Grace Dent is back for third helpings of Comfort Eating, and her first guest of the season is James May, co-presenter of The Grand Tour. The pair chow down over the ex-Top Gear star’s favourite snack, as he tells Grace about his childhood in Rotherham, inability to share food and how a ‘catastrophic lack of ambition’ led him to be one of the UK’s most popular broadcasters

S3 E1: James May, broadcaster

From school dinners to sofa snacks – food has a huge part to play in shaping our story – and your favourite celebs have some delicious tales to tell. Join Guardian food critic and her celebrity guests, as she throws the cupboard doors open and chats life through food. Grace’s new Comfort Eating book, inspired by the podcast, is out now. It’s a wonderfully scrumptious, life-affirming journey through the foods that really mean the most to us. On the podcast, expect to hear from guests (actors from TV, movie, theatre and film; sportspeople, comedians, chefs …) such as: Shirley Ballas, Nadiya Hussain, James Norton, Graham Norton, Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Amma Asante, Gaz Coombes, Georgia Pritchett, Jayde Adams, Adam Kay, Jaime Winstone, Jay Blades, Malorie Blackman, Dawn O’Porter, Jamie Laing, Natalie Cassidy, Neneh Cherry, Greg Rutherford, Goldie, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marian Keyes, Rufus Wainwright, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Big Zuu, Eddie Marsan, Self Esteem, James May, Guy Garvey, Dave Myers, Jo Brand, Craig David, Fern Brady, Bernardine Evaristo, Tom Watson, Rosie Jones, Laura Whitmore, Desiree Burch, Russell Tovey, Stephen Fry, Deborah Meaden, Munya Chawawa, Aisling Bea, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Candice Carty-Williams, Lawrence Chaney, Siobhán McSweeney, Scarlett Moffatt, Mae Martin, Rafe Spall, Nish Kumar, Jon Ronson, Jamie Demetriou, Bridget Christie, Mary McCartney, Keith Brymer Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Tamsin Greig, Tom Kerridge, Suranne Jones and Russell T Davies. Comfort Eating is a one-to-one interview. In Grace’s kitchen, her guests discuss their lives in the context of food, cooking and cuisine. They talk about comfort food and snack recipes. The tone of the podcast is: warm, comforting, chatty, feel good, cheering, heart warming, comical and amusing. It’s inspiring but also escapism. It’s funny, laugh out loud, entertaining, humourous, inspirational, hilarious, illuminating, memorable, uplifting, soothing, reassuring, cheery and entertaining. Expect to hear discussion, gossip and revelation.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Joining Grace this week is the multi-talented actor, comedian and rapper, Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Long before becoming a household name as the exasperated boyfriend in the hit series Ghosts, Kiell (AKA MC Klayze Flaymz) tells Grace how, as a teenager, he combined his performance skills in the ultimate London arena: the chicken shop. With the taste of success, Kiell and Grace chat about his journey to the stage and screen, via several years working in a call centre for unemployed actors. Answering the big question: what is an appropriate lunchtime meal to eat at your desk?

S6, Ep 10: Kiell Smith-Bynoe, actor and comedian

Welsh standup, podcast host and panel show queen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, brings her finest bowl of scran to Grace’s house. Over this steaming ultra-value concoction, she reveals how her upbringing on a Welsh sheep farm led to a hankering for performance, humour and cheap noodles. Cutting her teeth on the Manchester comedy circuit and finding solace with fellow newbies, Kiri learned to win in an industry still steeped in sexism. Her latest solo show, Peacock, is about the unlikely subject of becoming a foster parent – a journey Kiri and her partner have recently embarked on. Their offering to children centres around home-cooked food made with love. Comfort eating just took on a whole new meaning.

S6, Ep 9: Kiri Pritchard-McLean, comedian

Comfort Eating’s culinary standards might have been permanently raised after two-Michelin-star chef Tom Kerridge’s visit. But he’s not exactly one to show off. Growing up in Gloucester, Tom always wanted to recreate the homely meals he’d find at his local pub or at his mum’s on Sundays. With a brief detour on to the acting stage, Tom started his career working at some of the country’s top restaurants. In the rock’n’roll era of fine dining, suddenly it was cool to be working in a restaurant late at night. But as Tom and Grace discuss, a world of late hours and excess triggered multiple health problems for him. Going sober and solo, Tom started running his own businesses and success quickly followed. So what exactly does a top chef snack on when they’re not winning awards? You might be surprised …

S6, Ep 8: Tom Kerridge, chef

Platinum-selling singer songwriter Cat Burns cosies up with Grace for a warm plate of nosh and some deep chats. The biggest-selling British female artist of 2022, who won three Brit award nominations after her single Go went viral on TikTok, reveals how she went from shy schoolgirl to stadium gigs in just a few years. While Covid put an end to busking on the South Bank, it opened up another portal on social channels that sent Cat’s star on its rapid ascent. Recently diagnosed as autistic, Cat explains how her relationship with food thrives on predictability and consistency. Yet with a small recipe suggestion from her girlfriend, she had a lightbulb moment – opening up new possibilities. Cat says she doesn’t do small talk, which is more than OK; her big talk is just beautiful.

S6 Ep 7: Cat Burns, singer

Sliding into Grace’s sitting room this week is rising star and multitalented comedian, playwright and musical theatre creator, Daniel Foxx. Bringing his concoction of gunk meant only for solo consumption in the small hours, there’s nowhere left to hide. Buckle up and join Grace and Daniel as they go on a tour of the ins and outs of life in the fast lane – or is that the M6 at 1am? Daniel shares his different incarnations – from coming out age 11 to donning a string of pearls post-lockdown. His observational obsessions have helped to feed his viral hit The Supervillain’s Gay Assistant and Grace and Daniel unpick its threads with scurrilous delight. Oh, and there’s a modern-day love story involving Tinder and trains. Scoop it all up with love and a crunchy lentil curl

S3 E1: James May, broadcaster

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