Home & Hosed

Today on Home and Hosed we're lucky enough to be joined by one of the most incredible guests you could ever imagine in Mr George King. George is the only person in history to free climb the UK's tallest building in 'The Shard' and did so at the tender age of 19 years old which makes his achievements even the more remarkable. Sadly achieving this feat led to The Shard prosecuting George's actions which resulted in a 6 month sentence to be served at one of the most notoriously dangerous prisons in the UK. We talk about George's childhood growing up and what shaped him to become such a daredevil, his early climbs, his preparation, double life, secrets he keeps from his family, his year of planning for 'The Shard', the climb, the celebrations, the highs and then of course the incredible lows, life in jail, prison food, home made hootch, drugs, suicide, cell mates and a lot more....

Today we’re joined by the voice of the English summer in Mr Daniel Norcross, described by Wisden as the most interesting commentator of the new generation, Daniels rise to the top hasn’t been easy, but its been a wonderful ride. Having been suspended from Oxford University for going overboard with a prank, when Daniel eventually did graduate unlike his peers who went off to the city, he went to Tooting Bec and became a professional pub quiz machine player after coming up with a flawless strategy which allowed him to always beat the machine. Alas, this couldn’t last for ever yet it kick started a career which varies from - attempting to exploit the dot.com boom, to being a lead writer on a film, until he finally found his calling by setting up the infamous ‘Test Match Sofa’ - a rated R version of the show which now gives him his livelihood in Test Match Special. In Part 2 we examine how Daniel Norcross eventually achieved his dream and became a lead commentator on the world famous - Test Match Special. Recorded live from The Wheatsheaf Pub - Tooting.

Today we’re joined by the voice of the English summer in Mr Daniel Norcross, described by Wisden as the most interesting commentator of the new generation, Daniels rise to the top hasn’t been easy, but its been a wonderful ride. Having been suspended from Oxford University for going overboard with a prank, when Daniel eventually did graduate unlike his peers who went off to the city, he went to Tooting Bec and became a professional pub quiz machine player after coming up with a flawless strategy which allowed him to always beat the machine. Alas, this couldn’t last for ever yet it kick started a career which varies from - attempting to exploit the dot.com boom, to being a lead writer on a film, until he finally found his calling by setting up the infamous ‘Test Match Sofa’ - a rated R version of the show which now gives him his livelihood in 'Test Match Special'. Recorded live from The Wheatsheaf Pub - Tooting.

Today we are lucky enough to be joined by one of the most successful tv producers of the last thirty years in Andy Wilman. In 2002 alongside his school friend Jeremy Clarkson they decided to relaunch 'Top Gear', and together they turned it into the biggest show on tv anywhere in the world, with a global audience of over 350 million. However it wasn't always plain sailing for Andy; after school he found himself working at McDonald's before he got fired within 3 days, then he had a brief but ultimately failed punk rock career and another failure was around the corner when he tried to join the secret service. However all these experiences were starting to shape the mind of a young Mr Wilman (as he's known to his fans) and contributed to him eventually creating the most successful British export of all time. In Part 2 we discuss everything from Richard Hammonds disastrous near death experience and the repercussions, the creation of the 'top gear specials', the controversies in Burma and Argentina, the fall out with the BBC, the new top gear, that 'incident' with Clarkson, leaving the BBC, the creation of the grand tour, the future of the grand tour and Andy's biggest regrets.

Today we are lucky enough to be joined by one of the most successful tv producers of the last thirty years in Andy Wilman. In 2002 alongside his school friend Jeremy Clarkson they decided to relaunch 'Top Gear', and together they turned it into the biggest show on tv anywhere in the world, with a global audience of over 350 million. However it wasn't always plain sailing for Andy; after school he found himself working at McDonald's before he got fired within 3 days, then he had a brief but ultimately failed punk rock career and another failure was around the corner when he tried to join the secret service. However all these experiences were starting to shape the mind of a young Mr Wilman (as he's known to his fans) and contributed to him eventually creating the most successful British export of all time. In Part 1 we discuss everything from Andy's experiences at school with Jeremy Clarkson, to McDonald's, Punk Rock, University, Secret Service, Journalism, his lucky break, Top Gear Magazine, the start of his TV career and his crowning moment in re-launching top gear.

Today we were lucky enough to be joined by multi award winning film producer and director Martin Smith, a man who has been almost solely responsible for the majority of successful music documentary films over the last 25 years. As an 18 year old Martin left behind his band mates and family in Skegness and headed up-to London to try and make it as a musician, he managed to get a job at EMI and hoped that he could use his influence to get them to sign him. However, although this never came about, Martin was incredibly successful in his role at EMI and looked after several bands obtaining their first number 1 singles. At the age of 27 and after a battle with melanoma Martin decided to have a rethink and took his first steps into the world of musical films. This would be the start of his career whereby he has become one of the most respected and sought after producers and directors in the world; working on such series as - 'Classic Albums', ' Behind The Music' & Pink Floyds 'The Wall'. This year is set to be his proudest to date as he is working as a producer on what is surely going to be the biggest (in every sense) musical documentary of all time. Martin also was kind enough to write our podcast a new jingle. Tune in for all the above and much much more.......

Luke 'Sparrow' Gillian is one of the most recognised faces in world cricket and tomorrow he achieves another momentous landmark and sets a world record by becoming the first 'fan' to attend 200 Test Matches. This achievement has not gone unnoticed by the Australian cricket team as he is currently a VIP guest of honour of theirs at the team hotel and yesterday had a personally curated day with the team at Lords. His day finished off as a guest of honour at the Australian High Commissioners drinks party, shaking hands with Ex Prime Ministers, sports stars and of course catching up with his best mate Steve Waugh. He managed to turn his passion into a business when he started 'Waving The Flag' cricket tours in 2001 and has managed to take the average number of Australian fans at games outside the Ashes abroad from 20 odd to 250 plus; without striving to make a profit. He wanted cricket to be affordable, enjoyable and for his clients to respect the opposition - a proper gentleman. We talk everything from: him loosing money at the casino in Zimbabwe with the great Australian team of the 90s, to setting up his cricket travel company, to loosing 1000s of pounds on re-arranged tours, to the future of test cricket, sand paper gate, his favourite travel stories, writing the foreword to Steve Waughs autobiography, being a tea boy for Ian Chappell and Michael Holding in Jamaica and much much more. Congratulations Sparrow!

Today I am joined by my brother Gus as we sit down with multi-platinum selling artist Natty to do 'the most in depth and re-affirming interview' Natty has ever done. Born and raised in North London, singer/songwriter Natty grew up with David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Joy Division records in the house along with LPs from Bob Marley, Lee Perry, Sizzla, and other reggae artists who represented his family's Jamaican roots. He began by working in a recording studio, where he would make tea, run errands, and absorb as much as he could. Natty soon learned how to mix and engineer thanks to the studio, but on his own he had begun to write songs and was working on his guitar playing and voice. He soon helped form the Vibes & Pressure posse, a loose collection of singers, players, DJs, and artists (including the popular Trojan Sound System). In 2007 Vibes & Pressure spawned a label of the same name and released Natty's debut double A-sided single, "Badmind"/"Camden Rox." One more track, "Cold Town," would appear on the imprint before the major label Atlantic came calling with a record deal. His next U.K. single, "July," would become the perfect choice for summer 2008, propelled up the charts by an appearance on the television program Later with Jools Holland. His debut album, Man I Like, appeared in July in his homeland, with a U.S. release following a month later, and gained Number 1 slot on album charts worldwide. We had to wait nearly 9 years for the follow up album, but it was worth the wait, in this episode we uncover the dramatic highs and lows which have forged Natty as an artist, a person and as a outspoken social justice campaigner.

At the beginning of the summer I was lucky enough to interview future England great; Ollie Robinson. Ollie has been Sussex player of the year for the last two years running and took more wickets last season then any other Englishman across both divisions. This year that trait has continued which ended up with him making his debut for the England Lions XI against Australia a couple of weeks ago. However things haven't always been so celebratory in his short career to date, as he found himself splashed all over the front pages of the tabloids when he was sacked by Yorkshire head coach Jason Gillespie, five years ago. Luckily for him he got given a lifeline by Sussex and after making 100* on debut batting at number 9 and getting a handful of wickets, he was already well on his way to proving that he was worth the 'risk'. Sadly, tragedy struck once more a couple of months later when he lost his best friend and team mate Matt Hobden in a horrific accident. In this interview we touch on all of the highs and alas the painful lows of his career to date and discuss his ambitions for the future.

Orry Gibbens is best known as 'Archie Curzon' the character he played in the viral hit comedic mockumentary 'Don't Drop The Egg'. It was one of the first youtube based series to go viral and overnight Orry's life was changed, he went from studying at drama school to being signed up by some of the biggest agencies, producers and brands in the world. However as is often the case, such instant fame and success can quickly turn sour and lead to have devastating consequences. In this interview we repaint the picture of Orry's incredible career so far, the highs and the lows, and find out why currently his future has never looked so promising.

You wouldn't have thought that a 6ft 5 white man from Knoxville Tennessee who has never played cricket before would be the poster boy for the sport in the USA, however these are weird times we live in. After falling in love with the sport during a brief stint working in Sydney, Eli Robinson, now back in New York delivered a lecture on the basics of cricket to his work colleagues at Metric Collective, as part of the companies social programme. Luckily for him (and us) someone filmed his lecture and it found its way onto Youtube and has amassed over a quarter of a million views in under a year. He is now seen as the great hope for successfully bringing cricket to America and achieving the impossible task of making Americans fall in love with this great sport. In this interview I try to uncover how all of this craziness has unfolded.