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Today I'm going on a style journey with the Irish chef, TV
presenter, cookbook author and food columnist, the wonderful
Clauda McKenna. Hello and welcome What?
A lovely introduction, thank you.
Well, what a list of. Achievements.
I mean, my God, doing my research, I felt almost
exhausted by the amount that you have done and that you do do.
And you've bought me this heavenly carrot cake, which I I
can smell it from here. And I'm going to really struggle
to get through this without getting my chops around a slice,
but we'll get get to that later. But what are you most excited
about at the moment I started. Doing these cookery classes
because being, you know, I'm a chef.
That's my, my, my main job. It's what I trained As for years
now. I've been actually a chef now
for 26 years. It's a long time.
And so my love, like my big love and passion is teaching people
how to cook. So whether I do it through
television or my Instagram videos or Sunday Times column,
whatever, they're all little kind of vessels of how to teach
people to cook. And so I decided a couple of
months ago to do personal cookery classes and I get a
group of six, there's no more than six.
And we kind of try out a few dates every couple of weeks.
And very lucky, you know, they get sold out in about 1/2 an
hour, which is always so exciting.
And, and it's so lovely because people come from, with a lady
from Canada who flew from Canada last week.
I couldn't believe it. I felt like I had to do like a
Tina Turner in front of her or something.
And we always have people coming from Ireland and it's just such
a gorgeous way to get six people in front of you.
In my kitchen, they're all sitting around the island and I
get to teach them how to cook bread and fresh pasta or
depending on the class they take, or cheese souffles or
tarta tans or whatever it is that we're doing on that
particular day. What kind of theme it is.
At the beginning I was thinking, am I mad?
Letting people into my house, you know, Now that I can have
it, I know. Because I saw that and I
thought, oh, that's quite brave. Yeah.
But I think it's really beautiful.
Yeah. I mean, when you were designing
your kitchen. Yeah.
Did you have this in mind? No, I had my friends and my
family in mind because whenever, you know, when we're down the
farm and Broadspear, I'm always in the kitchen and other people
are either in the dining room or outside in the garden.
And it's also removed. So what I wanted was that kind
of nook in or kitchen in London where my friends come in and
they sit up and I can be cooking and chatting to them.
And so that was the idea. Never in a month of Sundays that
I think that I would be having people come in that I didn't
know beforehand. But I've been so lucky.
My followers on social media that come along are so lovely
and and I'm just loving it. I'm really loving it.
Love how personal that is. Yeah, I used to love putting
events together in in the store for exactly that reason.
I bet you did. People get to know each other
and you know, then it's sort of you've got a common interest.
Yeah, almost been wonderful hearing all the stories about
where people have worn your dresses and.
And but I still get that which I love, I absolutely love.
Everyone seems to have their their story that they want to
share with you, which is just just brilliant.
Yeah. And today we're going on a style
journey together. How did you decide what you were
going to walk around the corner in?
Do you know what? I actually changed twice because
of the weather. So we've been hit by like, I
don't know, 22° today or something.
Have we have been? Have you?
Been in here, it's yes I'm 22° outside so I had like a sweater
on. Went outside I'm like Oh my God
I'm hot already. Went back in and threw on a
T-shirt and I love waist coats at the moment I just love them.
Anyone any particular brand? I have a really, I have a
gorgeous cream one which is a Bamford 1 by my friend Carl
Bamford, which I wear a lot. And then this one is from Oh my
goodness, what's the name? Reform.
Reformation. Reformation.
Yes, brilliant reformation and any.
Particular T-shirt supplier and I think T-shirts are quite a
science. Yeah, a bit obsessed with.
White T-shirts. Yeah, so am I.
This isn't a great one to be honest.
I need to who? Who do you recommend?
Where should I be getting my T-shirts from?
I love a few. I love James Purse OK, but they
don't last forever. Never heard of and they are.
It's really. Expensive for what they are, but
they are absolutely beautiful. Japanese cotton rag and bone do
a really good one. OK.
Really good one. And then I'm just I'm a bit of a
try it and see, do you? Do a line of white T-shirts.
No, you should do a line of white T-shirts.
Any line? Don't.
Let's not even go there now. You grew up in Ireland, Yeah.
And. Were.
You very in Cork, were you very aware of your mother's style at
an early age? Yeah, I was, because she spent
so much time on it. Was she?
Was she mad about fashion? She was mad about fashion.
And did that rub off on you as a child?
Not really. It was definitely her thing and
I just loved watching. Maybe now, because I do make a,
you know, an effort if I'm going out somewhere, you know, I love
that getting dressed up and I love pairing things up and I
really will make an effort. Or I'll put my lipstick on of,
you know, Harry's on his way home from work, I'll make sure
I'll put a lip gloss up. And my mother used to always do
that. She'd always be running in to
put her lipstick on if my dad was on his way home from work.
So lovely. But she loved fashion.
Oh my goodness. But I think, you know, back
then, when I was growing up in Ireland in the 70s and 80s, when
I was young, you know, women dressed so glamorously, didn't
they, going out for like the local dancers, You know, it was.
A glammy era. It was a glammy era with the
handbags and the shoes and the little jackets and.
And, and I read that you used to go on French exchanges as a, as
a child, as a, as a teenager. Would that?
As a teenager, Can you believe I went over when I was 12 on my
own on the boat? Yeah, I know.
And there probably will be PE Irish people look listening to
this reminisce and going like, yeah, we did the same.
So there was a boat that went from Cork over to Lahar if I
think it was and Cork was twinned with Wren as an alliance
exchange. And so all these Cork young kids
would go, every would go out and be do this exchange with French
families and all if I want, I think it was like 18 hours on
the boat. If I remember like on my own,
like, and there's all these group of kids and there was no
leader or whatever. And all I remember is when I got
off and all the crowds and there was like, my name was held up by
this adorable French family called the Wazans.
I love very, very much. And there's still very much in
my life and I, I fell in love with this family and they fell
in love with me. And so much so that I went back
and spent a couple of months every year in the house.
She, it was my first year there. And because both my parents
worked full time, umm, I remember Madame Ronza calling my
mom and it was coming to the end of the two weeks saying we love
Cloda so much. Do you think she could stay here
for another few weeks? And my poor mother was probably
heartbroken and but let anyhow allowed me to stay on there.
I stayed on for like 6 weeks and I fell in.
I fell madly in love with this family and they became my second
family. And were you speaking fluent
French? So when I first went over, I
didn't have a word and they had no English.
Oh my God. So it was quite complicated, but
before there was a professor at university, so very good at
teaching and the mother was so patient and was kind of
slightly, I want to say, not besotted with me, but like she
loved me very fast and I loved her very fast.
And she was really, really glamorous.
A jet black hair that she used to have always gelled back like
this into a little Xinyong and the most big fabulous earrings.
And she'd always wear like a white shirt or a white T-shirt,
friendly enough. And then big skirts every single
day and wonderful shoes. She was so incredibly chic.
And she was a stay at home mom used to manage all the home and
to cook and everything. And I had not grown up in a
house like that. And it was all super
contemporary and everything was white and big art pieces and,
and I suspend, I mean, I was supposed to be hanging out with
my French exchange, which I did. And we're, we became very close
and we still are. But I spent all my time with the
mom beside her in the kitchen. Oh.
How lovely and did her style rubble for you?
Definitely. Definitely and did.
She take you shopping as a teenager.
Yeah. And did you everything?
And did you come back from France?
Changed a little French girl I wore.
White shirts. Crisp white shirts.
I did. You get the full skirt.
Do you know what I used to get? I used to wear skirts that were
pinned at the waist and then they would go out.
But I became obsessed with kind of like little ballet pumps that
I have now and still there and white shirts.
And they had to be crisp. I remember being 1314, and my
mother got into the, you know, all of a sudden it became her
language, too. You know, here we are in
Ireland. Never heard of it before.
Crisp white shirts. And the beret.
And the beret, no, I didn't, even though I love a beret and
and I always used to always wear my hair sleeked back like her
such. And the food and that's her.
My love of food really started, you know, making gratin
dufenoises at 14. And this is the girl who had
grown up in the countryside in Ireland.
Because food was not sort of part of the language of your
childhood in Ireland. No, it was lovely to have that
passion ignited so young. Exactly.
I mean, what was part of my childhood was that we would
always cook every single night at home and we used to baking
every Saturday morning. But I think that was for most
houses, you know, growing up in Ireland.
And it was more a necessity of doing it because we lived in the
countryside and not being able to get to a restaurant.
It was only when I was like 14 that we moved into Cork City and
so or Cork town, it's city now. I don't want to friend anybody
in Cork. It's in the city.
But back then it was kind of more like a big town when I was
growing up. And so there was no restaurants.
Like there was no like, I think I probably the first time I went
to a restaurant, it was actually Bamboo House was my auntie's
wedding. And I was like 14, you know, So
we just didn't have that, you know, in our home.
So we had to cook at home every night.
And I think about my mom and how hard she worked, you know, and.
So that was really sort of prepping food for the week so
that she could go to work. Yeah, exactly.
So we'd come home from school and we'd have lists.
There'd be lists of things that we had to do when we got home
from school, like peel the potatoes, lay the table.
We always sat at a lay table at 6:00 at night, always linen,
always sat down and was all done nicely and talked to each other.
And there'd always be a pudding. And do you still have that
tradition in your life? Yeah, yeah, it's in OR.
We have a small little kind of breakfast room and we have our
supper there every night. I'm really regimented every
night during the week. If we're there and on Friday
night and then on Saturday night I'm like we're in the dining
room Sunday, then we might be outside.
Some of I'm adamant about the everyday meals that we sit down
and we talk and there's no television on the background.
Occasionally if we're like both exhausted and coming home, you
want to be in your sloppy joes. And like usually Sunday nights
actually, we'll have ATV supper, but.
I mean, you've been a chef now for many years, and so in those
early years, you were always in a uniform.
Yeah. Did you did you ever customize
it or were you quite good about sticking with the uniform?
When I first trained, it was quite, you know, strict, so we
had to all have or chef whites. It doesn't happen this much
anymore unless you're going to be a chef chef and you're only
going to be in the restaurants. But back when I started, it was
I did the Bamlu cookery course for three months and then I went
on and trained as a chef in Ballymoo House in the kitchens.
And it was quite formal. Yeah, you know, chef whites, you
know, certain trousers, the blue and white check trousers, your
clogs, apron on hair, all back. You know, it was, was quite.
So I kind of learned that. As a chef, you must have been
working 24/7 silly hours. I was, yeah.
And so not really having any mufti time in a way.
Yeah, and so engrossed in it. Like I was so passionate and so
in love with food. It was a really exciting time.
I feel so blessed to have gotten that time.
And the work ethic I learned in there was.
The basic and the passion and I think those two things, yeah,
you know any young person listening, those are the two
critical things I think they. Really.
And I was speaking just a few weeks ago to see a Fenello.
I'm sure you know the jewelry designer about that.
And that's the most important thing when you're going into a
profession is that you learn your trade, you do the grafting
and it and get impassioned by that grafting and learning that
work ethic where you will work seven days a week, which is
sometimes on call or you might go in the morning, at 8:00 in
the morning. You mightn't finish it for one.
Sometimes you might finish at 10.
It shouldn't matter. It really shouldn't matter.
You don't get to this stage with looking at your clock and saying
I've got to leave at 5:00. It just doesn't happen.
Absolutely. No, I'm I'm a big fan of what
you're saying and and actually the the clock doesn't, as you
said, doesn't matter. Yeah, it's the passion.
It's exciting that. Passion.
I worked so hard in this kitchen.
I was working at Ballymoo House thinking I would say there may
be forever. I never any thoughts about
moving out of a restaurant. I was in my domain and a local
farmers market started in Middleton which was like 15
minutes from Ballymilloo and I went in and saw it and I was
like Oh my God I want to stand here.
This is amazing. And it was the first of like 5
farmers markets in Ireland just. Local produce.
Yeah, but for me, what was amazing was the IT was so
inclusive. You know, growing up in Ireland,
it was very much, I'm sure it's the exact same here in the UK
was that good food was always so exclusive.
You know, the good food shops, the good restaurants and going
into this farmers market, seeing all this amazing produce and it
was proper, only local farmers were allowed in this market or
local producers. So if you're making something or
growing something and they're really strict about it and
seeing everybody from every walk of life packed in this market
and these local guys playing music, I went in and I was like,
Oh my God, how can I get a stand here?
And so I got a stand there. And so I used to cook up for it
on Fridays after I used to finish the energy when you're,
you know, I'd finish service, go back and start making fresh
pasta and I'd do an all nighter and then go straight into the
market and then get back for service to be in there for 2:00.
And I was on cloud nine. I was just loving setting up my
stall with fresh pastas and pestos and patties and my
breads, my soda breads. I would just love it.
And sometimes the pestos and things like that, I'd make, you
know, during the week earlier and my life became revolved
around it. And then one day then I decided
to leave and to go to the markets full time.
Brave move. Yeah.
I mean, I was like, this is my passion.
I want to work on farmers markets.
There are really five in Ireland and I wanted to work on
developing them and opening up more and having more stands in
them. And so I did that for three
years. I worked on the farmers markets.
And what were you wearing? Tweed jackets, white T-shirts
probably. I'm sure white shirts, denims.
Yeah. When I was doing it, I got
offered my first TV show. Somebody had been talking about
it and Rick Stein had done a piece on me and people.
I was running Slow Food Ireland and I was running events and
things like that. I was doing them for free,
basically. Like I took over Ken Merritt,
this town in Ireland one weekend and I did a Slow Food weekend
where you'd come and, you know, learn about food and do
workshops and we had dinners at all the restaurants involved.
And all of a sudden I started to be getting a name.
Not nothing to do with TV or anything, but just of the work
that I was doing with farmers and for food in Ireland behind
the scenes. And then I got offered my own TV
series to do to basically go around Ireland and to to go to
visit the cheese makers and people who were doing kind of
really unusual things. Were you very aware of what you
were wearing for television because you probably didn't have
access to a stylist? No.
So it was all about the food. It was all about the food and I
didn't have access to a stylist, something like that.
And then I think when where my style really changed was because
I felt this immense pressure of all of a sudden having this show
in Ireland and. It became very big, very fast
and within, because Ireland is small and that's possible.
I became a household name in Ireland very fast and I was only
like 29. So I decided to move to Italy.
So I moved to Italy as you do. Just to escape from the fame and
I know. Exactly.
I thought I just wanted to learn more about food.
I knew everything there was to know about Irish food and I've
been trained in Ballymaloo, which is a lot of kind of French
style cooking. I really want to immerse myself
in a food culture and just learn and learn.
So I moved to Italy and I was there for three years and that's
really when I was getting excited about clothes.
Then when I was there where? Were you in Italy?
In Turin in the north. Yes.
And so there's so much clothing manufacturing around there and
it is really. And it's a really old school
part of Italy. You know, people haven't been to
Turin before. It was built to be the capital
of Italy. So you've got all the old
families of people, you know, the men dressing tweeds during
the winter, you know, three piece and everything is quite
formal and and beautiful and pared back, that beautiful
classic Italian style. And I loved it.
You're so passionate about ingredients and the sort of
nourishing of you. Do clothes nourish you in any
way? They give me confidence,
especially on this morning. So how do you go about putting
together your this morning's looks?
So I do put a bit of time into that because it's such a big
viewership and people who watch the show, they like to buy the
garments as well. Well, I've noticed that you're
now starting to say T-shirt by. Yeah, dress by.
Yeah, it is because we just try. We get so inundated with the
DMS, you know, people getting in contact in e-mail or direct
messages asking about where the clothes from.
I mean, usually, you know, sometimes the the clothing will
sell out because you're on the show.
It's a brick. This Morning is amazing, has an
amazing loyal audience. For example, if you go on at
your book, there's no other show that will sell more copies of
your book in Britain. And it's just amazing.
So when I'm picking it out, I pick things that are, they have
to be comfortable. I like things fitted at the
waist. Everything I have is fitted at
the waist and I like things that are loose up here.
I don't like big bright colors. Like I just don't like.
I wish I loved big bright Reds and all the rest and greens and
it's just not for me. Do you think it's not like it?
Being a blonde. Maybe it's being a blonde.
Yeah, yeah, I think close to be a little bit more.
So they don't dress you, you dress you do.
I do it all, I do it all. So I will scour and have a look
and and then also the, you know, the people who they're, you
know, I might all of a sudden see a brand that I really love
and I want to wear it like these little jewelry pieces by Betty
and Biddy. They're so sweet.
There's two Irish girls. And so it's really lovely that
you can wear something like that.
And then they e-mail you afterwards going thank you for
wearing our necklace. We got, you know, blah, blah,
blah, or, you know, it's really lovely.
You can work it that way. So I try to mix it with brands
when I'm wearing, when I'm wearing the clothes, I try to do
a shuffle of things that are inexpensive and things that are,
we'll say really good value for money, but would be maybe a
bigger spend for somebody, more of a commitment from somebody.
So I try to mix that things. I mean, last week was really
funny. I was on the show and I was
wearing this bardo top which I was so in love with.
It was like a baby blue and it was all lair.
It was gorgeous, really fitted and I had like the perfect
denims. I mean, I mean I love denims so
much and you're a high rated. Jeans.
Love good jeans. And it was a bardo top and I was
so happy. And and then literally 3 minutes
before we go live there was like, could I you've you've,
you've got to change your top really quickly.
And I was like, what? They're like, you've got to
change your top. And when you're doing live TV,
you don't want anything unsettling happening.
No. And so I was flung out the side.
There's a wardrobe there. Chew, chew on something else on
me. And I had to go back in.
I was tucking my thing in all of a sudden.
Yeah. So I've got 1A chicken that I'm
going to cook three ways today to last you throughout the
weekend. And my nipples were showing in
the top and they were so they, you know, they were trying to be
polite. And it's all men up there.
So nobody was going to say, oh, sorry, Claudia, your nipples are
showing. We can't actually film you this
way. So those things going to happen.
But it's really lovely to have fun with it.
You know, it's so nice to have fun with the fashion.
On it. But do you get swamped with
clothing scent and accessories scent to you?
How do you deal with that? When brands get in touch that I
know I won't wear it, I really politely explain that it's just
not my style. Now you tied the knot in 2021.
Yes, for the first time. For the first time.
How did you choose your wedding dress?
Very annoyingly to all my friends and family who are all
so excited about making a big day, I went off on my own and I
got it within two hours and. Sorry, Mum.
I know, sorry everybody, everybody was so annoyed because
I knew that the pressure was mounting and it was like 5 weeks
for the wedding and I still hadn't.
Done 5 weeks before and you hadn't got a dress cloder.
Because I was so focused on the wedding, because I organized it
myself and I was so focused on like the menu and the food and
the flowers and growing for it. And there are cows growing
flowers in the cutting garden for it and all around.
Nothing ticking in the back of your brain going I need to.
Find one. I knew I'd find one and I kind
of want to just be on my own. So I went down to Sussex and I
went to Alice Temperley and I went in.
Somerset. Somerset went down to Somerset,
went to Alice Temperley Studio there and it was a fairy dress I
tried on and I was like oh that's it.
And they were all like Oh no, no, we've got 23 to try on.
And I was like, no, this is it, this is it.
Oh, I love a decisive girl. I'm very decisive.
Yeah, I am very decisive. And when do you feel you really
found your personal style? When I came to London, yeah, I
think that actually was really it.
When I came to London, I broke it.
So I sold the restaurants in Dublin.
Or can I sold my name from the restaurants in Dublin And I had
broke up from my last relationship and I moved to
London and it was I'd rented a house called, it was just like a
coach house, beautiful old coach house.
And when I moved there, it was like the house was like a
healing house for me because it was like I was living on my own
for the first time. It was like I would kind of left
the restaurant, which was kind of little bit heartbreaking for
me, but good for me. Like I did it.
I had a choice. Umm left a relationship and then
was in a country where I knew well, professionally, nobody
knew me really, and I'd left like such a big career in
Ireland where everybody knew me and I just wanted some time on
my own. I just want to time my.
Chrysalis. Yeah, in my little bubble.
And I had some friends here, which is really lovely, like
Richard E Grant and his late wife Joan, and people who are
really, really, really good for really good to me.
And I just, you know, kind of just really held on to me,
cocooned me. Yeah.
And. And so I had really gorgeous fun
time like at the beginning, just having supper parties and all of
a sudden and then it was like OK for like 2 months and I was
like, OK, now I need to start grafting really from the
beginning. And it was quite exciting doing
that. And I felt so free because I had
nobody in my life to tell me how I should be, no TV to do, like
not trying to be what people wanted me to be, you know, which
I thought was kind of just kind of having it like a wholesome
image and all the rest. And I'd never really thought
about my image. And I just wanted to be free.
And I just felt I had two years of that.
I had two years of just being free for myself as a woman in
her 40s. It was amazing to do that.
I opened up my house and had suppers in my house because I
need to pay the rent. And I was like, I'm broke, what
am I going to do? So I literally opened up my
house three days a week and I had people booked in for supper.
Amazing, I know. Was I mad anyhow?
But I did it for a few months. It got me over and then I slowly
got my, I got, I was the columnist for the Evening
Standard and then I slowly, and then the Today show in America
had been in touch and they wanted me to come to America to
cook on the show. So and then they offered me
residency. So I was back and forth and bang
for to New York and up to Canada to do another show every two
weeks. And so that my career in America
really started going well. And then they wanted, they were
thinking, I was thinking, we were thinking, we're chatting,
would I move there? And then and then I met Harry
and it was like, oh, and then I got offered Martin Frizzle,
who's my boss on this morning. He got in contact and he offered
me a contract for this morning all at the same time.
And I was like, OK, I've never thought about concentrating in
the UK and just really settling because I was such a traveller.
I mean, I'm my heart, in my heart, I'm a traveller.
So you can get in on the train this morning as I OK, I'm back
back to myself again, travelling somewhere, you know, I've lived
like in lots of different places.
I just love being on the move. And, and so I so, yeah, I
decided then just to kind of maybe, just maybe that I would
start settling here. I never thought I would.
I thought I'd be here for a year or two and then go back to
Ireland or go to America or somewhere.
And and then I settled here and, and that was, I think I'm in my
fifth year of this morning now. And during that process, is that
when you really feel that you found your style?
100% when I was on my own, not dressing for a man, not dressing
for TV, just dressing for myself.
Just like, yeah. And if I were to ask you if if
Harry for example, your husband would was to sum up your style
DNA in three words, what would you want those 3 words to be?
70s I love the 70s. I don't know, I guess I just, I
just love, I do love the 70s era.
I love that like high waisted jeans and and blouses and shirts
with that and yeah, like I love what you're wearing today.
It's so beautiful. Thank you.
Have you ever had any disastrous sort of culinary spillages on
your clothes? So one day, it was back in the
day when Holly and Phil were on the show, We used to have so
much fun. Oh, my God.
And it was going to commercial break, and Holly was like, it
was Friday and I think, no, it was a terrorist day.
Yeah, because I never did. Friday's was a terrorist day.
And she was like, I really feel like a cocktail.
I was like, what's your favorite cocktail again?
She's like a white lady. And I was like, I've never had a
white lady. This was just on commercial
break. And I was like, I'll get the
ingredients. Let's make around the show and
then we can have one. They literally ran back into the
kitchen. They were runners being sent out
everywhere. Pandemonium.
Because, you know, it's Holly's cocktail and Holly's.
God, she really is. And Annie, all the ingredients
came back in and it was a whole like we were all kind of giddy
and all of a sudden all the ingredients are in, blah, blah,
blah, cocktail shaker is here, blah, blah, blah.
And I was like, God, it's good enough cocktails.
It's great. 10:30 in the morning.
Exactly. So I did my cook and then I was
like, and we've got Holly's favorite cocktail.
It's a white lady. So I'm putting in this is how
you make it, dish, dish, dish. And then I go to shake the
cocktail. I'm like, and I forgot to put
the lid on the cocktail and I was soaked and I just went
everywhere and I was like, yeah. And I cursed as well.
I was like. Oh shit.
Oh fuck. Oh scoop.
Oh. And was all things like bleep,
bleep. And then Phil was like, no, you
just cursed again. No.
And then he had to get the camera.
He used to like could have really deeply apologizes for all
of the because he knew that it was going to go mad and was all
over every newspaper in the UK, which is I mean, and you haven't
even had a. Sip of the White Lady.
Even had a sip. Oh my God, it was so funny.
It was so funny. Do you feel you've had a a worst
fashion moment? I think it was the launch of my,
I mean, it wasn't even if I was the hair and everything.
It was the launch of my restaurant in Black Rock in
Dublin and I was doing a shoot for the Times for something like
that. And I really, I think I really
didn't even know who I was. You know, they say that.
I always remember somebody said to me, Jana Ferguson's really
amazing woman. Another, I've got so many
amazing women in my life. I'm so blessed.
Another one of them is Jana Ferguson.
She's a cheese maker and amazing woman who lives in West Cork in
this incredible farmhouse and everything happens around the
farm table somewhere. You'd be sitting there and Maria
Tostino would have been there, sitting there, who would have
photographed her. She's just incredible.
And you know, Anton Anthony Bradane stayed there for a week
and I was with him there and all his crew and everything happened
around this and they had Guinness in the corner on top.
They have Guinness in the ground top.
And I always remember her saying to me when I was going through
like a phase when I was like 20 something, I, oh, and I just
didn't know what I was doing. I was working so hard as the
farmers markets and then a real cross point and she's like,
there's no point in trying to get to understand who you are
right now. Just allowed all to happen
because really I only got to know who I was probably a couple
of years ago. At the time she was 50.
And she goes, that'll all happen just at the moment.
Just flow through it all. Just ski through it all.
What phenomenal advice. Yeah, it really, really is.
Because the more I have these conversations, the more I
realize so many women don't don't really find themselves
until late 40s, fifties. And yeah, and then it's like a
light bulb moment. Of it really is God.
This just feels good. Yeah, it does.
And it's like, that was my moment.
You know, I had my two years and my own.
Yeah, that was my moment when I had like the lows, the lowest
points of my life during that time and the highest points of
my life all on my own. So both high and low on my own.
Yeah, sorry, but it led me to being at a place where I was
able to be loved properly. So to answer your question about
the worst dressed so that and I looked that back of this shoot
and it was a pink feather skirt that went way out like way.
Out and you were dressed by a stylist.
Yes, and a pink cashmere sweatshirt kind of on top, kind
of fish it and pearls. And my hair was all straightened
in a Bob and I had pearled set earrings to smash the pearls
this cab and the thing out. And I looked like I looked like
something from like the 50s housewife and sitting in the
middle of the restaurant. And I looked back at that and I
go, should God love us? I just didn't know who I was.
But did you feel good in it at the time?
No, no, no, I didn't. I, I remember thinking and not
wanting to do, you know, being inside, trying to smile and all
the rest. I just didn't know who.
I just didn't know who I was. Because it's one thing to not
feel comfortable, but it's another thing to say, I don't
like this, but this is who I am. Yeah, totally.
I mean, now I would wear, and this is like, this is quite
truthful. Now I wear, you know, a dirty
T-shirt and a pair of jeans and I feel beautiful.
Like I've, and I don't mean that in a vanity way, but I've really
learned to love myself. Like I'm, I'm happy with who I
am. I spend a lot of time giving to
myself as well because I give a lot.
I'm, I'm definitely a feeder and a nourisher and I my friends and
my family. Too, don't you?
I nourish myself. By doing what you do.
Yeah, I do nourish myself. And just being conscious of that
fact that you nourish yourself, what clothes nourish you.
I have a gorgeous, my pajamas. I've do you know Debonair?
Yeah, she has. She's brilliant.
She's so fabulous. I love her, and her pajamis are
amazing. I have these pink pajamis with a
red lining on them and the cotton is amazing.
And I have them oversized and I put them on like, I don't know,
it's 6:00 there. I I Heavenly.
I always think you're very aware of the texture of food.
Yeah. Are you very aware of the
texture of clothes? Yes, yes.
I find it really hard to wear clothes that aren't breathable.
You know, like synthetic fibers or I quite like breathable
fibers. I get hot very fast if I think
about it, you know, Or if something is a crazy design, I
have to take it off because it's too much for me.
Like, yeah, it's interesting. So only when you're talking
about it, you think, God, it's not crazy.
Clothing therapy. Clothing therapy?
Would you say you've got a style icon?
Yeah, I mean, I do love all of the pin UPS of the 70s, British
and French. They would all be my all of
those actresses and that era. You know that we're all hanging
out in Santa pay and. Is Asia consideration as to how
you dress? I used to love, I mean I've got
my legs are OK. So I used to love wearing like a
mini, you know, like with a big jumper and I'd wear a mini or
whatever and I don't feel like I'd do that anymore or I don't
like wearing low cut tops anymore.
So what's sexy to you now? Tailoring.
I love tailoring. I love clothes that are
beautifully tailored. And who for you cuts the best
suit? It depends what kind of suit I
guess. The last great suit that I put
on was by Deck. The Deck, which was amazing, I
wore to Cheltenham. That was so I.
Saw that. I think we mentioned you in our
Friday night fashion. Oh, did you?
Oh my God, thank you. How cool you look?
Oh, thank you. So that would be, I think that
would be my favorite suit at the moment.
Do you have one item of clothing that means the most to you?
I have this burgundy brown leather jacket.
It's like a pilot. You know what you call them
aerator, right? There's.
Aviator. Aviator ones, but it's not.
So no, that's a wrong scrap that.
It's not an aviator one. It's more like a 70s one because
it's lighter, it's much lighter and it's actually got a
tailoring at the end here at Wasted.
And then it is like sheepskin on the inside and it comes over and
I said beautiful, kind of like not too something like you're a
beautiful nail color, kind of like that color a little bit
more ready in tone. And I got it when I was in New
York when I was on the Today show, and I bought it in a
vintage store down in Soho. Are you very organized in your
wardrobe? I'm OK.
I wouldn't say I'm as organized as you are.
I bet you are really organized in your wardrobe.
Well, it's just just because I like how your shirt is so
beautifully pressed and look and I'm all wrinkly are.
You very aware of what you your airport look is going to be,
what your travel look is going. To be getting dressed for the
airport. And what I love Airport.
What's your favorite airport look?
My favorite airport look would be high waisted denim jeans.
Maybe a Brett on top to go with this and a little jacket and
some nice white seek sneakers And then and then the bag I
really like like a lovely wrecker bag when I'm travelling
so I can put in my like, I really love a cashmere, big
cashmere scarf that can wrap around myself when I'm on the
plane. And I have a whole routine when
I'm on a flight as well of like the beauty and, and smells like
I like really fresh wisteria smells.
I spray more in my seat with the smell and God help the person
who's sitting beside me. And then I have my food things,
you know, so you have like. Complete flight ritual.
And my complete flight ritual. I take food with you.
Yes, yes. Interesting.
And what and is that all prepared by you?
Or well, it depends where I'm flying from.
So if I'm flying from T5, you know, Fortnums, do these
hamperlings, have you ever gotten one?
No. Oh my God, they're the best
upgrade you can give your life. So they start from 20 lbs and
they go right up to 100 pence. I get the in between 1:00, which
is £0.35 and it's the most beautiful, you know, branded
Fortnum's little freezer bag and you open it up and it's got a
little plate of delicious smoked salmon, a green salad dressing,
a lemon pastas, brown rye bread, little salt and Peppers.
So I always get that when I'm travelling from T5, I'll always
try and travel from T5 and then if it's a long journey then I
might go up to prep then and get, OK, well, I'll get like the
tuna Nisswa salad. I'll have that for later on by
trying to eat oily fish and lots of greens.
I don't like eating airplane food at all.
Like I never will really. I love doing the the bag when
I'm on the other side. So when we're coming back, like
for example, when we came back from Rome just a couple of weeks
ago and even though it was only like a 2 hour flight, I, I have
to eat on a plane. I don't know what it is.
You get hungry, don't you? There yes I try not to but
forget it. OK, I that never works.
So I got focaccia on board and beautiful Parma ham, and we had
focaccia bread and Parma ham, which is really, really nice.
That sounds. And a glass of white wine at
12:00 flight well. What brand of luggage do you
use? I have an amazing set of luggage
from Tustings and it is there. Beautiful cream canvas with
brown leather and I have my little clue on it.
Are you a good Packer or bad Packer?
I'm a really good Packer. And if you're going for longer
than overnight, how many bags do you take?
Probably 1 big one and then another one for kind of
accessories and shoes and stuff. In your wardrobe, what, if
anything, do you feel you've got an excessive amount of?
I I must have over 100 white shirts at this point.
And denims. High waisted denims.
And denim brands. Lots frame.
Yeah, frame. They do great denim.
Guilty Secret What's the most expensive item of clothing or
accessory that you've bought? I'm not asking for the price
tag. A vintage Chanel Big red Chanel
padded bag. Yeah, it's gorgeous.
That's big. Let's talk about no, but that's
quite sustainable. That's vintage that I, I can, I
can applaud you for that. One, I bought it when I had the
restaurants and I was working so hard.
I had no life and I was. I was like a treat to self.
It was a treat to self. Now for someone who is quoted as
saying I'm not the kind of person who has expensive
handbags or designer labels. No, I'm not, I'm really not.
I mean, and I bought that back when I didn't really know myself
and I'm not like I would like it doesn't fill my mind, you know,
and a lot of people are like working for something.
I think what gets me more excited, like I like in this
genuine in my heart and my sleeve, and this is very boring
probably, but I would get more excited about saving up to get
like new trees. That gets me so excited.
So for every birthday I only one tree.
So how it always buys me trees for my birthday.
I can mature pair ones which are fantastic.
So you have you know, it's hard to get them.
They're expensive, the mature pair or quince or whatever.
And I love I've got a whole area where I'm keep plotting more and
more and more and I get honestly, it gives me like
endless joy seeing them. And so all my money that I spend
goes on goes on plants, planting plants.
What are you wearing in the garden?
What was I wearing this weekend? I was wearing black skinnies
because they can you can move. I've got ones that are like half
cotton, half denim, so I can move like freely in them.
And then I like wearing like linen shirts.
So I had like a blue and white spin striped linen shirt that's
really breathable. And in our farm in broad spear
we have like this whole Woodlands was like in honor
property, the most beautiful woods and I love trees.
And then only recently I learned to a friend about fungi and all
the world of fungi underneath the surface that connects all
the root trees together and and I became obsessed with it.
It was actually Bob Geldof. He was down staying and we were
out in the woods and he was teaching me all about the fungi
and all the rat. And I became like obsessed with
it. So I started doing it and he was
like, you've got to get into, you know, getting your hands in
there and feeling it and et cetera.
So I started doing forest bathing, which is they do it in
Japan and it's an organized thing in Japan.
But if you live in the countryside, it doesn't have to
be organized. All you have to do is go out to
the woods and just dig yourself in.
You lie into the ground, like dig yourself in, push away the
leaves. You really feeling it and dig
your hands into the soil so you're feeling the clenched
soil. Don't worry about creepy
crawlies. And you do a breathing
technique. I do meditation every day,
sometimes twice a day, and I've been doing that for a long time
so I can get into his own quite fast.
If you can't get into his own quite fast or you're not, you
haven't taught yourself and you're not doing it ritually
every day. Just to have a guided meditation
beside you and just feel it. It's amazing the energy that you
feel and knowing that you're being cared for by all of this
fungi and the trees, like they are there caring for us and
without them we do not exist. On that sort of lovely note of
nature and the planet, what what's your approach to
sustainable fashion? I mean, my approach to it is
that I try and not even though I do get sent a lot, I try and not
get sent as much. I only or if I'm buying, I only
buy what I really, really need. I rewear as much as I can and
then when I'm not wearing it or I'm not wearing it anymore, I go
through my clothes and I give it to the girls who are working for
me or a family or into a charity store.
Like I do mind about like the clothes, the amount of clothes,
like it. I do think about where is that
coming from? Who is making that, you know?
Yeah. Conscious.
Conscious consumption.
Let's spin on some quick fire questions.
OK, What fashion advice would you give your 20 year old self?
Have fun. Which fashion trend would you
like to see make a comeback? 70s.
Funny that. Which fashion of beauty trend
would you consign to room One O 1?
90s. Your last impulse by.
As in shoulder pads, was that 90s?
No, that was 80s. There's 80s OK shoulder pads,
eighties, 80s your. Views on tattoos.
I really don't like them unless they're tiny and they're
written. I don't mind the ones on the
wrist. I know I'm not a tattoo person.
Beauty treatment you couldn't give up.
Oh, got a pedicure for sure. I love pedicures.
I could have one every other day.
Oh. Heavenly I.
Love a pedicure? High end or High Street?
Ah both. Bling or bear?
Bear. Minimalism or maximalism?
Minimalism. Crocs cute or puke puke as a
chef. I know, sorry, I wore them for
years. Skinnies, boyfriends or wide
legs? Wide legs.
Bodycon or boho? Padi Khan or Boho Boho?
Sports Lux or Rock chick? Rock chick, Red Carpet or Relax?
Relax. Trend or style?
Style. Colour or monochrome?
Monochrome. Experimental or uniform?
Oh, I want to be experimental, but somehow I feel like I'm
uniform. Hoarder or editor?
Editor. Shapewear or sexy lingerie?
Oh, sexy lingerie. Tights or stockings?
Stockings. Bikini or one piece?
Oh, depends on how I'm feeling. Beanie or Berry?
A beanie or oh, Berry. And finally, at the end of the
day, what do you or don't you wear in bed?
I wear my debonair pajamis. I love pajamis.
Cloder, what a joy to spend this time with you.
Thank you. You've been an incredible guest.
And let's tuck into your Just delicious.
Yeah, let's have cake. Gotta feel like I've learned
something about myself. Oh, that is just heaven.
I'm now. Going to get a Bray.
Are you good?