Will Mellor: “Wait another day, don’t give up” Fame, family and managing grief

Actor Will Mellor burst onto the nation’s screens as Jambo from Hollyoaks in 1995. Since then he’s tackled the ups and downs of fame, the heartbreak of loss and the joy of becoming a father. He and Fearne talk about going back 30 years (!), discuss the complex relationship he has with his dad and why Fearne thinks more dads should cry. They also talk about the tough journey of working through grief, and what can fall into your lap when you’re ready to give up. Plus, Will leaves us with a striking mental image of Prince William at a urinal. Will’s debut memoir, Where There’s a Will: My Story is out on the 5th of November 2026. If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like: Steven Graham and Orly Klein https://pod.fo/e/685e32 Miquita Oliver https://pod.fo/e/65f41a Ant and Dec https://pod.fo/e/37b877 Child on the line is a three-part documentary podcast series celebrating the Volunteer Counsellors of Childline, and the brave children & young people who contact the helpline service. Listen here: https://www.childonthelinepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hi, I'm Natalie Dormer and I'm proud to be an ambassador for Childline. This year, Childline turns 40. To mark it, I've made Child on the Line, a three-part documentary podcast. We hear why children needed a helpline in 1986, how it was built against the odds and the challenges children face today, from abuse and mental health to social media and AI. Search Child on the Line and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• 0:29Fearne Cotton?

  Hello, I'm Fern Cotton and this is Happy Place, the show that looks at the moments that can change the course of your life. Today, I'm talking to Will Mellor.

• 0:38Speaker 02

  Because that's what I was very good at. No one would have known if I'd have gone out to the pub, you'd have... Will's in great spirits. It's when I got home and I woke up the next morning in that cloud again. But I didn't realise that what I was doing to myself, drinking and gambling and whatever else, it's just made me worse.

• 0:56Fearne Cotton?

  Will is obviously one of those actors that you've seen in everything, from Broadchurch to Mr Bates versus the Post Office. He is a British television icon and he joined me in the Happy Place studio on a very rainy day in London and we had a really raw and emotional and entertaining conversation about all sorts of subjects that come up in his memoir. I was so grateful for how honest Will was in this chat. I've known Will for, we worked out, nearly 30 years, which is nuts. He was one of the first people that I ever interviewed as a presenter when I was 16. We had a lot to catch up on, but his book talks about a lot of things that I had no clue about, largely his childhood.

• 1:38Fearne Cotton?

  So we talk about the, I guess, really up and down relationship that he had with his late dad, who he does call his absolute hero, but it was definitely not smooth sailing. We also touch on a hilarious story that involves Prince William. You need to stick around for that.

• 2:02Speaker 03

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• 3:58Fearne Cotton?

  All right, Will Mellor.

• 4:00Speaker 02

  Hello, my love, it's been a while.

• 4:01Fearne Cotton?

  It's been a while. I think the last time I saw you was Celebrity Juice.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  Well, we did a lot of Celebrity Juice together.

• 4:06Fearne Cotton?

  You came on a fair few times.

• 4:08Speaker 02

  I did, I did, I got a right roast in. But I enjoyed it for that. I thought if you're going to go in there and have a bit of fun and I loved that show. It was just go on and you know, it was like chaos, but I've known you for years. Me and you, I think you interviewed me for the show you did when there's...

• 4:22Fearne Cotton?

  Oh my God, do you know what? And I, I've only just landed on this. I think you might have been one of my very first interviews on Disney Club.

• 4:29Speaker 02

  You must have been like a teenager then.

• 4:30Fearne Cotton?

  I was 16.

• 4:31Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 4:32Fearne Cotton?

  Do you know what? That's so weird. I obviously do a lot of prep for this, these sorts of chats and I've read your book, but I've only just had that thought that you were definitely, probably in the first three interviews I ever did, Andy Peters was the first person I ever interviewed. I think you might have been second.

• 4:45Speaker 02

  And I remember it because it was so early, I think it was when I was doing Hollyoaks and it was like...

• 4:50Fearne Cotton?

  It was a single you'd released.

• 4:51Speaker 02

  Oh, was it?

• 4:52Fearne Cotton?

  Well, I need you.

• 4:53Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 4:53Fearne Cotton?

  And do you know what? Somewhere in my loft, I can't believe I've not dug this out, somewhere in my loft, I've got a CD single that you gave me and you'd signed it.

• 5:04Fearne Cotton?

  So we have quite literally known each other nearly 30 years.

• 5:06Speaker 02

  Unbelievable.

• 5:07Fearne Cotton?

  That is terrifying.

• 5:08Speaker 02

  Good times, at least we're still heads above the water, that's all I keep saying.

• 5:11Fearne Cotton?

  We're still clinging on, babe.

• 5:12Speaker 02

  We're still clinging on for dear life.

• 5:13Fearne Cotton?

  We're still clinging on. And do you know what's so lovely? I've known you for a long time and we've worked together in various ways over the years, but reading your book, Where There's a Will, I learned loads about you that I didn't know, loads about you.

• 5:25Speaker 02

  That's what I sort of wanted. I wanted to sort of go, this is me, what's and all. And people who think they know me or they know where I've come from and how I've got to where I am now, there's a lot that's happened and I wanted to wait until I was at the right age, you know? I never wanted to do something half-assed, for a better word. I wanted to wait until I was ready to speak about everything. So yeah, so I was 50 this year and I thought this is the right time to do it.

• 5:50Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, and I mean, you start right back in childhood and I didn't know so much about your upbringing. First of all, you're one of five and you were the only boy, you had four sisters. How do you think growing up with all of those brilliant women around you has informed who you are today?

• 6:07Speaker 02

  I think, well, it's been fantastic for me, especially understanding women, because at school I used to have a lot of girlfriends and boys wouldn't get it. It's like, you fancy it, obviously. I was like, no, we just get on, you know what I mean? And I love when my missus has girls over and they all sit in the yard or they sit in the lounge together and whatever, I always jump in.

• 6:25Fearne Cotton?

  You are one of the girls.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  Do you mind if I sit in? I love the gossip. So it was, it was a blessing because I was the youngest by like six years, because I think my mum and dad had given up on having a boy and then suddenly I pop out six years later. So mistake, I don't know. Happy accident, who knows? I definitely wasn't planned.

• 6:44Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 6:45Speaker 02

  Because I came out that much younger, I think the, being the centre of attention as well is another reason why I perform and the way I am and the look at me sort of thing.

• 6:57Fearne Cotton?

  But also, your dad was a huge influence in that way because he had a great voice, he was a singer and that sort of catalyzed you having a passion for it, would you say?

• 7:06Speaker 02

  I don't know. I mean, the thing was, it was, I was just, I just was, felt all I can remember from a young age was I wanted to perform. That was all, that was all I ever thought I was ever going to do. And then my dad put me in a boxing ring because my dad was a singer and I used, I mean, my dad was my hero. So it was, it was very strict with me, but because I really respected him, I wanted to impress him all the time and all I wanted to do was make him proud all the time. So if he was like, do that, so I'd be like, yeah, and I'll be the best at it, you know? So he put me in the boxing ring, but I just had this burning to perform. And my sisters would go Morris dancing and I'd be like, can I go with her? He's like, get in the boxing ring, calm yourself. And so I just had it in me.

• 7:48Fearne Cotton?

  I've got a visual of you, Morris dancing now.

• 7:50Speaker 02

  Because they'll do it.

• 7:51Fearne Cotton?

  There's still time.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  I'll leave it, I'll leave it sat down. But yeah, I just wanted to perform and I used to watch Grease religiously every day when I got in from school and watch it from junior school and try and do all the moves. And I don't know why, but it was just something that was in me that I had to find a way to perform, whatever that looked like, I needed to do it.

• 8:12Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, like you say, your dad was tough on you. Is that kind of, I guess it was parenting of that time, it might be a bit of a generalised statement, but he wanted to harden you up, in your words, toughen you up. How do you, as a parent now, feel looking back? Like, as you say, he's your hero and I think two things can exist at the same time. He's your hero, yet maybe there was bits of his parenting that you feel uncomfortable about?

• 8:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, I mean, it was parenting of a time, but you have to remember that what he went through as a kid, his dad was horrendous. So you can only, you can only learn from what you learn from and I think my dad was a much better version than his dad, but I wouldn't do what he did to me, to my kids. Because times have changed and I don't need to hit my children, you know? I think, you know, respect me in other ways, you know? I'll talk to you on a level and just say, yes, just not acceptable. And if you respect me, you should respect yourself. And them conversations I'd rather have and I have done with my kids and my kids have grown up now. But I think from what he learnt from, he was terrified of me going off the rails because he was in prison when I was a young kid, but also I think he was scared of me being

• 9:18Speaker 02

  a coward and being beaten up at school, you know, because it was a bit rough and where he grew up was very, very rough in Moss Side. So he was scared of me not being able to look after myself. So he would, yeah, he would go to extreme measures sometimes, wake me up in the night and put my head under a cold shower and tell me to punch him and hit him. And if I didn't, he'd sort of go, well, I'll at you if you don't hit me. Which if you're talking, it sounds terrible, but it was, it was just, yeah, when he'd had a few drinks, he was thinking, I'll get him, I'm going to show him how to... And I'd hate it because I wasn't built that way, but he was trying to mould me in a way that he thought was right. He didn't know what I wanted to do as a career. He didn't know that, you know, where I was going to be now. And that became a problem later on in life.

• 10:00Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, I'm imagining, that's what I'm always fascinated in. You know, I'd go to therapy every week and I'm constantly looking at, why do I do this? Why am I like that? Can you see how that's impacted you or what the repercussions of that might be for you as an adult?

• 10:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, I used to cry a lot as a kid and when, because it hit me, you know what I mean, for things. And because I, because I really wanted to impress him, that hurt me even more, you know? And disrespect wasn't, wasn't, you know, a word that you could even use about my dad. If you disrespected him, he'd let you know. And he did the same with my sisters, he toughened them up as well, he taught them how to fight. It was just what he knew and he thought he was doing the right thing. And later on in life, I have to say this, he was devastated by his own actions later on and it used to sit there and eat your way at him and he would like, I wish I could go back and change it. But, you know, learning from that means, you know, don't do things you're going to regret if you can help it. And so I learnt from that. This all sounds terrible, he was a great man, but at the same time, he had these sides

• 10:58Speaker 02

  to him that was... Yeah, he had a violent side to him, yeah.

• 11:03Fearne Cotton?

  Well, look, it's such a complicated thing when you have relationships like that with anyone in your family, where you love them dearly and you can see they're doing certain things that they believe are for the best, but you know, deep down, well, you probably didn't as a kid, but now, you know, reflecting back.

• 11:18Speaker 02

  That's the trauma I have now of, I get really emotional when I see kids hurt, or I'm very protective of innocence being damaged because I see myself as that kid. When I wrote this book, the amount of times I was crying, I had to just keep, I did the audio book the other day, and it just, because it just takes you back to moments, and there's a lot of moments, and there's a lot of fun and joy and laughter throughout this book, but at the same time, if I had to go back, go over things that I'd sort of probably buried a little bit, and it was like therapy, and I just was like, I felt sorry for the kid in the book, and it's me. And that really hurt me because I was like, I do remember that. But he used to come up after he'd told me off or disciplined me or whatever. I'd lie in bed because I couldn't sleep until we were friends again.

• 12:02Speaker 02

  And he'd come up and he'd ruffle my hair and say, I'm sorry, son. And then I'd go to sleep.

• 12:09Speaker 02

  But that's, you know, that's, yeah, I think there's a lot that I have now in me, a lot of emotion that stems from that.

• 12:16Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, but I think that's why it's so healthy to write about this stuff. And also to like naturally feel that compassion for the younger version of yourself.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:26Fearne Cotton?

  That's the way I think you heal from all of this stuff is by going, oh my god, that poor kid version of myself, rather than, you know, you could very easily move through life being very nervous that you're going to upset anybody because you know that there's going to be a repercussion. So I think it's so brilliant. And like you say, you know, it is a book full of light and shade, all these different stories, but obviously you need to write about things that have defined your life. And in childhood, so many of the things that are challenging and really tricky to navigate at the time, make you who you are today.

• 13:01Speaker 02

  A hundred percent. My dad was a great person and he was a massive, you know, role model for me. But the thing, there were certain things, the way he did parenting, I just wouldn't do with my kids. I mean, I just don't want everyone to think he was this horrible person because he wasn't. He just made mistakes in how he brought us up. I think I would do things differently.

• 13:22Fearne Cotton?

  You said a moment ago, he went to prison. You were two at this point?

• 13:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was around that age, yeah. I left my mum, I think. I think she had four under five years old or three. She had five kids and he'd had a motorbike accident when he was younger. So he broke his back in six places. Because he'd still walk and stuff, but it meant he was limited on where he could work. So he was doing like Del Boy dodgy dealings and stolen goods. And he opened a garage with bent MOTs, so he could help people out with getting MOTs, you know, who couldn't get their cars through an MOT and all that. And then somebody grassed him up and the police knocked on the door and found all these dodgy MOTs and dodgy stuff in our house. And he went to prison, he went to Strangeways, I think for nine months, nearly a year.

• 14:08Speaker 02

  And left me mum with us lot. And it killed me, dad, because he couldn't protect us anymore. And we had debt collectors coming to our doors regularly. My mum used to have a game where if there was a knock at the door, and I remember it now, and she'd say, right, there's a knock at the door, find your best hiding place. And we was like, waiting for the knock at the door, we're thinking, this is great.

• 14:29Fearne Cotton?

  It's a great game.

• 14:30Speaker 02

  It's a great game. What time's I had a six star? And the knock at the door and we'd all go bump off and hide. And then it was later that I realised that was because we owed money. I was like, wow, she made it into a game to protect us from the reality. Oh, she's an unbelievable woman. She is an unbelievable woman. And, yeah, and, yeah, she had to stick with that. For, especially one of my sisters was mentally and physically disabled as well, so that's a full-time job as itself. But to have us lot on our own for that length of time, I don't know how she did it.

• 15:04Fearne Cotton?

  Have you talked to your mum about it?

• 15:06Speaker 02

  My mum is one of them old school women that goes, you get on with it, don't you? You deal with it. And that's how my mum is, positive. She's always there. She's the glue to the family. Always has been. My dad was the shouty, fighty one, but we knew where the real strength was, and that was my mum. She's the core strength and still is. You know, as my dad got older, she did everything for him. And she always has done, you know. He'd sit down and have his teapot on his lap and then his tea taken away, you know, them old school things. And he'd complain if there was, you know, if we go for a wedding or something, and he'd say, what time's the buffet open? Right, Shirley, you know what I have? And he'd go, and then he'd complain if she hadn't brought, where's my pork pie? It's like, I'd be like, get your own, Buffy.

• 15:47Fearne Cotton?

  My own fucking pie.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  I know, my mum's come back with two plates hers and my dad's.

• 15:51Fearne Cotton?

  Bless your mum.

• 15:52Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, but that was that generation. And it sounds strange, but that was how he was. I'll go out, I'll protect the family and I'll do, but you look after the kids. And then I came along and then he was like, right, I've got him now. So he thought his way for me was I'll teach him how to be a man, how to look after himself.

• 16:09Fearne Cotton?

  Pressure, you're the first boy.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, and he was so proud of me and wanted to be so proud of me that he put everything into me that made me then not want to let him down. But now in life, it's something that I like because, you know, I look back and I, performing and being up there on stage, he encouraged that. He was like, go on, you know you want to. And every time I was doubting myself, he'd be like, go on, son, go on.

• 16:37Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, he's not with us anymore, but do you still find yourself wanting to prove yourself to him or impress him? Is that still a drive?

• 16:44Speaker 02

  No, I think, I think I was always terrified of him not being here. So the older I got and going through my career, because once I got on TV, he'd walk around with pictures of me in his pocket. So I'd walk past it, so I'd go, is that him? Yes, that's Jan Boofolly, here's his photo. Would you like a signed picture? Do you want a photo? I'd be like, dad.

• 17:01Fearne Cotton?

  That's adorable.

• 17:02Speaker 02

  He was so proud of me. He was so proud of like, he'd take pictures of me if I was in the paper and then pub and go, that's my son, that. And so that's what I'm saying, it was, I knew how much it meant to him. And then as we went through my career, we'd go on lads holidays and we'd go on trips. We did a parent trip to Borneo. We went on, you know, a trek with a tribe that used to be cannibals. And he would never do anything like that. So I wanted to have these experiences that when he isn't here anymore, I'm not going, I wish I'd have done that. I wish I'd have done more. I've heard it said, and I thought, I never want to be that person that says, why didn't I do more? It still kills me that he's not here, but at the same time, I've got some great memories.

• 17:42Speaker 02

  And, you know, I've got my own family and that I want to make proud. And I want them to see that, you know, it's, things can be achieved.

• 17:53Speaker 02

  I just want to be a good dad. That's all I care about now.

• 17:55Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 17:56Speaker 02

  And give them the best of me. That's all that matters.

• 18:00Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, you lost him in lockdown, which is brutal, absolutely brutal. I mean, I think we all, whether we lost people or we knew friends that lost people during that time, or, you know, I had friends going into labour during that time, and all of it was so brutal, being, having that isolation, not having the capacity to go and visit or hug someone. Like, that is so brutal.

• 18:24Speaker 02

  Crazy when you think back.

• 18:25Fearne Cotton?

  It's nuts. It's nuts.

• 18:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, I lost him. We had, he'd been a bit depressed. And I kept going to see him to say, listen, he stopped going to darts, he stopped going to the, he'd just sit in his room contemplating about the person he used to be. And he'd say to my mum, I could have been better, you know, I wish I should have done more with the kids. I should have done this. And she said, you can't change it now, Bill. And he'd sit there and he was sending himself under. And I'd be like, dad, we need to get you out more. You need to do some more stuff. And then he had this cough for a while. He went on tests and they found nothing in his blood. And then one day he stood up and he collapsed and he had a seizure. And then they found out he had cancer that had gone to his brain, that they hadn't detected in his lung. So it was in his lung and gone to his brain.

• 19:10Speaker 02

  Mum phoned me up and crying and everything. And I went down to see him and he had a scan and they said, yeah, you've got a brain tumour. So we're going to basically put you on these meds that will hopefully stop the seizures. And I went to see him and I had to sit, I think it was, was it six foot or whatever it was? We're all sat in the garden and he sat in the doorway of the house.

• 19:29Speaker 02

  And I said, dad, I just want to hug you. And he said, if I go old, you son, I won't be able to let you go. And that stayed with me forever because I never hugged him and I never saw him again. And that killed me because, well, you don't know, do you? You don't know what's going to happen. But a week later, he had another seizure. And he passed away. And that was that. And I never got a chance to speak to him again. And that's the killer is, I should have just hugged him that day.

• 20:01Fearne Cotton?

  I'm so sorry.

• 20:02Speaker 02

  But, yeah, it's life, isn't it? And life's tough at times. But for me, I've got the memories. And you know what? He wanted to live and gone through the treatment. He said to me, I'd kill myself before I go through anything like that. He said, because I am not going to sit in a bed and have somebody clean me and wash me and me just go into nothing. So he went to sleep as far as I look at it, and he never woke up. And I'd have preferred that than to go through months and months of pain and embarrassment.

• 20:33Fearne Cotton?

  Oh, it's so, that grief is so, so full on.

• 20:37Speaker 02

  It's always there.

• 20:39Fearne Cotton?

  Of course it is, of course it is.

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• 23:02Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, you do explore grief so brilliantly in this book in terms of how honest you are about it, where it's taken you mentally, what you think has helped you move through it. There'll be plenty of people listening to this who could be currently grieving or have been through that grief themselves of losing someone that they love dearly. It's something that you do live alongside. And like you say, it doesn't go anywhere. You've obviously already experienced this, losing your sister, Joanne, who in this book, sounds like the most amazing character.

• 23:37Speaker 02

  She was fabulous.

• 23:38Fearne Cotton?

  I love the stories that you tell about your sister in the book. You lost her when you were filming Broadchurch. And this is a time in your career where everything's flying. You are incredibly busy, and then all of a sudden, you're floored by this loss.

• 23:52Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean, Joanne was born mentally and physically disabled. She has Marfan's, which is a physical disease, but she was, she had that mental age of probably a five, six-year-old. But she also had an adult side to her, where she knew right from wrong and all that sort of stuff. And she, trying to cut a long story short, it's all in the book, but she collapsed when I was 17, I think, 18, around that time. I'd been out with my dad and then come back. She'd been ill for a while, and they found that she'd had, one of her valves around her heart had failed. So all the illnesses she had was crushing her heart, basically. And that night, after being rushed to hospital, I found her on the floor and I just collapsed. I was useless. You know, you think I'd be good in situations. I was terrible. I just collapsed. I was crying. And she just, she looked like she was dead on the floor.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  She looked gray. But her eyes were wide open and she was panicking, not understanding. Then we got to hospital. They said she was going to pass away that night. And then my dad asked for a second opinion. We went to Withington Hospital, a special heart unit. And they said, we can keep her stable for now, but she's going to need open-heart surgery, which she came through. We spent Christmas in hospital. We had to say goodbye to her a couple of times because they thought she was going to pass away. It was an unbelievable time. But then, when it came around to what you're talking about, when I was doing Broadchurch later on in life, she used to tick. You could hear the ticking because she had this false valve. And she went on a respite with this company who take disabled people to a trip. And two weeks later, she died of heart attack. But I slipped into depression after that,

• 25:22Speaker 02

  and I wasn't a good person.

• 25:24Fearne Cotton?

  What do you mean you weren't a good person?

• 25:26Speaker 02

  I just wasn't a good person to be around. I'm a positive person. You know me, I'm a lively, live-wire. I want to make everybody happy. I try and make everyone laugh, and that's all I've ever, just... It's hard to talk about because, looking back, I couldn't help it. But I didn't even want to get out of bed. So that means I wasn't a positive person around my children.

• 25:45Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, but you were going, yeah, but you were going through it.

• 25:47Speaker 02

  No, but they don't understand it. And that's what bothers me is,

• 25:52Speaker 02

  I never thought I would find myself in that cloud and not see color anymore. And I couldn't, because I couldn't protect her anymore. I couldn't, I couldn't change it. And that's what the killer is. Because I always thought, I can fix things. I'll do anything to help people if I can. And I couldn't help her. And I just did the wrong thing, drinking, gambling, trying to find a high in life, which sent me further down the hole.

• 26:17Fearne Cotton?

  Well, you're trying to cope. When you're in that place, you need to do anything to try and get out of it, anything.

• 26:22Speaker 02

  I hated myself for it. But I got through it. My wife got me through it.

• 26:26Fearne Cotton?

  There is a, maybe a moment or a few where you think, oh, I'm slowly coming out of this now. I can actually, I can sense that there might be some hope on the horizon, or there's, or you just get out of bed. Like, I went through a patch of depression. And I don't know the exact moment, but there were little days where I thought, oh, I'm actually, I'm a bit numb, but that's better than feeling like absolute death. What do you, what do you think that was? What was that moment where you were like, oh, I can cope slightly better now?

• 26:54Speaker 02

  It was, it was stopping the things that was making me worse. The drinking and going out and trying to pretend everything's all right. Then, because that's what I was very good at. No one would have known. If I'd have gone out to the pub, you'd have, I was in great spirits. It's when I got home and I woke up the next morning in that cloud again. But I didn't realize that what I was doing to myself, drinking and gambling and whatever else, it's just made me worse. So my wife sticking by me and going, come on, we're going to do this for the kids. And being around the kids, because they're my world. And they're magic, and they can, they can do great things.

• 27:33Fearne Cotton?

  Your wife.

• 27:33Speaker 02

  Sorry, I'm very emotional, I'm sorry.

• 27:35Fearne Cotton?

  You have to say sorry. You certainly have to say sorry.

• 27:38Speaker 02

  I don't want to be just crying for the whole interview, but I struggle with, my emotions are just there on the surface all the time. And when I talk about these things, it's because I care and I can't help it.

• 27:48Fearne Cotton?

  Well, I, for one, am beyond grateful because I think what we all need to see more of is men showing emotions.

• 27:55Speaker 02

  Tell my kids that, they hate it. It's like, dad's crying again.

• 27:57Fearne Cotton?

  Good, I've got a dad that cries and I love it. It's so important. I mean, your wife sounds like the most amazing woman. She started performing arts schools now, hasn't she, though?

• 28:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, we have our own performing arts school, Mellor Performing Arts.

• 28:10Fearne Cotton?

  So great.

• 28:11Speaker 02

  Where we live in Burnham, in Buckinghamshire. She's just gone for, I think, 10, 11 years now. And it's basically, we wanted to, she wanted to give something back, and she wanted to have a purpose for herself. I'm not just a mom, there's more to me. And she trained and danced. She danced with Beyoncé and Destiny's Child and went on the European tour with them when she was in her career. She was phenomenal at what she did. But as a lot of mothers have to do, she gave that up. And that's why I've got a lot of time for mothers that have to do that because you have to remember, you know, you have a purpose, as well as I have a purpose. But it was whoever earned the most money has to keep going, or the other one has to stop. And it's a shame, but that's facts. And she, so she opened the performing arts school,

• 28:53Speaker 02

  wanted to make, our kids went to one of these chain performing arts schools, and Michelle was like, that's not good enough, what they're teaching them kids. I can, I can charge kids less and teach them more.

• 29:04Fearne Cotton?

  Good for her.

• 29:05Speaker 02

  So we wanted to give everybody, even if you have a disability, autistic, it doesn't matter. If you're not going to be a professional dancer, come, join in, get some confidence, meet some friends, new friends, and make it affordable for everyone. Because I come from a working-class background, and I wanted to make sure that this should be affordable for everybody, not just the elite.

• 29:25Fearne Cotton?

  It's game-changing. I'm a Sam, I grew up in a working-class environment, and we had a local dance and drama club in the church hall where I live.

• 29:32Speaker 02

  That's where ours is in a church hall.

• 29:33Fearne Cotton?

  And it was, it was, it was life-defining for me because I wouldn't be doing this job if I hadn't gone there and met certain people, which led to something else, which led to something else. But more than that, it was just such a positive force in my life. I didn't love school. So going there was like, oh my God, these, these are my people. And we could just talk about dancing. It was just liberating. So those spaces created are so important for so many kids.

• 30:01Speaker 02

  We've got some people, some kids that are nonverbal, and their parents... When they see that child on stage, that's why Michelle said that's why I do it. Yeah, it's not for money. It's not for anything other than she wants to leave a legacy behind to go, I've given these kids a chance to perform, whether they go on to whatever. They're going to get a bit of confidence in life and they might, might help them through life in some way. Some of them are going to go on to perform in dance, some of them aren't.

• 30:26Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 30:26Speaker 02

  But, you know, we want it to be all inclusive for everybody. And I think that's what they should be. And I say this in my book as well, which is really important that there's, um, there's, there's only eight percent of people from working class backgrounds working in our industry now.

• 30:40Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 30:40Speaker 02

  And I just find that shocking. That's got to change. It was 20%, I think 20 years ago. And it's going down. And I just think we need regional accents on TV. We need to give people like where we come from a chance. We've got to keep feeding that because it's, don't tell me just because you come from a certain background, you don't want to do performing arts. Cause I did and you did.

• 30:58Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 30:59Speaker 02

  Um, and it just wasn't viable. At my school, they was like, well, you can't do that. So I was terrible at academia. So they just sat me at the back of the class with headphones on and told me to not disrupt anybody. Cause I was, I was a clown of the class, you know, they give up on me. Rather than go, I wonder what you are into, which is what we need to do.

• 31:16Fearne Cotton?

  Absolutely. I completely agree. I was given the same message, like there's no point trying. Don't bother. And luckily, for whatever reason, you and I and many people out there who have ended up, you know, by luck and drive have managed to beat the odds and do it. But if there aren't spaces there, giving kids the chance to try it, to fall in love with it, like you say, to gain confidence, there, there is no hope. So it's so beautiful what you and your wife are doing.

• 31:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. And it's all her. I mean, I'm just there as a patron and, and whatever I need to do, I do. But she's, she's the one that has to run it and she's, she built it from nothing. And it's, it's, it's doing great. As I say, it's, it's, it's something that she's very proud of and we're all very proud of. And our kids went, um, and you know, it's great. Cause you know, you see, you go in to see these kids and we put on a show every year and see their parents, see their kid on stage. Especially some of these kids who, you know, barely speak and they're on stage, on stage performing. It's magical.

• 32:14Fearne Cotton?

  It is. It's magical. Hey, many of our listeners who are my age will remember you from Hollyoaks, obviously.

• 32:22Speaker 02

  Jambo.

• 32:23Fearne Cotton?

  Jambo. That was obviously a moment for you where I guess the gear change happened where you were like, oh, like I'm, I'm in it now. I've made it. You're not just going, oh my God, I hope there's another job. What can I get next? You're in a nationally famed show. Every hungover person in the UK watched Hollyoaks.

• 32:43Speaker 02

  Omnibus Sunday.

• 32:43Fearne Cotton?

  The omnibus. It was, I did my ironing to it. Like that was what you did on a Sunday. What, what did that gear shift feel like? Was it as you had imagined being a kid, like I want that. I want to be on a big show. I want everyone to know me. Did it feel as good as you'd hoped?

• 32:59Speaker 02

  It's the most incredible feeling. Uh, it's probably the greatest moment of that, of my life. Because it just suddenly meant, hang on, this, this could happen. I've been dreaming about this. I was on stage, I was on TV at 12, you know, just joined an agency that, that was looking for some street kids. And then doing little jobs, dipping your toe in the water, but not actually getting in and, and you know, doing photo stories and I did a commercial and I did like Brookside. I was, I think it was about 17. I was only in a couple of episodes. So I was just getting a taste, looking for that, what you call the big break. And then the casting for Hollyoaks came along. It wasn't even called, it was called Teen Soap. They had no name for it.

• 33:39Fearne Cotton?

  Oh, really?

• 33:39Speaker 02

  Yeah. And it was like, uh, it was like an X Factor audition, hundreds of people at Mersey Television. And then they'd come out and say, all right, read your name out. William Mellor, I was William then. William Mellor, could you come in? And I read for Kurt, um, which played, played, was ended up playing by Jeremy Edwards. I read, I went away and then I heard nothing. I thought, well, I haven't got the part. So I went on holiday, caravan site with my sister in Towin in Wales. Bleached my hair blonde because that's what Gazza had done.

• 34:07Fearne Cotton?

  Is that why you did it?

• 34:08Speaker 02

  Yeah. Gazza had done it in the 1990 World Cup or something. And I bleached, and then I got a phone call on the caravan site. Remember no mobile phones. Is there a William here? Knock on the caravan door. And I was like, yeah, hello. They said, there's a phone call for you in the office. And my mum said, hey, you've got to come back. You've got a recall for that casting. I went, my hair's blonde. She went, oh, you'll have to go. My agent's going mad at me. Why have you bleached your hair blonde? I was like, well, I thought he hadn't got it. It's been weeks. Anyway, I went back in and on the way back in to the audition, where the audition was, Phil Redmond, who's the exec producer of the whole thing, he did Grange Hill and Brookside. And he was doing Hollyoaks, stopped me and he went, who are you? And I told him my name and he went, who are you reading for? And I said, I was reading for Kurt, uh, but I bleached my hair blonde. Sorry. But he went, no, no, you, you're reading for Jambo now.

• 34:54Speaker 02

  And that was a sliding doors moment in my life that not only bumping into him, but bleaching my hair blonde made me stand out. Nobody else had bleached, short, bleached blonde hair.

• 35:03Fearne Cotton?

  Thank God for Gazza.

• 35:04Speaker 02

  There you go. I know. And I think Eminem copied Jambo. That's where he obviously, he was obviously an omnibus fan. The Sunday and gone, that's what I want, a bit of Jambo.

• 35:15Fearne Cotton?

  Please, can that be true?

• 35:16Speaker 02

  Imagine. Uh, but I, um, but then I went in and read and I, I ended up getting the part of Jambo and that changed my life forever. And I wrote them a letter afterwards, after everything had gone on, just to say, you don't understand how much you've made the kid in me. Come to life and just go, it's not just a dream anymore.

• 35:34Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 35:34Speaker 02

  This is, I am actually going to have a go at this for real. It was absolutely magical and I, I, I just felt so good that I could make that phone call to my mum and going, I've done it.

• 35:46Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 35:47Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? The pride of that.

• 35:48Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 35:49Speaker 02

  Uh, just to go, this kid with a dream is possible.

• 35:53Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 35:54Speaker 02

  You know, you can manifest things, I think, whether you can or you can't, I never took my eye off it. I know, not once. Not many teachers said to me, you'll never, my drama teacher at school told me I'd never be anything because, you know, he didn't like me. I had an opinion. And I was, I was a bit of a lively sod. But you know, all them people, I just kept thinking, I'll show you one day.

• 36:12Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah. When do you think you started to experience the bad side of fame, which of course there is?

• 36:18Speaker 02

  Uh, when I got fame, uh, I, I was, I couldn't wait to be famous. I was like, yeah, they're going to love me. I have loads of energy. Uh, you know, I, I literally went from getting that to driving down the road and seeing my face on bus stops. And buses going past with all those lot as a cast, because it was the new show.

• 36:35Fearne Cotton?

  It was everywhere.

• 36:35Speaker 02

  Everywhere. It was like the new, it was like the Chester Beverly Hills 90210.

• 36:41Fearne Cotton?

  It so was.

• 36:42Speaker 02

  It was so, it was like, well, that's what they painted it as. And then, and then I suddenly realised that not everyone, not everyone's positive about you being on the telly. Um, and we was filming in Liverpool and we had nights out where, you know, I'd bowl into a bar, yeah, you're right. Hey, you know what I mean? And then people would be like, who do you think you are? You know what I mean? And I was like, why do people, why don't people like us? What's, and I suddenly realised that, you know, if you get a girl coming over for a picture, their boyfriend's not going to be very happy. I was only 19, 20, you know, I was a kid. Um, yeah. And we got abused, you know, your people come over and, and shout abuse at you. I had, I had physical confrontations. I had fights and stuff with people because I came from a place that if somebody came up

• 37:23Speaker 02

  and squared up to you and called you certain names, I was getting called, it was on. You know what I mean? You, you don't get away with that. Yeah. I wouldn't, I wouldn't do that to somebody else. And I expect a punch in the mouth. So why do you expect me to take it? Um, uh, and, and I had an altercation once and then when I, when I got home, the story's in the book, when I got home, the lads from Hollyoaks was like, you can't do that. And I was like, what? I'm, I'm protecting us. And these people coming up to us, having a go, if you just walk away. And he said, yeah, that's what you've got to do.

• 37:51Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 37:51Speaker 02

  And I had to learn that to turn, even if you hear this abuse, you've just got to pretend you can't hear it. Or now, do you know what? I got to a point, and this, this was a long time ago. This is, over time you learn, you know, how to deal with all that stuff. But when it's new to you, you, you, you have to learn from being on the job.

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• 40:54Fearne Cotton?

  One of the best stories in the book is Prince William breaking up a fight you're in.

• 41:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. I was on crutches as well. I mean, what's wrong with me? I was, Prince William, yeah, we, it was a place, is it in Knightsbridge or Kensington? Was it Boogies? There was a famous place.

• 41:12Fearne Cotton?

  I probably went.

• 41:13Speaker 02

  You probably, well, I went because it was like this night, it was on and my mate was like, should we go? And I was like, I'm on crutches, I injured myself at football. So I was on meds, but I was drinking as well. That's a good, good combination. I was in there having a great night and Prince William was in there. Just happened to be in there and I went for a wee and Prince William was stood next to me in the cubicle, on the urinal. And he went, all right, all right, all right, Will. He went, all right, Will. I went, he knows my name. You know, it was like madness. Two Pints fan. So I, so I, anyway, the night went on. I'd had a few more drinks and I went, I'm going on the dance floor, on me crutches, throwing a few shapes.

• 41:53Speaker 02

  And it was quite, there was quite a lot of what I call upper class posh people in there, all dancing. And they thought it was funny to shoulder barge me off me crutches, laughing at me, basically. And I didn't find that funny. So once I got up, I dived on this lad and he's on the floor. And I'm fighting with this lad on the floor. And then I've got these hands on me shoulders, picking me up. And I'm sort of doing what I do. And then I hear this person go, leave it, Will, he's not worth it, leave it. And it was Prince William. And he's got his hands on me shoulders, looking at me in the eye going, Will, leave it, he's not worth it. I'm going, he's not me off me crutches, Will, he's not me off me crutches. And I'm going mad. Anyway, I can see the Secret Service, obviously they're on the peripherals and they're coming in.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  And I thought, I've gone here, haven't I? And then, and then I'm going, tell him, William, it's not my fault. They, they pushed me up. Anyway, they're carrying me out. And I'm still shouting, William, tell him it wasn't my fault. And he's going, it's all right, don't worry about it. Anyway.

• 42:48Fearne Cotton?

  Just a future king.

• 42:49Speaker 02

  Just a future king. And I got thrown out of the club. The funny part of this story is I go home the next day and my mate phones me and goes, I'll never forget seeing Prince William with his hands on your shoulders going, leave it, Will, he's not worth it. Like he was, like he was one of your mates.

• 43:02Fearne Cotton?

  So great.

• 43:02Speaker 02

  But the weirdest thing was my wife.

• 43:04Fearne Cotton?

  He's such a good egg.

• 43:05Speaker 02

  My wife, after all that story I've just told you, my wife said to me, did you have a look? I went, oh, at his penis in the toilet she's talking about?

• 43:13Fearne Cotton?

  Right.

• 43:13Speaker 02

  When you're in the, she said, you had a chance to look at the future king's penis and you didn't look. I went, men don't look at other pe, she said, you could have, you could have sized yourself up. I go, well, I'm bigger than the king. I was like, what are you talking about? I didn't even look. She went, it's the first thing I would have done. It's the difference between men and women, you see.

• 43:27Fearne Cotton?

  Sorry, I now love your wife even more than I did before. What a woman.

• 43:31Speaker 02

  I forgot I'd even mentioned I was in the urinal. She said, you should have had a look at least. Whenever you're going to be there again, when you could have, could have had a look at it. But no, I didn't.

• 43:39Fearne Cotton?

  What a story.

• 43:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. There's, there's lots of different ones like that in the book.

• 43:43Fearne Cotton?

  There's so many in there.

• 43:45Speaker 02

  It's warts and all.

• 43:45Fearne Cotton?

  There's been a lot and so many interesting twists and turns. Later down the line, there was a point where you thought, do you know what? I don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm going to jack it all in. And that's, and that's exactly when one of your favourite jobs of all time came into play.

• 44:00Speaker 02

  Well, I, I, if anyone is out there who's an actor or performer or self-employed, you know, that phone call, waiting for the phone call to ring, the anxiety of it. And I, listen, at this point, I'd had a phenomenal career. I'd done more than I ever dreamt of. So I always thought, well, if, if I'm not the flavour of the month anymore, that's okay.

• 44:20Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 44:21Speaker 02

  Because I've done more than I ever dreamt of. So don't be always chasing what's next. But my, the way I have always seen my career and me as a person is my eye is always looking for the next thing. You have to, you have to look for doors that can be opened and go, why, right, I'm an actor, but I can do musicals, I can do that, I can do it. So if I keep me feet in so many doors, then hopefully they don't all close at once. I need to still make money. I've got to feed my kids and, you know, I've got to bring my children up and I'm the breadwinner in the house. So that anxiety was, there was a point, I'd just not been seen for any acting jobs for a while. And, and it was quite a long time. And I'd seen these dramas pop up on television and I was thinking, I'm perfect for that. But I don't mind not getting the job, but I wasn't even being seen. I wasn't being put in the room anymore.

• 45:06Speaker 02

  And I, I just kept phoning my agent, oh, there's nothing around at the moment. It's a, it's a quiet time. You're going to have to sit on this for a while. But I need to then think of what else I'm going to do, because I can't just sit and wait indefinitely. The bills are still coming out. And also I, I need to know if it's over. So I said, I'm going to take this on myself to my wife one night. I said, I'm going to phone my agent tomorrow. I said, I'm going to back away from acting. I'm going to go and do something else. There's more I can do, but I can't just sit and wait for the phone to ring. It's not doing me, it's not doing me, my self-esteem any good, my anxiety any good. And it's doing me in. So the next day, and this is the God's honest truth, the next day, I, I got a phone call from my agent. I went, oh, yeah, my agent. You always get a bit of excitement when your agent rings.

• 45:48Speaker 02

  And then I went, hello? And he said, you've, he said, you've, I've had an offer come in for you. And it's for ITV and it's called Mr Bates versus the Post Office. At that time, I didn't have a clue how big this was going to be, but I was like, an offer? I didn't even have to cast for it. I mean, now, an offer is very rare. I've had a few in my career, more recently actually, but that, to get an offer, it's like, I don't even have to cast for this, I've got the job. But I was thinking, I bet it's rubbish. No, I bet I've been offered it because it's crap. No one else wants to do it. And I got it and I was like, oh my God, this is unbelievable.

• 46:26Fearne Cotton?

  And it's important.

• 46:27Speaker 02

  It's a true story. We're telling true stories for people who have been shouting from the rooftops, this can make a difference.

• 46:33Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 46:34Speaker 02

  And the cast was phenomenal. I like, even the smaller parts were just like the who's who of great actors. And that was it. I think the moment I decided to let it go, it landed in my lap. I just think that's, that's what I love about my career. And anybody who's in this industry, you never know what tomorrow's going to bring.

• 46:53Fearne Cotton?

  You don't. And I sort of think it's the same across the board in life.

• 46:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:57Fearne Cotton?

  It's often those moments where you go, fuck it, or like, I give up now, where everything shifts. Because you're not like clinging on anymore. You've like, I don't know, I've had it so many times, not even just in my work life, but in life, life, where I've just surrendered and then things happen. And it's.

• 47:15Speaker 02

  I think I would like to say to anybody who sees or listens to this is just, just, just wait another day. You know, don't give up, you know, the, the phone can ring tomorrow. You know, that news can change, you know, that result that you've been waiting for might be positive. Just wait. It might be a good thing. You just, you know, there's a lot of people, I think, in, especially now, it's tough out there for people. And I think, just give it another day and, and things will be all right.

• 47:39Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, that's really beautiful advice. I love that. God, I mean, this chat has totally blown my mind in terms of what we've covered. But I'm so appreciate your honesty because we're talking about important stuff, but also I would never want to assume that you just walk in here and be happy talking about all this stuff. It's, they're big themes and they're, they're big things that have happened to you. So I'm massively grateful that you're willing to talk about this stuff that will no doubt help so many people who are listening to this, who are grieving, who are out of work, who have had shit things happen to them, that things can still turn out okay.

• 48:16Speaker 02

  I hope so. And that's why I wanted to do the book. And also I want to say, that's why I wanted to come and speak to you. Because you're amazing at what you do. And also I know you and it's easier to speak to somebody you know. But also doing this book was, it's, I'm not going to do another one. This is my memoirs and I waited till the right moment where I have got something to say. I didn't just want to talk about, hey, I was in, I was jumbo and I was gazing Two Pints and I have had this great career because that's not life. Life has got ups and downs. You get knocked down and you have to keep getting back up. And I want people to read this book. It's called Where There's a Will, because it's not about where I am, it's having the will to get there. And I want people to go, listen, you can get there, just have the will to do it and believe in yourself. And it doesn't matter where you come from. We've all got dreams and ambitions. Go and get it.

• 49:00Speaker 02

  Life is about squeezing every little bit of juice out of it. You know, the, the book of life is full of empty pages. It's up to you to go and fill the pages in with memories. And that's all I've ever wanted to do. And I'm grateful for everybody who's given me a part in anything or believed in me or, you know, just, just give me a chance. Because without them, we wouldn't get anywhere. We all need people.

• 49:23Fearne Cotton?

  We do. Do you know what? Just on Saturday, I was walking down my local high street and I bumped into the most amazing woman called Maddie. She gave me my first job on Disney Club. And we always stay in touch, but I just don't see her as regularly as I would like to. And whenever I see her, like I literally jumped for joy, gave her the biggest hug ever. And every time I see her, I'm like bursting with gratitude because I would not be sat here today if she hadn't taken a wild chance on someone that had literally done like two adverts at that point and a couple of local drama shows.

• 49:54Speaker 02

  Exactly. We don't stand alone. You know, I mean, we, we have people behind us. Or we might be the arrowhead, but there's a lot of people holding us up.

• 50:01Fearne Cotton?

  Oh my God.

• 50:01Speaker 02

  My family, my lord. Every single day I get out of bed, first thing is my family. So I'm grateful for them. My kids, my wife, my sisters, my mum, everybody, the support has been throughout my life. Just to, you know, go, you can do it, Will. I mean, my mum and dad could have easily said to me as a kid, don't be stupid, you're going to get a real job, you know, you're going to go and go to work. What are you talking about? Get your head out there. You know, but my dad used to say about me, which is the thing, I can't express any more of exactly how my brain is. He'd say, that kid's got a head full of magic. And I think it's a lovely thing. I was just like, I haven't, but I have.

• 50:41Speaker 02

  My, I, I still have a brain like a child. I have all these, hey, this is amazing, this fantasies and these ideas that come to my head. And I'm a creative and I love that about me. I mean, you know, but they saw that in me and they went, yeah, we're going to, we're going to back you on this as far as we can take it.

• 50:59Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 50:59Speaker 02

  And then, you know, we'll see what happens. Without them believing in me, it wouldn't have started. So, you know, there's people along your way in your life that just keep pushing you forward.

• 51:09Fearne Cotton?

  Without a doubt. And I think we should all have a head full of magic as adults, because it gets beaten out of us as we go through the school system and then the work system, like stop having an imagination, don't have dreams. I, I think we should all remain with a head full of magic and I will be inspired by you, Will Mellor.

• 51:25Speaker 02

  Bless you.

• 51:26Fearne Cotton?

  You're a musical person, so this is an interesting question to put to you. But we're creating a happy place playlist and we'd love you to choose a song that makes you feel really bloody great. What would that be?

• 51:36Speaker 02

  Oh, I hate these questions because I.

• 51:39Fearne Cotton?

  I can't think of any songs.

• 51:40Speaker 02

  I've got an head full of magic, but I struggle to find songs at lastminute.com. I love Stevie Wonder. Is it Sir Duke?

• 51:49Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 51:49Speaker 02

  Music is a world within itself, that one. With a land which we all understand.

• 51:56Fearne Cotton?

  Poor banger.

• 51:57Speaker 02

  Ah, that one just makes me want to dance.

• 51:59Fearne Cotton?

  That.

• 52:00Speaker 02

  Yes. I love it. It makes me, it makes me want to dance.

• 52:02Fearne Cotton?

  That's going on there. And lastly, Will Mellor, where is your happy place?

• 52:07Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 52:10Speaker 02

  I'd like to say home, anywhere where my family's at. I, I, I'm, I'm empty nesting at the moment and it's killing me. Uh, my son is now 22 and spends very little time at home. He works and he's had his girlfriends a lot and you know how much I tell him I miss him when he comes home. He doesn't come home any more often, um, but, uh, I'm a bit of a beg. Uh, and then my daughter's at university, she's at Dance and Performing Arts University now. She's away Monday to Friday and she works Saturday. So if my kids are home, that's where my happy place is. But wherever my family's at, that's where you'll find me smiling.

• 52:45Fearne Cotton?

  I love that. Well, look, Will, thank you so much and congratulations on a brilliant book.

• 52:52Speaker 02

  Oh, thank you, thank you. I was a bit, I was a bit worried about it because I've never done a book before and you think, who's going to want to read it? But I just thought, well, I, I'll put it out there and I can't be more honest than I've been. And I hope people take what they want to take from it.

• 53:06Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 53:06Speaker 02

  Thanks for having me on. Flur, I call you Flur. Flur, Flur Cotton.

• 53:11Fearne Cotton?

  I've been called a lot, I've been called a lot worse, so don't worry.

• 53:14Speaker 02

  It's been so nice to see you again, darling.

• 53:15Fearne Cotton?

  And you, thank you, Will.

• 53:17Speaker 02

  Lovely to see you, darling, thanks.

• 53:18Fearne Cotton?

  Oh, Will, I loved every minute of that. What a joy. And as I said in the chat, I think we just need to see more men crying and being emotional and just wearing their heart on their sleeves. I loved every second of it. Um, and I'm sure we're all now left with an image of Prince William at the urinal forever, in fact. Um, do read Will's book, it's so brilliant. Will's debut memoir is called Where There's a Will and it's out on the 5th of November 2026. A massive thanks again to the brilliant Will Mellor and to you, you're the best.

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