WEBVTT - Ruthie's Table 4: Victoria Beckham 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.960 Welcome to River Cafe Table for a production of I 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.760 Heart Radio and Adam I Studios. Briefly, here's a story 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:09.800 my mother. You know what she uses her oven for? 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.280 Let me guess by her stockings. No, she used it 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:21.000 as a filing cabinet and a filing cabinet. Yeah, if 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.920 he didn't go in the microwave. Mrs Adams wasn't interested 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.560 in it. But this was the eighties and I was 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:29.560 growing up and it's all about microwaveable food and all 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.200 being super super quick. So you know, as I began 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.320 my life in the Spice Girls, we were eating out 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:37.960 a lot, going to lovely restaurants, and that was something 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:46.879 really quite new. A fashion designer, cosmetics entrepreneur, dancer, businesswoman, 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.640 a mother for a singer. There are a few women 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.280 who have seven or more adjectives attached to their name, 0:00:54.880 --> 0:01:00.200 and one of them is Victoria Beckham. When Victoria comes 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.760 to the River Cafe, there's no fuss or privilege. She 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.319 comes in with just her family, her close friends and 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.200 her colleagues. She arrives early so she is there to 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.880 greet them, and the quiet time before they come is 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.200 spent discussing with us what is on the menu, how 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:22.560 it is prepared, and what she would like to order food, 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:28.240 how it affects our performance, our health and happiness, and 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:32.200 how it is shared is important to Victoria Beckham, and 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:39.880 Victoria Beckham is important to us. You are well. I mean, 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.280 maybe I'll make more fuss when I come the next 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.840 time if I'm that easy. You can, you can do 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:47.600 whatever you want, but you are. And also I do 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.560 think that there's other people, but very few, who always 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.280 arrive before their guests arrive. And I think it's a 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.680 real act of kindness. It shows that you're kind of 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:01.480 putting your time this side so that you'll be there 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.520 to greet them. It's very very nice. I like it. Well, 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:06.640 I'm not sure if it's an act of kindness or 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.880 if it's just that we're a desperate to leave the 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:11.480 house and have a night on our own, or be 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.200 that we're just super excited to get here because we 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.800 adore the experience of coming and the food is always incredible, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.239 and the wine is is wonderful and the people watching 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.919 is just everything good. Well, we're also here to listen 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:30.120 to you read the recipe that you've chosen for today. Okay, 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:36.280 so my recipe is roasted sea bass. So the ingredients 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:43.280 are two kilograms of sea bass, scaled and cleaned, a 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:49.639 hundred gram fennel seeds, two sliced lemons, a few parsley stalks, 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:55.000 two fennel bulbs trimmed and sliced, the juice of one lemon, 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.760 five tablespoons of olive oil, and seventy five million liters 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.880 of white wine. So you preheat the oven to a 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:09.520 hundred and ninety degrees centigrade, preheat the grill, put half 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.359 of the fennel seeds inside the cavity of the fish, 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:16.520 and season generously. Brush the skin with a little olive 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.200 oil and grill for about five to six minutes on 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:25.680 each side until lightly charred. Place half the lemon, slices, parsley, fennel, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.799 and the remaining fennel seeds in a roasting tin. Lay 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.560 the fish on top and cover with the remaining lemon, parsley, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:38.360 and fennel. Pour over the lemon, juice, olive oil and wine, 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.840 and bake for about thirty minutes, or until the flesh 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.720 is firm to the touch. Serve either hot or cold 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:52.440 with south of Verdi So Victoria. Of all the recipes 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.320 that we haven are books and what you eat in 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:00.160 the River Cafe? Why did you choose sea bus. I'm 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.080 a very fussy eater. I like things to be cooked 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.200 in a very simple way. I don't like oils and 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.880 butters and sauces. So to most restaurants, I'm probably the 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:14.480 worst nightmare. But you guys are always so accommodating and 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.799 always cook the food exactly how I like it, very simple, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.599 very clean, incredibly fresh and just perfect. And then you know, 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.640 I love some steam vegetables on the side, some bald 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.839 stomic vinegar, and then to season myself. Did you come 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.039 to this way of eating or did your parents cook 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.200 that way? Did you grow up with very healthy, clean food? 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.080 Oh gosh, no, quite the opposite. You know. I've always 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.919 been to nice places with my parents and been taken 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.960 on lovely holidays, but I'd never been to the level 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:46.520 of restaurant I was going to when I was with 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.719 the Spice Girls, and it was all very exciting, and 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.400 very quickly I came to the conclusion that unless I 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.599 adapted a very healthy way of eating, I would just 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.800 be inclined to sit there and eat the entire contents 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.200 of the bread basket, which when you're eating out regularly 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.200 is probably not the healthiest, not when you're on tour 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.000 and you're expecting so much from your body. So I 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.400 just decided from that point to really try and eat 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.520 in a clean way. Lots of fresh vegetables, lots of fish. 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.040 I don't have any dairy at all. I haven't eaten 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:20.279 red meat since I was about seven years old. Before 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.080 you even go to that, I'd love to know if 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.040 your mother, do you think that she put her filing 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.640 in the oven or didn't use the oven because she 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:29.760 was doing other things? Did she think cooking was just 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.320 something she had to do rather than wanted to do? 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:33.920 Do you think do you know she was always a 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:35.840 great mom and a great wife, and she was always 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.120 busy doing something, But you know, cooking was never really 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.400 her thing. It's never really her passion, if you like, 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.560 if she found her much better abuse of her of 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:50.839 her oven and so rather myself. But did she do 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:52.720 the cooking or did you have somebody else? No? No, 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.120 she she did do the cooking. But you know, this 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.800 was when I was younger. This was, you know, when 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.880 it was all about microwaveable Do you know it was 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:02.720 a real thing. I remember when I was growing up 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.120 so many adverts on the television. It was all about 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.680 food that you could put in the microwave, fast, about 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:14.640 hurt and get out of the kitchen. Being seven and vegetarian. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:18.080 Do you remember what made that happen? I do? I do. 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:19.760 I was at school and I was in a home 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.760 economics lesson and they were telling us about what was 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.839 I thing. I think it was either hamburgers or sausages 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.520 or something like that, and I was absolutely horrified and 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.159 haven't eaten me since that day. And I have to say, 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.160 I mean, I don't miss it. I eat lots of 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.799 fish and I have a very very healthy way of eating. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.159 But I haven't touched me since then. The children do, 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.120 and David does. And it's not something that I did 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.480 for any reason other than the fact that I just 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.280 went off of it when I learned what was in it. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.280 The shows are kind of determination of a child at 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.640 that age to do that. It's a principle, it's a 0:06:56.760 --> 0:07:00.640 kind of view. So you must have been strong. I 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:02.920 mean I am, and the way that i'm I'm very 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.119 very disciplined, and I think you know, even Golden Ramsey, 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.320 who's a very good friend of ours, has said he's 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.960 never known anybody be as disciplined about the way that 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.040 they eat, you know, because for me, it's just it's 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.200 who I am. I expect a lot from from myself, 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:22.400 being you know, a working mom for children, and I 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.800 work out a lot, and I eat very very healthily. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.760 That's just who I am. And it's just, you know, 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.400 I'm not the most exciting eater. I like to have 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.160 a drink with my dinner, and then I can become 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.400 a very good dinner guest. I'm sure you don't need 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.600 the drink to make you a good dinner dress else. 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.720 But I think that it is interesting to hear that 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.520 trajectory as well, that you you know, and the discipline, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.400 so you don't because we've all been on diet and 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.920 we all know what it's like to deny ourselves food. 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.760 And I know that you know when you hold back 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:58.640 sometimes on food, you hold back sometimes on fun or conversation. 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.520 But that I think it your description of your discipline 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.360 rings true. I absolutely don't deny myself anything. You know, 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:08.600 if I wanted something, I have it, you know, I 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.280 just it's just who I am. You know, I had 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.480 this healthy way of eating that works for me when 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.320 I was growing up. I used to have really bad 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.320 skin as well, and I went to see numerous dermatologists 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:22.800 over the years, and no one could ever figure out 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:25.960 what was wrong with my skin where I had such terrible, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.680 terrible skin. And again that all just cleared up when 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:33.120 I started eating in this very clean, healthy way as well. 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.480 And also I feel that I have great energy, and 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.920 so I just figured out, you know, and I'm happy 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:49.920 the way that they are happy. And what about when 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:51.520 you were growing up? Where would you eat? Would your 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.760 family all eat together? Did you have family meals? Did 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.280 you sit in a living room or in the kitchen 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:59.760 or the dining room? What were meals at the Adams house? 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.720 But we always sat together and we eat in the kitchen. 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:07.160 You know, meal time has always been important. It's an 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.680 important time when when you're you know, when you're together 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.400 reflecting on your day. And that's something that we do 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.920 even now, you know, unless my myself or David are 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.760 actually traveling, we always make sure that we are home 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.240 at the same time and that the kids are always there, 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.160 and that's the time when we eat together and we 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.800 discussed our days. And I think it's very important. And 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.560 that's how it was when we were growing up. You know, 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.560 I was always starting in and out and dancing lessons 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.320 and singing lessons. You know, my mom was a taxi 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.840 driver when I was younger, literally running myself and my 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.320 brother and sister around all the activities. You know, my 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.240 mom was a real hands on mom. That's probably part 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.240 of the reason why she loved the microwave meals because 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.600 she was always so busy driving us around and then 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.440 sitting down to the meal. So I think whether the 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.800 meal comes from the microwave or or from the oven, 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.720 or from you brought in the actually the idea that 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.720 you were sit around the table and talk. My memories 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.160 of my people always asked me as a chef, you 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.280 know what did my mother cook? And she was a 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.440 good she just simple cook. But she was a teacher 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:12.680 so she would come back from work. But what I 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.439 remember as a conversation, you know, I remember the idea 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.320 that we got around that we had talk around the table, 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.400 you know, politics or the day, what you did during 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.440 the day and the time to do that. You know, 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.640 did you go out to restaurants with your parents? Would 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.880 be special occasion restaurants or would you go up My 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:32.360 mom and dad used to love you know, on a 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.640 Friday night, it was probably the treat to go to 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.040 the local Indian restaurant. You know, my mom and dad 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:41.440 loved Indian food, they loved Chinese food and so and 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.240 we traveled quite a lot, so we was always very 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:48.040 lucky to go on nice holidays and experience different kinds 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.520 of foods. You know, we go to Spain most summers. 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.760 My parents at a house in Spain, so we were 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:56.680 lucky enough to be able to go there and and 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.719 have you know, foreign holiday. Every year. We go to Press. 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.040 We were lucky enough to go to America a couple 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.360 of times. Actually, we laughed a lot and we had 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.880 some great experiences together. And it's nice now that I 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.560 can do that with my parents, you know, me and 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:14.400 the kids and David love to take my mom and 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.440 dad out. You know, it's it's a real treat. Family 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.680 time is so so important something that we cherish. I 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.200 was quite touched when you said that the pleasure that 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.360 you gave from actually being able to take out your parents, 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.520 because there is that moment you as you're sort of 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.360 growing up, when you realize that you can actually, after 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.680 years and years of them taking care of you, that 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.559 you can take care of them, and so is that 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.360 something that you associate also with taking them out to restaurants? 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.440 And yeah, because as you said, you know, if you 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.120 have three children, you know it's expensive to go out 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.000 and eat and go on holiday. And I think that 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.800 my parents they were wonderful, wonderful parents. So now the 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.040 fact that we can treat them, we can take them 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.439 on holiday, and we can take them to lovely restaurants 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.319 really means a lot. That's something that me and David 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.800 really do enjoy with his parents as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.360 both sides are very very close. Going back into the 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.880 trajectory of your childhood and teenage years, how old are 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.679 you when you left home? So I did my GTSC. 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:22.640 So I was sixteen and I moved to Epsom in Surrey. 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.959 I wanted to be a dancer and a singer. I 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.080 wanted to go into musical theater actually, and I took 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.840 a place at Lane Theater Rance in Epsom in Surrey. 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.280 So I was nervous about that and I didn't enjoy 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.600 that part of it. I was always a little bit 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.840 I wouldn't say socially awkward, but I was always quite 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.240 shy when I was a child and as I was 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:48.480 growing up. I loved the dancing and the singing. But 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.640 again I never really fitted in that well. I don't 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.280 think I really knew who I was. It wasn't until 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.840 I met the Spice Girls and kind of accepted who 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.320 I was, and they brought me out of my shell. 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.720 If you like that, I really became who I am. 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.319 Now do you remember what you ate when you were 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:12.040 at Oh gosh, yes, I used to eat super noodles. 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.800 I mean very very student style super noodles that you 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.520 put in there. We go again, the microwa. But yes, 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.199 when I was at college, I would eat super noodles. 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:26.480 I would have frosties, remember the series Frosties, bowls and 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:31.240 bowls of frosties with skimmed milk. And I used to 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.640 eat those yogurts, you know, those muller like when you 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.440 peel the corner off and you dump a whole load 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.200 of sugary you know what into it. Yeah, I used 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:41.760 to eat a lot of it. But you know, this 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:46.160 was the nineties when I feel that it was sort 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.480 of rammed down our throats. You know, fat free, fat free, 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.319 fat free. So we used to eat a lot of 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.959 fat free food without realizing how much sugar we were eating, 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:57.959 and I think that that probably didn't help my skin. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.000 Back in the day, you know, there was so much 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.520 attention on eating fats free, and now what we know 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.640 is a complete opposite. Actually, I mean, my diet now 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:12.120 consists of a lot of healthy fats. I mean numerous avocados, 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.880 for example, and seeds and nuts. And now we know 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.480 that fats are good, good fats. But back in the day, 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.680 we were terrified of them. It's crazy. And like I said, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.800 I think that that probably really didn't help my skin 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.080 as I was growing up, but we didn't realize it 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:37.080 then when you joined the spice Fields, what was food 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.080 like there? Well, you know, I mean it was so 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.400 much fun. But again, you know, we lived in a 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.560 house together and we ate like students. You know. I 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:45.360 think I was probably still on the frosties and the 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.040 super noodles and all those kinds of all those kinds 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.080 of things, sharing the food and fighting over the food 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.280 that was in the fridge, like all kind of students do. 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.360 And when I interviewed Paul mccurrently last week, he was 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:01.640 describing that was a very touching story about going with 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.920 John Lennon to Paris, for the first time they ever 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.280 had a glass of wine, because he grew up in 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.120 Liverpool never had had wine. But he said that there 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.400 was a point when George Martin took them to a 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.680 restaurant called their Uh in London, which was a kind 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:20.680 of a microt fancy French restaurant, and then he knew 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:24.400 what good food and good wine was. Was there a 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.560 moment when you were as a measure of your success, 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.720 when you realized what food could be. Got absolutely when 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.400 we signed our record deal with Virgin Records, they took 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.600 us too lovely restaurants and I remember actually when we 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.160 signed our record deal, you know, they opened a bottle 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.680 of Christal champagne. And again this was the nineties, and 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.760 it was like, wow, that champagne. How much? I mean, 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.400 this was just insanity but so much fun and not 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.480 something that any of us had experienced. And I was 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.080 the posh one and I came from a lovely, lovely family. 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.440 It wasn't as paras people thought. I'd never had any 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.400 anything like that in my life, and it was incredibly 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.000 luxurious and we were going to wonderful restaurants and eating 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.760 wonderful food, um and experience that I'll never forget, not 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.600 just in England, but you know, we traveled all around 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.600 the world. You know, we were we were selling records 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.320 in America, in in Japan, we spent time in China. 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.160 We traveled the whole world, and I feel so blessed 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:30.360 that I visited the most incredible restaurants in the world. 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.480 Would you eat afore a show or would you after it? 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:37.680 Again a question I asked people about actors. Do you 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:39.480 eat for them if you're doing a mat name, would 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.360 you have lunch before breakfast? It was their discipline and 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.520 rigor to the way you ate and performed. I mean, 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:51.560 not with us, but then you know, we we kind 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:53.520 of just did our own thing, Ruthie. You know, I 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.240 mean I remember once they introduced us to a choreographer 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.760 and we were like, what do you mean you're going 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:00.560 to tell us what to do? Just going to get 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.080 on stage and we're just going to jiggle around and 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.960 we're just going to do our own thing. So, you know, yeah, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.920 we ate before the show, we ate during the show, 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.760 and we ate off the show. During the show that 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.120 in the middle of quick changes, you know, I mean, 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:21.440 Melanie c was the most disciplined for sure, but not 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.800 so much. I'm much more disciplined now than I was then. 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:26.800 You know, I was twenty years old and we were 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:31.119 on the road and we were having fun, um, you know, 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.440 and I was so much more naive than I am now, 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.320 nive and and just ready to just as you say, 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.200 have fun and not be not be held back by 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.479 any you know, but also with a huge rigor. I mean, 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.840 you put on those shows. You were not the twenty 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.879 year old just you know, having fun. You were working 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.160 a lot of work. We were working work, Yeah, we were. 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.760 We were working really we were working really really hard, 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.040 and we did have a lot of fun we did. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:05.639 And then in the trajectory again of food and work 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:10.840 and discipline and rigor, you started a business, a business 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:16.800 of fashion and fashion and food and employing people is 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.720 something major, isn't it? Because you find the eating and 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:25.080 the food and the discipline and the rigor of being 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:31.200 an entertainer. Did that also go into being a businesswoman? Yeah, 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.119 you know, at that point then I did start to 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.200 become more conscious of what I was eating because I 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.359 knew that I was sort of demanding a lot from myself, 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.520 and so I was much more disciplined then because you know, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.119 like I said, I'd go into the stadium in a 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.199 pencil skirt and blouse and carrying a bark in And 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.119 then I walked into the dressing room and put on 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.560 you know, a PBC cat suit if you like. And 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.760 then I was a spice girl at night. And I 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.159 knew that I was demanding a lot from myself. And 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.639 so therefore I think, you know, I'm a I'm a 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:05.000 big believer of if it's not just what you wear 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:07.160 and what you put on your skin, obviously, I mean 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.680 it's about what you eat and being healthy as well. 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:11.600 And when you have a show, when you have the 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.639 new finish, do you celebrate, do you go and have food, 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.239 you go out to dinner, do you have food brought in? 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:22.479 Or do you just everybody kind of so exhausted, you know, 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:26.280 it depends. It depends. I mean, actually, after my last show, 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.560 I came here actually with a few of my team 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:32.159 members and my mom and dad and my friend and 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:34.960 my sister. So we actually came here to River Cafe 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.280 to celebrate. But I'm looking forward to I'm looking forward 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:40.600 to the next show and business getting back on track. 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:43.919 Nothing more. Well, we're in the process of working on 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.800 a pre collection at the moment um, and then we'll 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.920 have our main collection in September. But I'm looking forward 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.800 to things getting back to normal because I think socializing 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:59.199 and and eating and um and drinking with friends and 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:04.680 colleagues is so so important in my Victoria. Yeah, it's 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.080 been it's been a hell of a year, right, Yeah, 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.240 And so we think about you know, we've talked about 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:14.480 food and family and food and love and your parents 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:18.320 and exposure to new new places and travel. Food also 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:22.040 can give us comfort. And so my last question to 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:26.879 you on this very flusterry River Cafe day is to 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.960 ask you what is your comfort food? And this is 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:34.080 where I sound even more boring in the food department. 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.760 You're not boring in the food department. You're interesting in 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.800 the food. Okay, what do I like? You know? I 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.919 like whole grained toast with salt on it? Good? Is 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:49.080 that really boring? You know? Is that carby thing? Isn't it? 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:54.040 Is that carbohydrate that makes you feel comforted? And I 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:58.399 love salt. I'm a slavery person is supposed to a 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.400 sweet person? Yeah? I think that sounds like a very 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.879 good comfort food. And it's been a very very lovely 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:09.960 conversation thank you, thank you so much, thank you. It's great. 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:18.960 Is this for me? That's nice? What is it? I 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:24.080 think it might be fall Contina very nice. Is that 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.760 what you're having? There? We go? I am both having nice. 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:33.600 Let's go in the afternoon is my kind of day. 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.960 To visit the online shop of the River Cafe. Go 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:45.040 to shop the River Cafe dot co dot uk. River 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.600 Cafe Table four is a production of I Heart Radio 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.960 and Adam I Studios. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:54.640 visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:56.040 you listen to your favorite shows.