It’s all singing, dancing, chatting and eating at Dish this week.

Cynthia Erivo is a British actor, singer and songwriter, well known for her phenomenal vocals and performances on stage and screen. She comes to the Dish table to talk about her new album, I Forgive You; a 20-track record which tells her life story in four distinct parts and showcases the full range of her incredible voice. It’s released on 6 June, UK. 

Erivo, who was born in Stockwell, London but now lives in Los Angeles, made her Broadway debut as Celie in The Color Purple alongside Jennifer Hudson, a role for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. She has also received two Best Actress Oscar nominations for her roles in Harriet (2019) and most recently Wicked! (2024) where she played Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande. Other notable projects include heist thriller Widows

the Netflix crime thriller Luther: The Fallen Sun, and the drama Drift.

To mark the start of June, Angela served the table a vegan roasted red pepper, aubergine & freekeh salad with additional courgettes (Angela’s favourite). As Cynthia doesn't drink, the trio enjoyed a glass of Real Peony Blush Non Alcoholic Sparkling Tea alongside it. For those that do want to match their salad with a glass of wine, the Waitrose experts suggest a glass of Eminence de Bijou. 

We begin the episode by getting to know Cynthia’s love of vegan food, understanding her garlic allergy and dislike of the onion family (sorry, onion family). Over the salad, we learn more about her new record, including how Ariana Grande helped to make it happen and get a first-class demonstration of just how powerful her voice is. Plus, we finally found a good writer for the End of Show Question!

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All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes

A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish

We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help. 

Send your dilemmas to [email protected] and she’ll try to answer them in a future episode.

Dish from Waitrose is made by Cold Glass Productions.

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