Michael Smoak

It was brilliant.

And they came around and did this thing.

And then it was a Douglas Murray episode, actually, that put the final... Because he said, what's that on the ceiling?

And I was like, right, okay, I'm fucking doing it.

Right next to that set...

Remembering this is the first studio I've ever owned that wasn't in my house.

The last decade, every single house that I've stayed in, every Airbnb I've stayed in, every hotel I've stayed in for more than three weeks has had some form of studio in it.

And this is the first one that isn't in my abode.

Right next to that studio setup, which had my bed in the background and then there would be a bear on the bed, was a couch.

This leather couch that came with the house and I kind of liked it.

It was comfy.

And I spent hundreds, probably over a thousand hours.

In fact, it must be over a thousand hours.

Just sat on one half of this couch and had this little wooden table next to me.

And I'd have a little coaster like this, a little coaster with my salt and lemon in water, like just table salt because before Element was available in the UK, maybe I didn't even know it existed.

Maybe it didn't even exist.

And I'd have my Kindle and I'd have this little blanket and I'd put this blanket over my knees and I'd have a cushion and I'd put my Kindle on the cushion and I'd sit down and try and read.

I remember when I first started trying to read after a decade of being a club promoter, and that's just, I think I sent and received, the last time I checked my stats, I sent and received 8 million messages on WhatsApp.

with thumbs.

So I'm just used to bings and bongs and notifications and colors.