S9 EP44: Harry Judd
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January 31, 2025
TLDR: Discusses parenting and life experiences with musician and author Harry Judd on Parenting Hell podcast. Subscribe via email for updates and follow on Instagram.

In the latest episode of Parenting Hell, hosts Rob Beckett and Josh Whiddicombe welcomed Harry Judd, renowned musician, author, and presenter, to share his insights on parenting and life. Harry, well-known as the drummer for the band McFly, opened up about the challenges and joys of being a parent, illustrating the conversation with relatable anecdotes and humor.
Key Highlights of the Episode
Parenting Challenges
- Real Talk on Parenting: The hosts discussed the complexities of parenting, recognizing that many parents often feel lost or overwhelmed. Harry shared his experiences, highlighting the chaotic nature of life with three children, ages 8, 7, and 3.
- Coping Strategies: Listeners contributed personal stories and strategies for managing the daily grind of parenting, reinforcing the idea that many parents share the same struggles.
- Community Support: The importance of community and sharing experiences was emphasized, showcasing how connection with other parents can make a difference in coping with the challenges of parenting.
Harry Judd's Journey
- Career Highlights: Harry recounted his transition from musician to parent, sharing how his life as a member of McFly intertwined with his duties at home. He mentioned the band's recent activities, preparing for a tour alongside Busted, and their ever-evolving musical style.
- Balancing Work and Family: The conversation delved into Harry's time management skills and how he navigates his work in entertainment while raising three young children. He emphasized his wife Izzy's pivotal role in managing family affairs during his absences.
Personal Reflections on Fatherhood
- Motherhood Admiration: Harry expressed profound admiration for his wife’s capabilities as a mother, understanding the challenges women face in balancing work and family life. He noted Izzy's motivation and influence in pushing him to be a better person and father.
- Learning Experience: He spoke candidly about the learning curve that comes with parenthood, recognizing that self-control and emotional regulation are key elements in raising well-behaved children.
Humor and Anecdotes
- Throughout the episode, listeners enjoyed plenty of laughter brought on by lighthearted moments and hilarious parenting anecdotes:
- Toaster Troubles: A playful debate ensued about the technical challenges of making toast, highlighting the mundane yet comical aspects of home life.
- Kid's Mischief: Harry shared amusing stories of his children’s antics, reinforcing the idea that parenting is filled with unexpected, funny moments.
- Harry also chatted about his podcast, Binge, a humorous yet insightful exploration of TV and binge-watching culture, revealing how he enjoys winding down by watching content with his family.
Conclusion and Takeaways
The conversation with Harry Judd provided both depth and humor, with invaluable takeaways for parents:
- Realistic Expectations: Parenting is challenging; it’s okay to not always have it figured out.
- Support Systems: Engage with your community and lean on fellow parents for advice and support.
- Appreciate Each Moment: Amidst the chaos of parenting, find joy in the little moments that make it all worthwhile.
- Collaborative Parenting: Both partners play essential roles; mutual support strengthens family dynamics.
In essence, this episode is a compelling listen for anyone navigating the highs and lows of parenthood, filled with laughter, wisdom, and reassurance that they are not alone in their journey.
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Hello, I'm Rob Beckett. And I'm Josh Willicom. Welcome to Parent in Hell, the show in which Josh and I discuss what it's really like to be a parent, which I would say can be a little tricky. So, to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern day parenting, each week you'll be chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping. Or hopefully how they're not coping. And we'll also be hearing from you, the listener, with your tips, advice and, of course, tales of parenting whoa. Because, let's be honest, there are plenty of times where none of us know what we're doing.
Hello, you're listening to Parenting Hell with. Teddy, can you say Rob Beckett? Rob Beckett. And can you say Josh Whiddickham? Josh Smeekham. Can you say Parenting Hell? Petting Hell. Well done.
They're very cute. Good morning, Rob, Josh and Michael. Here is my soon to be two-year-old Teddy saying her names. Great name. Teddy. Yeah. Good name, isn't it? Ed, Teddy, love it. Would you have gone with that if you'd had a boy, Rob? Well, that was in the run, isn't that a big fan of that name? We've been in practice since birth, as I was having to listen to prior to having kids. Thanks a lot for making me feel a ton better about how my week has gone in comparison to yours. Best wishes to you all, Alice, 370 months, 10 days, Teddy, 23 months, 25 days.
From? Oh, I'll give you two words. Posh North. Harrogate. Correct. Is it? Yeah. Love it. Posh North. Posh North. Yum. Yum. This is a good game, Posh North. Posh North. Oldly Edge. Oldly Edge is nice. Oldly Edge, yeah. Posh North. Posh North. Can you have a Posh North? York. York's nice. It is lovely. Chester. Chester. Yeah. Posh North.
Josh, we've had a lot of correspondence. We need to get over the line here. First of all, your toaster. A lot of people got in touch to give advice to you, Josh, about your toaster. You got that julet one with the little timer. Yeah. And it said, please tell Josh not to force the timer. Okay. So it pops up. I'm plugged from the wall and at the timer run. You'll break the spring slash time if you force it. We've had ours for 27 years. That's from Joanna.
They've had theirs since 1998. That's too long of it. That's too long for a toaster. It can't be as quick as it used to be. Here are my issues with Joanna's theory. Oh, I love it. Let's have toaster beef. So, with the dual-lit toaster of... Yeah. Have you got a dual-lit? I've had them... You know how it works. Yeah, they're quite expensive. Spread that over 27 years. True. I've found it a lot of money for a toaster.
Yeah, I'm googling it. Sorry, can you hear me tapping? 200 quid? No, fuck off. It can't be. 220 quid, Jesus. Fuck off, is that what we paid for it? Well, yeah, unless you nicked it. Jesus fucking Christ. Oh, the Avarath lid, eh? Oh, dear, that's a shame, isn't it? Really ruined your man of the people vibes, isn't it? That's a four-toaster, that's a four-one. It's a four-ropper, isn't it? You've got a four-o.
If you have the timer on, yeah, if it's not electrically plugged in. So if I'm turning it off at the plug at the end of every toasting, then the next toasting invariably will be someone not realizing that it's not plugged in. And just putting it there. Yeah. So it's too problematic to turn it off at the plug halfway through every toasting.
So what is your problem with it? You don't need it to pop up on that kind of toaster. No, no, no, no. My question was, you put it on, and then your toaster's done halfway through, but the time is still going. Can I just leave the timer toasting now? If you turn it from the plug, that will stop it being a fire risk. But why don't you just set it for less time? I try and get it right, but you don't always get it right.
I think you need to work on your timing. OK. Is that fair? Yeah, it is fair. That's a general point, not just with toasting. I think you just need to set responsibility for the length of time you need, Josh, I'd say. Well, I try. That's my instinct. And all you can do is try. Show me someone that can always time a piece of toast, and I'll show you a liar. OK. All right.
When? When? We're doing we to do that all day to day. Now this is from producer Michael talking about the toilet attendant catchphrases. We had a huge response to the chat around if the female toilet attendants had songs like the male ones. The answer was a resounding yes, Josh.
Unlike the variety of different phrases in the men's toilet, it seems like the female version had mostly the same song, and this was all around the world. People'd emailed him from Josh, so this was global. Okay. Hi, guys. Toilet songs and girls' toilets. Yeah. Sang to the tune of London Bridges falling down. The song went, fresh and up your punani, punani, punani, fresh and up your punani for your boyfriend. Wow. Thank God.
That is something else, isn't it? I would want freshen up the poon, aren't I? Imagine the embarrassment of breaking into that soul, freshen up. It's a confident job, isn't it? It's a confident job. But that's not where you spray it. Yeah, you do not spray perfume down there. There must be fresh and hygiene wipes. You know the kind of wet wipes. No one's wet wiping. Fem fresh.
What in the sink area of a toilet? No, I think that you'd probably buy one off the lady to take into the cubicle. Right, OK. Do email in, let us know whether Rob's right. If I had a work in vagina, that's what I'd do. Oh, the things you'd do if you had a work in vagina.
Have you had your haircut? No, it's a bit of a mess because a lot of Michael Fabrikan. You look like you've got frosted tips. Yeah, no, it's got no mousse or gel on it, so it's really blond. Kind of cayenne from West Life. Basically, I went to bed last night. I didn't have a shower before, but I'd not had a shower this morning. I've just got up and it's sort of got some stuff in it, so it's holding its shape in weird positions. You had a haircut?
Look, shorter. I did last week. Yeah, yeah. Well, it got very, very long. Your hair's now actually the same haircut that all teenage boys have, but not that you're trying to look like a teenage boy. That's just what the fashion is. That's short round the back and sides and then just like loads of it on top. Well, fair enough. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's what I like. You've always had that kind of thing, but you used to go out at the site as well. Why is that stopped?
I used to be long at the back and sides, and I don't like that. Why not? Because it doesn't work for my facial shape, and it makes you look like you're just some kind of fucking student. And I'm 41. But if you're not happy, you're not happy. You've got to do what works for you. Exactly. Here we go. Hi, Robin Josh. This is more toilet attendant stuff.
I was just listening to the episode. We asked if anyone had done a poo with the no spray, no layman in the toilet. Oh, yeah. Not only have I, well, I love it. Someone's responding. I don't remember anything I've ever said on this. Not only have I done a poo in the same toilet as the no spray, no layman, but the bastard had stolen all the toilet roll and made me buy it back off him. Oh my God. That was a bit pissed off at the time. I respect the hustle. We love the pod, Jude. I would be amazing. Oh my word. That is unfair, isn't it? Yeah.
You'd have to go, excuse me, have you got the toilet roll? Oh god. How much directly charged or does he give it to you and then you've got? It used to be a quid, just a general, everything seemed to be a quid. A quid for it and you've got a lollipop after Chase, right? Yeah, respect. Anyway, Josh Harry Judd this week, very excited Harry Judd. Loved him.
Great guy. Joe, what was what he's got? Podcast about binging on TV. And with Alex Jones, I was already sold, but I was like, have they just picked something because TV's popular? He's obsessed with TV. He knows his onions. He knows his onions. Good guy as well. Good looking. Anyone that goes running topless with Joel Dom, it's a friend in my book.
Oh, I've got something on that. Go on. I asked Nitro about them beating Keeley Hodgkinson's time. Did he run with him? No, but I asked him about it. Yeah. Well, we talk about it in the episode that Joel Dummett, Harry Judd and a friend all tried to beat Keeley Hodgkinson's time, but taking turns on a relay. And what did Nitro say? He said, actually, the differential between men's times and women's times is such that
Most 800 meter runners, male way 800 meters, but runners under 19's would be able to do that 800 meters. So actually he didn't think it was as impressive as I did. Why don't you tell that pumped up loser Nitro to shut his mouth? And if you don't, I'll do it for him because he scares me. Do you know what's scary about him? He's so smiley and happy, but he could crush you. He could just choke you to death in seconds. Anyway, here's Harry Judd.
Harry Judd, hello. Hi guys, how you doing? Very good. I've genuinely got a list of questions that are non-parenting related, but we will get to parenting, don't worry. That's fine with me. I just have to start by saying that I am a fan of the podcast. Oh my gosh. My wife is a super fan though. Oh. Yeah, she's like next level. She's devastated that I'm recording it here and not at home. Oh really? She even was like, could I come into the studio and just like poke my head in and say hello? Oh, why not?
How far's McFly HQ from your house? It's about 10 minutes. Oh, wow. Get her down. I was like, is he pleased to speak cool? Just be cool, is he? It's okay. Like, I'll tell them, I'll tell them. So I feel like under extra pressure, because I know she is listening 100%. Oh, whatever you say, especially at the end where we ask you what's amazing about her and what annoys you. That's a lot of pressure on that when you know they're going to hear. Yeah.
Harry give us a rundown how many kids you got on what ages just so we can set the scene for Josh I see loads of questions about all sorts yeah so I've got three I've got three kids I've got Lola who's eight she's gonna be nine in a couple of weeks actually and then I've got Kit who's seven and Locky who's three Locky that's great is that short for something Lachlan yeah that's right Lachlan yes but it basically I was watching the TV I was watching cricket and
New Zealand were playing England and there's a New Zealand cricketer called Locky Ferguson. Oh. And I was like, oh, Locky, that's a cool name. And I was like, Izzy, what do you think of Locky? And she was like, oh, yeah, I like that. We literally spell L-O-C-K-I-E, which isn't the correct spelling, which my dad banged on about for about three weeks after he was born. Whatever the spelling is, is the correct spelling. What have you choose? Exactly. But on his passport, is he Locky? He's Locky, yeah. L-O-C-K-I-E. Exactly. Yeah, do what you want. Who cares?
Yeah, well, my son Kit as well, my dad's Christopher. So Kit is short for Christopher. So when he was born, I thought, oh, my dad will be pleased about that. I was like, oh, dad, we've called him Kit. You know, short for Christopher. And he's like, oh, is he going to be christened, Christopher? Your dad's never pleased. Is he fucking out, mate? I don't fit me in your dad and get on, mate. You're a good guy, but he's already getting on my nerves. No. And I was like, no, no, just Kit, dad. And he was like, that's a nickname. I was like, fuck it.
I'm going to ban that she made. I've been allowed to do this. It's actually quite rock and rock. Lola as well, Lola. No, that's a Spanish name. Oh, Jesus. Annie's race is fucking great. Get a new one. So you're at McFly HQ. Yes. All four McFly's got kids. Tom's got three, Danny's got one, and Dougie's got none. Dougie's got none. So does Dougie? Yeah.
Live a different lifestyle to the three of you. Don't. Honestly. That guy. He literally... I mean, for a start, have you seen him recently? He looks about 10 years younger than all of us. What's he found? What's his secret? That I kid, yeah? He did not have kids. Not had kids. Not had kids.
God, he does, Jesus Christ! He looks like a child star that's just decided to pretend to be an adult. Oh my God, he's... Yeah, he won't tell me his secret. I've tried, honestly. I was talking to Danny about this the other day. I was like, like, seriously, what does Dougie do? And he's like, I don't know, he won't fucking tell me. Oh my God, he's so good looking. Fuck here now. He's so handsome, isn't he? I know, I know, it's so annoying, isn't it?
very good looking as well. Yeah, but may, no, look, it's an inspiration to be around it. All three of them actually have just got into proper mid-life crisis territory. They've all got motorbikes, so. Oh, wow. Yeah, Doug, he spends a lot of time out on his bike basically waiting to make the next McFly record.
He's got some other bits going on that I can't say because I know he's like launching that this year but he's got some other bits on. But he's good man. But he's getting up when he wants. He sees our kids and he's amazing with them because obviously he's coming in with energy and he's brilliant with them. But also he then sees us in rehearsals talking about our kids like moaning about life and he's like, do you know what? I'm not sure.
Yeah, not sure. Oh my God. I'm not sure I'm going to do that. Do you know what? You are a good looking band. I'm going to say it, and I'm not going to rank them, but I think you're second. Oh, take that. I will take that. Wow. Joe, yeah. So who's last? Tom or Danny? Tom or Danny? I'm not getting involved in that. I'm not naming the other three. You can place the other. I'm not going to make the other one. I'm going to say you're second. Don't rank him. Don't rank him. Oh, nice. I'll tell Danny that later. Definitely. Yeah, I'd say that too. Yeah.
Are you going on tour, like, doing the versus thing with busted? When's that? Is that happened yet? No, that's next. I think end of August it starts, and then it's right through to November, so that's... Because you're like, you were always sort of like pitted against each other, now you're pals. Yeah. Is there any rivalry?
Um, oh yeah, there is a little bit, you wind each other up a little bit, but does it ever go over the line? Because I think, because it's like the versus thing now, isn't it? And there's been a bit of like trash talk between you on PR. I don't know if you've seen this, Josh. Try and wind each other up, which looks a bit like fun and games, but I think sometimes it can spill over and then does it spill over?
Yeah, do you know what? I haven't spoken about this, but yeah. So there is a little bit of genuine rivalry, obviously, but we do like get on with them. Our whole careers have like crossed over and we've toured with them. I went to school with one of them, Tom went school one of them. Which one did you go to school with? I went school with Charlie. Oh, what a good looking school. Well, that's not a phrase you should be saying. That is not a good phrase. No, one of the teenage pregnancies were so high back in the 90s.
Do you know what? It's really funny. I've got to say, I've just reminisced on teenage boys faces. Oh, fucking hell. That's some hot teenage boys for you. I thought, do you know what? I need to listen to several episodes of your podcast, but it's been a while. So I thought, I'll catch up before I come on. And I listened to your New Year's day one. Within like three minutes, you were talking about public schoolboys. And you were like, I fucking hate public schoolboys.
And yeah, and I was thinking, okay, I'll have to persuade them, because I went to, I went to. No, I know. A lot of my friends are public schoolers. That was a joke. No, no, no, no. I know it's a joke. I was thinking, do you know what? They Charlie's the one that they were like, like, he looks like an erection. You mean, yeah. Yeah, it's like a big erection. I mean, really posh, really annoyingly good looking. So I went away for six weeks before I moved to London. I went around like the east coast of America with my friends and
We needed something to do. We got a set of smash hits, top trumps from the airport. Amazing. And Charlie Simpson was the top Trump. It was either two. I'm not surprised. Because he had a four factor of 97%. Wow.
And also he's told, he's told. He is a fucking giant. So he was a great top drum, Charlie. He is massive. Yeah, but anyway, back to the rivalry thing. So we had this like press run and we'd had the banter and me and Matt did the first one on Capitol and we kind of didn't really talk about how we were going to do it. And we just went in live and we just started sort of ripping into each other. It was fine. There's like a line.
And then we had a couple of nights at the O2 in October and busted, came out and like halfway through the set, like interrupted the set, Matt like smashed one of Dougie's bass guitars and like challenged us to a tour, you know, that's how we kind of launched it. Amazing. No, I thought wrestling. Yeah, exactly. That was the reference wrestling and amazing. Before the gig, we had like an interview with the sun and there was busted and looked flying. It was like a room for all the press people.
And I kind of went in with some sort of dis about, you know, how we saved Busted from like obscurity when we let them join us and we did McBusted. Yeah. And then James Bourne had obviously got this like line planned and he just went like it's like he had perfected this script and he went so hard and like on me as well. It was quite a personal attack and the route literally he finished dissing me and it stopped and it was literally like, okay.
What did he say? It was something about how busted a launch McFly. Anyway, it basically ended. I won't do it justice. It was a brilliant takedown. But it ended with him being like, Charlie plays the drums and Charlie's not the best drummer in our band, but he's still better than you or something. And I was like, and the whole room just went quiet. It was like, and my band mates, he hoped to stand up for me.
So yeah, there's been a couple of moments. How's it going to work? Am I right in saying you're both on stage at the same time kind of dueling? No, so when we did McBusted, which was without Charlie, that was six of us. So we kind of, we just like won band and we just played load of McFly and busses songs. But this is going to be verses. So one band will go on first and we haven't fully figured it out. We sold it really well. So I was like, I'll talk to Josh.
But we've kind of got a few. The references is, as you said, Rob, like WWF, you know, and we'll do some. They'll do some. We might cross over. But it won't just be we're on there on and it's kind of two separate concerts. There'll be some kind. There'll be some crossover. Yeah, that's the thing. Two rooms. The people choose which ones are going.
opposite ends of the O2. Yeah, that's what we talked about. We talked about doing it around, and there's loads of ideas, but I think moments maybe with Danny and Charlie doing like a sing-off kind of thing, and then like a big drum solo, big drum solos between me and Charlie. So yeah, it should be a lot of fun. I think there's not many bands that could kind of pull this off, because it's got that real pop element to it with the whole marketing and the fun side of it.
Obviously, the two bands cross over massively. So I mean, it's so well. Do you all hang out backstage? Yeah, we will for sure. Like you and James, me and James play a lot of table tennis backstage, a lot of ping pong. So yeah. Make fucking trust me. Do you know what? Out of the how many there's seven of us?
I think there's only like two or three of the band members that actually drink now. Like it's very unrock and roll. Yeah, it's very unrock and roll. Yeah, look, Matt's awesome. They're all great. I get on really well with Matt. I've kind of gotten to know Charlie better since doing the whole versus launch and he's a lot of fun. And yeah, it's going to be good. So on tour, do you take the kids on tour or do you just keep it separate? And they might come to a show, but they're not with you the whole time.
Yeah, exactly that. I mean, obviously they're two of them at school and one's at nursery. So the last McFly tool we did, in fact, I sat down with my wife and we went over the busted versus McFly dates and we've kind of gone through a whole schedule of when I can come home. There's a week in Dublin when it's half term. We're doing Dublin Belfast and I think another venue. So they're just going to come out to Ireland for a week.
So yeah, we make it work. I mean, it's kind of quite intense, like when they're there on tour because they're in the hotel with you and then they come to like the sound checks and they're just running around like, and also as Tom's kids, he's got three boys. I've got three. So it's just kind of chaos and they want to get involved in the sound check and then they want to watch the gig and you're like worried about where they're going to sit and who's looking after them. And if I want to see, it's quite stressful. But my son, in particular, my middle son kit, he
is absolutely like guitar obsessed. So it's all he wants to do has come to any gig we have. Oh, that's nice. What does Dougie do when all of you are doing that? He must be like, get some fucking hell. This is a why I got in a band to run a crash.
You know what, it is a massive compromise for women, but we try and have, like, separate dressing rooms, like a family room. So there is a lot of, like, chewing kids out of rooms and stuff. Yeah, it is quite full on, but obviously on tour, it's not possible to have them with you the whole time. I mean, the idea of touring time for me is during term time, because then... Yeah, then they can't come. That's what I try and do.
When you're not in tour though, I know you do your podcasts with Alex Jones as well. Are you doing the school run, are you getting up, getting ready, or how much are you splitting that with your partner when you're not touring or working too much? This is where I have to be completely honest. She's listening, she's listening. Oh, here we go. We all have our roles as parents, right? Sounds like yours is doing fuck all at the moment.
I listened to the Vogue Williams, so she was talking about Spencer, and I was like, I'm pretty sure I do more than him. He sounds like he does nothing. You've never been for a sauna at 5.30pm. Yeah, I was like, that guy has got it made. So is he's definitely better in the mornings? Yeah. At the moment, the setup we've got, I take Locky to nursery, and she takes Kit and Lola at school. Obviously that changes, but yeah, I mean,
This is going to sound awful, but she does this, so I'm just going to, like, take it, right? She's so good in the morning. She gets up with them, and I get up to, but she, I'd say, most mornings, like, brings me a cup of tea or coffee. I do that for Rose. I do that for Rose. It's not the end of the world doing that. I feel a little bit guilty, but this is the thing. So, is his mum and dad, in their relationship, the dad makes her mum a coffee?
in the morning. I don't know. I think there's just two types of people in the ratio. There's two types of people. Yeah. And you're the better one. Is he's the better one? No, no, no, because there's no proof that you do morning. There's no proof you're good in the mornings. It's not like you spent the whole of December doing magic breakfast, sounding peppy from 6 a.m. Is it? You're quite coming to get a new book from your house to the studio to bring you your gift.
I was listening to you all December. And do you know what? You sounded knackered, mate. Did I? Yes. I told you. Someone told me someone said, Oh, Josh said he listens to magic because I was really excited about that. I told. I love it. He loves it. I told Harriet, we talked about you on the show for a bit. I was wondering if you might have been listening, but I miss that bit.
Oh, I have it on literally the whole of December. Well, last week of November. 100% Christmas, Josh. It's 100% Christmas. It's 100% Christmas. What was that like with your kids then? What time are you going to bed and getting up? Great, because he's just gone. You're out of the way. But I mean, I think quite a full on for Izzy, because she was then doing the kind of two different jobs.
So generally, when I'm not touring or working, I drop the kids off and I'm really into running at the moment. So I'll go like this morning, I drop Locky off at Nursing and then I go for a run. And then I often come into the studio, play a bit of drums. I might be obviously recording this podcast out with Alex, doing kind of all sorts of random things. I mean, January, February is looking pretty quiet, boys.
I'm going to go with that. I'm going to go with that. December, to be fair, must have been fucking nackering doing a breakfast show. Well, September, November, December, we're all very busy. Was that just like a one month cover job then? Yeah, it was a cover job. So got one as the new presenter and he was off doing Panto. So I was filling in for God for a month. Yeah. The best month to fill in for though, right? Yeah, it was 100% Christmas.
Yeah, they were happy. They were like really nice. And they were like, oh, have you back in when Gox got on? And I really enjoyed it. So hopefully I might be doing a few more bits of magic. We'll see. What about cricket presenting? Because you're obsessed with cricket. Yes. Your cricket back collection. Harry Cole, my radio show, when we talk about obsessions. I don't normally allow to have guests in, but you're using the studio. We don't rattle laugh about cricket bats. And I love anyone that's obsessed with something. So are these famous cricket bats? Or are they like different models of cricket bats?
Yes, so they're nostalgic cricket bats for me, so they're cricket bats from the 90s. So it'd be like Graham Thorpe's cricket bat. I'm not looking to get a player's, but I'm looking to get the actual, so the make. Yeah, like Rob Wood with a football shirt. Exactly. Exactly. So like the 1997 version of that bat. Exactly. That was used in the ashes. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, for example, when, you know, you might get you, like a Liverpool kit that's, say, got the different sponsor and the different design. So for me, I've got, you know, you've had a Great Nichols, right?
Yeah, so I've got the power spot, I've got the... I don't know any of this because I've had sex with a woman. I've got the diner drive, the saber, the scoop. The scoop! I've got all the grey nickels, I've got all the cookaburras, I've got Dunkin' Fernley, I've got... You name it, I've pretty much got the lot. It started at the beginning of lockdown, just bored on eBay, and I was like... And I'd always thought about it, and once I got one, that was it, it was just like...
And how are they displayed? I love this. So we just moved house so they haven't got them up in a new place, but I'm going to. I got these shelves like off Etsy that seemingly made for a cricket back display. Oh, yeah. They kind of just got a little lip on it. So the bat just sits in perfectly. Nice. I had them at my old house next to my drum kit and I put a little LED strip underneath. Oh, very nice. It looks amazing. And it's easy like it.
I mean, I'd had a bit of explaining to each time like a cricket bat shaped parcel would come through. So when the door would go back, shit, I need to answer that.
Because I can get a way of hiding football shirts. It's hard to hide a cricket bat. It is. But the thing is, even people that don't like cricket, they look beautiful on a wall. Trust me. Also, these are the words, because when I buy a sticker album, because I'm trying to buy all the sticker albums, completed football sticker albums from up to about the end of the 90s from the start of the 70s. Yeah. And... Jesus. These are the words you want to use when they arrive. And you can use this for football shirts, Rob. They actually hold their value.
So you're not losing any money on these. You know as well as I do, Josh. I'm never fucking selling those. Never your children will be able to immediately after your death. So would you know the problem with that is they'll flood. I heard about a celebrity. I don't know if this is true. Right. His collection of comic books is so vast that he's had to start selling them off.
bit by bit because if he died and his kids sold the whole of them, the market would collapse because the market would get flooded. So if you die, Harry, no. And your kids need to bleed out those cricket bats because it will flood the market if they will see
You know what I think I have been controlling the market of 90s cricket bats because I noticed the prices go up a bit because I was talking about it interviews and things like I was then getting DMs on Instagram from like these guys that have them Oh, and then seeing the prices are gonna I don't think I'm single-handedly responsible for that
I don't know if there's many other collectors out there. I would say it's a busy market. Yeah, but you know when you get on eBay and it gets to the auction and it's like the countdown thing. Yeah. There's a couple of other nerds out there because I'm not the only one. Like, and it's a real rush, isn't it? It's a real adrenaline rush when you're bidding for a cricket bat and there's like 10 seconds left. Do you know who it is, mate? It's at James Busted Born has just bidded you up 300 quid.
Big Charlie's going to cut out using the drumsticks. But do you know what I have actually put a software because I've almost got every single one I'd like. But the thing is there... It's a one you're looking for, one you're honest with me. Well the thing is you then start to see examples that are better than what you've got. So you're thinking, well actually I'd like... Oh, less nicks. Yeah, I'd like that.
because that's a better example of the one I've got. For my museum. But then I have to go into selling territory. I've got a duplicates of certain bats, but why do you want them? Could you not afford them when you're younger or you're not allowed them? Because normally, collectors when they're older is people that couldn't afford it or weren't allowed it. And then when they get their own money, it becomes a bit of cessus because it's sort of like you're in your own child's brain buying it, not in your adult's brain. I think it's just I hit a certain age where just the 90s
became hugely nostalgic and it was like, yeah, I'd always talked to my mates about cricket and love a bit of cricket. And then suddenly, I think I must have been 34, 35. And that's when you hit that age where that nostalgia is so powerful.
Yeah, so I don't know. I just guess once I got one and, you know, did a bit of shadow batting at home and I was like, did your kids play cricket? My daughter loves anything. She'll try anything. My middle son is not really fast about sport at all, but he just wants to play guitar. But my three-year-old, he loves a ball. So he's the great hope. Do you want to give him like a nine? He's back to play with as like a...
Yeah, well, he might be the one that inherits the collection. But yeah, I'm hoping he might be into it because my son and daughter, not so fast about cricket. Yeah, I think in a collection of cricket bats, you are on eBay immediately too much as well. You're not like that. Lovely to have. Do you think it is a dad's of a certain age? Right. And I think there is a thing you reach a certain age. And obviously, we're lucky that we've got disposable income, but we haven't really got
We're looking for something to be into. Do you know what I mean? And CDs and DVDs, which I used to buy, they don't really exist anymore. Yeah. We're not allowed posters because our wife's control will ever go on the wall in our houses. I don't know about you. So you end up going, I need an outlet for my weirdness.
all of my posters and things are at my mum and dad's house because so basically I want to get a little studio in the garden yeah and that's what I'm hoping you know after this talk well get a little studio in the garden and that's where I'll have
my dance board where I have my cricket bats on the wall, my drum kit, my bits of kind of collectible things that I've gotten over the years to put up. For example, even like my strictly glitter ball. Oh, don't you fucking rub that in my face. It's one strictly. Harry Judd is living the life Josh wants. He's in a band, he likes cricket, he's got bats, he's one strictly. I know. And he presents magic Christmas. Do you know what? Like me, he's the second best looking person in the people who want to.
Alex Brooks is a good looking guy. Alex Brooks is a good looking guy. Yes, that's not even allowed on display in our house. What, the glitter ball? It's a bit tacky to be fair. No, the glitter ball. If you've won strictly, that's got to be up in the house. Yeah. I'm telling you, if you saw that, if you saw the actual glitter ball, I'm not sure if it badly made, you get given the big one that you see on the show to do like the photo with and immediately taken back off you and then handed this one that looks like it was made by a 15 year old in GCSE design. Right.
I've blue-tacked the S back on, like it is like the bits of Mirables for, it's really. I think if I was you, I'd get a good one of it made. Get someone to make it, get it commissioned. And just pretend, because no one's gonna, unless, you know, Kelvin Fletcher comes round and double chains. He wanted to get up. Or Chris McCool's comes round. I mean, he wouldn't be out of 10 anyway. But, oh. When it runs Chris McCorsland's for over.
Just come to say hi, Chris, because I do it with all the new Strictly winners. Well done, mate. Can I see the clip? I just want to check they've given you the right one. Great mind noise, by the way.
Oh, even if you had a good one though, I think it's starting. You haven't got it there then. It's at home. No, it's in the loft, genuinely. But if someone comes over and you've got up on your wall, it's a bit cringe, isn't it? Oh, yeah. No, I think that a glitter ball's good fun. What year did you win and who did you beat? Who did I beat? So I won in 2011. Oh, it's a long time ago. I know. Still talking about it. Still bringing it up in interviews. That was a tough one, but that was the ones they still used to knock you about. The old school.
My final was a fuck your fighter back in the day. Yeah, mate. There was no chaperones, mate. It was intense. My final was Jason Donovan and Chelsea Healy. Oh, wow. Lovely. So he won one strictly. Have you done the jungle? No, no. Doug, he did the jungle. The same year that I did the jungle and he won it. At the same year as you did strictly. Yeah, he won it. It was a good year. Yeah. Yeah. And then obviously Danny's just done it. Danny's just won it. So have you ever met Richard Osman?
Richard Osman lives near I live, so I often, mind you, he's a huge McFly fan. Did you know this? He is, yeah, I did know this. And he's not just like, oh, yeah, I love McFly. No, it's all about you, Star Girl, good songs. He knows album tracks. Yeah, he's a massive McFly fan. Genuinely, yeah, no, it's really great. It's nice. On the McFly fans, there was a journalist, and he was quite harsh, right? Yeah. Back in the day. But this is his review of McFly. Oh, god, is this okay to do?
No, no, no, because he was harsh on everyone. So he slagged off Maroon 5, he slagged off Jamilia, he slagged off Lamar. I think I want to get on with this guy. Yeah. I think you would, actually, well, this is what he said about the fly. As hard as I try, it's impossible to be cynical about these three minutes of bouncing pop perfection. This is five colors in her hair.
You're debut single? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So they've stolen the guitar line from gay bar and hooked Mrs. Robinson and the image of busted, but who really cares when they've created a song this great? He's had a dig though, isn't he? He's had a fucking, that is a couple of slaps. If there's a better single than this, this year, I look forward to hearing it. Oh, that is nice. Do you know who that is? The words of Joshua to come from Manchester Student Direct. No! No way! No way! You little bitch!
That's amazing. Wait, read that again. Now I know that was you. Go on. Read that again. As hard as I try, because I was such a lame. It's impossible to be cynical about these three minutes of bouncing pop perfection. So they've stolen the guitar line from gay bar from Mrs. Robinson. All right. Yeah. And so the glasses have slipped on my nose. So it's a pop them back on for the end of this review. Yeah. I didn't have glasses then. I didn't have glasses. Yeah, of course. It's good. But of course,
I agree with you. This guy is a prick.
Sorry guys, I was back when I was drinking. Yeah, so good. When we were 20, we were all wankers robbed. Absolutely. Yeah, that's the land. The image of Busted, but who really cares when they've created a song this great? If there's a better single this year, I look forward to hearing it. Look at that. Lovely review. There we go. Thank you, Josh. Thank you. Sure, babe.
Oh my god. What an awful wanker. What an awful wanker. I'm gonna praise them, but I still need to show some sort of level of them. I know. Do you know what, Rob? Someone from Manchester got in touch and said, I've just found all these things that you wrote, send them to. Oh my god. We've got to do more of them. What else did you review? They are just, I come across as such a...
Sorry to turn the air blue. Five colours in your words at the moment. Sorry, Rob. Well, that's how someone described us in NME. Probably a couple of years after your view. That was literally... That was my dream. A picture of us. And then underneath, right to left. Dickhead, Wanker and Prick. Oh my God! Fuck it! Which one were you? I, any of the four, can keep them low and clean. Yes, I'm Prick. What a win.
I'm only probably dickhead out of that for options. Imagine it was so nice. Yeah. How do you deal with that? I won't get back to kids in a bit, but like that online scrutiny and from the press, because you were loved, but also from that type of person you were hated. It was most like the poster boys. If this is what's wrong with music,
even though I was sticking my neck out for you just so you know I was you know what it was hard at times because we'd come from yeah I was 17 when I joined a band Dougie was 15 Danny and Thomas 17 as well I mean Tom was very much like I had a pop sensibility and what have you but Danny you know he was really into like he grew up on Springsteen and Oasis and Verve and all that stuff so he went to this audition with his guitar you know wanting to be in that kind of band so the early stages of McFly was like
And the same for me, like I was into rock music, I was into heavy music as teenager, I kind of stumbled across this audition, met these super talented guys who were brilliant musicians, great singers were writing these songs and we were in rehearsals together and within six to eight months we were, I think,
That was when Five Colors and the Hair came out by the time Dougie had joined and it was number one and suddenly making these music videos and you're on tour and you know objectively like we look back I mean not even look back I remember at the time like we hated the Five Colors and the Hair music video we like this is so lame like this is so embarrassing and
What was the video, sorry? It was like that really kind of colourful, like, primary colours, like, cringy sort of... Yeah. And it's hard to slag it off, because obviously it was really successful, and it's nostalgic for a lot of people. So, obviously I do have fond memories, but... It's a great song, despite stealing the guitar line from gay bar and the... Yeah.
So yeah, like, I kind of got why people had a problem with us, but also I knew we were, like, good. Yeah, you were great. You still are. Particularly Tom and Danny a lot of, like, legit talent in this band, like, writing these songs.
We kind of filled in at the time for the boy bands. I busted and started that. So as soon as Buster Brown and then we came along, boy bands were just out of fashion completely. And we were the sort of new style of boy bands, these boys with guitars. And so I got like that really annoyed people. But I think for us, we were like, hey, we're a real band. We write our songs, we play our instruments. And I think ultimately that's why, I don't think I know, that's why Charlie left busted. He couldn't hack it. Like he did want to be in a real band, you know.
where he was in Fightstar, he still is in Fightstar, isn't he? I think. Yeah, well, they did a show last year at Wembley, I think they sort of first shown a while, and it really affected Charlie and he kind of couldn't hack it. And so there were times where it was a bit annoying, but ultimately we were having success, we were loving it, it was a lot of fun and thankfully still is, so. Yeah. And with your kids' taste and stuff, are they into your music? Yeah, at the moment, yeah, because they haven't realised that obviously Dad is super embarrassing.
But I'm sure we're one day, but we just released our eighth album last year, all the year before last. And like, you know, obviously there's been an evolution of the band and our latest albums a lot, you know, guitar heavy. It's much more of a rock album. So my son, who's seven, who loves rock music, thinks it's the coolest thing ever. That's amazing.
So I think, you know, as time goes on, our music will continue to kind of progress. Hopefully they'll like it. That's amazing to still, like, because obviously comedy, you know, is a lot more steady as a job, I think. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. But most bands don't get to wait albums. No. Do you know what I mean? And most bands don't get to wait albums generally because they end up hating each other because they've gone from
friends to business partners, which is a really difficult thing to do. Really difficult. And also the creative element as well. That's it. You've got four different creative opinions. And yeah, it's difficult at times, but you're exactly right. It's often not through lack of success. It's through people just falling out.
Yeah. And I think that's been our key to kind of longevity is that we just like get on really well. I mean, they're classic. They're good. How do you get on with Alex Jones? Yeah.
I get on very well with Alex. There's a subtle bit of opportunity for the PR. We love Alex Jones, me and Rob. Big fans of Alex Jones. We're huge, huge fans of Alex Jones. And Binging. Josh, you still love Binging, don't you, Josh? I loved Binging so much that I now can't binge at all. Well, Binging, what, TV shows or? No, I used to love Binging alcohol, but now I can't. I can't binge anymore. I see. I see.
He's binged enough, yeah. Let's put it this way. I'd have a lot of guys that I could hang out with on the current McFly and busted tour. Let's put it that way. Sure, sure, okay. It's pretty sober backstage on my tour. Talk to us about binging. Binge with the next formation mark, the podcast. I know, right? Yeah, so binge. So me and I, we actually met on Strickly in 2011. She did the same series as me. Oh, nice. Yeah, and as you know, you'll agree. Where did she go out? She got to the semis.
It was, yeah, it wasn't a hard year, it wasn't, it was funny. I saw a really funny clip of you and Alex on your podcast with, I think it's Angela Scanlon. Yes. Where she said she hated Wicked and your reaction was amazing because I'm not a Wicked fan, I'll struggle with it, to be honest with you. And the way you was getting ready to go, you know what, it was amazing. She was like, what a lot around it. I know she built up, I was like, yes, now the big Wicked fan, here we go. She was like, that fucking shade.
I was literally, it just floored me. I didn't know what to say. It was so funny. She was the last guest on our podcast. So me and I, it's been, for instance, 2011. And she has just moved, actually, but she lived literally around the corner from me. So we'd always see each other. And we did the one show together. I did a bit of co-presenting with her on the one show. And we used to, like backstage at the one show, chat about, you know, as you do, what you're watching, what you're enjoying and just pre the show whilst we're doing script rehearsals. And I think it was one of those classic things one day where I was like, oh, this would make a good podcast.
We've been there, mate. We've been there. Yeah, exactly. So we thought, like, sorry, let's give it a go. And what episode are we on, James? 33. 33.
That's a good sign, though, because it means you're enjoying it. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And your guests on? Yeah, we have guests on every week. We started, I was really original, right? We have guests on. We started recording in Central, and Alan just moved out of London. So I quickly suggested that we recorded at McFly's studio, McFly HQ.
So that's a lot easier for her. So we record, yeah, once a week, we have guests on and we, you know, have a catch up. I mean, obviously she's got three kids as well. So we kind of have a similar life. Do you have time to binge? It was always time to binge me. When you binge it? I'm binging when the kids are in bed. So my nightly routine, and honestly, I get annoyed when I have like an evening thing scheduled. Like I,
nothing makes me happier than getting my kids to bed and then just watching a cup of episodes or something with a bill of chalky and some sparkling water. That's the class divide right there. I do my milk and digestive biscuits.
pre-bed, yeah. What's your chocka you have when you're binging? I went through a really worrying phase of doing Tony's chocolate every night. Oh, so good. And you know those big bars they do. You were knocking one of them out a night. I'm knocking one of them a night. One of them a night. Fucking hell. Oh, Judd, why are you not a big fat bastard? He's actually no wonder you're only number two.
Dougie's not doing that. I can't say he was number one. So, it was becoming a problem. Yeah, too fucking right, mate. You're binging more than one, mate. So, I've managed to break that, so I'm on dark chocolate now. Oh, yeah, good. Yeah, right, so. Dark Tony's?
No, not dark Tonys. Just whatever Izzy's got in the fridge. But I saw I do Tonys once a week on a Saturday night. So I go into my half-day dinner on a Saturday evening. Both the boys were bad. Lola's like with Izzy. Playing a game or whatever. I'll wander off down to the local news agent.
And it is me and this guy I've got a bit of a rapport now. I'm walking, I'm like, you know, you know Saturday night, mate. And I get my Salty Caramel Tonys and the break up, put it into a bowl. Oh, yes. Like it's popcorn. My wife was getting so pissed off with a little bit of a chocolate getting into the lane to the duvet. So have it in bed. Oh, so you have it in bed?
I go to bed, I put in a little bowl, and I lie down. What time are you going to bed? 30. And that's for the night. That's me done. No. So you have your Tony's chocolate. Don't chocolate. In a little bowl. In a little bowl. This is fucking brilliant. With my lap to iPad, sorry.
I've had on the chest. On the chest face perfectly, so it's like right there. And is Izzy next to you? Or is she getting on with her life? No, she's getting on with her. So you're every Saturday and the family weekend, you take yourself off alone to the shop alone, not even with your kids to get sweets.
Well, Lola might come with me. She might like, you know, she's got rollerblades for Christmas, so I'll take around the block and a roller raise. She might be like, OK, she's in line skating down there. Yeah, yeah. So, but then you go to bed at 8.30. I try and go to bed at 8.30 every night. Really? If I'm in bed after nine, I'm pretty pissed off. So what time are you getting up? About 6.30. I'm going to, you know, it's easy listening. Seven. I can't wait.
Whenever she brings me my coffee, basically. Did you get into that early bedtime from the radio, or have you always been like that?
I kind of, since kids, I've always been a bit like that. And also, I run a lot. I'm like, 20 for a mouth. I'm knackered. No wonder it is so much fucking Tony's, right? Yeah, you can get away with it. It's like 850 calories in a bar of Tony's. I do find, if I do proper sport in the day, like cardio, I can go asleep well easy in the evening. It obviously makes a massive difference. And what times lights out in the Judd bed? Lights out, basically when I've passed out the Tony's in my mouth like,
So yeah, so you've eaten all the Tonys. I've eaten all the Tonys. I reckon about what you're watching one episode. No, it depends how good it is. And I've said in two episodes, I've finished off Rogue Heroes SES, and then I started Squid Games season two. Oh, you do binge, don't you? Mate, I do binge. I love it. When you're like, you hear someone's doing a podcast about telly, it's like, yeah, we'll watch a bit of telly, right? But you're into it, like. Yeah, I'm really into it. Life spilt stopped me binging recently, because there's so much football on. It's hard to get the binging when there's football on.
Yeah, what about, are you presumably a cricket fan? That's fucking hours, isn't it? I'm only really watching, like, England Test Match cricket. That's all there, like, one-day internationals. You're only interested in the bats on the night. Yeah, exactly. What bat are they using? Quick scroll on that, on Instagram, and then off to this. But also, a lot of international cricket, they're playing abroad. It's like in the middle of the night, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the ashes, that's, you know, that's the main event. The middle of the night is called past six for Harry, though, at the top of the bat.
Because your opinion on the coffee situation, right? So in our house, Lou will get up 6, 6, 30, probably about 6, 30. I'll get up about seven-ish and then like, if I'm at home and not working on tour, I'll do the school run, because she'll be the one leading the charge, getting them ready, but I'll take them and do whatever. And then we work at the rest of the week from there.
So in the morning, Luke goes downstairs and obviously he's getting the kids breakfast and will make herself a coffee. So I'll always come downstairs and I'll say, would you like a coffee? And I have to go and make one on the machine. But normally she's already made a cell phone. And she'll go, no, I've made myself one. And I thought, I think... Oh, I know where this is going. You're thinking she should have made me one. I thought, I think, she knows I'm coming downstairs.
Could she possibly, won't she's made just quickly? Oh, wait for Lou's response. Machine it, press start, and then it's there. These are the little micro situations in marriage that eventually lead to divorce. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, it's all these little things that you're a little bit pissed off. Is it just a button, Rob, or is it a fill the thing and then do that? We've got, like, a machine that, like, grinds the bean, right? So she'd have to smash out her bean and then... I don't know if you've got time for that.
I'll have to shrug her back with it. There it is. Anyway, set an end and shoot up. Let's all the score run. I think you're making a necessary difference. No, so you have to get rid of the ground bean, coffee bean, and then you have to put it in and twist it to grind again, and then put it in the middle and press.
Bro, yeah. But like, I'm sort of passively aggressive and go, would you like a coffee? Because I thought, no, she's done one. Has this ever come up? No. So first of all, I said it out loud to anyone apart from me in my own head. So every time you offer her a coffee is a passive aggressive offer. I imagine say, because I already know she's probably done one for her. And she goes, oh, there's, I've got one and a bit like, you know,
That's so good. No, my, so I'm just lucky man, is he's amazing? She just gets, and often this is what really pisses my mates off. Is I say she'll, I'll hear the sort of clinker the mug on the coaster and then she'll put her hand on my shoulder just really gently. Tell you stop wanking. Get that cricket back at your ass and stop wanking. He's grinding his coffee bait up there. Disgusting.
She knows not to interrupt, right? She'll gently put her hand on my shoulder. Morning sweetheart. And you know, it's what a lovely way to start the day. That is lovely, isn't it? That is nice. But you know, my version is, so I'll always get up on the weekends with the kids. And if the other week, if the other Saturday, I got up, I had to get my dressing gown, I sort of shuffled downstairs.
And I'd make myself a coffee and I'd just sit in the chair in the corner room and just literally I just can't function. And I'm like, eh, mate, lola, lola. Do you not make easier coffee and leave you upstairs? Or would that be disruptive because she's sleeping? Yeah, let her sleep. And what time's this? Six.
Yeah, six maybe. I mean recently it's been like, my boys have been up at like 4.35. It's been absolutely brutal. But recently it's been better. It's about 6.630 and I guard the door so that they don't go through and let the dog upstairs or wake her up.
But my daughter's now eight and I'm like, can you just do the suit really on? She's so great, my daughter. She's like, yes, Danny, of course, Danny. So she must be on the verge of making her own breakfast and stuff, right? Oh, she's making breakfast. She's making the boys breakfast. She's doing the whole thing. So it's absolutely brilliant. So you need it. You need it. So when is he gets up? So I'm doing the wrong. I'll do, you know, like, so when I was doing magic, I was getting up and I was like, always making sure I do the dishwasher. It's like those little things. So that when she gets up and say, oh, the dishwasher's done.
You know tough dishwasher though and it for him doing that quite Yeah, so that's my payback one or two mornings of a weekend and it's the weekend you take the leisure take the lead Yeah, I mean she gets up and obviously nothing's been done. I'm still in my dressing gown. She gets up. I'm like can I have a shower now please?
I'm the same like, I can't function that morning. So if I say to her, I'll do it, I'll let me do it. But then she sits there, fully awake, looking at me, like pack the wrong thing in a bag. But then like, I'll just do it and then you take them. So that's how we sort of divvy out. Yeah, I'm also like, I mean, Izzy is amazing. I don't know how she does it. Like she does so much with the kids admin. I just can't get my head around it. I do try and do the things I know she doesn't want to do. All the boring jobs, like, you know,
I quite tied him all sawing out of the house, the garden doing the bins, up down the dump at least once a week, which is not a chore because I love. That's a fun. Yeah, I love the tip, as we know. I find on the weekend with the kids, I like to just get them out, like being inside can just be, yeah. So I'm very happy to be like, I know you stay like, come on everyone, let's go. So that's my, whereas her, she doesn't particularly enjoy the playground, that's our whole situation. So, you know, it works. We've got our jobs and I think we're
Had a little coffee in the morning with a hand on the shoulder. No, Jesus midwank as well.
It just went. Obviously, as Rob said, you know, you are an expert in binging. What would you recommend as a, like, something we might not know that we should watch? And also saying for kids, maybe. I don't know if you cover stuff for kids as much. Yeah, a little bit of kid stuff. But recently, the one I've been recommending to people that not many people have heard of is some Disney Plus. It's called Mr. In Between. Ooh. Yeah. Have you ever had a Mr. In Between? No. No. On Googling. Yeah. It's absolutely. He's the second best looking man in a boy band.
Oh, my friend showed me clips of this, but I didn't know where I could access it in the UK. This is a great reco of loads of people to go on. So talk to me about mystery in between. So mystery in between is it's about this Aussie guy who's got a young daughter, he's separated from his ex and he's basically he's a hitman. So it's kind of got this huge contrast between him as a, you know, as a dad looking after his daughter and then just casually going off and slaughtering people. And does that remind you of your family versus McFly life?
It's very similar, actually. Yeah. It's very similar. What I loved about this show is that he, and actually it goes right back to the story of how it was made. He, I think he was originally, he was an actor and he wrote the story and he was a taxi driver. Couldn't get it made. He eventually made on a really small budget. Some big producer saw it, loved it, invested a bit of money to like re-edit it and get a score made for it. And then they went around to all the big studios trying to sell it. And no one would take it because they wanted the main guy to be
the star in it and they were just like no it needs a big name attached to it and they just stuck to their guns and eventually someone made it and it's become this massive sort of well it was a cult here but i think it's kind of gone and is it finished now it's finished yeah it's absolutely brilliant what's quite nice about that is it's finished and it's three series there's 26 episodes sometimes there's big things i've missed like i've never watched the sopranos
but it feels so intimidating daunting because you're like, fuck it now. And that's the big thing for me is it's rare. Like my favorite series often when they finish on season two or season three, once they start going past season three and four, it just starts getting a bit tedious. Like Dexter, I love Dexter, but it went a bit shit towards Ian. Yeah, it's because obviously like they're having these huge hits and then they just want to keep going because they're making loads of money and it's like they're just kind of making it up as it goes along taskmaster.
Is that a four episodes a year? Parenting how? That would be my big recommendation for you two. I mean, what kind of things do you like? I love the penguin. I thought that was amazing. I was that good. I just finished the penguin. I loved the penguin. That was brilliant, wasn't it? I loved it. That was amazing. How quickly were you googling like the prosthetics of Colin Farrell? Because it's just crazy, isn't it?
Yeah, I think I'd already seen all those sort of TikToks about him getting ready for it. They're like, the general man think, well, that sounds watching it. I didn't think of that because I felt like I was watching another actor. I think I completely forgot. Yeah. And then I think episode two was like, hang on, that's Colin Farrell. I knew Colin Farrell did it more from like social media videos, but then when I was watching the show, it felt like it was a completely different act. It was amazing. It felt like a breakthrough performance for a new person.
Yeah, the penguin's brilliant. Yeah, so I'm binging hard and then coming chatting to Alex about it. And no, it's been a lot of fun. We've had some great guests. Yeah, we've got a record today. So, who have you got on today? Amelia Fox. Oh, that's a good book. That's a silent witness. Silent witness. I found her a brother with silent.
He's been binging the wrong thing. He's been binging eggs. Rob, do the honest. Final question. I think we might have already heard the amazing thing Izzy does already. Yes. So, what's the amazing thing that your partner Izzy does as a parent? You think I'm so lucky to have children with her and what's one thing she does? It irritates you slightly, but if she were to hear this, which she will, she would go fair point Harry.
Maybe the coffee is a little bit too hot when I bring it to you in the morning and touch on shoulder gently to make you. It's normally a bit too cold actually, that would be my... No, do you know what? Izzy is absolutely incredible. We wouldn't have had three kids if it wasn't for Izzy, because I don't know about you guys, but God, it's hard, isn't it? Yeah. It is. It's just when she was pitching for a third, I remember just being like, are you a mentor? Like, are you...
I was like, are you serious? I was like, every time it was so immature, but every time there'd be an issue, like with the two kids, we had a black city and you want another one. But I knew that she's so capable that, you know, we would manage mainly because she would manage.
And also, she so badly wanted one. I thought, I can't be the one to be the reason we didn't have a third. It's very challenging having children for lots of reasons that I'm sure you know. And she just gets on with it. She works as well. And the way I see it with Izzy, she's just treading water, just keeping a head above water and coping with it amazingly well. It is difficult. I cannot tell you how lucky I am to have her as the mother to my children because she
is kind, compassionate, caring. She's constantly teaching me, she's, you can tell, she's listening. But I'm being deadly serious and sometimes in a weird way, it's hard to say this to a person's face. Like, you know what I mean? Particularly if you're asleep and they're making a coffee. No, it's true though, because that, the little girl, shut up, what are you doing weird? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What have you done? What have you done? What have you done? What have you done? It might be like this, stop it. How are you doing? Yeah.
And according this, is this a joke for the podcast? And the other thing I'd say she's constantly challenging me to be a better person for the sake of my children, because I think the thing I find most hard about being a dad is that
you know, you want your kids to like be well behaved and you want to kind of control them. And you just can't. And I think a lot of it is about controlling yourself and controlling your own emotions. And she's kind of helped me to kind of understand that and to hopefully be a better dad for that reason. So, but if you could stop interrupting me midwanking.
No, I can't. I've got no complaints. She's amazing. She's got a lot of complaints about me, but you know, it's really tough having kids. But I think the way I describe it is pre-kids. You're like, it's all we talked about. I can't wait to have kids. It's going to be so amazing. And there is nothing perfect about having children, but they're a perfect moment. That's the way I kind of see it. That's a very nice way of seeing it. It's a lovely way to put it.
Yeah, there are perfect moments, but it is really tough. And you've got to make sure that you and your wife or partner are pretty solid because it comes with these challenges. Well, you survived. You're married, survived 12 weeks on Strictly. Yes, if you can survive Strictly. But is he's written two books?
Sunday Times bestseller, Dare to Dream, my struggle to become a mum, a story of heartache and hope, which is about struggles to conceive. Yeah, that's on the wall. That's framed and on the wall. Yeah, that's on the wall, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, that's on the wall, is it? But the glitter ball's not. No, yeah, well, the strictly trophy is a bit more of a difficult shape, I suppose. Yeah. So when we kind of naively went into having children, we were like, oh, it's just so exciting. And we thought, you know, she was pregnant in the first month of trying. Anyway, it turns out,
it was a three year long kind of journey to have our first daughter Lola and those miscarriages and IVF and stuff. And she kind of just along the way documented that and ended up writing a book about it. Amazing. Yeah. And that then kind of got her into the whole sort of Instagram space when back in 2014 it was relatively new, but she was kind of gathering this following that we're interested in her.
journey to kind of having a daughter and she's been quite open with her struggles with her anxiety which is often been linked to you know me being away on tour and has gone right back through to a childhood she had quite a traumatic childhood in Elders brother had an awful car accident was left
her severely brain damaged. And so she's had a lot of things she's sort of dealt with in life. And so she really got into mindfulness. And so she found that that became really helpful in motherhood with all the kind of challenges and anxieties of being a mum. So she then wrote a book called Mindfulness for Mums. She's been really busy as well as being a great mum. So no offense, probably a better book in than you for this.
She was an image, she was like, what, what? Chicken, come on, come on, come on. This is a lot about me and Rob was journalist. Journalist, fucking behave. We found that information out at the end of the interview rather than before it, which would have been a lot of cleverer. The last minute, we just realized that your wife's written two books about parenting, which is absolutely says it all about. It's a great guess there, isn't it? If you think Ross Nixon at the end of the film, we'd go, oh, wait a minute, I've just read that you're involved in Watergate as well.
She'll be very pleased that she's got to mention, but I don't know about you guys, but like is the one thing about parenting is trying to basically stay as chill and calm as possible, right? Yeah, yeah 100% otherwise I spend my life and don't get it wrong sometimes like a lot of the time I would otherwise just be constantly like shouting and be like annoyed with my kids because yeah, yes. Yeah, it's intense.
What the podcast is called a binge binge and is it just and said why judd is on instagram so you can buy her two books about parenting and you're on tour. Yes we are to bust it versus McFly it's on sale i think it's all pretty well this if you think it's left i think.
And then we've got loads of shows, the summer loads of festivals and things. So could you do a shout out for my friend who's a huge mega fan? Who's that? Olivia. How do you know Olivia? She's doing something fun, right? Come on. Yeah, give me some info. Come on. She used to work in TV, but now she works at Off The Curb, which is the agency that represents me and Rob. And she, last time I was with her, she was telling me all about how excited she was about McFly versus Busted. She was one of those on the day getting tickets. Oh, amazing.
I love you. Thank you so much. You can visit my cameo. Thanks for your support, Olivia. That's amazing. She works off the club. Are you guys in the same agency as Joel? Yes. I'm good mates with Joel. We go running a lot together. Yeah, you do. That's sort of South West running crew. Yeah. Run club. So my friend, a couple of my friends, all mums and Izzy were all like,
Oh my God, Harry. Oh my God, I got these texts. You got mentioned on the podcast, on the printing of podcasts, like they're massive fans of yours. So that was like, you know, when you do something like on TV and you get the text, oh, I saw you on this. I literally got an influx of texts when I was mentioned on your podcast. What did Joel mention you? No, you guys were talking about me and Joel running or something, I think. Yeah. I've seen your videos because you go like running around some sort of actual running track. Yeah, I know it's so lame, isn't it?
No, you were teaming up to try and beat someone's time, one of the Olympians. Oh, yes. Yeah, Keeley Hodgkinson's 800 meter time. You're never going to beat that. No, no, no, between three of us. So me, Joel, and one other guy, we split the 800 meters into three parts and then sprint it. Three parts. Yeah, he sprints it and just beat her.
They're just three men, a truck, and toxic vasculine. They manage to bring a female in P&B. That's a really good thing now, Harry. Have that, Keely. Get back in your box. Thanks so much, right? It's been brilliant. Thanks so much. It's absolutely joy. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, really enjoyed it. Cheers. I hope it doesn't ruin your marriage. Good luck with Amelia. Thank you.
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