Bradley Walsh

Presenter0:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne, and this is the Desert Island Discs Podcast. Every week, I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book, and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the television presenter, actor, and entertainer Bradley Walsh. He's been a familiar face on our screens since the 90s, but in recent years, the sheer breadth of his output has reached critical mass. In case you're still catching up, his adventures include stand-up comedy, quiz shows including The Chase and Blankety Blank, Panto, big budget dramas, Coronation Street, Doctor Who, and travel programmes, which he co-presents with his son Barney. And then there's the singing. In 2016, he released the biggest-selling debut album by a British artist. He was born in Watford and was an apprentice engineer at the nearby Rolls-Royce factory, making jet engines before signing for Brentford Football Club. When injury put an end to his dreams of playing for England, he decided to give entertainment a whirl. He became a blue coat at Pontins, doing the rounds at working men's clubs before turning professional in 1986. When asked what advice he would give to his 18-year-old self, he says: keep your feet on the ground, smile, and turn up on time. Doing TV is not brain surgery, so don't think you're important. That said, you are making people happy, which is a great feeling. Bradley Walsh, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Bradley Walsh1:54

Thanks, Lauren. Yeah.

Bradley Walsh1:56

Blimey, yeah, that's uh

Bradley Walsh1:58

That's quite emotional to hear in that, I've got to say.

Presenter2:00

Yeah, it's quite quite tricky to get it all into one introduction. So many strings to your bow.

Bradley Walsh2:03

So

Bradley Walsh2:05

Yeah, I think what the thing is, if you set out going down one direction, you've got only one direction to go in. Consequently, so if you spread yourself quite thinly, which I've managed to sort of do, then you can branch out because so many times within our industry you get told no. And then you and if you keep getting told no, what what the thing to do is then is diversify as quick as you can.

Presenter2:13

Consider the same.

Presenter2:18

Then you

Presenter2:24

Hmm.

Presenter2:30

Well, I want to dig into that and all of the many adventures that you've had. But let's start with that idea that you were talking about. Great to hear you giving yourself that sensible advice, that thought of making people happy. I mean, how do you judge when you're getting that right?

Bradley Walsh2:32

No.

Bradley Walsh2:40

Right.

Bradley Walsh2:45

You have to go through a transient period of where things aren't going quite right. And so, consequently, you spend your time sort of.

Bradley Walsh2:53

Dying on your backside, and then all of a sudden you get better, and it's a learning curve. And then, once you hear the laughter, and once you hear people sort of enjoying themselves, and that becomes a bit sort of a bit like a drug, really. Addictive. Yeah, addictive is actually the right word. It becomes addictive, and you'd like to carry on hearing that. It's not about the applause, it's about the laughs, I think. And I've actually enjoyed people. It's not about talking at people, but more so being with them in the fact that we're sharing an experience. And I, because I like people, I like people watching, and I like talking to people.

Presenter3:29

All right, well let's dive in. What's your

Bradley Walsh3:30

What's your first choice going to be and why? Well, my first choice is this changed my outlook on music entirely. I was used to listening to stuff like late Beatles stuff, you know, and sort of the 60s and 50s music because of my family and things like that. And then all of a sudden, this guy came along, about 1969, 68, 69. And then he releases this, Life on Mars, David Bowie. And to this day, I have absolutely no idea what the words mean.

Bradley Walsh4:00

Royal Britannia was out in bounds to my mother, my dog, and clowns. What is going on? So I've got no idea, but all of a sudden, I thought.

Bradley Walsh4:10

Do you know what? You can actually write music that doesn't mean anything, but as long as it means something to you.

Bradley Walsh4:15

Is all that matters. But the film is a saddening boy.

Bradley Walsh4:20

But she's lived it ten times or more

Bradley Walsh4:24

She could spit in the eyes of fools

Bradley Walsh4:28

As they ask her to focus on saving those fighting in the dance hall, oh man, look at those gay men girls.

Bradley Walsh4:41

It's the creaky shall

Bradley Walsh4:45

Take a look at the

Presenter4:48

David Bowie and Life on Mars. So Bradley Walsh, let's spool back a bit, shall we? You were born in Watford in nineteen sixty. Y your dad, Danny, worked for a printing company, then as a roofer. How would you describe him and and what was your relationship like?

Bradley Walsh4:53

Darwin, you were born in

Bradley Walsh4:56

Great.

Bradley Walsh5:02

Very funny man.

Bradley Walsh5:03

I used to go and watch him play football, and was very proud of him. He was a good local footballer, my dad. He he was just a man's man. He would he back in the day in the sixties, they used to work all week,

Bradley Walsh5:16

Then on a Friday at around four o'clock they would go into a pub and then get home quite late, sort of nine-ish o'clock, and go then on a Saturday morning they'd probably get up, him and my mum and w would watch me play football for Saturday morning team or my school. And on a Saturday evening he would sit in the club or the pub and drink. On a Sunday morning he would then um go and watch Sunday morning football. He would then sit in the pub until sort of two or three o'clock, come home, have his Sunday dinner, and then say to my mum, Right, we're coming out and my mum's evening would be either going up the club or up the pub.

Presenter5:51

That was a kind their kind of date now. But it it doesn't sound like a lot of time for you to be with your dad then. Were the two of you close? I don't think will be close.

Bradley Walsh6:01

I'm not sure looking back on it, we had a common ground, which, of course, was football. And

Bradley Walsh6:10

As a man's man, I think he ha at the time those sort of guys had time for the men. Do you know what I mean? They would rather be interested in talking about other stuff than spending a lot of time with the children.

Presenter6:23

Tell me about your mum then. So Margaret, she was an au auxiliary nurse and she worked at a local psychiatric hospital. Correct. I think you've credited her with your work, I think.

Bradley Walsh6:26

Yeah, I mean

Bradley Walsh6:29

Correct, yeah.

Bradley Walsh6:31

Oh, one hundred percent. Her work ethic was extraordinary because I remember my mum uh, you know, would have like two two two or three jobs at one time to keep us going because my my my mum and dad separated.

Presenter6:40

Christmas

Presenter6:41

Yes, you were fourteen when

Bradley Walsh6:43

Yeah, so she

Presenter6:43

Yeah, so she She took on extra work.

Bradley Walsh6:44

Yeah, yeah. Not just the nursing. I think she worked in a canteen of some description. Yeah, all sorts, all sorts, really. I adopted the same thing because when I was younger, I ended up with about four jobs at one time. You were a baker's boy, I think. I was a baker's boy. You're absolutely right. So I'd get up.

Bradley Walsh7:03

At 4:30. How old are you at this point? I'd say I'm 13. I'd help unload the van, stack all the shelves, ready for it to open. I would then go back home, go back to bed, reset the alarm, get up, go to school. It never did me any harm, but I just had so much energy. And I always wondered back in the day if ever I had like an ADHD type thing. I'd never been diagnosed.

Presenter7:27

I've never been dying. You weren't a natural sleeper, you weren't a.

Bradley Walsh7:30

I was like a live wire. I was like a firecracker in everything I did. And I ran everywhere. I ran everywhere.

Presenter7:31

Oh my

Presenter7:32

Yeah.

Presenter7:33

And

Presenter7:35

Now I r

Presenter7:39

Oh, Bradley, we've got to make a bit of time for the music. It's time for your second disc today. What have you gone for? A mile?

Bradley Walsh7:41

Okay.

Bradley Walsh7:43

Okay, this harks back to my early days in Watford. It used to be a club called the Top Rank. We called it the Top Rank. This used to be a Saturday morning sort of dance hall. And we used to go as school kids, 13, you know, just running around like maniacs with a bit of Coca-Cola inside you and an ice cream, what used to be called an ice cream float on code, dollop for a little ice cream. And they used to play this song. And whenever they played this song, we'd all get up and just run about and jump and dance. And I never forget it. And it's called March of the Mods. And it's by the Joe Loss Orchestra. That was the song to get everyone out. And that was the worst song you could ever imagine because it used to be like setting float of fireworks on. Bedlam on the dance floor. I mean, imagine. I used to go potting.

Presenter8:05

For the last thing.

Presenter8:24

Bedlam on the dance floor.

Presenter8:59

March of the Mods, the Joel Loss Orchestra. So Bradley Walsh, you were the class clown at school and when you were fourteen your mum took you to the London Palladium and you saw Tommy Steele in Hans Anderson. I think it was quite an important moment for

Bradley Walsh9:07

Oh wow.

Bradley Walsh9:09

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh9:12

Uh

Presenter9:12

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh9:12

It was a very important moment. I remember it vividly to this day.

Bradley Walsh9:16

Playing opposite Tommy Steele was a young lad, and he was playing like the boatswain, I think, or whatever the first mate.

Bradley Walsh9:24

And I said to my mum, look at that kid. That's what I want to be doing. That's where I need to be.

Presenter9:30

Back then, though, the aim for you was still football. That was Plan A. And you were spotted quite young by Brentford FC.

Bradley Walsh9:32

Yes.

Bradley Walsh9:34

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh9:37

Yeah.

Presenter9:37

They offered you a trial. I'll at the club. Tell me about that. How did it go?

Bradley Walsh9:39

Don't

Bradley Walsh9:40

I was playing for a local site called Levesden Hospital, which was where my mum worked. My mum was a psychiatric nurse.

Bradley Walsh9:47

And unbeknownst to me, Brentford had been watching me for a little while. And after the game, the groundsman and scout, a guy called Dave Bromley, came up to me and said, we've been watching you for a few weeks. We want you to come and play at Brentford. And I said, oh, okay. Now, this is a Saturday afternoon. I said, oh, okay. Wow, I can't believe it. Fantastic. He said, yeah, it's Monday evening. And you'll be playing against Southend United. Anyway, I end up... having a drink after the game and having a few more drinks and a few more drinks like I do on a Saturday night playing just county football. Get up on a Sunday morning. I play football on a Sunday morning. Have a few drinks. I'm not married or nothing, no kids or nothing. It's just a young lad. Go out Sunday night, have a few more drinks, get up for work Monday morning. I go to work at Rolls-Royce in the factory. Bit of a hangover.

Bradley Walsh10:31

I come home from work. I'm sitting in my mum's front room, seeing my mum, having a cup of tea. There's a knock on the door.

Bradley Walsh10:37

I'm watching the telly, and my mum answers the door. She comes in and says, Brad, there's someone here for you. And I walk to the door. Here he goes, Right, you ready?

Bradley Walsh10:45

And I went, oh my god.

Bradley Walsh10:47

Oh, so oh wow, so sorry, so sorry. We go to Griffin Park, I put my kit on, I go out and play, I have the game of my life. Even with a two-day hangover. Even that, I have the game of my life. I scored the winner, I finish, I come off, Bill Dodging says to me, follow me.

Bradley Walsh11:07

And then I've got my kit on, still have my kit, all my boots, and he walks me up this oak staircase. There used to be an oak staircase at the back of the changing rooms and up to the director's box and director's lounge, beautiful oak. So I walked all the way up in my kit, filthy dirty. And he said, Do you want to sign for us? And I went, sure. He puts it, gives me a pen. He goes, there you go, sign there. He said, for the rest of the season. So I signed, literally signed there and then for the rest of the season to Brentford. And I signed the following season as well. So I had basically two seasons. I had probably about 50 games, something like that. I mean, that is the.

Presenter11:37

Damn.

Bradley Walsh11:38

It was the stuff

Presenter11:39

For dreams coming true for you. How did it feel?

Bradley Walsh11:39

Were you?

Bradley Walsh11:41

It felt great, I felt elated and I couldn't really believe it, to be honest with you.

Presenter11:46

Bradley, it's time for some more music. Disc number three. What are we going to hear? I did a school assembly.

Bradley Walsh11:47

No

Bradley Walsh11:52

As one of the Bay City Rollers with a few friends, and we mimed to this song, dressed as the Bay City Rollers. The whole gear. We made it ourselves. And I was the drummer. We used to have high-waisted trousers. Kind of croc flares. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And this is buy-bye baby. And because of this, I ended up in school plays because of this.

Speaker 212:13

If you hate me after all

Bradley Walsh12:15

What I say

Bradley Walsh12:19

Can't pretty well.

Presenter12:28

Just got it, Jello, anyway.

Bradley Walsh12:39

Bye, bye, baby, don't make me.

Presenter12:44

Oh, the basic rollers Bradley Walsh and Bye Bye Baby.

Bradley Walsh12:45

It's bright.

Bradley Walsh12:48

Oh my goodness.

Presenter12:48

So tell me then about life after school. Obviously, you know, at that point you were still dreaming of of being a footballer. You started to become interested in performing before an audience. But actually there was a real job that you were pursuing. You were an apprentice at Rolls Royce, making jet engines.

Bradley Walsh12:54

But yes.

Speaker 212:55

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh12:58

And I

Bradley Walsh13:01

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh13:03

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh13:04

Yeah, true. Best thing I ever did in that respect. Well, because I went to their technical college.

Presenter13:07

In that way.

Bradley Walsh13:11

And I learnt how to do everything. So my proper education came there. Oh, that's how that works. Ah. Oh, that's how that flies. Get

Presenter13:20

Uh Uh And you kept working there once you'd signed to Brentford?

Bradley Walsh13:25

Yeah, because Brentford always said to me, Bill Johnson said, Have you got a trade to fall back on in case it don't work for you? And I said, Well, I'm at Rolls-Royce as an apprentice, so I can, they'll let me go to college. And he went, That's perfect.

Presenter13:34

I mean, it sounds, Bradley, like life was really coming together for you. You were you were getting to do work that you really enjoyed, you were getting to play football, you know, you were doing so professionally. It must have been absolutely crushing when you got the news that Brentford were letting you go.

Bradley Walsh13:37

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh13:40

Do you can't?

Bradley Walsh13:42

You know, you would

Bradley Walsh13:44

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh13:50

Yeah, yeah. I was trying the thing is, Lauren, I was coming back from injury and I'd spent too much time on the bench.

Bradley Walsh13:56

And we'd had a new manager come in called Fred Callahan, and he said, Right, he said.

Bradley Walsh14:02

The holiday's over. He said, I haven't come here to win friends. He said, I've come here to get us out of the third division.

Bradley Walsh14:08

I'd fractured my ankle about

Bradley Walsh14:10

three months prior to that, four months prior to that. And then after three months and out I'd fractured the other ankle. So I was really struggling. And he said

Bradley Walsh14:22

I'm letting you go. And he fired me. And I was devastated. I was devastated.

Presenter14:25

Uh

Bradley Walsh14:27

Strangely enough

Bradley Walsh14:29

Fast forward about thirty seven years, and I'm at a charity dinner and I'm and all my pals a lot of my pals are footballers now anyway. They became footballers and we remained friends. And I get a phone call. And Lesstrong's phone goes whilst we're sitting having this dinner.

Bradley Walsh14:46

He said, Here he said, I've got some one sitting next to me who you'll know.

Bradley Walsh14:50

I said to Les,'Who is it'? He put his hand over the phone, and he said,'It's Fred Callahan.

Bradley Walsh14:55

The manager who'd sacked me all those years ago.

Bradley Walsh14:58

And I went, Hallo, Fred

Bradley Walsh15:00

And he went, Who's that?

Bradley Walsh15:02

I said it's Bradley Walsh. He laughed his head off. He went, I'll bet you're glad I sacked you now.

Bradley Walsh15:11

What did you say? I just laughed. I said, thanks very much, Fred. Prop you did me a pro

Presenter15:16

Proper turn, mate. But I mean, so gutting for you at the time. Well, 21 years old. What did you have a plan? No, no plan.

Bradley Walsh15:22

No plan, no plan, no plan. I went and finished my time off at Rolls. I went back to Rolls-Royce, finished my time off. But my friend Bob Booker then said, Come on, we'll go on holiday. Took us away. We all went away, seven of us, and we went to Majorca, Kalamosquita Holiday Club Pontinental. And they said, Brad, enter the talent competition, do your normal wisdom impression, and your words are gummage, because all the holidaymakers were English.

Presenter15:28

Finishment.

Bradley Walsh15:43

So I said, all right, yeah. And I did, and I won. And a guy comes up to me afterwards: he says, Have you ever thought about getting into the entertainment industry? I went, no.

Bradley Walsh15:52

He said, Do yourself a favour, when you get back to England, get an audition and become a blue-coat of Pontins. And that's exactly what I did.

Presenter15:59

We'll find out what will happen next after your next disc, I think, Bradley Walsh. Number four, what have you got for us?

Bradley Walsh16:04

We were teenagers and we had this flat in Watford. Myself, Steve Kelly, who we call Harry, and Chrissy Brennan, Rambo, because he looked like Rambo, built like a you know a train. And Steve Kelly, my mate Harry, he worked for the old GPO and he said, I should paint my van, because GPO vans were yellow.

Presenter16:15

You know

Bradley Walsh16:24

I said, I'll paint it for you. And I paint his van. You've got a twinkle in your eye. But I paint his van with white gloss.

Bradley Walsh16:33

And it's white, and I think that looks pretty cool. I've done a nice job of that. I know what it needs. So I get a tin of brown paint.

Bradley Walsh16:41

And I write, I sign write Steve Kelly and the Steve Kelly band on tour.

Bradley Walsh16:48

This next track became our signature tune. Me and my mates, after a drink and a skinful, used to perform this at Rolls-Royce Sports and Social Club for everyone and pretend we were ten CC. I'm Mandy, Fly Me.

Bradley Walsh17:08

I'm outside looking in

Bradley Walsh17:15

But if your chance came, would you take it?

Bradley Walsh17:20

Where on earth do I begin?

Bradley Walsh17:28

I'm in there.

Presenter17:33

Oh, Mandy, fly me. So Bradley Walsh. Let's talk then about taking your first steps into comedy. You'd got the bug. You started performing on the Working Men's Club circuit. What was your act back then?

Speaker 217:33

The fly may

Speaker 217:36

Yes.

Bradley Walsh17:44

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh17:45

It was mainly impressions and it was mainly standard jokes. This fellow walks into a pub, that sort of stuff. And I'm not sure I was learning. I didn't really start learning until I actually went to Blackpool. I used to then write about the local area, and that's all of a sudden it became observational. And the Horseshoe Show Bar was a f it was on the pleasure beach, was a fantastic room, fantastic room for comics. That was a 20-week season. So by the time at the end of the first month, you've got rid of all the rubbish you don't need, all of a sudden.

Presenter18:12

Yeah.

Speaker 218:12

Hmm.

Presenter18:12

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh18:17

You're like, you're away. This is the 80s, of course. Back in the day, back in the day, the new wave, what was called the new wave comedy, the alternative comedy was coming in.

Presenter18:21

Yeah.

Presenter18:25

Exactly. This has all been born. Were you ever tempted to go down that avenue? Was there much crossover?

Bradley Walsh18:29

It was that was I was I was and at time back in the time they asked came to me and do can I do the comedy store they never used to ask people like me to do it

Presenter18:38

And how did it go?

Bradley Walsh18:39

Well, all right, it was fine, you know, and I went on I went on a tour for Don Wood at the comedy store and went down to the Kel Kenny Comedy Festival and stuff like that. It was good, and I enjoyed the Edinburgh Festival.

Presenter18:47

Hmm. Uh

Bradley Walsh18:51

But I I felt that I saw a niche.

Bradley Walsh18:54

There was a time when they'd stopped having performers on television.

Bradley Walsh18:59

They didn't want Monkhouse anymore, they didn't want Bruce Forsyth anymore, they didn't want the they didn't da da da da. And then all of a sudden, that left a massive gap. Someone who could do a bit of stand-up comedy, think on their feet, become a bit of a one-stop shop. If you needed a song, they could do it. If they needed to be with the general public and work, they could do it.

Bradley Walsh19:18

No one was doing that at the time, and that was a niche that needed filling, and I thought that's where I need to be.

Presenter19:20

Hmm.

Presenter19:25

And it's interesting that you mention comics like Bob Monkhouse. I think Des O'Connor was a mentor of yours at the time. Did those guys give you advice?

Bradley Walsh19:30

A mentor of yours at the time.

Bradley Walsh19:33

All the time.

Bradley Walsh19:34

I once did a raw variety, and I was in a dressing room.

Bradley Walsh19:39

and I was with Ronnie Corvert.

Bradley Walsh19:42

Desa Connor

Bradley Walsh19:43

Bruce Forsyth and Jimmy Tarbuck.

Bradley Walsh19:46

And Ronnie Bruce Forsyth couldn't do his cufflinks up. And so Ronnie Corbett said, He said, Well, I'll do your cufflinks for you. I'll do your cufflinks. And Bruce is going, I can't do my cufflinks for you. I can't do my cufflinks. And Des said something to Bruce along the lines of, If it had been one of the Beverly sisters, you'd have got your cufflinks done up quick enough, or something like that. He said, Don't you start, Desmond? He said, You wait till the boy gets here. Don't say anything in front of the boy. And I'm thinking, What boy? Who are they talking about? Anyway, he goes, he's coming, the boy's coming, here comes the boy, and in walks Jimmy Tarbuck, the boy who was younger than him, and he was 74.

Bradley Walsh20:23

And he's the boy. So what does that make me? Do you know what I mean? Well, you know, say when the boy gets here. And I just I just sat there watching him all night. You must have been laughing at him. Oh, it was fabulous.

Presenter20:34

Time somewhere music varied number five. What's it gonna be and why are you taking it to the island?

Bradley Walsh20:40

But

Presenter20:40

Okay.

Bradley Walsh20:40

I'm now primarily a stand-up comic.

Bradley Walsh20:44

I'm going to drive to Ringmer in Sussex.

Bradley Walsh20:48

I have to go down and see my Uncle John and my Auntie Iris, literally who lived in Ganders Ash, ten doors down the road from us, before I leave. I have to go and see them. And my Auntie Iris says to me, She said, Do you listen to music on the way down there? I said, I do, yeah She said, What do you listen to? I said, Well, you know, a bit of Bob Marley, bit of this, bit of that. She said, Take this and gives me a cassette.

Bradley Walsh21:07

That cassette was played about

Bradley Walsh21:12

six or seven times on the way down. So much so.

Bradley Walsh21:16

I went round the block when I got to the Roebuck Inn, and sat in the car park so's the tape could finish.

Bradley Walsh21:22

Firefly Tony Bennett has become my favorite singer of all time. Wants none of that noonglow. She starts to glitter when the sun goes down'bout eight PM

Bradley Walsh21:40

It's mayhem, she switches the brights up, lights up, and gives me a call, take me to the fireflies ball, but when I get a da sa-da-da-doo, I get to beda da, and grab me some glow, no she's a guy about

Presenter21:57

Tony Bennett and Firefly. So Bradley Walsh, in nineteen eighty six, you decided to take the leap and go professional full time. Yes. It wasn't a small decision. You know, you had a young family to support. Did you have any qualms about taking that step?

Bradley Walsh21:59

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh22:05

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh22:09

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh22:11

I did, but you know what? For those of us who wear a comfy coat the entire time

Bradley Walsh22:17

You'll stay warm, but wearing a comfy coat doesn't really help you spread your wings. So after that, in eighty six, I got a job at Cromer.

Presenter22:28

This is your first booking, a three-year stint at the Pavilion Theatre on Cromer Pier, and then after that you worked in Blackpool. You then went on tour as a support act for some huge artists, Shirley Bassey, Leo Sayer, and later Sir Tom Jones. I wonder about the Tom Jones gig. How did that go?

Bradley Walsh22:45

Uh

Presenter22:47

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh22:47

That was my first big step up.

Bradley Walsh22:49

Phil Bowdry, one of the legendary tour managers of our time, he was Tom Jones's tour manager, and I was told to get on.

Bradley Walsh22:58

And do my 25 minutes. I'd never been in front of 11,000 people. You must have been terrified. I was terrified. I mean, terrified.

Presenter23:01

You must indeed.

Bradley Walsh23:04

And what Tom used to do, Tom used to have to leave his hotel, get in the car, literally pull up, have two minutes stand in there, not hang around, get on, hear his opening music and go on. The timing was to the second. It was like a military operation.

Bradley Walsh23:20

This Disney Help. The intro I got. Now 11,000 people. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tom Jones Inn Concert. And everyone stamping their feet. But first.

Bradley Walsh23:30

And the audience said, uh oh.

Bradley Walsh23:33

But first, please welcome Tom's very special guest

Bradley Walsh23:38

Bradley Walsh thinking it's going to be a band, and I walk on on my own.

Bradley Walsh23:42

Whoa, I tell you. Anyway, I came off. Let's say I did 15 minutes. It wasn't brilliant, I have to say. Because once you start realizing you're not going too well, what happens is you really ultimately can't help yourself. I'm just going to climb up and go, that's what happens. You just, and your lips go dry, you do. Yeah. Thank you very much. Enjoy, Tom.

Speaker 324:00

Think of

Bradley Walsh24:02

And you walk off.

Bradley Walsh24:04

Phil Bowdery is standing right there backstage. He went, Where you going? I went

Bradley Walsh24:08

I've done it, I've got it. He said, get back out there. I went, no. He said, Tom's not here. Get back out there. I said, I can't do anymore. I don't know what. He said, out. And he got me, turned me round, pushed me. And I went back on stage in front. And then I started doing a load of stuff just to add a little bit of a load of stuff and sort of got away with it till Tom arrived. That then, I thought, aloe, this is now a bit of improv. I am now. All of a sudden, I started working in a different type of way. So it came together. It sort of came together. It wasn't brilliant.

Presenter24:39

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh24:39

We came together, but I learnt how to work those big arenas.

Presenter24:43

Bradley, I'm going to take a moment for some more music. This is your sixth choice.

Bradley Walsh24:45

This is your

Bradley Walsh24:46

Yeah.

Presenter24:46

What is it and why are you taking it to your desert island?

Bradley Walsh24:50

The amount of times I've spent on my own, just driving to and from gigs, sometimes sleeping in the car and I remember just before the Royal Variety performance in nineteen ninety three, my first Royal, my management company, put me on the road with Neil Sadaka, and I'd got a Neil Sadaka album, and I listened to this track.

Bradley Walsh25:09

Oh, wow This is a great this it says says it all

Bradley Walsh25:13

And we were in Brighton, Conference Centre, and I said, and Neil Sadaka came up to me. He said, You enjoying the tour, Brad? I said, I am.

Bradley Walsh25:21

I said, you know you never play The Hungry Years, do you?

Bradley Walsh25:26

Everyone in our industry should listen to that song. I said remember where they've come from.

Bradley Walsh25:31

And he went, do you know what? I'll play that for you tonight. So he went on stage.

Bradley Walsh25:35

And he sat at the piano.

Bradley Walsh25:37

And he said, This next song is for my mate Brad.

Speaker 225:41

Yeah.

Presenter25:41

I miss the hungry years The once upon a time

Presenter25:49

The lovely

Speaker 325:49

Long ago

Speaker 325:52

We didn't have a die.

Speaker 325:56

Those days of me and you

Speaker 326:02

We lost along the way

Speaker 326:09

How could I be so bl

Presenter26:12

The Hungry Years by Neil Sadaka. Bradley Walsh, in 2009 you started hosting the ITV quiz show The Chase. Yes. It has gone on to be hugely successful, winning multiple TV awards, spawning numerous spin-offs. But what made you say yes when ITV's Alison Sharman first talked to you about the project?

Speaker 226:23

Omen G

Bradley Walsh26:27

Uh

Bradley Walsh26:33

I was doing law and order.

Bradley Walsh26:35

The reviews were great.

Bradley Walsh26:37

But I missed entertainment. I missed it. I miss working in studio. I miss the the quickness of it. I miss the'cause it's very tedious on a on a drama set.

Presenter26:46

There's a lot of waiting to do your bit.

Bradley Walsh26:47

It's a lot of waiting. And she said, Well, what do you want to do? I said, What have you got? She said, Hang on a minute.

Bradley Walsh26:53

And she presses this button, she gets on her phone, she goes, Die to Die Howie. She says, Die Howie. She says, Die, bring that thing in, that bit of paper, that thing we got yesterday. I went, I like it. She went, right, well, take it home and digest it because, you know, and tell me what you think. I said, well, hang on, what are you going to do with it? She went, well, we're thinking of making a pilot, but we've got to do an office run. I said, I'll do your office run-through.

Bradley Walsh27:13

She went, you're joking. I said, I'll do your office run through for you.

Bradley Walsh27:17

Come to the office run-through.

Bradley Walsh27:19

I've now got the bosses of ITV there. I've got a table in front of me. And I've got Sean Wallace, who became the Dark Destroyer, in front of me, and I've got Mark Lebette, Sue Chasers, there. So I said to Mark Lebette first of all, I said, Right, Mark, I said, that's an unusual name, French Lebette. He said, I know, it stands for the beast. I said, well, that's what you are then. You're the beast.

Bradley Walsh27:38

I said to Sean Wallace, Sean, what do you like? He said, I love boxing. I said, he said, who's your favourite boxer? He said, Nigel Benn, Dark Destroyer. I said, you're now the Dark Destroyer.

Bradley Walsh27:47

And what I did was I played, I said, this is easy, anyone could win this.

Bradley Walsh27:51

And they went, Well, take em on then, if you're so clever.

Bradley Walsh27:54

I had all the questions on a piece of A four paper.

Bradley Walsh27:58

But under the A4 paper was the answers face down. So I took the other pieces of A4 paper and because the table was slightly lit from underneath, I could see the answers. Read the answers. I could see the answers. I could see the answers. What's the point of swatting up when you can see the answers? So I had my hands on the piece of paper. I just stand there and I put it and kept moving my hands. So I was masking it. You know, what's the capital of da da da da? Da da da. Who's the job done? And I've just nailed them and I beat them.

Presenter28:08

The ultimate.

Presenter28:09

But

Bradley Walsh28:30

Hey, I got the job.

Presenter28:32

Bradley, I think we'd better make time for another disc. It's your seventh today. Tell us about us.

Bradley Walsh28:34

Okay.

Bradley Walsh28:36

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh28:37

When we were talking about the Hungry Years and Neil Sadaka and where you were and you need someone to make that journey with you. And this song is my wedding song. This was our first dance and it's Always and Forever. A great band called Heat Wave. This is for me and Donna. And this is the person, I hope everyone's got someone like their loved one, their wife, their partner and someone like Donna they can make that journey with.

Bradley Walsh29:06

Take time to tell me

Bradley Walsh29:11

You really care.

Bradley Walsh29:15

And we'll send tomorrow together.

Presenter29:36

Heat wave and always and forever for your wife Donna Brown. 30 years together this year.

Bradley Walsh29:40

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh29:42

Thirty years, yeah, always and forever.

Presenter29:44

Family is obviously very important too. And it interestingly spawns one of the recent successes that you've had on screen, the series Breaking Dad. It's you and your son Barney, who travels around the world together in an RV and he puts you through various challenges from skydiving to bobsleying and everything in between. And it is so different from the kind of, you know, what we call shiny floor shows that you do. Do you think that it revealed more about your relationship with Barney than you expected?

Bradley Walsh29:46

Yes, and all

Speaker 229:55

Yeah.

Speaker 230:00

It's from Scott.

Bradley Walsh30:08

Yeah.

Bradley Walsh30:15

I mean, I loved going on holiday with my son. I love going on holiday when we have family holidays and taught him to swim and playing and reading stories to him. I don't ever remember my dad reading a story to me, but I love reading stories when he was younger and doing the voices and making up stories. And when you look at the relationship that I had with my dad, this is a different ballgame entirely and this is how it should be.

Bradley Walsh30:44

Uh

Presenter30:44

Bradley, you once described yourself as an odd job man and right from the beginning you have really made the most of the chances that you've been offered. Where does that reluctance to turn work down come from and that drive that you've obviously

Bradley Walsh30:51

When

Bradley Walsh30:56

I think it's a working class thing.

Bradley Walsh30:58

You always worried no matter how well you if I was to win if I'd have just made today $100 million on Bitcoin I'd still be wondering where my next beans on toast was coming from. I'll always be that baker's boy. I'll always be collecting bottles as a kid knowing you're gonna get threepence back on them the empties and taking them up the thing collecting them around the back. I don't know what it's a work ethic.

Presenter31:18

Hmm.

Presenter31:21

And of course, you have a new adventure coming very shortly. You are off to the desert island in just a moment. I wonder how you feel about the challenges of living there. Will you be up to it?

Bradley Walsh31:31

The thing I would miss most, I guess, would be family.

Presenter31:34

Barney won't be there to cheer you up.

Bradley Walsh31:36

No, he wouldn't, he wouldn't, they wouldn't.

Presenter31:38

Well, one more disc before we send you to your island, Bradley. Okay. What's it gonna be?

Bradley Walsh31:41

Okay.

Bradley Walsh31:43

It can only be the one song. It says everything about me, I think. I imagine when I'm long gone or on my the day I go they'll be playing this at the funeral, I guess. I love it, it's a great tune. That's life, Frank Snatcher.

Speaker 232:00

I've been a puppet, a pulver, a pirate, a poet.

Speaker 232:05

A pawn and a king, I've been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing, each time I find myself

Speaker 232:18

Flat on my face

Speaker 232:20

I pick myself up and get back in the rain. That's life. That's life. I tell you.

Presenter32:30

Wow. Wow. Frank Sinatra. And that's life. So, Bradley Walsh, I'm going to send you away to the island now. Okay. I'm giving you the books to take with you, the Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare, and one other book of your choice. What would you like?

Bradley Walsh32:44

Oh, can only be one book.

Bradley Walsh32:46

The Count of Monte Cristo. You know the last words in The Count of Monte Cristo is wait and hope.

Bradley Walsh32:53

Just wait and hope. In life, wait and hope. Something will happen.

Presenter32:57

Especially on a desert island. That's a good idea. Especially on a desert island. You must have that book.

Bradley Walsh32:59

Especially on a desert island.

Presenter33:02

You can also have a luxury item to make life more pleasurable. What will that be?

Bradley Walsh33:07

Golf clubs.

Bradley Walsh33:08

I started playing golf when I was 19. I've never gotten any better because I've never had enough time to devote to it. Now there would be enough time.

Presenter33:17

Finally, which one track of the eight that you've shared with us today would you save from the waves if you had to?

Bradley Walsh33:23

If it was only me and Odessa, it wouldn't have to be always and forever. It would have to be because then your loved ones are always with you.

Presenter33:32

Bradley Walsh, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island Discs.

Bradley Walsh33:36

Thank you, Laura.

Speaker 333:45

Uh

Presenter33:53

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Brad. We'll leave him practicing his golf swing and entertaining the seagulls, shall we? We've cast away many stand-ups and presenters in the past, including Sarah Millikan and Joe Brand, Davina McCall and Richard Osman. And why not listen to some of Bradley's mentors while you're at it? Ronnie Corbett, Bruce Forsyth, Jimmy Tarbuck and Des O'Connor. They're all in the archive too. You can find them if you search through BBC Sounds or on our programme website. The studio manager for today's programme was Sarah Hockley. The assistant producer was Christine Pavlovsky and the producer was Paula McGinley. Next time my guest will be the Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmons. I do hope you'll join us.

Speaker 234:43

Hello!

Speaker 234:45

I'm Sean Keeveny and I'm here to tell you about my new BBC Sounds and Radio 4 podcast, Your Place or Mine, the travel show that's going nowhere.

Speaker 234:56

I get to stay on my comfy sofa talking to you fine people and excellent guests join us bringing their stories about the best bits of the planet right here.

Speaker 335:06

Were you one of those people secretly delighted by at least some aspects of the lockdown then?

Speaker 235:12

Maybe.

Speaker 235:15

And welcome Izzy Lawrence, our resident voice of reason, travel guru, comedian, historian and geographer.

Speaker 335:21

Hello.

Speaker 335:22

Um, you do know the guests are going to try very hard to convince you to go to these places, Sean.

Speaker 235:27

Well, it's probably not going to happen. Sweaty tropics and polluting long-haul flights. No thanks.

Speaker 335:31

Well, this is going to be interesting then.

Speaker 235:35

It's gonna be fun.

Speaker 235:37

To join us in our trip around the world from the comfort of your very own sofa, subscribe to Your Place On Mine on BBC Sounds.