yeah, yeah.

Beef jerkies come in, and then that's it.

We're ready to go again.

I'm aware we've been talking for over an hour now, so you probably need to eat something.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Yeah, we're probably responsible for you going down to place at the next competition.

Yeah,

talk through snack time.

Yeah, because mid-mid-morning snack is now the lead.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, thank you very much for coming on the podcast, Emily.

Please go and have a snack.

Thank you, Emily.

Thank you so so much to the brilliant Emily Campbell for coming on the podcast, James.

An honor.

What a great episode.

Learned so much.

Yeah, she's so much fun.

Yeah.

I mean,

I literally, you know, just know nothing about that world.

So what an education.

Yeah, I mean, me neither.

Even though I try and do weightlifting sometimes, James.

It's pathetic.

Yeah.

I've neither mastered the technique nor the strength.

Well, I think all the listeners would love it if you posted videos because that's what people do when they want to get better at something nowadays.

They video themselves, they put it on their social media to hold themselves accountable so they'll keep doing it.

So then loads of people comment below going, you've got a shit form, mate.

No, no, no, no.

Comments will be nice.

So you've got to start doing that.

You've got to start filming yourself doing your weights and putting it on your Instagram.

It's not really my style.

It's not my style to do that, really.

Switch up your style.

People love it when people switch up their style.

When the Beatles did it, that was huge.

So you see this as like a Beatles shift.

It's just like you're Sergeant Pepper.

Yeah.

Is that the phase I'm in at the moment, pre-Sergeant Pepper?

Yeah, you're in your revolver.

So you're just moving over.

Yeah, people can see it's coming.

And the next step up is me posting weightlifting pictures

videos on Instagram.

Yeah.

Yeah, and people will be excited.

Guys, he's this guy now.

And Emily's got a brand new podcast, James.

Contender ready.

That's what it's called.

It's an unofficial gladiators podcast that Emily is co-hosting with another former guest of the Off Menu podcast, Jess FosterQ.

And it is out now wherever you listen to your podcasts.

And for the listener, because we've got some, you know, we've got listeners all over the globe.

So some of them are thinking, oh, wow, they've got a podcast about Gladiator 2, the Paul Mescal film.

No.

That's great.

Everyone's been watching that at the cinema.

It's not that.

It's a TV show called Gladiators.

Yes, that's what it's about.

Great TV show.

And I can't wait to hear the podcast.

Yeah, but I would also like Jess and Emily to do a podcast about the Gladiator film franchise.

Yes.

As well.

I would like to hear that.

I think that would be good.

Yes.

Benito, sort it out make it make it so oh Emily as well thank you so much for not saying cream of chicken Campbell's soup or whatever yes thank you for that Emily thank you so much yes other Campbell's Benito's let us know that we could have on the football of soul

and Naomi Campbell who you know so I know her yeah we did Jonathan Ross together sat next to me Enough about Naomi Campbell thank you to the brilliant Emily Campbell for coming on the podcast yes thank you so much and um ed do you want to say anything else before we uh let the listeners get on with their day?

No.

No, not really, I guess.

Well, listen, we don't often say this to you guys, but thanks for listening.

We say it every week, I think.

I can't keep track of.

That's your stomach going now.

Yeah, sound like a little dinosaur.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Like a little baby dinosaur.

We've got to go eat.

We've got to go eat, guys.

Thanks for listening.

Bye-bye.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade In MyPlan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then-current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Hello, I'm Carriead.

I'm Sarah.

And we are the Weirdos Book Club Podcast.

We are doing a very special live show as part of the London Podcast Festival.

The date is Thursday, 11th of September.

The time is 7pm.

And our special guest is the brilliant Alan Davies.

Tickets from kingsplace.co.uk.

Single ladies is coming to London.

True on Saturday, the 13th of September.

At the London Podcast Festival.

The rumours are true.

Saturday, the 13th of September, at King's Place.

Oh, that sounds like a date to me, Harriet.