Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware

Queen comic Jo Brand turned up at our doorstep laden with gifts; a nativity tote bag and shoes to polish the floor with! We tucked into an effortless mid-week roast whilst discussing hairy gooseberries, sandwich spread, road rage, being heckled and Paul Hollywood! This wonderful woman can do no wrong, and it was an absolute pleasure finally getting her on the pod after a drunken proposal two years ago at Jools Holland's Hootenanny (god do I sound like I'm Jessica in Love is Blind?!) Enjoy!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Legend of stage and screen Vanessa Williams joined us for dinner and we could NOT believe we had a Grammy, Tony and Emmy nominee in our kitchen. The Desperate Housewives star tells us all about her new West End show ‘City Of Angels’ and we chat about Vanessa’s incredible worldwide travels, her outrageous Thanksgiving turkey-basting traditions and the Ugly Betty wedding that took place at her LA house! We had an honest chat about her misunderstood Miss America resignation and even got a singalong of the total karaoke classic ‘Save The Best For Last’. Vanessa, we absolutely loved you with all the Colours Of The Wind (YES, she was the voice of Disney’s Pocahontas)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When David Schwimmer needs you to come to a hotel for a food chat you run there!! We talk to our global friend about Gouda, his magic themed barmitzvah, Jewish delis, caccio e pepe, NY & the UK, his new Sky One show 'Intelligence', Bake Off, coffee, his theatre company in Chicago...and then there's that chat about Dr Alex's dry banana bread. This is a golden episode and we love you David. You can watch Intelligence on Sky One & streaming service Now TV.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We invited British actor, Callum Turner over for a fish dinner. After a mesmerising performance as Sean Emery in the BBC's The Capture, he's now in the brand new film 'Emma' playing Frank Churchill. We talk to the Londoner about growing up on a Chelsea estate with his Mum, who was a night club promoter, supporting Chelsea (

We are back for series 9 and with a lot of good craic! We’ve been trying to nail down this week's guest ever since we became friends on a Love Island WhatsApp group. I have laughed and swooned at her wit and grace from afar for a while now so it was my total pleasure to offer a hoodie and a green tea to Irish actress, writer, and all round hilarious human, Aisling Bea. And thank God she came, if only to explain the meaning of 'dogging' to mum. We chat Irish whisky, plane food, Love Island (of course) sustainability and nibbling on toasted pecans. Aisling is the sharpest cheddar on the board and god we love her!!!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

To close this series of Table Manners we decided to get an absolute Christmas cracker in, the Mother of ALLLL mothers, the Mother of Dragons! After hearing this lady was a fan of the podcast I swooped in like a baby dragon and coaxed her with the promise of chicken soup (her request!) and she even broke her gluten free policy to sample mum's matzoh balls. We talk to our dream girl about her dear late dad's passion for food, salad in a bag, boarding school meals and setting up her charity, Same You with her mum after having 2 brain aneurysm in her twenties. What a treat to have the nation's sweetheart over for dins. Thanks so much for listening. We will be back in the new year. Mum and I just need a little 'Time Out'

We were only going to do meals on wheels and travel to someone else's place if they were someone we have been angling for since series 1. And of course they were most certainly going to get THE chicken soup (I had a massive cold so it was selfishly suggested by moi). It's JAMIE OLIVER!! The Naked Chef, the people's champ, the person who taught most of us millennials how to cook. We grab Jamie at Jamie Oliver HQ after we watch him high five all his staff, kiss babies and see a team pickling sesh going on. He proclaims mum's balls are the best he's ever had, we talk a lot about family, the nostalgic smell of hibiscus, dyslexia, his wife eating gravy with a fork and holding back his cookbook Veg for years. What an honour to meet this gent. X  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's December and that means we can start eating Xmas dinners on the regular. Knowing full well this puddycat Anglophile loves a roast with all the trimmings, we offered up a full on festive feast for the stunning Nicole Scherzinger (nice one Waitrose and John Lewis) Not only did we teach her what a nut roast & bread sauce was, we served up the best Christmas turkey she’s ever had! We chat musical theatre, being a goth, her upbringing in Hawaii, and MOST IMPORTANTLY how the formidable, extraordinary Prince introduced her to my music (!) I also got her to sing Moana to my daughter…. What a doll, what a revelation and what a start to Christmas! We're going on tour! Table Manners will be live next Spring - for more information and tickets visit: http://gigst.rs/TableManners  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mum was beside herself when this guest was suggested and demanded we make this chat over cake happen, so, we put in the call and welcomed Lancashire born hitmaker Rick Astley to Clapham! Rick tells us about teaching Mary Berry to play the drums, rickrolling, that performance with Dave Grohl, his own beer and his wife’s speciality of making curried herring (!). He charmed mum over an afternoon tea of pumpkin cake and finger sandwiches - we're never gonna give you up Rick, you're too much of a gent.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I want to be a Haim sister. Feel lucky enough to have known these sublime women for a while. We have written songs together, eaten sushi, drunk hot chocolate, swapped doctor's details, celebrated birthdays, apologised to firemen...basically, every time you're with a Haim, it's a damn good memorable time. We treat them to their first home cooked meal in Blighty (of course with Lennie's medicinal chicken soup and Matzoh balls) and talk about being paid in matzoh balls, grapes in fruit salad, Bewitched, family, tacos and mum auditions to be the fourth member. It's Haim Time!! Table Manners is produced by Alice Williams  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s guest flew straight into mum’s kitchen from Los Angeles, where he’d been for his new film premiere, armed with his mother's banana and nut loaf! Hollywood actor and singing heart-throb, Luke Evans tells us all about his upbringing in the Welsh valleys, how he lives for a Dalston Doner kebab and who his favourite on-screen kisser is. We are treated to an award winning karaoke performance around the kitchen table, with only a 'little' wine. Encore, Encore!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Well daaaaaaarrrrling, if there’s ever a time to crack open the bubbly over breakfast, it's when ultimate goddess Charlotte Tilbury pops over to mums! The Queen of glam, and our first makeup artist on Table Manners talks to us about growing up in Ibiza, sleeping in her make-up, jet setting round the world and painting A-lister's faces. As if mum couldn’t love her anymore, she arrived with champagne & homemade gazpacho in hand and a suitcase full of lippie. Get ready for a ‘darling-off’ and stay tuned for a Lennie lipstick! Enjoy!!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A lesson was learnt here - don't invite a rock star into your home on a Friday night and expect mum to hold back on the wine, or hold back on baiting me to drink more. Currently number 1 with their new record, we welcomed the wonderful Foals front man Yannis through our doors. We celebrate the band's marriage, talk a LOT about Greece and his Greek Jewish heritage (much to mum's delight), the reason he couldn't perform at the Mercury Music prize this year and his love for Creme Fraiche. He resists offering up his last supper and to be honest, the nights a bit of a blur - so much so, we forgot to take a photo!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we welcomed Birmingham-bred Labour MP Jess Phillips for brunch. Brother Alex hid upstairs (as he does when one of his favourites is downstairs) whilst we ate Turnip and Sweet Potato Fritters with Fried Eggs on top and an Ottolenghi Apple cake. We talked about watching Scandal whilst writing her second book 'Truth to Power', getting the blue tick on Instagram, her 'instagrammable' husband, home made Rhubarb Vodka and her son and his friends updating her wikipedia page to say that she ate Quavers in the bath.She'd stock pile toilet-roll for Brexit and her Karaoke song trumps Liam Payne's in a big way. Enjoy this, it was an absolute pleasure to have her over x  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After showing mum that underwear pic, she couldn't hide her delight and enthusiasm at having our first ex One-Directioner at the Table Manners table. Although on a strict diet and fitness regime, Liam was a perfect guest enjoying what he could of the fantastic Beef and Mushroom pies we made him using a Waitrose & Partners recipe with their No. 1 range ingredients. We talk to him about dealing with fame, his terrible karaoke song choice, being a dad, finding love and happiness, tattoos and his favourite food being airport lounge calamari... Nothing was off the menu, even mother's filthy mouth, and we loved it! Liam Payne is served. X Produced by Alice Williams  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.