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Because those last two Rita performances were late add-ons I had a couple of things in my diary this week, like the charity lunch that I refuse to talk about, that I might otherwise have not done. Today, after a late night and an early morning, I wasn't really in the mood for four hours of podcasting in town, but it was in the diary and guests had been booked.
Due to a late drop out I ended up talking to John Robins for almost three hours and recording three podcasts with him, mostly about alcoholism. Then as a palate cleanser I talked to Olly Smith about his crime book revolving around and celebrating wine. By the end though I was like a grape crushed by the feet of a winemaker, just a husk. Thanks to today's work, John will take his rightful place as the person who has appeared most on RHLSTP (and RHEFP) apart from me.
His book is honest and moving and a little harrowing, but also very funny. It's great to have men like him who talk openly about their mental health and their flaws and their sadness. It's tough being a human being regardless of gender. Out of all the many comedians I've met, I would not have pegged him as someone with a huge drink problem (and there are many who do- it certainly wasn't always a wonderful thing for me), but it's probably because he did a lot of his drinking alone at home.
Anyway two good podcasts with him coming up soon and another (mainly) lighter one coming up at some point later in the year.
And good news for me - I can finally reveal what I was up to last November. I was filming a new series of The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down for Channel 4. It was as you might have picked up from my tangential comments here, a very intense experience and very much out of my comfort zone, but rather than the usual one episode, it's five episodes with six novice potters, so you can see us develop our skills (or not). It was an incredible bonding experience for me and five people that I either didn't know at all or only a little bit and I especially loved getting to know the feisty but soft-hearted and very funny Fatiha El-Ghorri.
Did I win? Well you know how competitive I am, but you may also have seen the limits of my creativity on Bake Off. So who knows?
There isn't a transmission date yet and I can talk about it more when the series comes out, but I think you will enjoy seeing me regularly losing it, as I am filmed and scrutinised doing a very complicated thing that I've never done before.
Mainly though, look how handsome I am, in this completely untouched up photo of me standing in front of some pots. That's the real take home. It's not about who is the best at the potters wheel, but who has the most electric blue eyes and you all know it!
