EP275: SCOTT MITCHELL – agent, campaigner and friend

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:06 Hello everybody, welcome to Life with Nat. I hope you've had a lovely weekend and I hope you've enjoyed the pod lately. We've had some big guests on. But today's guest, I mean, forget Andy Burnham, Scott Mitchell's here.

Scott Mitchell 0:02:37 Hey! Nat, thank you. I can't, I can't believe that I'm, I'm here for my second visit. Wow. This is, for me, I've arrived. This is my second time on Life with Nat, and I'm absolutely thrilled.

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:51 Well, we've got so much to talk about, and I thought you've gotta come back on because not only do we talk every day and you're helping me with the, my career, You know, you're just a lovely man and we get on so well and I have friends and family on, so I thought, well, I've gotta get Scott back.

Scott Mitchell 0:03:06 Oh, bless you. Well, listen, you gotta remember the first time I met you, you were 11.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:11 Unbelievable.

Scott Mitchell 0:03:12 It is unbelievable, isn't it? It truly is unbelievable. Now look at you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:16 I mean, the, yeah, I'm old now.

Scott Mitchell 0:03:19 You're old. You've got 3 kids, 2 kids.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:21 2 kids. Don't tell 'em about that one.

Scott Mitchell 0:03:23 I'm sorry. You've done really well to keep that quiet. Okay. Okay. Come on, let's come clean. We've always been honest with each other. Sorry, sorry, Eliza. Sorry, Jamie. It was Lacey Turner I was thinking about with 3 kids. I get confused.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:42 That's fair enough. Lacey was on last week. Isn't she doing brilliantly well?

Scott Mitchell 0:03:46 Oh, do you know something? I'm so proud of her. And of course, you know, for those of your listeners that don't know, I also am Lacey's agent as well. So I've got 2 of the most special ladies in the industry in my life, and I only work with nice people. I make a rule of that. And, you know, I'm not like a great big agency, as you know. I just have a select few people that I like to work with.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:10 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:04:10 And they're friends first. That's how it's always been. They're people I've known. And I think that's the way it needs to be. I think life's too short to work with people that aren't gonna be very nice or difficult because I don't have that time.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:25 No.

Scott Mitchell 0:04:26 I don't, you know, I don't have that time and energy to put into it. So you two are like a dream.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:32 Well, that is lovely, and I'm very proud of her. Her book's out now. Everybody, you know, everyone's gonna be buying it for the book club on here, hopefully. Gold Dust. Oh, it's wonderful. Yeah, isn't it?

Scott Mitchell 0:04:42 Isn't it? And it's different, isn't it, as well? Because it's an interesting way that she's done it because it's about the women who have influenced her in her life. So whether that be her mum, her nan, sisters.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:53 I loved it.

Scott Mitchell 0:04:54 The women that she's worked with, her friends. at EastEnders and her friends in real life. And I just think it's a lovely way to do a book.

Natalie Cassidy 0:05:02 I do. I do, 'cause it really gets into all the emotions. She's been so open as well. And we spoke the other night about things that have happened to her that are really upsetting, and she was brave enough to talk about those. And she's just wonderful. And I can see her sat there, and she looks exhausted. And I know she's loving every minute of it, but it is an exhausting time, Strictly.

Scott Mitchell 0:05:24 She really is. And, you know, I've been there every week so far for the last— Yeah. It's a long old day. Oh, it's a long old night, let me tell you. But it's so worth it. And you know, it— I, I get a lot of pride from when I see you guys doing well. I really do. And that's because you were my friends first.

Natalie Cassidy 0:05:45 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:05:46 So it's not just a business thing with me. I don't look at it like that. I, I look at you guys, and we're gonna talk about you interviewing the PM. Yeah. Later. Talk of pride, I'm surprised I didn't implode and burst sitting there. But it's the same with Lacey. When I'm sitting there, and I see her come out, and they say her name, and, you know, it's her turn, I look at her and I think, oh, Lace, this— I can't believe that she's doing this. It's so far out of her comfort zone.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:16 So far out. And people just wouldn't know it because you're actresses. You think, oh, they're really confident. But Lacey is— she's a homebird. She likes to be indoors. She don't wanna put a load of makeup on, but she's gone headfirst. She's got her fake tan on. She's got the glitz. She's really— looks like she's really grabbed it with both hands. and he's just going for it.

Scott Mitchell 0:06:34 Yeah. This is the most unlikely version of Lacey that you could ever possibly see if you know her. And I do think, you know, and I think she's doing absolutely fantastic.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:43 She is, and she's dancing so well.

Scott Mitchell 0:06:46 Her dancing is really, really good.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:48 I think she's gonna— well, I said it at the beginning, I'm not allowed to put money on it 'cause of what we do and you know her and whatever. Yeah. But my money's on her.

Scott Mitchell 0:06:55 Well, I tell you what, I'm forever hopeful. Yeah. And, and, You know, it would sound biassed if I said she's got a very good chance, but I'm gonna say it. Yeah. She's got a very good chance.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:05 I think so. I think so. And it's lovely when you know someone on there. Oh, it is. Saturday night, the kids like, oh, Lacey's on, you know, it's so nice.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:12 And it's difficult for me as well because Jamie Winstone's on it as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:16 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:17 Of course, who portrayed Barbara.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:18 Yes, of course, yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:19 Both in Babs and also as a young Peggy in EastEnders. So I've got like, there's 2 of them. She's doing fabulously well. Jamie's doing really well, absolutely stunning. And I was really pleased

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:31 'Cause it's really hard, I think, to be in that first dance-off.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:34 Yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:34 But she got back up, and she got through again, and that was lovely.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:38 Exactly, exactly. She really picked herself up, didn't she? Yeah, which is great. I was really proud of her as well. It's like I've got proud syndrome.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:45 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:07:47 It's like I've turned into Heather Small.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:49 Oh, Toad. But what a lovely thing, you know, a lovely time for you at the moment as well. We're busy, you're busy with all of us doing well.

Scott Mitchell 0:08:02 Exactly.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:03 As you say. And, you know, you're always out and about. You've always— when I say, what you up to? And you say, you know, I'm lunching with this one. You're very— I always look at you and think, I wish I could be more like you, because you make an effort with everyone. You really put the time into your friends. And I always feel guilty that I don't do that. But I think with children and life and everything else—

Scott Mitchell 0:08:23 I was just gonna say, Now, you have 2 wonderful children, as well as a very busy career, and a lovely partner, and a home to run. So it's a lot easier for me— Yeah. Being by myself, who can just make arrangements to go out for lunch, see all my friends, put some effort into that. But, you know, don't put yourself down because you do make an effort.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:49 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:08:49 And you do see people, and you do keep in touch. And it's not just, When you and I are talking about work, you'll suddenly send me a little text and say, happy Saturday.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:59 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:08:59 Or happy Sunday. So, you know, you, considering how busy you are, you're a good egg.

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:06 Thank you.

Scott Mitchell 0:09:07 That's all right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:08 So the PM chat, this always happens. All the listeners, I'm sorry, I've gotta say, it's out today. We're recording on the day the PM thing has come out. You know, it's Thursday, but obviously this will be out later. But I've had some lovely messages. The reaction just seems to be fantastic. I'm so pleased.

Scott Mitchell 0:09:28 Oh, Natalie, I'm not surprised. You know, being there for a start was—

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:33 Wasn't it a lovely day?

Scott Mitchell 0:09:34 An amazing moment. It really was an amazing moment. And you've gotta think, you know, that we get a call to say, would Natalie be interested in interviewing the Prime Minister?

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:46 What did you think when you got it? 'Cause you got it before me, obviously.

Scott Mitchell 0:09:49 Yeah. I kind of thought to myself, well, I'm sure she can squeeze him in. If there's room for me on the pod, I'm sure the PM's got a chance. So, uh, I was just like overjoyed. And of course, I got straight in touch with you. Yeah. You were out at the time. Yeah. I remember that. You were in your car.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:08 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:10:08 And I said, what do you think? And we said, are you busy next week? It's an incredible credit to you and what you've built with Life with Nat. And, you know, not everyone will know this, but when you and I first got together, We had a meeting in my back garden.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:28 We did.

Scott Mitchell 0:10:29 And we sat there and we talked about all the things you might want to do if you possibly left EastEnders at some point.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:35 If I did, yeah. We sat there going, oh, what?

Scott Mitchell 0:10:37 You were humming and ahhing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:38 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:10:39 You know? And you said to me, one idea I've got is I'd like to do a podcast and just talk about life. And you have created all this, Nat. You have created all this yourself. Life with Nat is yours.

Scott Mitchell 0:10:56 Yeah, it's my baby. It's your baby. It's the only thing you and I don't work directly on together. We work on everything else apart from this. So, for me to be with you on that day, going into Downing Street, and seeing you sit there and interview our Prime Minister the way you did, with such confidence, and I thought, you know, you really held him to account.

Scott Mitchell 0:11:18 You asked him real questions. And it could have been very easy just to kind of make it a bit flimsy and kind of like, oh my God, I'm interviewing You spoke to him as he should be interviewed. And as I say, if I bring the P word up again, proud.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:35 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:11:35 I honestly, I had tears in my eyes sitting there, 'cause I was just thinking, this is surreal. This is absolutely mad, but so well deserved. And it does say a lot about you and who you are as a person, is how I look at it. I know it sounds very slushy and schmoozy and showbizzy, but it's not. Sometimes you have to say things to people. in life.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:57 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:11:58 Because we may think them, but we don't always tell them. And this is a chance for me to say to you, you should be really proud because I was really proud. I know your family, who I adore, are so proud of you. And I know your mum and dad would've been so proud of you. Yeah. They would be so proud of you sitting down in Downing Street interviewing the Prime Minister. They wouldn't believe it. Of course they wouldn't believe it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:23 I can imagine my mum now with her fag in her hand with all her jewellery on. You know what, never guess what my Natalie's doing today. She would've been, you know, telling everybody.

Scott Mitchell 0:12:30 It is incredible. But we had, didn't we have an amazing day?

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:34 Oh, it was incredible. Yeah. Absolutely fantastic.

Scott Mitchell 0:12:36 I mean, there's certain experiences that you do, aren't there, that you kind of pinch yourself. I remember looking at you when you were sitting there before the Prime Minister came in, and I pinched, I pinched you like that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:46 You did, you went like that. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:12:47 Pinched your skin, yeah. I, I said, do it, do it. Yeah. I said, it's one of those moments. Yeah. But no, it, you know, Just congratulations as far as that's concerned.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:56 Honestly, I was so happy that you organised it. That's the other— you're such a fair man. I wanna say that because I think there could be a lot of agents that would've gone, well, if you're gonna do a podcast, I need to be involved with everything you do, and da-da-da, and they can get arsey and whatever. And you're so fair, you really are, to be able to go, no, Nat, that's yours, that's brilliant, I'm proud of that. If you need any help, you know where I am.

Scott Mitchell 0:13:21 Exactly. You

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:22 know, but that is really special. And I think—

Scott Mitchell 0:13:25 Well, thank you. And listen, as I say, this was your concept. This was your idea. This was your baby. And, you know, it would've been very easy for me to have that attitude, but I don't believe that agents need to consume their clients. I think, you know, you also have to have a bit of fairness. Maybe that's 'cause I trained as an actor.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:47 Yeah, maybe.

Scott Mitchell 0:13:48 Maybe I have a little bit of that in me as well. where I can see it from both sides, how it would feel. So no, I, I just love what we do together.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:58 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:13:58 It's absolutely brilliant. And I love being your mate.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:00 Oh, it's so brilliant. And you never know what's coming. We never know what's coming, do we?

Scott Mitchell 0:14:03 Not at all.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:04 You know, every week's different. Not at all. Emails come in. Yeah. One minute I'm lathering myself up for Imperial Leather. Exactly. The next minute I'm in Downing Street. Like, you just don't know.

Scott Mitchell 0:14:12 Yeah. And I'd like to tell everyone I have nothing to do with the lathering her up bit. That is totally hers as well. We don't work on that bit together either. Mark scraping the barrel. I'm sure it'll be brought up. Yeah, he's bound to bring that little section up. What does Scott mean by that?

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:29 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh God. You mentioned about acting.

Scott Mitchell 0:14:36 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:37 And obviously you trained as an actor. Do you ever look back at that time and think, oh, I wish that sort of was continuing? You wish you acted now?

Scott Mitchell 0:14:47 It's a very interesting thing, Nat, because when I did it, when I first went to drama school, I really loved it, and I really embraced it. And I was very good at doing kind of larger-than-life characters.

Natalie Cassidy 0:15:00 No, really? Fuck me. I would've guessed it.

Scott Mitchell 0:15:03 Yeah. So very exaggerated characters, and I really did love it.

Scott Mitchell 0:17:01 I lost my confidence as a performer, and I don't know if that's when I kind of met Barbara. I was always a bit insecure. My acting teacher at school used to call me Woody Allen because of the angst, 'cause I was always anxious. And he always said, you're like Woody Allen. Why are you always worried about everything? So, I was an overthinker, and I was someone who was highly critical. of myself as a performer. I was very hard on myself. So what would happen was half of me would be on the stage performing, and the other half of me would sit in the audience judging myself.

Natalie Cassidy 0:17:40 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:17:40 And in my head, I'd be going, oh, God, you're useless at this. Why are you doing this? So that's a very unhappy place to be for a performer. As you know, as a successful actress, you have to have belief in yourself, and you have to have ease with what you do. So I don't miss anything like that on that side.

Scott Mitchell 0:18:00 What I enjoy now is— and I always think 3 years of drama school never went to waste because it showed me all different sides of the industry that I got involved in. Yes. You know, I've done casting for pantomimes, and, oh, pantomimes, we'll talk about that. So it really helped me in every way. And, of course, then I went into management, being an agent side as well.

Scott Mitchell 0:18:22 What I do now is, for my campaigning…

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:24 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:18:25 I do a lot of talks, lived experience talks about caring for someone with dementia.

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:30 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:18:30 And I'm much more at home being me than I was being in a character, which is usually the other way around for a lot of people.

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:40 But I'm the same.

Scott Mitchell 0:18:41 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:41 Isn't it funny?

Scott Mitchell 0:18:42 Yeah. I'm much more comfortable getting up and talking to people as myself, 'cause you can talk from the heart. You're talking about a subject— well, I do. I only talk about that subject. I don't go on to talk about shows I've done, 'cause I'm not an artist or a performer. So it's just something which gives me a nice release. I find it cathartic, the subject that I'm talking about. It's always helped me process losing Barbara in the way that I did. So, yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:14 For people listening, they might not know. Oh,

Scott Mitchell 0:19:16 sorry. Of course, yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:17 They just might, you know, they might not have heard you the first time.

Scott Mitchell 0:19:19 Of course, of course. Of course, I was married to the lovely Dame Barbara Windsor, and a great friend of yours who you work with.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:27 Absolutely.

Scott Mitchell 0:19:27 And sadly, Barbara, the last part of her life, she lived with Alzheimer's, and I was her carer for that. So that's why I do lived experience talks, which, you know, usually helps someone in the room. I always say, if you can help one person in the room with something you share, And I always get people coming up to me afterwards, very emotional, who will say to me, I'm going through this at the moment with either my partner or mum and dad or, or someone. And, and, you know, it's that sharing thing, because when you're going through it, you can feel very alone.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:04 Yes. Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:20:05 And you think that the difficulties that you face, you think, oh God, I'm not handling this very well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:11 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:20:12 And I bet everyone else just Well, that's not usually the fact. No. Because all of us have a kind of inner struggle, a slight insecurity. We doubt ourselves that we should be getting it right. And as you know, as a carer, you can't always get it right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:28 Well, I did a lovely talk the other morning for carers, as you know, the Carers Lounge. And they were really lovely, and it's a great place.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:35 And I'm gonna get them on, and we're gonna do an episode with them, because I'd like people to know about them. But, you know, Just going back to, I was very honest and I said some days I'd really argue with my dad. And I was very fortunate that dad was just sort of getting older and I didn't have to deal with any dementia or anything like that. But I could shout at my dad because he wasn't listening to me, or I'd say, where have you put the tablets? Or, you know, and then you'd come out and you think, oh, I feel really guilty about that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:06 But I think, like you say, talking about those things, people go, oh, it's not just me.

Scott Mitchell 0:21:10 Exactly. And it's such a human reaction as well. And the thing that I learned was when I used to get irritable, especially kind of in the earlier days as she was starting to change, and I'd get irritable, or she'd say something that wouldn't make sense, of course, because unfortunately, that's what happens with dementia. They get very confused. And I'd say, Barbara, you know that's not right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:32 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:21:33 And then I'd do that punishing myself thing. And it's only in hindsight, that I realised the reason I got irritable was 'cause I was scared.

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:42 Of course.

Scott Mitchell 0:21:42 I was petrified. Yeah. 'Cause I couldn't stop it happening.

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:46 No.

Scott Mitchell 0:21:46 And I could see that she was disappearing slowly, bit by bit, in front of my eyes. And I think that's what a lot of carers have to do because you have to get on with it. You have to get on with making sure that your loved one is okay.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:01 I know, but I think for you, And as you say, everybody who goes through this, it's just horrendous for everybody. Mm-hmm. You're married to Barbara. You're sat in your home. She's a national treasure, an icon. Mm-hmm. Everybody knew her. The Carry On film, like, she's just an, you know, everyone just loved Barbara Windsor. Mm-hmm. And you're watching her fade away. Mm-hmm. That is another pressure.

Scott Mitchell 0:22:30 Yeah. And it was— and it wasn't known at the time.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:32 A huge pressure for you.

Scott Mitchell 0:22:34 Yeah. For the first 4 years, we kept it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:36 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:22:36 'Cause she didn't want to talk about it. Mm. So that was a big pressure. And also when we went out.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:42 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:22:42 Of course, as you know, being recognisable yourself, people gravitate towards you when they see you. And it was— it was like that very much so with Barbara when they saw her.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:52 So did you panic when people come over? You know, as you were having dinner or—

Scott Mitchell 0:22:57 As it progressed. Yeah. I— I was getting more and more anxious because there'd be telltale signs. She'd either look a bit anxious, which was very unusual for her, or they'd ask her something and she'd look at me—

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:09 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:23:09 To see if I'd answer for her, or she'd ask them the same thing a few times within a couple of minutes. Yeah. And that was the real giveaway. So yeah, it was a very stressful time. It really was. But then again, I discovered running. As you know, because we did our first marathon.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:29 We did.

Scott Mitchell 0:23:30 Didn't we? Which you very, very heroically joined a few of our other friends with us. Absolutely. And ran the marathon. But that was a great help for me. Exercise became a bit of a saviour for me because it was the time that I could get out of the house. We'd had carers coming in by then. God bless them. I'm like you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:53 Angels.

Scott Mitchell 0:23:53 Yeah, that's the same word I've always used for them as well, because that's what they are. But it gave me a chance to go out, be a couple of hours to myself. And that's the thing about running, isn't it? It's very kind of good for the mental health.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:06 Oh, I think so. I feel very meditative. Yeah. Once you get— it's fucking hard work at the beginning. Oh, it's hard effort. You think, I don't wanna go.

Scott Mitchell 0:24:12 First mile.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:13 Terrible. But then once you're in it, it's great for the mind, isn't it? So it's sort of— Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:24:18 And you get in tune with your breathing, and your head suddenly clears, and you can hear yourself talking, asking yourself questions. you know, not always sane questions. But I think, you know, that's what they always say, isn't it? Yeah, don't leave me alone in a room because you're leaving me with a madman. Yes. Those conversations that we sometimes have in our head, they are, you know, totally coming from a completely insane point of view, depending who you are. I know, I know that's how I was for a lot of my life.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:50 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:24:51 You know, I have kinder conversations with myself now. But I used to have really negative ones with myself.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:58 You've been through so much. You're so, I just think you're such an interesting human being. Do you know what I mean? You really are. You've been through a lot and you're so well put together. And obviously you've been sober for how many years now?

Scott Mitchell 0:25:11 Well, this coming January the 2nd, yeah, if I make it, will be 25 years.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:17 25 years.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:18 Sober and clean.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:19 Unbelievable.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:21 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:21 Was it— do you have to— 'cause I really don't know.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:25 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:25 Do you still work at that every day? Do you think about it every day? When you were going through what you were going through with Barbara, did you ever think, I'm just gonna have a drink?

Scott Mitchell 0:25:34 Yeah. Well, a lot of people have asked me that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:36 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:36 You know, and to be honest with you, the way I look at it is this. Having a drink will only make my life worse.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:44 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:45 I'm not casting aspersions on anyone else who drinks 'cause they're not me.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:49 No.

Scott Mitchell 0:25:49 I have an issue with it. I don't know when to stop. I love drinking. I love oblivion. I think there's a party going on that all of you are involved in, and you're not.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:01 Right.

Scott Mitchell 0:26:02 So that can be really awful if you're sitting next to me at a dinner table. But no, it wouldn't have made it any better. I wouldn't have cared for Barbara in the way I did.

Scott Mitchell 0:26:14 Goodness knows what would've happened for her. had I decided that, that's it, I can't handle it. So I put her first. And the way I look at it now, and some people say to me, well, what about now? Don't you kind of fancy a drink?

Scott Mitchell 0:26:28 And I think to myself this, there's nothing that can happen that is gonna be worse than losing my dad 18 months before Barbara. Yeah. And then having gone through the journey I did, and then losing Barbara after 27 years together. So there's nothing worse you can throw at me that would make me wanna have a bottle of vodka. Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:26:50 You know, give me some lovely ice cream.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:52 Oh, you love an ice cream.

Scott Mitchell 0:26:54 With fudge sauce. Yeah. Yeah, give me that. Give me a biscuit. All right, I'll have a binge.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:00 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:27:01 I'll have a binge with you. Let's go out for a blowout. You know, I'll eat sweet things till I feel sick.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:07 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:27:07 But that's how I— but then again, I used to drink till I felt sick. So I also have to monitor how I am. But I've always said this. I've never woken up the next morning after a slice of chocolate cake and said, what happened yesterday?

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:24 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:27:25 I can't remember what happened yesterday. You know? Yeah. So to me, out of the two, I'll, I'll stick with my sweet things.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:33 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:27:33 Absolutely. And, but no, listen, you know, it's a serious subject, sobriety. Yeah. And, and especially early sobriety is the most incredibly challenging thing for people. Mm-hmm. Uh, so I don't take it flippantly. No. I, I never take it for granted that I'm gonna be okay. Mm-hmm. Because I'm seconds away from another drink if I want to. Mm-hmm. But what I have to do is remind myself of the reasons I stopped. I have to remember how I get when I pick up a drink. Mm-hmm. And how life becomes. And it's not, it's not something I want because I've got such a good life now, Nat.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:09 Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:28:09 I truly, truly have. So, so for me, This, the sober life is, is the one that I cherish.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:17 And do you know what I love? And I know different people who are sober. I think there is a huge— I mean, firstly, drink is everywhere. Mm-hmm. And I like a drink.

Scott Mitchell 0:28:27 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:28 But it's everywhere. And even now you go, oh, the tins are nice. And I think, God, that must be so difficult for people. It's so easy. Yeah. To pick up a tin of something now. Yeah. You didn't have that years ago. No. I bet you'd have a beer or whatever, but now it's every cocktail on earth. You can get a tin of this or a tin of that and they're tiny. And they're really strong and they're, and it often petrol stations when you're fueling up or, yeah. Often I think of people, you, or, you know, people that are sober.

Scott Mitchell 0:28:55 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:55 And think it must be so difficult because also in the world we live in, if you don't have a drink, you're a fun sponge. Now I couldn't think of anyone more fun than you. You, no, you do. You have me in stitches. You don't need anything. Do you know what I mean? You are so fun.

Scott Mitchell 0:29:10 But I used to think I did.

Natalie Cassidy 0:29:11 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:29:12 I used to think that I needed drink or drugs to fit in. Yeah. And be funny. And it was totally the opposite. Opposite. Yeah. I mean, people say to me occasionally, you're— someone who doesn't know me will say, would you like a drink? And I'll say, no, I don't drink. And they go, oh, that's a bit boring.

Natalie Cassidy 0:29:29 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:29:29 And I say, no, I tell you what, give me a bottle of vodka and I'll show you boring.

Natalie Cassidy 0:29:33 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:29:35 'Cause at 1 o'clock in the morning, when I've taken you hostage and you can't get out the room, and I'm saying, let's have another drink, you're gonna get bored.

Natalie Cassidy 0:29:45 Oh, it's absolutely brilliant.

Scott Mitchell 0:29:48 Yeah. So listen, each to their own. And I've got friends, and I love being out with people who enjoy a drink, you know. I call it though the Cinderella syndrome. If I'm at a party, I know I should leave by 12.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:03 Right.

Scott Mitchell 0:30:03 Because that's when it becomes a different language.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:06 Where they're all repeating themselves and they're boring.

Scott Mitchell 0:30:09 They're all on the same wavelength. Yes. And it's very hard to keep up with that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:12 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:30:13 But I know because that was me.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:15 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:30:15 But all I do now is without making a fuss, I just slip away.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:19 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:30:20 And I know that no one's gonna realise I've slipped away because they're having such a good time anyway. Yeah. In their own heads. They're not gonna wake up and think, oh, what happened to Scott? Yeah. They're not. They're gonna be thinking about themselves.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:30 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:32:42 Yeah. So it's a, it's a good life. It's, it's an easier life. And I'm very grateful for every day. And when you say, is it a daily thing? I've always kept a diary.

Natalie Cassidy 0:32:52 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:32:53 So from the age of 23, I've, I've written a page of diary every day of my life. Yeah. And I'm now 63. And at the end of it, I just do a little kind of gratitude prayer. Mm-hmm. At the end of every day. So I always acknowledge it and I always say, thank you for a sober day. Since I've been sober, obviously.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:14 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course.

Scott Mitchell 0:33:14 I wasn't sober when I started it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:15 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:33:16 But yeah, so I'm, I'm always in tune with it. And as I say, I will never take it for granted.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:21 Oh, it's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant. I suppose in another way, I am a very grateful person. Mm-hmm. And I think, I think good things come to people that are grateful. I believe in a little bit of manifestation, Scott. I believe that if you go, I can't believe I've— I'm here. I can't believe I can do this. I can't believe the conversations we have or the emails that come through or a job that comes through. And I think, I'm so lucky. I feel so lucky.

Scott Mitchell 0:33:50 Well, luck's a little bit of it, but also you've worked hard.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:55 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:33:55 At it. And you have, and as you say, you manifest things. You do put things out into the universe with your ideas. that come to fruition. You know, you can't just sit back and do nothing in life and expect everything to come to you. There are those people, and they're the people that get kind of a bit resentful.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:14 A bit bitter.

Scott Mitchell 0:34:15 To people who have done something. Well, usually when people have done something, it's because they've made an effort. They've put the effort in. They've taken a risk. They've put themselves out there. And I think, you know, that's hard to do when you're younger.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:30 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:34:30 Because we're scared of failure. So we think, oh, if I try that and it doesn't work, everyone's gonna judge me. Fuck everyone else.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:37 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:34:37 You take a chance.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:39 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:34:39 Have a risk. So what's the worst thing that can happen? It doesn't work out this time? Mm-hmm.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:44 So?

Scott Mitchell 0:34:45 So you'll try again.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:46 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:34:46 And you would've learned something from that first experience. But it is that thing of suddenly saying to ourselves, when we are wracked at times with insecurity, It's that thing of saying, I don't care what other people think of me. I used to.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:03 Have a look behind you. It's my favourite saying. What people think of you is none of your business.

Scott Mitchell 0:35:07 And it's one of the best sayings ever.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:09 Isn't

Scott Mitchell 0:35:10 it? But it can take time to—

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:11 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:35:11 It can take time to learn. As I say, in my younger days, I always worried about what people thought of me. I was a people pleaser.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:19 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:35:20 I didn't think I was good enough, and I always had to try and fit in. And I think maybe that does come with a little bit of age as well. I wish I would've realised it when I was younger, but—

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:30 Oh, but honestly, you are so—

Scott Mitchell 0:35:31 You know?

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:32 I feel like you are one of the most certain people I know. That you're so, no, I don't want to do that. Thanks very much, I'm not doing that. Or, this is how I feel about that. You're so certain.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:44 Yeah. And you say everything in a great way, but I love it, your honesty. You don't beat around the bush. Do you know what I mean? You're very much, this is this, this is what I think, black and white, take it or leave it, but that's how I feel.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:58 Even if you have maybe a thought or a worry, you straight away, oh, I dunno, I've had a little think about this, Nat, I'm not sure, just so you know, this is how I feel about this. And I love that. I love that honesty.

Scott Mitchell 0:36:09 Yeah, I think it's important to be honest with people, especially people you're close to. And in a working thing, I think I can always offer my opinion, And the other person can always say, well, I don't agree with that. And that's fine as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:24 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:36:24 Do you know what? It's a conversation. It's not, um, it's not a dictation. I mean, I'm not saying, this is how I feel, this is what's gonna happen.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:32 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:36:33 This is a conversation. So, well, this is how I feel. What do you think?

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:36 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:36:37 You know? And it opens up the conversation. And, and let me tell you something as well. As far as being an agent is concerned, you work for the client. You know, you don't dictate. I don't think a good agent ever can absolutely tell a client what they should be doing because it's their career. Yeah. It's their choice, it's their life, whatever you might think.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:00 What I love about us though, we are very aligned, I feel.

Scott Mitchell 0:37:05 Yes, yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:05 Because, you know, an email will come through, wouldn't it?

Scott Mitchell 0:37:07 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:07 And you'll just put, um, no? With a question mark, you know, and I'll put, And then there'll be a laughing face, or then it'll be, well, how much do you think this is? And we think exactly the same, don't we? And it's really special.

Scott Mitchell 0:37:20 It's a very special thing. It's a very special thing to have, and it's relaxed, you know? I know there's people who are a little bit scared of their agents and talking to them.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:28 Yeah, I mean, I've had agents that I've been scared of before. Yeah, definitely.

Scott Mitchell 0:37:31 And I get that as well from when I was a young actor. You know, I was scared of my agent. But I think, you know, you have to remember, You work together. Yeah. And also, as an artist, they're working for you, you know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:48 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:37:48 You're paying the commission. Yeah. For them. Of course, their guidance is important and all of that. And the work. All of those things and work and it, you know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:56 And all the stuff that we can't do, like paperwork and this and that.

Scott Mitchell 0:37:59 Exactly, exactly. I mean, that is all very important. Yeah. But I still always have respect for my clients first because they're the ones that have to get out there and do it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:08 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:38:08 Not me. It's always easy for me to say, uh, oh, don't worry, about it, go and do it. Yeah, well, it's not me. Yeah. Who's in the firing line. Yeah. You know, it's not me going out on Strictly Come Dancing. Yeah. And dancing like Norman Wisdom.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:22 Although I would love you to go on Strictly Come Dancing.

Scott Mitchell 0:38:24 Well, I think you have to have a profile. Well, give it a shot. So that would help.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:29 I think it's coming along, if I'm honest.

Scott Mitchell 0:38:31 No, no, certainly. Oh dear. That is one thing I've— I'm not interested in. I had the chance to carve out my life in a— as a performer.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:43 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:38:44 You know, I chose not to do that. And, uh, the only time you do see me in any kind of media way is when I'm talking about dementia.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:56 Yeah. Now let's talk about the Barbara Alliance.

Scott Mitchell 0:38:59 Oh,

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:59 because look at what's happened over the last couple of weeks.

Scott Mitchell 0:39:01 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:39:02 I mean, you've got to have a little chat with the PM.

Scott Mitchell 0:39:06 You know, sometimes the universe does things.

Natalie Cassidy 0:39:10 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:39:10 And things happen. So the Barbara Alliance, for those that don't know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:39:16 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:39:16 So when Barbara was still with us, we started campaigning when we did go public about her illness. And we went to Downing Street and we sat with Boris Johnson and she talked about social care and she talked about lack of funding to him. And we went along with one of the charities, the Alzheimer's Society. And that was the start of it all. Then when Barbara passed, nothing had happened because COVID had happened. Yeah. So I wrote back to the Prime Minister and I said, look, I know COVID's happened, but people are still living with dementia. Families are still suffering, going through this awful thing. You've not increased funding.

Natalie Cassidy 0:39:59 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:39:59 Long story short, before he left office, he called me in to say, I'd like to have a talk with you. It was the week he left office. And I'd taken this initiative to him from Alzheimer's Research UK.

Natalie Cassidy 0:40:12 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:40:13 Which was to say, let's form a special task force of all the experts, the NHS, scientists, the government.

Natalie Cassidy 0:40:20 So that they all work together.

Scott Mitchell 0:40:21 All work together and focus on finding a cure or treatments to help stop dementia. And he said to me, with your blessing, we'd like to call it the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme. And I just thought to myself, oh, Bar, what would you be thinking? And I can remember now, I remember sitting there. It was a boiling hot day.

Natalie Cassidy 0:40:45 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:40:45 We were outside in the gardens of Downing Street. And I just remember looking up and I could see her face. I could just see her face smiling. And I just thought, what a legacy. This is amazing. So going forward, we've had government funding. The current government recommitted to it, which, you know, I'm so, so grateful for and so thankful for. It's run by the Office for Life Sciences, which is a government section anyway. And they gave me a role on it. I'm the people's champion.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:18 Oh, that's great, isn't

Scott Mitchell 0:41:19 it? Yeah. So basically, 'cause it's all about treatments, I said, well, that's all very well, but what about the families and everyone? Oh yeah. What are they gonna get for going What about their voices? So they created this People's Forum, and I hold meetings with organisations that are in constant contact with people, and we feed it back. So the Barbara Alliance, this is where the coincidence comes in. Yeah. So we get this call for you to go and interview the Prime Minister, and you very kindly say, Scott, you'll come with me.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:50 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:41:50 So we go in. Now, obviously, he was aware. before I went in, that who I was married to, etc., and my involvement with dementia, but we'd never met.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:01 No, no.

Scott Mitchell 0:42:02 We'd never met.

Scott Mitchell 0:42:03 So that was a really fantastic thing. And I actually, I really liked him. I did. As a human being, I really liked him. I found him very authentic.

Scott Mitchell 0:42:14 Personable. Very real, personable. And we had a nice chat, as after he'd said cheerio to you, we had a nice chat, quick chat about dementia and shared a couple of things. And he said to me, this was on the Wednesday, he did this, the recording, he said, he said, oh, on Friday I'm gonna be doing a big speech about dementia. Now, I already knew that we were after some funding from the programme, from the government.

Scott Mitchell 0:42:38 Yeah. But I thought it was not gonna be coming for quite a few months.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:41 Right, right.

Scott Mitchell 0:42:42 And when I got out and left you, I had phone calls from the Goals programme saying, can you call us? Can you call us? The funding's gonna be announced on Friday. Unbelievable. And I had no idea when he said to me, I'm gonna be doing a speech about dementia. I swear to you, I had no idea.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:01 Unbelievable.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:02 And £33 million of that is coming to something called the Barbara Alliance. Unbelievable. Which is part of the Goals Programme, the Barbara's Goals Programme, which I helped to campaign for.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:14 It's unbelievable, John.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:15 It's just such a bizarre— It's

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:18 just fantastic,

Scott Mitchell 0:43:18 John. Life is just so bizarre. And it is fantastic. And, and very briefly, 'Cause I'm not a scientist.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:24 No, absolutely.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:25 The Barbara Alliance is gonna be, it's called, it's a platform called Barbara, and it's gonna get all of the data together that we have. That's whether it's blood tests.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:35 Yep.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:35 Everything that's available, and they're gonna put it all in one place. Mm-hmm. Which means that when the researchers are looking for people to do trials, they will be able to pinpoint who is suited to exactly what trial.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:49 Right. Okay.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:50 And it is so important. Wow. What we've gotta remember is, in the world of cancer.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:55 Yep.

Scott Mitchell 0:43:55 Once upon a time, that was it. If you had a cancer diagnosis, that really, that was it. Yes. You would pass from it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:03 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:04 Thank God today people live and get cured of it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:08 Absolutely.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:08 It goes into remission. And this is what's gonna happen one day with dementia.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:13 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:13 And there's already treatments which we know can slow it down.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:16 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:17 And what we really need as well is people to take part in research.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:22 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:22 And let me tell you something. Now, everyone says, oh, I don't wanna know. I promise you, the thing about these new treatments is you have to catch it early.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:31 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:32 Okay? So your mindset should now be, I do wanna know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:36 Oh, yes. I wanna know everything.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:37 I wanna know everything.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:38 It's like checking your breasts. Yes. As soon as possible. Or doing— checking your balls or all those things.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:43 That is exactly right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:44 Get it early. Get it early.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:45 That is exactly right. If you can catch these things early, you stand more chance. So, So I actually had tests myself earlier this year.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:53 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:53 And that was 'cause I was worried about myself.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:55 Okay.

Scott Mitchell 0:44:55 'Cause I was feeling very out of sorts. I was— there was something going on in my head and I couldn't work out what it was. So I went back to Barbara's neurologist and I said, just gimme the tests.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:04 I remember you feeling a little bit—

Scott Mitchell 0:45:06 Yeah, I said, just do the tests, please. I was quite low.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:09 I do remember.

Scott Mitchell 0:45:10 And it was around the time of Barbara's 5-year anniversary of her passing. It was all very strange. It turned out, thank goodness, The brain scan came back absolutely fine. I did very well in the tests. Only half of the tests I did well in. A part of it I really struggled with, which was where you have to copy diagrams and things.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:29 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:45:29 And make diagrams. They'll show you it, then they take it away and you've got to replicate it. But I really struggled with that and I said to him afterwards when he gave me the results, I said, why was I so poor at that? He said, have you ever been good at art? And I said, no, terrible. He went, well, there you go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:47 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:45:48 That's not the side of your brain that works well. Right. He said, but you did very well in the memory side.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:52 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:45:52 So for me, the reason I did have the test more than anything was because had it have been news I didn't want to hear, I would have gone straight on a trial.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:03 Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:04 And I would have wanted to have found out, how can I get on a trial? That would be my only chance. So that's why I would say to people, Don't be scared.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:12 No, it's so hard not to be scared of these illnesses.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:15 It's the—

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:16 And go forward and actually go, right, I wanna know. Okay, tell me. Tell me, I wanna know everything so I can prevent it. Of course it is. Of course it is.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:22 'Cause yeah, because a part of us thinks ignorance is bliss.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:25 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:26 We think in those terms, and I totally 100% get that. And I also, I've always been a firm believer that our destiny is already—

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:35 Mapped out.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:35 Mapped out for us anyway.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:36 Already set. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:37 So I always think to myself, of whatever happens from here will be what's supposed to happen to me.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:44 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:45 And I will leave this earth one day, like everyone else does, in the way that I'm meant to.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:51 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:52 You know?

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:53 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:46:53 So, if I can kind of help it along the way by, if I do have something that they might be able to prolong it a little bit, fantastic.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:01 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:01 But I'm a— this is not meant to be depressing, but I will say this, Nat. As I said, I'm 63. Yeah. God knows how that happened, 'cause I still think I'm 22 in my head.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:10 Same age as Linda, my Linda.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:12 Yeah, there you go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:12 There you go.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:13 But I always think to myself, I've had a really brilliant life. When I look at it, yes, it's been full of ups and downs. It's been struggles emotionally. I've struggled at times. I've gone through hell at times. I've seen things that I never thought I'd see.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:31 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:31 Or do things I never thought I'd do. So if it was tomorrow, yeah, I had a great time. And aren't I lucky? 'Cause some people would never make 63.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:42 No, that's right.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:42 And we've gotta be thankful for every day.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:44 Yeah, you're so right. Absolutely.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:46 It really is.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:47 Oh, it's been such a lovely chat, hasn't it?

Scott Mitchell 0:47:49 Yeah. I love, I love chatting to you now, whether it's on here.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:52 I know. I know.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:53 Or whether it's on the phone or we're having lunch together.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:56 Well, we're gonna go and have a bit of grub soon as well. Do we?

Scott Mitchell 0:47:58 I can't wait for that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:58 Oh, it'll be lovely.

Scott Mitchell 0:47:59 Yeah, Andy's over.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:00 Absolutely. They do a lovely sticky toffee pudding over there.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:03 Oh my God. She's just, she's only gone and said the sticky toffee pudding.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:08 STP. Before we go.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:12 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:14 We've got autumn, Christmas coming up.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:17 Yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:18 Panto coming up for me.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:19 Oh, I can't wait.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:20 Oh, I've read the script. I'm really excited, you know.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:23 Oh, so am I.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:24 I'm excited.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:25 Yeah, so am I.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:26 You know, I've been a bit nervous about it. I keep banging onto all the family 'cause I'm not gonna be at home and you know what I'm like. And it's been a bit of a worry. But I did some lovely flying lessons, and that went really well. And now the script's come through, and I need to embrace it. I need to hold it with both hands and go, I'm gonna have a really lovely time.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:44 And you will.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:45 I know.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:45 And it's gonna be really special.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:47 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:47 And it's gonna be really special for the family as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:50 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:50 To come and see you, let alone—

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:51 And all the little ones.

Scott Mitchell 0:48:52 All the little ones. And also, you know, the people who follow you, your fans, who are gonna see you to get the chance to see you having the time of your life on the stage. It's gonna be funny, it's gonna be entertaining. I think you are gonna be absolutely superb playing the wicked queen, 'cause I think it's gonna give you such a chance to really have good fun.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:16 I'm just gonna really camp it up. Just camp it up. Oh, it's gonna be—

Scott Mitchell 0:49:19 Have fun with it, have that twinkle in your eye. I know you're gonna be brilliant, so I couldn't be more thrilled because of my own panto history.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:26 Of course.

Scott Mitchell 0:49:27 I could not be more thrilled. that you are doing this pantomime in Dunstable?

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:32 'Cause Barbara did so many. She played fairy, didn't she? She loved it.

Scott Mitchell 0:49:35 She loved it, and she got very angry with people who looked down their nose at it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:39 Absolutely.

Scott Mitchell 0:49:40 Especially other performers. Yes. And 'cause there are some actors who do kind of say, oh, no, panto's not for me. And she used to say, yeah, let 'em bleat and get out there and try it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:49 Yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:49:49 It's not easy to do pantomime well, because it is a craft within itself. You have to have wonderful stagecraft, you have to have great timing, you have to have comedy timing. And you have to know how to work an audience because the audience are allowed in for you. So, you know, no one should ever dismiss panto as a bit of nonsense.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:10 I completely agree.

Scott Mitchell 0:50:11 People that do it well, especially, are geniuses at what they do. I

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:16 mean, when you look at— go and see Brian Conley, you know, go and see Brian. Unbelievable.

Scott Mitchell 0:50:21 Incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:22 Shane.

Scott Mitchell 0:50:22 Shane, all that ilk, like Bradley Walsh.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:25 Yes.

Scott Mitchell 0:50:25 They are all—

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:26 Bobby Davro.

Scott Mitchell 0:50:27 Fantastic performers because they come from kind of a variety side as well. So it's very natural to them. But it's very interesting to see, you know, when straight actors like Ian McKellen's done it. All these wonderful actors have done pantomime, and, you know, they all embrace it. And I know that's what you're gonna do. You've done it before anyway.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:47 I've done it before, but I'm looking for— I'm really, I don't know, I just feel like, because I've been doing the live shows as well, so I feel like that's gonna help. Because as much as we're sat on stage and we're just chatting, there is that little bit of interaction with the audience. So, you know, at the beginning, it's mad, like you said, mind tells you. So I was going, oh, I haven't done theatre, I haven't done the stage. And I thought, hang on a minute, I've been going on stages with the family doing these live shows.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:13 Yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:14 You know, what are you talking about? You, you have had a feel for an audience lately.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:17 Definitely.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:18 You know, it's not completely cold.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:20 And I also believe you're going to love it. I honestly do. Now, I think the feedback that you're gonna get and the interaction that you will be having with the audience is gonna be so special.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:33 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:34 And you know, you won't You won't realise that you've missed Christmas because you'll be having a different—

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:39 A different and a lovely, fun Christmas.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:41 And a lovely, fun Christmas.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:42 And we're gonna get all the decorations up super early, which Mark is thrilled about, as you can imagine. But I said, well, they've got to.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:47 Fantastic.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:48 They've gotta get up really early.

Scott Mitchell 0:51:49 When are you thinking?

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:50 Well, I start rehearsals—

Scott Mitchell 0:51:51 'Cause, you know, I like quiet. I'm not as early as you, but I do—

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:55 Rehearsals start the 21st of November. So I'm thinking— Mate, it's gotta be the week before, before I start, before I'm in it.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:05 So the 14th of November.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:06 About the 14th.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:06 So we're looking mid-November for you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:08 Yeah, we are.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:08 I'll most likely follow on a week or so later.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:10 Okay.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:11 But it's gonna happen.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:12 I like, your house is lovely when it's got the tree up.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:14 Ah, it's sweet, isn't it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:15 Yeah. Brilliant.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:15 It's great. Yeah. I'll be sitting there like a little elf.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:18 A naughty elf, no doubt.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:21 Yeah. Yeah. That never goes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:24 Scott, thanks so much.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:27 Oh, my pleasure.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:27 Let's go and have a bite to Sweet. eat. Everybody, thank you so much. 07788 20 1919. I just think me and Scott should have a nag every quarter if he's up for it. I just love it. I love it to pieces.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:39 I'm up for it if everyone wants to hear any more.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:42 Let us know, everybody. Have a cracking, cracking week, and I will speak to you very, very soon. Thanks, Scott.

Scott Mitchell 0:52:48 My pleasure.