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Table for Four

Dame Arlene Phillips & Bradley Riches

19 Mar 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What humorous debate kicks off the dinner conversation?

0.031 - 1.113 Bradley Riches

Are you a steamer or iron?

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1.514 - 4.08 Unknown

I'm neither. I get something to do it from.

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4.1 - 5.724 Bradley Riches

Oh, I love that. How do I do a kiss on Zoom?

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5.804 - 6.586 Unknown

Well, how do you?

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6.606 - 15.967 Bradley Riches

Please say you kiss the camera. I went on a first date once, and the first thing she said to me was, I've just had 12 snails. So which is the tastiest insect?

16.488 - 21.454 Joanna Page

Yeah. Oh, God. And I've worked with some very difficult people. Name them.

22.155 - 22.656 Unknown

Name the shame.

22.856 - 25.98 Joanna Page

Well, Diana Ross was one.

26 - 38.256 Bradley Riches

Hi, and welcome to Table for Four. I'm Matthew Horne. And I'm Joanna Page. Each episode, we will be chatting to some of our favourite celebrity duos about their relationship over a slap-up meal.

Chapter 2: How did Bradley overcome his fear of seafood?

123.533 - 127.197 Dame Arlene Phillips

Yeah. Me, my steamer against the world. So yeah, I don't have an iron in my house. Just my steamer.

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127.577 - 132.402 Bradley Riches

It's kind of, it's a new thing, isn't it? Get rid of your, don't use an iron. Are you a steamer or iron?

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132.55 - 135.354 Unknown

I'm neither. I get something to do it for.

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135.374 - 139.119 Mathew Horne

I love that. She's a dame. I wish we had that. She doesn't do her own IMA.

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139.139 - 155.661 Bradley Riches

I wish we had that here because we clearly do not have that person or people. Give Arlene's person a call. Can we get your personal steamer and ironer in? Do we eat now? Shall we get some food?

155.681 - 160.908 Mathew Horne

Yeah, shall we get some food? Oh my goodness. Can we introduce Sam to you?

160.928 - 161.709 Dame Arlene Phillips

Hello, Sam.

161.729 - 162.711 Unknown

Hello, everybody.

162.931 - 167.897 Mathew Horne

This is our wonderful Sam, who's doing all of the cooking today. Oh, great. What have we got?

Chapter 3: What unique challenges did Dame Arlene face in her career?

221.483 - 223.445 Mathew Horne

Cheers, cheers, cheers.

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223.465 - 225.788 Dame Arlene Phillips

Do we need to stir it or anything? Or do you think it'll be okay like that?

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226.669 - 231.447 Mathew Horne

I don't know. I might put my finger in. It's great.

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232.69 - 233.111 Joanna Page

Oh, that's nice.

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233.131 - 242.574 Mathew Horne

I love gorgeous non-alcoholic drinks, and this is one. Yes, I don't like non-alcoholic drinks that are really, really sweet. It's nice when you've got a bit of bite to something, isn't it?

242.975 - 245.481 Joanna Page

It is, but I do go sweet, I'm afraid.

245.765 - 248.892 Mathew Horne

Do you? What's your favourite? Is that non-alcoholic or alcoholic as well?

248.912 - 280.466 Joanna Page

This is non-alcoholic. I pretty much now don't drink alcohol, but the best drink I've ever had, a fantasy drink, which is kind of like this, was in Toronto. And it was a candy floss vodka. And it was the best. The vodka had candy floss flavouring in, and all around the cocktail glass was candy floss that you kind of ate through as you drank the drink. Heaven. That sounds amazing. It was.

280.486 - 281.587 Joanna Page

It was really amazing.

Chapter 4: How did Arlene and Bradley first meet?

338.632 - 352.878 Dame Arlene Phillips

And then I didn't know how to eat them, whether to like, what you did with them. So I just kind of started nibbling them. And then I got a hit of the garlic. And I went, anything with garlic? is a winner. So yeah, the mussels and now prawns, anything garlic related.

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353.279 - 353.66 Mathew Horne

Oh, really?

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353.72 - 355.765 Dame Arlene Phillips

Was it the first date, did you say? It was.

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355.785 - 357.529 Mathew Horne

It's quite brave going full fishy.

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357.549 - 365.428 Bradley Riches

So you had the anxiety of a first date, plus trying seafood for the first time. Yeah. You were a courageous man. Anxious mess, more like. Yeah.

366.455 - 378.336 Dame Arlene Phillips

I was very nervous, but it worked out. I'm still with him today, so it worked out very well, yeah. But he hates fish as well, so we both acted like we liked fish, and we hate fish. Well, I love fish now, but he still doesn't like fish.

378.356 - 388.294 Bradley Riches

Yeah. Yeah, it worked out well. I went on a first date once, and the first thing she said to me was, I've just had 12 snails. Lovely. Lovely.

389.523 - 391.646 Joanna Page

You know how brave he is.

391.666 - 397.375 Bradley Riches

She needed to tell me because the garlic was pungent. But I thought that was really bold.

Chapter 5: What insights does Arlene share about her creative process?

450.845 - 455.854 Joanna Page

Pinos off, because they're going to sting like crazy, aren't they?

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455.934 - 465.913 Bradley Riches

Having you two here is fantastic, but we are both really intrigued as to how you first met.

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465.933 - 468.638 Dame Arlene Phillips

Ooh! Do you want to hit them with a story?

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468.658 - 503.698 Joanna Page

Well, I'll start. Um... It was at a big charity event. Yeah. And we were sitting on a table and I was with my very close friend. And to my left was Bradley. who said hello and never stopped talking because he was crazy about musical theatre. And he kind of knew what shows I'd done. And we talked about Grease forever. That was your love.

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504.018 - 529.008 Joanna Page

And I remember you saying, I said, well, who would you want to play? And it was not Danny Zuko. And I was like, but why not? He said, well, no, I don't want that part. I didn't want it to be a smaller part. And I thought, here's somebody in love with, musical theatre and not ambitious. But then we just got... How rare. How rare. But we did not stop talking all night.

529.069 - 557.888 Joanna Page

He wouldn't let me talk to anyone else. You're so crazy now. No, it wasn't. It was amazing. You wanted to be there. You wanted to be sat next to me. It was so good because the conversation never stopped. And then we kept in touch. Yeah. Kind of for just no reason, but I found more about Brad and the things he'd done and the sort of career he was determined to build for himself.

557.868 - 578.071 Joanna Page

You know, going to auditions that, well, I let him tell the story of Heartstoppers, but just going like, I can do that. I can do that. And he had this wild sort of fierceness about him. We've kept in touch ever since to the point where we're now working together. We have something upcoming together.

578.912 - 587.622 Joanna Page

And it's wonderfully, brilliantly bonkers, but it's about the relationship ultimately that we've built up because he's so sweet.

587.602 - 592.187 Mathew Horne

Oh my gosh, that's so lovely. Can I just ask, who did you want to play in Greece?

Chapter 6: What experiences shaped Bradley's journey into acting?

608.487 - 614.716 Dame Arlene Phillips

People are like, that man is gay. So I was like, yeah, a teenager, I can camp it up.

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615.157 - 631.656 Bradley Riches

So I completely identify what you're saying about Bradley not being able to stop talking. I've experienced this with a colleague of mine. Bradley... I understand that at age 10 you were diagnosed with autism?

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631.916 - 642.527 Dame Arlene Phillips

Yeah, so at nine. So yeah, for all my childhood, I didn't actually speak. Really? I used sounds. So you were non-verbal till? Till like nine to 10.

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642.827 - 646.671 Mathew Horne

Yes. So how would you communicate then with your family and everything?

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646.691 - 665.3 Dame Arlene Phillips

My family were amazing. This is one thing I've always said. It's like when you get diagnosed or even if you're not diagnosed and you're like self-diagnosed, all these different things, it's like... You kind of have to create your own handbook. The world gives you a handbook, but it's not fit for everyone. Not many people go through childhood not speaking and then not being able to shut up.

665.52 - 685.132 Dame Arlene Phillips

Everyone's journeys are different. Do you feel like you're making up for lost time, though? That's what my mum says. My mum is like, it's because he's shut up for 10 years. Now he's over talking. It's good for a podcast. Yeah, very happy to have you. But then I just fall in the deep end, I'm like, okay, I've said too much. But yeah, we would just use like communication cards, sounds, movements.

685.172 - 702.274 Dame Arlene Phillips

I think my family kind of knew me, obviously, and that's how we grew communication then. It was actually acting that gave me the expression, the escapism to use sounds. I started like murmuring in like American accents and doing these weird, silly things that were just like normal for me.

702.354 - 713.794 Bradley Riches

Were you aware that was happening at the time? That you were using performance as a way to sort of come out of your shell and give you the facility to express yourself. Were you aware that that was happening or is that only on reflection?

713.874 - 728.696 Dame Arlene Phillips

Yeah, I think it's on reflection. Like at the time, I remember my parents, obviously for my parents, it was like a massive thing. I was like, what? we've had this whole child and he's like, murmured, he's done tap things, he's done that. And now suddenly he's like, coming downstairs and he's doing this. And he's like, and my parents are like, what the heck is going on?

Chapter 7: How do Arlene and Bradley discuss their experiences in reality TV?

760.811 - 770.988 Dame Arlene Phillips

And I was like, first of all, I was like, ah, girls. And then second of all, I was like, ah, you know, like the social element of it. But she just kind of like throw him in the deep end and see if he can swim. And that was her thing. Wow.

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771.089 - 775.655 Mathew Horne

So was that your first experience of like drama lessons or drama club? Yeah.

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775.675 - 791.635 Dame Arlene Phillips

So when I was like, when I got my diagnosis about around nine, yeah. So it was, it was more of like a confidence thing to actually get me to talk. And then, and then it became like, obviously helping me with my stammer. And then as time went on, it was like, I didn't have any other passion. It was, that was it. And I never thought I was, I never thought of it as a career.

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791.655 - 799.065 Dame Arlene Phillips

And that's probably where I was like, not ambitious. I just love it. And I've just been so lucky that I've just kind of like, just jumped at any opportunity I've had to have.

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799.045 - 805.833 Bradley Riches

I think it's a really inspiring tale, actually. It's an incredible journey you've been on. Did you know this when you first met Bradley?

806.514 - 841.894 Joanna Page

Well, we did talk about it, yeah, early on. But I just found Brad quite fascinating in his open directness, honesty, and also his the absolute will to learn, to know more. And that's why we kept in touch. And we would have dinners together and meet up. And just for no reason, we just kept in touch.

841.874 - 845.422 Mathew Horne

Had you been a big fan of Arlene's for years and knew all of her work and everything?

845.442 - 847.266 Dame Arlene Phillips

Yeah, that's what I knew, like every single one.

847.286 - 847.627 Mathew Horne

Everything.

Chapter 8: What food-related games do they play during dinner?

886.349 - 887.05 Mathew Horne

Yeah, yeah.

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887.07 - 888.612 Bradley Riches

We are not sponsored by any of these.

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888.632 - 889.753 Dame Arlene Phillips

No, no.

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889.773 - 892.116 Mathew Horne

So what food do you most like to eat together?

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892.837 - 895.019 Dame Arlene Phillips

Steak is my go-to all the time.

895.039 - 895.74 Bradley Riches

Is it? Hence Flatiron.

895.94 - 896.361 Dame Arlene Phillips

Yeah.

896.381 - 897.101 Bradley Riches

It's a lovely steak.

897.161 - 898.863 Dame Arlene Phillips

And Cote Brasserie does quite a nice steak as well.

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