Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams0:00

This is the BBC.

Presenter0:03

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Discs from BBC Radio 4. For rights reasons, the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

Presenter0:14

For more information about the programme, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.

Speaker 40:35

Uh

Presenter0:38

My castaway this week is the boxer, Nicola Adams, the first ever woman fighter to hold European, World, Commonwealth and Olympic titles. She has blazed her trail with a sunny disposition that belies the brutality she meets out in the ring. They call her the baby-faced assassin. Her perfect bone structure and symmetrical smile say as much about her skill as all those medals she keeps winning. She doesn't rush her work, and to watch her box is to witness a masterclass in clean, tidy, technical fighting. Interesting then that as a child she learned chess long before she learned how to throw a punch. Within a year of walking through the doors of her local boxing club she had won her first match. She says for me it's always been about not getting hit. Even throughout London twenty twelve I never had a mark on me. I see boxing as a game of chess, where you are constantly drawing on your skills and tactics. So welcome, Nicola. With chess I suppose there's never any risk that you're going to get carted out of the arena on a stretcher, however. Do you thrive on that threat of danger?

Nicola Adams1:41

Uh yeah, I do. I I guess it's just the

Nicola Adams1:44

I like the tactical part. Okay, you're trying to make your opponent make a mistake so you can capitalize on that mistake. And I like that every time I step in the ring, I never know what's gonna happen. I love pressure. It just makes me perform ten times better. It's almost like if I if I if you lose this fight, you'll die. And I like the pressure of okay, right, it's all or nothing. Let's go out and do this and perform the best you have ever seen me perform in my life.

Presenter2:12

And you are ludicrously unmarked as I sit here opposite you. You have the most beautiful set of shining white teeth. You have even bones. You have a straight nose. There's not even a mark on your brow. Have you ever pro have you ever properly taken a hit?

Nicola Adams2:24

Please.

Nicola Adams2:27

Yeah, um, but I I tend to not get hit very often. I don't like getting hit, so I'm really good defensively.

Presenter2:33

Um the first ever bout you won then, you were thirteen, it was in a working men's club in Leeds. What can you remember about that?

Nicola Adams2:40

Oh God, everything? Smoking wasn't banned then, so

Nicola Adams2:45

I remember feeling the back of my throat was actually on fire because of the smoke in the room. There was almost like a ring of smoke above the ring. But I also remember my family being there and how excited I was. And I was running around the whole club because I was only 13 at the time. I was really excited. And my coach is trying to get me to sit down and relax and conserve my energy. And I'm like peeping through the curtain trying to see what's going on. Yeah, I absolutely, absolutely loved it.

Presenter3:13

And were the spectators but the guys in the Working Men's Club were they paying much attention?

Nicola Adams3:17

Uh yeah, there were. As soon as I got into the ring, I think for a lot of them it was the first time they'd seen a a girl box. So but yeah, I was I was a big fan of Prince Nazim at the time and Prince Nazim Hamid, who had that wonderful

Presenter3:26

That was Nassim Hamid, who had that wonderful sort of quick style.

Nicola Adams3:29

Yeah, and I was um in the ring imitating some of his moves. Yeah, I just really

Presenter3:34

Really enjoyed it.

Nicola Adams3:34

Yeah.

Presenter3:34

You didn't somersault the ropes to get in like he used to, did you? No, no. Um your list of titles is unprecedented then. What happens when you lose? Oh, um doesn't happen often. Then what will you do? What how do you deal with it?

Nicola Adams3:47

Well, I'll go back first and watch the replay with the coaches and then work on where I went wrong and where I could improve. Yeah, I'm not a happy person when I when I lose.

Presenter3:57

I should tell listeners that it is the first time since I've been speaking to you that you're suddenly not smiling. Even the thought of it. Yes. Um tell me then, Nicola Adams, about your first piece of music. What is this and why have you chosen it?

Speaker 24:02

Yeah.

Nicola Adams4:02

Yeah.

Nicola Adams4:09

The first piece of music is Drake, um, Summer Sixteen, and this is because I've been listening to to this song the whole year. It's got me motivated and ready for action and for Rio.

Speaker 44:22

Looking for revenge All summer 16 All summer 16 Playing dirty not clean Out front for a season looking like a damn football team All in the same thing All rapping one thing Looking for revenge

Speaker 44:38

To do what you couldn't do. Tell Obama that my verses are just like the whips at the end. They bulletproof. Minus 20, we in Pitfield at Kay's Kitchen in the Canada goose.

Speaker 44:47

Famous as but I'm still in the cup when they round up the truth

Speaker 44:50

I'm Mr. Sicko, a real sicko, when you get to know me.

Speaker 44:54

I let the dish record drop

Presenter4:55

That was Drake and Summer Sixteen. And you say, Nicola, that was chosen because it well, it sort of reminds you of how your year has been and focuses you in that place in Rio. You became the first British female boxer to retain an Olympic gold title. Did you go to Rio with the specific intention of claiming that record, or was it enough just to be there?

Nicola Adams5:15

No, I was I was going there with that that intention. I wanted to become a double Olympic champion. It's been my goal for the last four years. It's gold or nothing for me. I I don't like coming second.

Presenter5:28

Um of course your your first Olympics was London twenty twelve memorably. You nearly hadn't made it there. You fell down the stairs in two thousand nine and and fractured your vertebrae.

Presenter5:38

Never mind not box again. The doctors thought you might not walk again.

Nicola Adams5:39

The doctors thought

Nicola Adams5:42

Yeah, it was um it was really tough. It was hard to deal with. I was in in bed for three months, couldn't really do anything, couldn't walk about. I was stuck in bed pretty much the whole time. My family and friends kept on spirits up really. They kept me motivated and I'd go to the selection camps, which were on at the time for the GB selections, to go to the Olympics.

Presenter6:07

And just to remind people, of course, this was the first time ever that female boxing had been allowed into the Olympics. So this was.

Nicola Adams6:10

Yeah.

Presenter6:13

A golden moment for your sport and potentially for you.

Nicola Adams6:16

Yeah, and it was important to my recovery to make sure that everything was healed before I started training again. And um I remember it was coming up to the last camp and the coaches said, Well, we can't put her onto the the team unless we actually see her do anything'cause the most I'd done so far was physio and I remember the doctor saying, Right, we need to be able to just get you to move just to show'em that you can box. I mean my achievements spoke for themselves, but I guess they just needed to to see me actually perform.

Presenter6:46

What did they see you do? Did you get into the ring and spar? Did you get it?

Nicola Adams6:49

Yeah, I did a couple of rounds of sparring, a couple of bags, and let me tell you, it was the hardest day I've ever had in my life. I remember that morning just setting off, going into the gym, and I'd put on three morphine patches because I knew I was going to be in so much pain. It was going to be unreal. And literally, after that day, I could not get out of bed for like a week and a half. I was in that much pain. But it was like, it was all worth it.

Presenter7:19

Let's just take a moment then and enjoy ourselves and look back at that golden time. It was London 2012. You had got to the finals. You were about to step into the ring with Ren Can Can of China. She looks like she's going to the gallows. You look like you're going for a big night out with your mates. I mean the smile on your face was huge. How did you manage to be sort of...

Speaker 27:36

Smile on your face was huge.

Presenter7:39

So light of spirit, a smile on your face. What was it like from the inside?

Nicola Adams7:44

I was just I I just always remember my coach um telling me, growing up with boxing, saying

Nicola Adams7:53

No matter how serious things get, you have to enjoy the moment. You have to enjoy what you're doing. If you enjoy what you're doing, you'll stay relaxed and you'll perform better. And I guess it was my first Olympics, home games as well. And I just wanted to enjoy every minute of it. And I really, really did. Yeah, I was so happy, waving to the crowd. I stepped into the center of the ring, and I just remember the bell going. And once we started to box, you couldn't block the noise out. When I won, they said it was equivalent to the same amount of noise as a jumbo jet taking off. So you can imagine how loud that was. After that moment, then.

Presenter8:37

You were a gold medallist. What was life like in Leeds when you went home?

Nicola Adams8:41

Yeah, it was very different. Walking down the street, I'd get stopped every every twenty seconds. A normal trip to the corner store would take twenty minutes instead of five. And I remember one particular day I went to the supermarket thinking that I could just go and do my regular grocery shopping and uh I was mobbed, had to leave my leave my shopping and go home. Yeah.

Nicola Adams9:06

How did you

Presenter9:07

Yeah.

Nicola Adams9:07

No, what did you do?

Presenter9:07

What did y did anybody help you?

Nicola Adams9:08

Uh

Presenter9:08

Uh

Nicola Adams9:08

Uh yeah, security had to had to help me out. I just thought, you know, I can just go in uh to my local supermarket, do my shopping and ev everything'll be fine, you know. It's it's okay.

Presenter9:08

Okay.

Presenter9:19

Has it settled down? Can you do it now? Can you go shopping?

Nicola Adams9:21

Um I can go, but I go at really odd times of the morning, like one or two o'clock in the morning, there's noone there and I can happily shop or I do it online.

Presenter9:33

Let's have some more music, Nicola Adams. We're going to listen to your second.

Nicola Adams9:36

This one's Nicki Minaj Moment for Life. This is um one of my walkout tracks that I use. It's quite motivational for me and gets me fired up and ready to go in the ring.

Presenter9:47

When you're listening to it today, is there a bit of a Pavlovian response where you think, oh, there it is. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 29:51

Yeah, yeah. Ding ding.

Presenter9:52

Yeah.

Speaker 29:54

I fly with the stars in the skies. I am no longer trying to survive. I believe that life is a prize. But to live doesn't mean you're alive. Don't worry about me and who I fire. I get what I desire, it's my empire. And yes, I call it shots, I am the umpire. I sprinkle holy water upon the vampire. In this very moment, I'm king. In this very moment, I slay Goliath with a sling. This very moment I bring, put it on everything. That I will retire with the ring. And I will retire with the crown. Yes, no, I'm not lucky, I'm blessed. Yes, clap for the heavyweight champ, me.

Presenter10:31

That was Moment for Life from Nicki Minaj. Uh, Nicola, the world of British sports should be forever grateful to your mum for not being able to find a child minder. You were twelve at the time, and tell me what happened on the day that you first saw a boxing club.

Nicola Adams10:46

Oh, I absolutely loved it. I remember going into the gym and seeing everybody training. I was just blown away. The super heavyweights on the on the heavy bags pounding away. It was like a real old school rocky type gym with small square steamed up windows at the top of the room. I loved it.

Presenter11:05

Take it. Jude

Nicola Adams11:05

Uh

Presenter11:05

Good boxing club. The we

Nicola Adams11:06

Is being run in that gym, and your mum had stuck you in there because she was doing aerobics in the other part of the gym. What happened was the child minor cancelled.

Presenter11:08

The bum has

Nicola Adams11:16

And they said that there's a an after-school boxing club at the same place, so she was like, Oh, excellent.

Nicola Adams11:22

Took me to the gym, and then that was it. I loved it.

Presenter11:26

And you were already familiar with boxing. You'd watch tapes of legendary bouts with your father. Tell me more about that.

Nicola Adams11:33

Yeah, I used to sit down and watch Mohammed Ali the reruns of him winning the Olympics, Sugaray Leonard winning the Olympics and Ali going pro and seeing him boxing The Rumble of the Jungle and just seeing his character outside of the ring as well. I absolutely loved his rhymes and the poems he did. I remember being mesmerized by the crowds and how pumped up everybody was because I saw the the build-up of everything before the interviews and Ali's trash talking and I just loved all that. At that time I never thought I was actually ever going to be a a boxer. It was.

Nicola Adams12:10

all by chance that I ended up in the in the gym.

Presenter12:13

Yeah. In your home life, you and your brother, your mum and dad, did you were you competitive? Do would you sit and play Monopoly till you get up?

Nicola Adams12:18

Oh, yeah. Yeah, Monopoly, Frustration, Connect 4. Yeah, I still play all those games now and I still have to win.

Nicola Adams12:27

Yeah with Kinect 4 as well and I I um I couldn't figure out how I was always losing.

Nicola Adams12:33

Because at the time I was only like five, five or six. So it was hard to win. I I I remember I used to say like, Oh, can't you just let me win once? And my dad used to say no because he won't appreciate um the victory. So I had to get my victories on my on my own. And um but it it was right. Um

Nicola Adams12:52

You you appreciate victory more when you actually earn it. And when did you start to play chess? I was ten. What did you like about it? Chess is a bit more tactical than Kinect 4, but it's the same kind of thing you're trying to make your opponent make a mistake or you're trying to create a situation where your opponent has no other choice to make but to fall into your hands and that's it. That's when you take over.

Presenter13:16

As when you

Presenter13:17

And then there's the jab.

Nicola Adams13:18

Yeah, there's the jab. Tell me about yourself.

Presenter13:19

Tell me tell me about your third piece then. What are we going to hear this third tune?

Nicola Adams13:23

We're gonna hear Frank Sinatra, New York, New York. That's because up until I was 10 years old, we used to travel to New York every year. We used to go visit family, go to the theme parks, the walk parks, and everything. And I really got into Frank Sinatra, and I heard this song on an advert once while I was there, and I absolutely loved it.

Speaker 413:43

Start spreading the news.

Speaker 413:47

I'm leaving today.

Speaker 413:51

I want to be a part of it.

Speaker 413:56

New York, New York.

Speaker 414:00

These vagabond shoes.

Speaker 414:05

Our longings astray

Presenter14:05

Um

Speaker 414:09

Right through the very heart of it New York, New York

Presenter14:18

Frank Sinatra, New York, New York, and memories for you, Nicola Adams, of those uh regular family holidays that you used to take in America when you were a little girl. Uh it was in your mid teens that y your mother became very ill indeed. She contracted meningitis.

Presenter14:32

Tell me how that affected things at home for you.

Nicola Adams14:34

Yeah, that was um it was really tough. My mum was in hospital for a couple of months, which left me and my brother at home and I had to pretty much do everything. I had to grow up quite quickly. Um I felt like I had to be the the strong person. And how was she taking it?

Presenter14:50

And how was she taken ill? What what happened?

Nicola Adams14:51

She got sick, and at first we just thought it was just flu. She was in bed. I thought, oh, I should be alright. Went to school, came back, and she was still in bed, and that's unusual for my mum. And I just remember thinking to herself, no, there's just something not right. And so I phoned the ambulance and they took her to the hospital. And when she was at the hospital, they were asking her questions. And her brain had already started to close down from the meningitis. And she couldn't remember her date of birth or how old she was. She said she had two daughters as well. I was like, wow, like she's really sick. And we didn't realize that she was dying. And that's why her brain was starting to close down. And that's why she couldn't remember everything. And luckily, we got her to the hospital in time and they managed to save her life.

Presenter15:50

So very, very seriously ill then. How how long was it before your mum was re recovered and back home?

Nicola Adams15:55

It was um I think it was three or four months um before she was back.

Presenter15:59

And did when she got back home, you know, she'd been through a lot. W were you then, of course, taking care of her as well as everything else?

Nicola Adams16:05

Yeah, yeah, I was still taking care of my mum, even though she didn't like it very much. She wanted to be back up on her feet as quick as possible.

Presenter16:12

When you look back on that now, I mean, obviously, you know, you're a happy person, you've got a great life, you've been hugely successful. That's a huge amount of responsibility for a 14-year-old girl.

Nicola Adams16:20

Yeah, it was. Um it was really tough. I had to get my brother up, get him ready for school and make sure I got to school on time and pick him up and have dinner and then take him to go see my mum at the hospital. Um my grandma used to come over as well and help out.

Presenter16:36

Yeah.

Nicola Adams16:36

Uh

Presenter16:36

And where was your dad at this point?

Nicola Adams16:38

Um, he wasn't he wasn't around. So your mom and dad had broken up?

Presenter16:40

Yeah.

Nicola Adams16:42

Yeah. Did you see much of him? Um no, no, not not really. Still don't know. Yeah.

Presenter16:47

It strikes me that a gym, a boxing gym, it's a very male environment. Tell me about being in a very male environment as a thirteen, fourteen year old girl. That's unusual.

Nicola Adams16:59

To be honest, it wasn't something that that I thought about. I just love being in the gym. And I guess it's because my coach said, when I first came to the gym, he said, There there is no male and female in this gym. To me, you're all boxers, and I have one rule, you all listen to me. So, I guess with that being said, I always felt like I was exactly the same as everybody else. And you would have to be sparring w with.

Presenter17:22

Young guys.

Nicola Adams17:22

Yeah. Yeah, I uh give give a few of them a a run for the money.

Presenter17:22

Yeah.

Presenter17:27

Good girl. Time for your fourth then. Tell me about this. What are we going to hear?

Nicola Adams17:30

My fourth song is Bob Marley, Jammin'. My mum always used to she used to play a lot of Bob Marley in the kitchen when she was cooking and this song particularly I liked the best.

Speaker 417:41

Yeah.

Speaker 417:48

Well right, what y'all mean?

Speaker 417:54

I wanna time it with you.

Speaker 417:57

Good job

Speaker 417:59

Jamaica

Speaker 418:01

And I hope you like Jamin too.

Speaker 418:05

Rules ain't no far, we can do it anyhow.

Speaker 418:09

I and I will see you through.

Speaker 418:13

'Cause that would be dead

Presenter18:15

That was Bob Marley and Jem. And you said, Nicola, going into that, that one of the reasons you'd chosen it was because you remember that often your mum would put it on when she was cooking or whatever in the kitchen. I feel like I don't.

Presenter18:26

Have a sense of how important your mum must have been, you know, that you do not build the sort of success you have, and especially as a one-parent family.

Presenter18:35

by just kind of being in the background. I'm guessing she was always front and centre.

Nicola Adams18:39

Oh, yeah. She loved the fact that I was doing something that I enjoyed doing, and she's always been my number one fan, the person that's worked the hardest in the background, I guess, taking me to the gym and taking me to training camps and trying to raise the funds so I can go away to box abroad in competitions. Because at the time, women's boxing didn't have a structure, no training camps, and we didn't get any help neither. So she worked really, really hard. And sometimes it was a case of you can have either the new pair of trainers or you can go to this training camp. And I had to make my choices.

Presenter19:21

I want to talk a little bit about that environment, you know, as a young sportswoman.

Presenter19:26

To what extent, as you went to boxing camps, as you went to various gyms, did you feel that your best interests were always, you know, the most important thing to to the people that you were working with at at that young age?

Nicola Adams19:38

My coaches always gave me full support, but there were some coaches that weren't as supportive um for women's boxing. The belie like, you know, women shouldn't box. I'd never let a woman train in my gym.

Presenter19:51

Do people say that to you?

Nicola Adams19:52

Yeah, yeah.

Presenter19:54

And you would say

Nicola Adams19:55

What? I'd just be like, oh, okay. I was like, I'll show you. Wait until you see me box. And.

Nicola Adams20:02

It was quite satisfying to see somebody that just said that, see you box, and then say, Wow, you could actually show the boys in my gym a a thing or two and for them then to say, Do you know what, I'm actually gonna start training girls at my gym. So it's like when you go from that extreme to the other, I just used to love proving them wrong.

Presenter20:23

It's time for some more music now, Nicola Adams. We're on your your fifth.

Nicola Adams20:26

Yeah, this is Lincoln Park in the end. This is because when I was growing up with boxing, it was quite tough to deal with the criticism that women's boxing got, and this song kind of got me through it. I was like, yeah, it made me really, really motivated and just got me out there training.

Speaker 420:47

I know, time is a valuable thing. Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings. Watch it count down to the end of the day. The clock ticks life away. It's so unreal. Didn't look count below. Watch the time go right out the window. Trying to hold on to didn't even know. I wasted it all just to watch you go. I kept everything inside. And even though I tried, it all fell apart. What it meant to be will eventually be a memory of a time I tried so hard.

Presenter21:14

A track!

Speaker 421:16

Got so far, let me earn it doesn't even matter.

Presenter21:23

That was Lincoln Park and in the end. So Nicola Adams, in twenty twelve you topped the Independent newspaper's pink list of the most powerful LGBT people in public life. Was being bisexual ever an issue for you or for those around you?

Nicola Adams21:38

No, it's uh it's never been a never been a problem for me, to be honest.

Presenter21:43

You'll be aware there are still very, very few openly gay I don't know if there are any gay male boxers that are that are out. There's certainly very few footballers, hardly any rugby stars that are currently playing. Do you think that reluctance from within professional sport

Presenter22:00

Do you think it it comes from a sort of commercial imperative, or do you think it comes from a kind of cultural thing, that people are scared within the culture of their sports?

Nicola Adams22:08

Yeah, I think, um, for some people it it is hard to be able to be themselves and to come out. Some people are are just happy keeping their private life private, I guess, and but I'm not the type of person that could live in fear, you know, I'm uh

Nicola Adams22:27

This is who I am. You either like me or you don't.

Presenter22:30

Earlier this year then, uh, you were among several uh UK athletes who had their you know what I'm gonna say, you know, you had your medical records leaked, your confidential files by hackers. It's believed that probably they were located in Russia.

Presenter22:44

There is no suggestion that you did anything wrong at all, but how do you feel?

Presenter22:49

About that. You know, there are big questions right now among us, the sports fans, about what we can trust, about the fact that actually.

Presenter22:58

All we're seeing are brilliant people who have trained to the limits of their ability that are unaided. How can you reassure sports fans that that is indeed what they're seeing all the time?

Nicola Adams23:10

I guess you've you've just got to I mean, I used to have a TUE for having asthma, and so you need that for your asthma pump, and you know, there's no I can't compete without my inhaler, just in case I ever have an asthma attack. And I think maybe we could make all the files on on water public or whichever makes people happiest, but I guess what everybody doesn't understand is that the athletes have gone through the proper protocols to get the sanction for, you know, whatever they need to use the drug for, so it's it's completely, you know, with it within their rights.

Presenter23:47

So you think actually that rather than people saying, well, you need to respect my privacy and how dare you look at my files, it should actually be the case that they are.

Nicola Adams23:54

Oh yeah, it shouldn't have yeah it shouldn't have been done that way. But um definitely

Presenter23:58

Do you think maybe the way forward might be for

Nicola Adams24:00

Uh

Presenter24:00

Yeah, to publish their money.

Nicola Adams24:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just make it public. Then, you know, it doesn't seem like you're hiding anything.

Presenter24:07

Hugh McAlvaney, the the great sports writer, has said there is no denying that boxing is, in the end, the most dramatic of all the activities that are classed as sport.

Presenter24:17

There are people who think it's barbaric. There are people who think it should be banned. What do you say to them?

Nicola Adams24:24

For me, boxing is it's a work of art. I love the technical ability that goes into it. It's not as barbaric as as you think. There's so much in there. You can't just lose all your senses and throw a caution to the wind and just start throwing punches because, you know, you'll get caught, you'll get hit, possibly knocked out, and you've got to be so smart and tactical when you're in there.

Presenter24:48

How do you feel when you do hurt somebody, really hurt somebody? When I feel

Nicola Adams24:52

Oh, I feel s like I feel sad'cause I don't want to I don't want to hurt anybody when I'm when I'm in there. I just you know, I just want to want to win.

Presenter25:00

Let's have some more music, Nicola Adams. We are on your sixth. Tell me about this.

Nicola Adams25:04

This is Chainsmokers and I chose this one because this was the song at the time when I met my partner that I'm with now and uh yeah, it always reminds me of her.

Speaker 425:16

Take it slow, but it's not typical

Speaker 425:20

He already knows that my love is fire. His heart was a stone, but then his hands wrong. I turned him to gold and it took him higher. But I'll be your daydream, I'll be your favorite thing.

Speaker 425:41

We could be beautiful Get drunk on the good life I'll take you to paradise

Presenter25:50

That was Chain Smokers and Roses. You said, Nicolette Adams, that was chosen for your partner. You you're in your mid-thirties now. How do you imagine you're

Presenter26:00

Well, I was going to say your romantic future, but your home life. What would you hope for yourself?

Nicola Adams26:04

Um, yeah, I definitely hope one day, um, I'll have some kids, maybe get married, you know, the happy ending to go with my other happy endings. Yeah, there's a very big smile.

Presenter26:13

Yeah, there's a very big smile on your face when you say that. Well, I'm glad to hear it. You have achieved I mean, I was going to say you've achieved everything there is to achieve in your sport. Actually, you've done that sort of twice over. There must surely be the great question of whether or not you turn professional and you take all those skills to actually

Presenter26:30

Go and make some serious money. Is that something you're thinking about?

Nicola Adams26:33

Yeah, it's uh definitely one of my thoughts that I'm thinking about, as well as T V presenting and acting as well. And and Tokyo, it's a lot to think about. I love the fact that if I go into professional boxing, I'll be taking up a whole new set of challenges, which I I love a challenge and I'll be breaking down barriers, breaking down walls again, which does excite me a lot. And I know there's a huge potential in the professional game. It's just yeah, just waiting for a big name to step in there and uh open up the doors.

Presenter27:06

So in female boxing, of course, that has so far gone untapped. You know, we haven't seen a a woman's marquee headlining name in in Vegas yet. How long do you think it will be before we do for a big fight night to be topped in the bill by two female fighters?

Nicola Adams27:19

Oh, I don't I don't think, to be honest, we're that far away. Maybe a couple of years we could be seeing a a woman headlining in Vegas. Could you be that woman? I I most probably could be.

Presenter27:31

Well, you know, I had planned to ask you then about there there is a a transference in in some areas of your sport to to mixed martial arts, MMA, which is now a huge area of growth. There's a lot of money being made. You're not thinking about that then. You're thinking about sticking with boxing, are you?

Nicola Adams27:45

Yeah, I'm going to stick with boxing. I have been asked and, you know, I've I've fought by and fought by, but I think for me it's it's boxing for me.

Presenter27:53

You've mentioned actually acting too. And as we know, just to to make ends meet and to pay for your training camps, many years ago you were an extra in Coronation Street in Emmerdale, and more recently you played yourself in Waterloo Road. You seem somebody who kind of you like centre stage. You you like that sort of thing. Are you looking at bigger acting parts, more of it?

Nicola Adams28:09

Yeah.

Nicola Adams28:11

Yeah, definitely. I'd I'd love to do some bigger acting parts. Maybe a movie role would be quite cool. Female James Bond, you know. It's time, surely. Yeah, definitely. It's it's time. It's time.

Presenter28:21

Yeah, definitely.

Nicola Adams28:24

Yeah.

Presenter28:24

We're going to hear some more music, Nicola Adams. Tell me then about the next one. This is your seventh, and very much a change of pace.

Nicola Adams28:24

Um we're gonna

Nicola Adams28:30

And this is the Nutcracker Suite. I chose this because I absolutely loved to watch the film Fantasia when I was a kid, the the Disney film, and it actually got me into listening to classical music.

Presenter28:37

Yeah, the Disney.

Presenter28:42

When do you listen to the sing?'Cause I'm sure it's not when you're doing the sort of bags and stuff, or when you're on a run.

Nicola Adams28:46

Yeah, I like to listen to it when I'm driving down to and from London to Leeds. It's very calming on the motorway.

Nicola Adams28:54

It keeps me calm when people don't like to use their indicators when they're switching lanes.

Presenter30:09

That was the dance of the sugar plum fairy from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, played by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman. You said that you had chosen that, Nicola Adams, because you like calming music when you're driving, when you're doing all those journeys between Leeds and London. And you were recently in Leeds to unveil this... There's an engraved paving stone now in your hometown which says it's engraved with the words, tell me I can't and that's why I will. Tell me more about that.

Nicola Adams30:37

Yeah, it was a nice touch from the Mobile Awards to give me that award. And I guess it's because I am paving the way for the next generation. I know that now younger girls like me that start boxing, there's a path for them to follow and they won't have to struggle, they won't have to worry about funding. They know I start here, I go to the national championships, I box for England, box for Team GB and then I hopefully become an Olympic champion one day.

Presenter31:03

You're used to tough times, and we know as a 14-year-old you coped at home on your own looking after your brother.

Presenter31:10

The financial straits you were in when you were a young boxer trying to make ends meet.

Presenter31:14

I am sending you to a desert island. Are you a very practical person? Will you be able to cook for yourself, fend for yourself, build a shelter?

Nicola Adams31:21

Yeah, I'd be I'd be able to do that. Yeah. I'd love all that actually. Would you? Yeah, yeah. I I like the I like the thought of having to fend for myself and cook and make myself a little den.

Presenter31:33

Just as well. Tell me about your eighth piece of music then. What are we going to go out on today?

Nicola Adams31:36

Eight pieces of music is Entrance Set You Free. I chose this one because this was the first time when I was young, me and my friends, we managed to wangle our way into a nightclub. Underage, we managed to get in and we were on the dance floor and this song came on and yeah, I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life.

Presenter31:59

And I can tell by the way you're in the ring. I bet you're a great dancer, are you?

Nicola Adams32:03

I'm I'm not bad. I'm not bad.

Speaker 432:09

When I hold your favorite

Speaker 432:16

Feel your heart beat close to me Wanna stay in your arms forever Only love can set you free

Presenter32:42

That was Entrance and Set You Free Memories, Nicola. You say of your underage clubbing. But you told me during that you weren't actually seventeen, you just weren't twenty one, so it wasn't too outrageous. I'm going to give you the books now. You get the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, and you get to take another book along, too. What's your book going to be?

Nicola Adams32:58

Yeah, it would be The History of Almost Everything by Bill Bryson. Oh, yeah.

Presenter33:02

Okay, we're going to give you that then.

Nicola Adams33:03

Wouldn't give

Presenter33:05

You are allowed. Every castaway is allowed a luxury. What's your luxury gonna be?

Nicola Adams33:09

My luxury item would be a games console.

Presenter33:12

Oh.

Nicola Adams33:12

Really? Yeah. How many hours a week do you spend doing that?

Nicola Adams33:17

I I'm I I'd I'd say I probably do, maybe.

Nicola Adams33:20

Sixteen hours, maybe maybe more. It's definitely a a downtime thing when I'm not in training. I can put on the console and uh I can play online as well and my brother plays, so we can play the same game, I can communicate as well and talk about how the week's going.

Presenter33:37

I have to warn you, you won't be able to do that. You won't be able to communicate with anybody. We will give you a games console that is not connected to the internet. You can have that as your luxury.

Nicola Adams33:40

We will give you a games card.

Speaker 233:42

Uh

Nicola Adams33:42

Is not

Speaker 233:42

Yeah.

Nicola Adams33:44

Yeah, but

Speaker 233:44

Uh

Presenter33:45

If you had to save just one of these eight discs from the waves, which one would it be?

Nicola Adams33:52

Yeah.

Presenter33:53

The romantic one, it's yours. Nicola Adams, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs. Thank you.

Nicola Adams33:55

It's yours. Nicola Adams, thank you.

Nicola Adams33:59

If

Presenter34:00

Yeah.

Presenter34:41

You've been listening to a download from the BBC. You'll find more information on the Radio 4 website, bbc.co.uk slash Radio 4.

Speaker 435:13

This is the B B C.