Jason Vale's Podcast
Jason Vale's Podcast
Getting The Juice With: Gemma Atkinson
Jason kicks off Season 4 with none other than super fit, super inspirational and super talented Gemma Atkinson.
It’s no secret how committed Gemma is to her health and fitness, and an annual visit to Juicy Oasis to rest and recharge is always top of her list (Covid-permitting, of course!).
In this first episode of a brand new series, Gemma & Jason have a straight-talking conversation about vegetarianism, cows milk, calories, and Gemma reveals what advice she’d give to her 18-year-old self.
If you’re looking for a podcast that is politics and religion free and one that focuses on inspiration, a bit of good old-fashioned banter and plenty of laughs - then this could be for you!
It's the Jason Vale Podcast, everybody.Thank youverymuch. Listen, whatever you're doing wherever you are. once again genuinely thank you for your company with so many podcasts, with so much to watch and listen to these days everybody's fighting for position, but really appreciate your time, and you wanting to listen to this podcast. Idon't blame you if you do, because you've already seen who my guest is. If you haven't. My guest today is a star of, I mean, where do we even start actually there's a whole list here?! Star of stage and screen. She's a former model, huge health advocate, animal-lover, magazine-cover-star, radio presenter, and a true ...and one of the very few genuine inspirations for all things, health, fitness, and ethics. She's also got some pretty nifty dance moves, as I think we all saw on Strictly Come Dancing. I can, of course only be talking about the second most famous Atkinson after Rowan himself. Yes indeed, it's Gemma Atkinson, everybody! Come let's get... Thank you. So first up, I've got some good news, Gem. Really let's kick off the podcast with some really good news. And the good news is I've pressed record!
Gemma Atkinson:Yay! Yeah.
Jason Vale:So for that, so just a little bit of background. I actually recorded Gemma for apodcast episode few months back it was a really good podcast episode, then realized after I hadn't pressed record! And of course I didn't want to break it to Gemma straight away. So I thought, what can I do? I said, the files have been corrupted. I thoughtotherwise I'm going to be in all kinds of trouble. And then I came ... clean about a few weeks ago. Look, I've got to be honest. I didn't press record. So there you go. So listen, the fact that you've agreed to come on again. Well, first of all, you agreed to come on in the first page of amazing, butsecond you agreed to come on again, after I did that, I thought I'd missed my one and only chance, Gemma! So, listen, welcome back! I suppose. Welcome back!
Gemma Atkinson:Thank you. It's good to be back! It's good to see the little red light flashing. So we're all good!
Jason Vale:Listen, we've got quite a lot to get through. I mean, normally these podcast episodes about half an hour, 40 minutes, something like that, but you've done so much! With some guests it's kind of straightforward, but with you there's just so much! And I suppose, because this is a health and fitness podcast, I think we'd justright off the bat get into that stuff before we get into your incredible achievements over the years. And they all kind of link in with each other too. So first of all, have you always been in to your health and fitness has it played a major role in your life? Or was it something that's recently come to the fore?
Gemma Atkinson:Do you know what it's a bit of both to be honest. In school, it was always there. It was all I was really good at, to be honest in school. I mean, Igot my GCSEs and I did okay. But anything to do with PE I was there. I was sports captain of a lot of the teams. I was hockey, netball, rounders I was like, come on, let's do it! Hated cross country. And I still do. I've never seen the point in running for so long, but I just always thrived at sports. And then outside of school, I used to run for Manchester Girls Athletics Team, which again, I loved, but then Hollyoaks kind of came into my life and took over. So, because we were filming such long hours, I missed out on a lot of the training that was required to be part of the athletics team. You know, we have to train three times a week at minimum. And I was lucky if I made one, because I was filming in Liverpool. So it kind of took a back-burner, and when I was filming Hollyoaks it was a lot of nights out, McDonald's, it was basically like university, but, you know, you were working as well as it was a job. And I started to notice my appearance changing and I don't mean as in, oh, I got fat, because I've never been about, a number. It was kind of like, my skin became quite spotty. My dark circles, my hair was not as healthy as it was. I was just feeling like, Ugh. And it took me quite a while to realize, ah, it's because I'm, not eating the way I used to. So it wasn't even so much about the lack of training from athletics. It was about the fuel that I was missing out on because before and after a training session, I always fuelled well, because I thought I'm going to be sprinting all night. I need to make sure I eat properly. But when I was filming, it was a case of grab what I, when I could. And it was anything - like stopping on the motorway at the service station. And it just kind of all seemed to roll into one. Ah, I maybe need to get back on to health and fitness again. And through that realization that I started making changes again.
Jason Vale:I was going to say was it after, because you were in Hollyoaks I think 2001 to 2005 round that time. Was it the entire time you were at Hollyoaks that you kind of just felt, over that four year period, like you said, you're on the go, you're just grabbing some stuff, you're not really in a routine when it comes to food or even fitness at that point. And then afterwards, did you think, right. I need to get back on that game again?
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah, it was kind of, I mean, for example, my typical breakfast, it was like an egg butty
Jason Vale:An egg butty, love! An egg butty.
Gemma Atkinson:And every tea break, and look this is no joke. Every tea break I used to have a mint Aero (chocolate bar) every afternoon and wonder why for the rest of the afternoon, I had a headache and was feeling just utterly crap. And during during the filming of Hollyoaks my dad passed away and my dad was six foot, he didn't smoke. He didn't drink. You know, he maybe had... If he went out with his mates or my mum, had a drink at the weekend, but nothing, you know, too much. And he died of a heart attack through stress. He managed his own company and the doctor said it was stress that, did it. And I kind of thought, wow, you know, we really need to take care of ourselves. So I think that was a moment as well, where I was like, okay, I really need to watch what I'm doing now, because I don't know if it does run in the family, but back then it was kind of, cause I was only 17, I was saying to my mom, if it's happened to dad it could happen to me. You know, you have all these kinds of fears. So Ithen started making subtle changes, joined the gym, and it was the feeling it gave me, I didn't really notice the changes in my body shape or skin until way down the line. But thechanges it gave me mentally were almost instant and I was like, right, okay. I've found what I want to do. This is incredible. This feeling that people are paying for, you can just get for free by exercise and it's brilliant. I loved it.
Jason Vale:So much research has been done, as you're probably more than aware of, but in terms of physical activity, exercise linked with mental health issues, essentially. Even the top scientists said, there isn't a pill on the planet that can do what physical exercise can do in terms of lifting your mental health. Now, we all know there's a challenge in that if somebody's genuinely depressed, which is a different ballgame altogether, getting them on to exercises is very difficult as well. So there's a need for both things, but if you can be in a position where you can turn to good food and exercise, like you said, here's a feeling here that's essentially free. You know, and people say, oh no, I can't afford to go to a gym. Everybody can exercise, no matter where they are, no matter what they're doing and they can eat well, as well. People say you've got to have a lot of money to eat well, and how much is a banana, you know? And you can...
Gemma Atkinson:That's the thing. The my Aero mint that I used to have, every afternoon was more expensive than the banana, that I've changed it to!
Jason Vale:And it's funny as well because people from old school think, I mean, let's take the banana an example. And they say, well, I remember having a conversation once saying, well do you know how many calories are in a banana, somebody said to me? I said, no, cause I don't know how many calories there are in anything. I don't count calories. Cause it's interesting to observe they were having, I think it was one of those granola bars from Starbucks or whatever it was at the time, which, if they're a calorie person, that's about 250 and a banana's about a hundred. And yet their brain would tell them, oh no, a banana is much worse than the granola bar! And you go, where did you hear that?
Gemma Atkinson:IAlways go back to when I was on holiday with the girls, once. One of my friends at the time she was on a diet and I just hate the word 'diet' I I just think it's you shouldn't have to do it. It's just about balancing things, but ... We went to this restaurant for, a meal and it was a really great, massive salad, avocado, so much goodness in it. And she brought out a bar and it was in her bag that she'd brought with her and she's completely over this now, and she's really switched up, and she looks and feels great. But at the time, because the salad had around 500 calories in it, she went for this bar that, like you said, had less than 200. But there was no nutrition at all in that. You know, seeing this bowl is full of goodness, and you're going to feel amazing. You're you know, your body's gonna thank you for eating it. And she was going to eat that bar and you're just gonna feel like crap. But she was so caught up on the calorie thing.
Jason Vale:Well, people still are to this day, Gem, which astonishes me. Cause when you really drill down, you know, you, haven't got to drill down too far to understand that we all burn calories in very different ways. All of our metabolisms are slightly different anyway, and it depends on the food itself, how much is usable, how much the body will extract digest, disposing the waste and so on. And also we're the only creatures on earth thatcount calories, and as you've just pointed out, an avocado... For years, I think it was one of these weight loss centers, kind of chains that made everybody scared of avocados because they contain fat. It's an extraordinary thing. But people are now obviously realizing, I think avocado, even to this day, as we speak is still now the most photographed image on Instagram.
Gemma Atkinson:Mia actually, my daughter, has avocado every day. She loves that. She eats it with a spoon, like a little boiled egg
Jason Vale:Kids! I've got little JJ as well, and it's interesting to see how his desires have changed now that he's passed three years old and other people sometimes look after him. And so therefore you can't always be around exactly everything that they give because they think they're being kind, don't they? They think they're being kind by going, oh, go on just have a bit of that, go on, just have of that
Gemma Atkinson:Nanny's giving chocolate the time.
Jason Vale:And now all of a sudden, he loved colored food and he still does, but now he also likes beigefood. And you're like, what, what have other other people done to him? But to revert back the fitness for a minute, cause you you're really, I mean, you've got health and fitness. I mean, you eat well, and then every now and then you're human, which is great which people love to see on your Instagram. Because you're just honest you, one of the very few honest people, I think that's why you've got such a huge following as well. People understand that none of this is BS and you show your worst days, your best days in between. And, but the physical exercise element of it is something that you are a hundred percent focused on. Were you focused on it as much before... I mean, obviously you, I think you were, but obviously you and Gorks got together when you did Strictly Come Dancing. But cause he's really into his fitness. I mean, this guy's 3% body fat.
Gemma Atkinson:Insane! He is. Know what? I've never met anyone as motivated as Gorka when it comes to his training and a lot of people, because he's a dancer, obviously they have to be very physical anyway, they are fit. I mean, I always, I never realized how athletic dancers were until I did Strictly, and so they'd have to do the group number over and over and over and over, and none of them would break a sweat! And I was like, oh my gosh, this is insane! But Gorka loves the weight training side of it. He's very much into CrossFit as well, at the minute, he loves that. And people always say to him, are you not dancing? You know? And he's like, when he's not doing Strictly, the last thing he wants to do is dance. But he says it's vital for him to keep, training, keep his body in tip top shape. I guess it's like when a footballer's got off season, a lot of them will still dabble in training because they don't want a hard time when they get back. It makes you feel amazing. He said nothing makes him feel better than just even just 40 minutes. You don't have to do hours slogging it. 40 minutes, 45 minutes. And you're done.
Jason Vale:Well, it changes the brain chemicals. I mean, I was having a stressful time the other day anyway, down at this build. Any way long, involved story- get back, and it's one of those. You have a choice you're just so tired. Your blood sugar levels are on the floor and you're really peed off about, cause it happens to all of us. And you think right what shall I do? What shall I turn to, to change my state? That's effectively what it is. And lucky enough, my brain has enough references to know that actually, if I jump on my spinning bike for 40 minutes, I know I'm going to feel alright. And I always say, if I still feel like this in 45 minutes, then I'll go and grab something to the case is. But actually let me, let me give myself that 45 minutes first. See how I feel. And every time, every time, ofcourse, itchanges the brain chemistry, you feel good. Now he's into weights. You were a runner. Are you more cardio, he's more weights? Or is it now because on your body plan, which we'll get onto in a minute you're, you're pretty much into weights as well aren't you? Weight training?
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah, I do love weight training . I used to have a fear of weight training, which a lot of women still do. I used to fear that I'd become bulky and look like a man. And when I got with my PT and I said to him, please don't make me too big. I don't want to look masculine! He literally rolled around laughing and he was like, are you insane? He said, it's hard enough for a guy to look like a man. He says, and we have way more testosterone than you. He said, you have, I think you said, like we have an eighth of the testosterone required to build muscle. And I said, yeah but you see women bodybuilders? And he said, they're not just doing, you know, good exercise
Jason Vale:Yeah, they're having some other stuff.
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah, he said there's a lot more involved. He said, you can train as hard and as long as you like, but you will never, ever naturally look like a man. And that was about 10 years ago and I'm still training hard and eating well. And I'm still, last time I checked, not as butch as , the male bodybuilders
Jason Vale:No it's fair to say you don't look like a man, Gem! I think that's fair... I think that is more than fair to say. 2018 saw the Ultimate Body Plan, which absolutely stormed it
Gemma Atkinson:The intro is kind of like talking to people on a one-to-one basis of my story with health and fitness and how sometimes life, I think a lot of people assume if you do a certain job or you're in the public eye or whatever, that your life's always been incredible and fantastic. And I thought it was best to be honest and real about all thecrappy stuff that's happened to me also. And all the times I've messed up. Because if I had gone through all of that stuff and still come out and done X, Y, and Z I just think it's more realistic. I hate reading a book by someone and thinking, well, I'm never going to achieve that because you were born to millionaire parents and you've got servants think it's not achievable. But if I read one of someone who actually had the same upbringing and childhood and issues that I had, but has turned it around and saying, oh, right it means they can do it, you know, I can do it. I saw the quote from it was an Olympian. And he said, you don't want to diet and exercise, you want to train and fuel. And I thought that's exactly what it is. It's about training your body to do what it can, even if it's just a brisk walk daily, it doesn't have to be throwing weights around, just getting that walk in. And fueling it, to perform atoptimum level. And I thought that's what it is. It's fuelling as opposed to dieting. So that's the message that we drove in the book.
Jason Vale:And that's what the Ultimate Body Plan is about.. I don't know if it's out already or it's you know, it's released in 2020. Cause you're doing an Ultimate Body Plan for new mums as well? Are are you doing? That's out next week. It should have been out this April, but because of the pandemic, we couldn't do the photo shoots or the exercises. I was going to try and push past the old pandemic, but it's very difficult to do that, obviously, because even time of of recording there's still elements of it still going on and who knows? You might listen to this in five years time, and who knows some of restrictions might not have been lifted, but on that note without getting political, because we don't need to, but just a genuine opinion on this because I know what mine is and I haven't hidden it. In terms of I'm always going to look back, I think, in fact I know I'm always gonna look back and think - gym's closed, things like health retreats closed, McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut open. In a health epidemic where we know now it's clear that 78 to 80% of people and this isn't fat- shaming in any way, shape or form because there's addiction involved and everything else. But if you were, for whatever reason, unlucky enough to be overweight or obese, for argument'ssake 80% of people that were hospitalized or unfortunately passed with COVID were overweight or obese. Without that, there isn't an epidemic. Now, again, not picking on those, far from it. I used to be there myself and I understand all the complications, particularly addiction that comes with that, but then I never saw once, you know, save the NHS, eat veg and exercise. Never saw that. I must have missed it. I don't know where I missed it, but they now know that the transmissions in gyms were non-existent essentially. So they needn't have closed the gyms, and it's all that knee jerk stuff. if they needed to close the gyms fair enough, but it seemed odd that they still had McDonald's, and stuff like that open. I don't know how you felt about it? Did it frustrate you a little or not? I don't know.
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah, it frustrated me a lot because, where we live in a little village, there's a little fruit and veg stall and it's a little family run fruit and veg business. And every morning they're out there shutters open and selling fresh fruit and veg to people. And during the pandemic I used to drive past, all the shutters were closed, a mile up the road you've got your KFC drive-through open. And I was just like, how, how you know, why is no one educating people? It's not about shaming them because no one wants to feel ashamed about how they look, Or like you say the unfortunate circumstances they've gotten themselves into, through either habits from parents or, things that have happened. But rather than think to people, you can fix this by simply taking, you know, for example, a headache tablet, when probably you're dehydrated, drink some water. It, baffles me that there's no education out there. And I think it should start in schools when it comes to, you know, things like just human skills in school. like you say, picking good foods and how it's beneficial for you and, keeping eye contact with someone when you're speaking. That for me is more important than trying to figure out Pythagoras' theorem you know?
Jason Vale:Yeah. Have you ever used Pythagoras' theorem? I've never it. Ever since. I've never once wondered what an isosceles triangle was after I
Gemma Atkinson:okay But like, if you go into a business meeting with someone, youwant to be able to connect with them properly, using your manners, then using theirs, and then you have you know, your food platter of you have good food come in, you're lucky enough to have that. And when we Mia started nursery, one of the first questions I asked was, what do you feed them? Because I, I inquired that with every nursery I didn't want them to come home hyper, and you know, going crazy. And she said, each nursery has its own chef. None of the sauces are jars. They're all healthy, everything's made fresh, they only drink water. And they only have fruit. There's nothing, no chocolate bars or anything like that. And I'm not saying she's never going to have that I mean, gosh, she goes to my mum's for the afternoon, she comes home covered in chocolate! But when she's at nursery learning, you know, I want her be eating well.
Jason Vale:Well, life skills, as you just pointed out there in school are vital. And I don't understand, I think this is, I guess all governments not... I'm not just talking about any particular political party, all governments during this time that we've gone through with this COVID situation, there's not one, no matter what country you look at, they didn't say, and I know I keep repeating it, but they never said, eat veg, move your body, save the NHS. Or you can actually put some of this into your own hands and it's always been no, no, no, it doesn't matter what you eat, doesn't matter what you drink- in fact it's never mentioned. I mean, none of it was ever mentioned all, which is an incredible thing. Doctor Aseem Malhotra who I did a podcast with, a top cardiologist, and he's been very vocal with always throughout this whole thing. And he said it's more a metabolic disease than a virus. And again, that gets a little bit controversial, but what he's saying, of course that, like anything else, if you're under attack, well how strong are your defences? It's a very good point. And by giving the impression that actually we can't do anything about it, or it makes no difference what you eat or drink, which is the impression they give, then people think, well, why bother then? I think there's at the back of this, I don't know if you're finding it, Gem, as well, a lot of people that follow you and body plan, everything else, as we come out, which is at the time of this recording, people ARE starting to focus a lot now on their health, thinking actually this is important. Or they've drunk too much, they've eaten too much, they've done this, again, not through, you know, there's just been stuck in their houses and stuff, but now they can get out, they can move. So, things like the Ultimate Body Plan are going to become SO vital for people.
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah. I think people have realized now the importance of self-care. And I think when you were saying about things, not being said, my personal opinion is that I think there's a lot of fear of offending people. And I think when you're in a position where you're a doctor or a nurse, that should be the least of your worries. One of my closest friends, Micky, she'd lost 10 and a half stone and she was morbidly obese. Yeah. And. She just said, no one really told her the dangers and she wasn't really aware. And she She said it was one doctor who turned it around for her. And she said, he just point- blank said to her, if you carry on the way you are, you're going to die. He said, you will die, like literally within a year, two years. And she said, that was kind of "What? Really?". And he was like, yeah. And literally from that moment, she came out, she's got a book, she used to be on Hollyoaks, actually. And she actually said, from that moment, she was like, I'm done. And she just stopped. And we're 15 years now? And she's lost 10 and a half stone. And she's...
Jason Vale:That is incredible.
Gemma Atkinson:She's never looked back, but she just said it was that fear, and no one had given her because she said, no one ever said, you're fat or you're obese or you're overweight. It was just a case of, well, you're choosing to eat this so this is happening. And it was the hard cut advice she said that just hit her straight. And I think nowadays there's a fear of doing that because you don't want to upset or offend anyone, but when their life is on the line, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind because ultimately you want that person to be here and enjoying their life.
Jason Vale:Well in exactly the same way. It's it's funny. Cause I think I guess obesity food addiction is the last bastille of being able to say something in the sense that smokers now, there's nothing wrong with you telling a family member, look, I'm really worried about your smoking. I don't want you to die. Right? That's fine. We've yet to see that with food. But if it's a family member or somebody you care for, there is a way I think you can approach the subject. You know, you're not doing this because, Hey, why don't you do this? Because you'll look better. That's not the issue here. If the government's message a year ago was all this, then can you imagine if they banned all the junk food for a year? Not all forever, but just went, look.
Gemma Atkinson:We'd be in a completely different place now.
Jason Vale:Completely different place. And it's funny, cause like you said, people are scared of offending people. I put up some posts, Gem, during this time. Just rationally questioning things.
Gemma Atkinson:I've been on the firing line as well.
Jason Vale:Not in any conspiracy theorist way. I don't know where the line is between critical thinking, and conspiracy theory is. I mean, now you're not allowed to have any opinion at all on this subject. It makes you a crackpot David Icke fan, which isn't the case. Right? How've we reached the point though, that we are the only vehicle that, we don't really question the fuel, you use the word in the right capacity, if you hadyour car and it was a petrol car and you started putting in diesel, everybody will quite rightly start shouting at you, going, what are you doing? You idiot. It's going to seize up, and I mean, look I eat the wrong things. So do you, Gem, every now and then, I mean, we're human, right?
Gemma Atkinson:I always think 80% of what my body needs and 20% what I want that to me is what works.
Jason Vale: I like that the 80:20 ratio is absolutely perfect. I mean, a lot of people listening to this will be relieved as well. They think it's all or nothing, but we're human.
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah. And I think food isthere to be enjoyed as well. I mean, Gorka's Spanish family. It's a whole thing. I mean, you'll know living in Spain. They make massive deal out of all sitting at the table together, all eating a big lunch together. It's a social event as well. So it doesn't have to just be chicken and broccoli forever, Amen. That's the last thing we'd want to eat. Or it's just about finding the balance.
Jason Vale:Talking of that did you become a vegetarian? I read somewhere you did? And maybe you're not now? I don't know. I don't where you are, where you are.
Gemma Atkinson:I've been veggie now... I've not had any red meat for around 10 years
Jason Vale:wow. Okay.
Gemma Atkinson:I stopped fish and chicken coming up to two years. So, yeah.
Jason Vale:Oh fish as well. So you're not even a pescatarian. notevenapesky-person
Gemma Atkinson:Not even a pesky I'm full on veggie. I'm one of those!
Jason Vale:You're and you're an unusual veggie, do you know why? I because you actually, eat vegetables! It's true. Right?
Gemma Atkinson:I've had a lot of messages saying, what do you eat, when you're veg? how'd you get your protein? That's the one question?
Jason Vale:Well, it's funny, I've got a couple of questions here from people, that when I when I put it out and said any questions forGem or whatever, and one of them, was, well, she does a lot of training. You know, now she's a vegetarian, Where does she get her protein?
Gemma Atkinson:Well, I always say to people like fish is a source of protein, but so are chickpeas and lentils and kidney beans and tofu. I think people seeing that the only source of protein on this planet is chicken or beef or fish. Whereas if you look into lots of food sources of protein, there's so many that don't have to come from an animal. And that, for me, I mean, I thought about going veggie a long, long time ago, but I didn't research it enough. So I just poo-poo'd it. But when I sat down and looked into it and like you say, looked at options, I eat and cook better now than I ever did, because there's just so much variety that I didn't even know about. And obviously everyone's different and their food choices are their own. But for me personally, I've had more energy as well since cutting out meat. I don't know if that's a thing for a lot of people or just for me individually.
Jason Vale:Interesting. It was interesting to observe. I've been doing this for nearly 25 years now. And over the time, obviously every five years, there's a new distinction, or even you change your mind, I do about stuff that I'd even written about 25 years ago. And I came to conclusion I think humans are like dinosaurs, in a way, dinosaurs, there were carnivorous dinosaurs. They were herbivore dinosaurs and they, you know, even the herbivores had. big muscles. And you just, and you just go with, I know some of my friends, particularly males, although I'm not, I think, cause I have no probably no testosterone. So I can't put up a shelf, but I can iron, which is good. So, so Kate, Kate puts up the shelves for us. But I thrive on plant food. I'm okay with plant food. I know I am. I do eat fish, but I don't require it. I don't feel that I require it in order to get protein. Cause it's only amino acids. One avocado has all nine essential amino acids, which is the building blocks of protein, which is all you really need anyway and throw a few seeds in and we don't need anywhere near as much protein as we think. But there's some friends of mine who, guys in particular, I've seen them go vegetarian. And or one of them went vegan as well, and they weren't themselves. At all. Well, Actually, maybe he, when he went vegetarian, he didn't actually do veggy-tarian. He did what most people do, which is carb- arian, I callit.Which is actually just got, well, I can't understand why I'm still overweight and I'm still ill. But yeah, I, you know, I've gone vegetarian. You go, well, what are you eating? Well, rice pasta bread. You go, have you got any vegetables there? No.
Gemma Atkinson:I think it's what's drilled into people as well. Like when it comes to, your own children, an example, Mia's has never had cows milk in her life. And I know some people'll go, what? I don't drink cow's milk. I haven't done for years.
Jason Vale:Why do they... it's an interesting thing, to pick up on that. Why do they say what? I mean, what, you know, why w why would, why would you say if you found a different species? Okay. And you said to them, how come you've never had cow's milk, andyouspoke to a different species than a cow? They would say because I'm not a cow or a calf.
Gemma Atkinson:When she was born, I breastfed her for as long as possible. I think I did around 9, 10 weeks of breastfeeding, then she went on to formula and then when she was weening it was drilled into me by lots of other mums, health practitioners, you know? And I'm not, obviously you must take the advice of health people. Absolutely. But for me personally, cause I don't drink cow's milk. I thought I'm not going to give to Mia what I don't have myself because of the reasons why I don't drink it. And they were telling me if she does not have the cow's milk, her bones won't form properly. She's at risk of injury if she falls. All these things. And in my head, I'm thinking, she'd been breastfeeding from me for nearly three months, whatever. Why would I then go and put her under a cow's udder? You know why it's kind of, kind of didn't sit well with me that it's not natural for myself as a human to go and drink milk from a cow. So I'm always, oat, almond, coconut, any alternatives and
Jason Vale:Whatdidyoumix with it? Because for JJ, we had avocado, banana, water, a little bit of cucumber juice, bits like that. And we did that and that was like, oh, a little Milky is what we'd call it. And although Kate managed to breastfeed for actually quite a while But then at some point you've got to wean off and go and it's, that's the question, isn't it? What do we do? Do we fall under the pressure of everybody else saying he's going to get brittle bone disease, he's gonna do this, there'll be some people screaming at this podcast already, I mean, look up until the age of three, just so we know, we have two enzymes renin and lactase. Okay. So even if a child has goats milk, cows milk, it has got the enzymes at least break those down. People can think this is a controversial conversation right now, but whichever way you cut it, we are the only adult mammals that still drink milk after weaning age. And that's why I put a covenant in there and saying, look okay. Even if it's up to the age of three, if you're fearful or whatever. But after that,
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah. you can get advice from everybody, but ultimately you and Kate know what you want to do with JJ and how you want to bring him up and you know what you want to feed him. And that's the same with me and Mia. And my mum said to me, you know, you and Gorka have to make these choices for her because you know, you're her parents. So take the advice. And obviously I'm no doctor at all. But for me personally, I need the reasons why I didn't drink cow's milk and the benefits from me not having it. So I was not going to make Mia drink it because I was told I had to from research from years and years and years back and touch wood, so far, she's absolutely fine. She's you know, she's thriving. She's great.
Jason Vale:Yeah, what hits the headlines every now and then Gem, you will see is that, you know, you see a baby who literally is withering away or whatever the case is, and I remember one last year where they said, oh the parents, there was no animal products and all they've done is give them almond milk. Now, we don't know the full story behind that. And clearly they might not have given them anything else. Which honestly, if you only drink almond milk and nothing else, you know, or didn't eat else or do anything else then, of course you're probably in trouble, but that's the headline you see? You know, that's why I get frustrated, I mean, my first ever book that I wrote over 20 years ago, I said, you know, even cows don't drink milk. And that was one of the headlines that I put. And it's one of those that sometimes people read that and they think, Oh, actually, maybe there's something in it. That doesn't mean that you cannot, for those listening, just to be clear, that doesn't mean your body cannot put up with a certain amount of anything as Gems, even
alluded to:80 20 rule a hundred percent every time. And the body works on that same ratio, more or less, even 70, 30 to be quite frank- you'll thrive. You can still really thrive on that. And it means that we were designed that if anything, that wasn't ideal for the human body went into our body, we can still easily survive and still easily thrive. But it's all about the ratio, what you do most of the time, determines your weight and health. And that's what we're talking about here. Just in case when we get, we get tons of letters after this, you can imagine the headline, can't you 'Gemma Atkinson says, don't give milk to babies'.
Gemma Atkinson:course.
Jason Vale:And this is, yeah, this is what they do. Anyway, listen so I want to get back to Strictly Come Dancing, obviously so much to cover and your appearance. We were in a little boat together on the River do Zezere right. In the middle of Portugal. Right. Whichwas a beautiful day. And I think you'd just found out that you were going to be on Strictly and you were so excited, like you weren't meant to tell anybody. I felt really blessed on two fronts: A. You told me, but B. You trusted me enough to tell me. And you knew, I wouldn't tell anybody, which was great. So like I didn't. And you madethedecision there didn't you, you made the decision there. Didn't you read the book? Was it Oprah Winfrey book or something you were at Juicy Oasis? What the story again? Yeah.
Gemma Atkinson:I'd been asked to do Strictly and I said, no, I just said to my agent it's too big, 15 million people watch it. I can't. It's too much pressure. And they came back and asked again, and she was like, just think about it. It's a great opportunity. I was happy doing the radio just cause I could live at home and 20 minutes into work. She said, listen, just think about it. It's a big deal. And I booked to come to your Juicy retreat in Portugal with my mum and stepdad Peter and said, look, I'm going to Jason Vale's, that's the one place on the planet where I can just sit and think and be, and if anything comes to me, we'll just go with it. I said, just leave me to have a week. So I came to your retreat. I remember thinking I'm gonna have my phone off all week. And in the room where we stayed at the retreat, there was a book, an Oprah Winfrey book. And I just casually flicked it open, and on the page. I opened it on all it said was 'if you have a chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you choose to dance'. I kind of went, oh! And I told my mom, she said, well, that's kind of a sign, Gem. So was like, right, yeah. So I text my agent and said to her, I'm in for Strictly. Don't ask me again though cause I might change my mind, but yeah, Oprah says I should do it. So I'm going to do it. And she was like, what? Sentthemessage, turned my phone off. A day later went on the boat trip with you. Told you I was doing Strictly and the rest is history.
Jason Vale:It really is. That's a beautiful quote, by the way, for everything, unbelievably relevant to what you were about to do, obviously. What was it, if you got a chance to
Gemma Atkinson:If if you have a chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you choose to dance.
Jason Vale:you said it's a really lovely, and actually that's just to help me because I'm this build that I'm going through as well. I wish that I'd sat it out to honest!
Gemma Atkinson:No, well, we have to dance on it!
Jason Vale:but actually is that true? Would I reach the end and think, You know, I'm glad I sat it out. I wouldn't, I think if you dance, you're always, it's one of those, there's two, there's two kinds of people in life. I think there's two, I'm writing a book called 'What If', and it's what if it goes wrong? What if it goes right? And the majority of people are, well, wow. You know, well, we'll buy the house, but what if that happens? Well, I would go for the new job, but what if that happens? Well, I would do that, but what if happened? And it tends to be the negative, what ifs and there's, there's a bunch of people that go yeah. But what if it goes right?
Gemma Atkinson:It's kind of, I'd rather say, oh, well than what if do you know what I mean? It's kind of like, I'd rather try and go, oh, well then what if I'd have done it? And it's the whole, you know, people say, oh, your glass is half empty. Your glasses are full type. You're an optimistic person. But I always think it doesn't matter about any of that because the bottom line is the glass is refillable. So whether you're so positive about something and it goes wrong or so negative, negative about something and it goes right, whatever side you're on, you can start a fresh anyway, just refill the glass. It doesn't matter, it's that simple for me.
Jason Vale:And what a sliding door moment that was, I mean, not only, I mean, you think about the knock-on effect because everything's a sliding door moment, right. Obviously, and you go right if that hadn't happened, then that wouldn't happen. Everything's a course set in motion, but the fact that you, like you said, read that one quote from Oprah and then made that decision that day, and then just went ahead with, it meant you look at the knock-on effect, not just the, how brilliant you are on Strictly and all of that and that wonderful experience. But the fact that you met Gorka there course you got a little Mia. I mean, this is the biggest sliding door in the world.
Gemma Atkinson:and it's mad, cause I didn't even dance Gorka, that's what's crazy about it. I mean, I danced with Aljaz (Skorjanec). Should we rehearsed in Manchester and Gorka rehearsed in London? So I only saw Gorka on the live shows on Saturdays. And then it was,
Jason Vale:I thought. I didn't see the show. I apologize. But
Gemma Atkinson:I didn't dance him. So we, saw each other at the live show on Saturday, but when we went on tour in the new year, that's when I started, you know, I saw him every day, cause we were all on tour together and it was during the live show they used to like think, oh yeah, he's quite attractive. But I think, I don't know if it's something with age or because I've met loads of attractive lads over the years, but I just, I was at the stage where it took a lot more than someone just being fit for me to go. Yeah, let's go
Jason Vale:I was going to say, I I mean, let's be fair. Of course it would take much more than somebody being fit. I mean, you went out with Ronaldo as well you know, so, I mean, let's be fair, you know, cause actually that was one of the things in Portugal when you came by the way. So when you were turning up for the first time, we didn't know each other. But the guy that was working on our reception, Portuguese fella, After you checked in or whatever he went, do you know who that I was like,Yes, oh, so, you know, I said, how do you know her? He goes, Ronaldo!
Gemma Atkinson:Oh, brilliant. Do you know? It's funny. I get Ronaldo in Portugal. And it's funny, because you mentioned him in the intro, I got upgraded in Thailand once because it was on Wikipedia that my dad was Rowan Atkinson! Obviously my dad isn't Rowan Atkinson!
Jason Vale:No, I was going to say, do you know what? You nearly threw me then. I've done some research for this podcast, but I did not realize...
Gemma Atkinson:I got upgraded to this really posh room in the Thailand resort. And they were, the staff couldn't do enough for me. And I was like, oh my God, the staff here are so beautiful and polite. And as I was leaving one of them asked how my dad was, and I said
Jason Vale:he passed away when I 17. But for asking.
Gemma Atkinson:last time I checked, he wasn't doing too well, why? He said, what do you mean? I said, well, he died. And the look of horror on their face! They were like, oh my God. And they were so upset. And in the end, I said, I'm really sorry. I'm not sure why it's affected you that much? And they spun their laptop around in reception. And they pointed to Rowan Atkinson and said, he's died. I said, no, Rowan Atkinson's not dying. No, he's not my dad. But was on Wikipedia, and that was the reason they'd upgraded me. So I might use that in the future when I go somewhere. I might say I'm Rowan Atkinson's daughter.
Jason Vale:Do you know what? really good to use rumours We did it at Juicy Oasis. There was a rumour going round just near there is a wonderful medieval village called Dornes. People come from all over the world to go there. Beautiful little place. And it was rumoured in all the newspapers, that Barack Obama, when he was president was coming to that place. And they said the only place to stay in the area at all, is Juicy Oasis in the middle of nowhere. So he must be going to Juicy Oasis. I thought, well, that's news to me. I didn't know he was coming! Anyway. So it happens to be April Fool's Day, and we thought we'd have a little play! So we found an image of him in some swimming shorts, the only one that we could use, coming out of our swimming pool. We just photoshopped it. And we just went, unfortunately news has got out. Barack Obama has had to leave because of these rumours and for his security purposes, but, you know, dah, dah, dah. And I said for the full story, click here, and when you click through it, had Donald Trump going 'fake news'. Right now. Now, now, now, now the problem is, is that most people are headline readers, so they never clicked through. So I've had people come over the years every year, at least there's got to be 20-40 people say, oh, I can't believe Barack Obama was here!
Gemma Atkinson:Theywanttobeinthatroom?
Jason Vale:That room Yeah, I can't believe that either. So there you go. And there's all kinds of rumours- Ed Sheeran's been, he hasn't, but I'll keep the rumour going. I'm not bothered, but, but there you go. You've got to keep it going. Right. Just a quick 10 questions here, just to run through these. We need a second episode of the podcast. Cause I haven't touched on so many. I mean, there's a billion things, but health and fitness was the main focus so that's good. You're busy, inspiring other people. But who do you turn to for your inspiration?
Gemma Atkinson:cliche but probably my mum for everything. Really. I just think she's a great mum to me and my sister. She's the one who keeps my feet on the ground. If I get an amazing job or opportunity, she'll be like, right, but you know, remember us when you come back. she's very, just no airs and graces with my mum. And I think if I'm half the mum she is, I'll be pleased with that. That's box ticked for me.
Jason Vale:it's not cliched. anybody's got close relation and I know your mom. She's wonderful. And the thing is, is that, of course, anybody with a close relationship with their mother knows that that's it. They're the first person you call aren't. They they're the first anything happens. You pick up the phone they're they are this is an interesting question. What elements need to happen for you to feel like you've had a successful day?
Gemma Atkinson:I like to come home from a day and think I've achieved something, even if it's just something really simple, like making someone laugh at work, or taking their mind off something that they're going through. Getting home when my petrol lights on reserve, but I've still made it home. You know, little, little things, little, little tiny accomplishments. It doesn't have to be a massive big gesture for me. I like making lists of things. Like in the day I havetick lists. Like the start of today was Jason Vale. I had that on my list so when this is done I'll tick it off. It's that slowly steadily, you know, you don't have to do everything all at once. And I've learned that the hard way, because when I've tried to please everyone, tried to do everything all at once. I've realized everyone around me is at peace and I'm in pieces trying to make sure everything's going and moving and you can't do that. So sometimes an accomplished day is just a day where you've not achieved so much but you're at peace and you feel happy and relaxed, and you've got your little girl and your fiance across the living room and all is well. And that for me is a successful day.
Jason Vale:Yeah, Cause some people deem that certain things must happen. You know, like I must have eaten this. I must've exercised X amount. I must have done this, but it's a feeling success isn't it, at the end of the day. Somebody's put any advice for an 18 year old, Gemma Atkinson?
Gemma Atkinson:Just to do what you want to do without shame or embarrassment or anything, just go for it. I think there was a time before social media came out, I used to get quite upset over newspaper articles. Cause nowadays if there's an article out that's not true or something that's quite, dangerous and the writing's really bad, and you think, I didn't say that. I don't believe that. You can correct it all on your Instagram or your Twitter. You can say this article's out, but in fact, this is what I really said. You can call people out. From Hollyoaks up until I was like 25, 26 there was none of that. So for a good 10 years of being in this industry, it was the media, and you had no voice. You had no comeback. Unless you did a shoot, which again, they're controlling. So I went, I went through a phase of. Every headline. I used to think that every single person would believe and every single person would hold against me. And that was one of the reasons why I think my family and my agency were saying Do Strictly so people can see what you're like as a person. And now with social media, like you said, you have your own voice and platform. You can put people right. But when that wasn't an option, it used to affect me a lot. So from age 18 to like 25, that was the time it was like, oh gosh, I can't show my face. I go and put petrol in my car and as I'd walk to pay I'd see my, face on the paper with a headline that wasn't true. And I'd be so embarrassed because I tell the 18 year old not to be embarrassed, not to be ashamed because it's so fickle and it's just paper and you're going to be all right.
Jason Vale:And you say to her, don't worry, social media is coming
Gemma Atkinson:Yeah. You can call them all out on your own time
Jason Vale:yeah. And also 1.6 million just on Instagram alone, you've got, so you really can put it right, because of these newspapers have a readership of about 300,000 now. Soall of a sudden you have a much higher readership, than most newspapers in the country, which is an astonishing thing. When you think about that turnaround, you own a bigger platform that will be read than most of the newspapers that used to write about you. And it's a wonderful kickback, really. I think it'sbrilliant
Gemma Atkinson:Karma! Comes back around you see,
Jason Vale:A few on health and fitness really quick. Cause I know times is against us now. How often do you juice? I mean I don't know whether you juice all the time or whether it even plays a part? I know You juice when you come on Juicy Oasis cause you have choice! But.
Gemma Atkinson:I love juicing!. You know what I had, I had my emergency C-section with Mia, the first thing I did when I came out, I got your seven day juice stuff delivered to the house, because again, it was a case of resting up all about recovering. Internal, scar tissue, whatever. So it was again, nutrients, nutrients, nutrients. So I did the seven day juice diet and it was brilliant because I couldn't move about really because of my scar. Cause I'd obviously had
Jason Vale:no, you went through, yeah. I mean, both Kate and yourself went through It was a nightmare. I mean, sounds like one of the most horrific nightmares. But on the back of it now, Mia, I mean, you're like, you couldn't be happier. Right. You would have had that emergency C-section all day long if you knew at the of it. It's a, yeah. So, okay. you guys have a juice a day or not really? Just like you do a plan and because I know a lot of people who just literally do a plan, but then they don't have a juice any other time cause they eat really well,
Gemma Atkinson:I love a juice. if I'm out and about, and there's a juice shop, you know, someone's selling fresh juice or whatever, I'm there. If I'm, you know, I'll take fresh juice over anything. I've got a smoothie next to me at the minute, kale and spinach and frozen berries and avocado and all sorts of stuff in it. But I do, I like to start my mornings with a juice andaginger shot. You've got me on the ginger shots as well.
Jason Vale:Yeah. I take the credit for the ginger shot, but, but it's not me. People say, oh, you've invented the ginger shot. I didn't, it was a guy called Casper who owns or used to own Jo and the juice. So if you know the chain, Jo and the juice they all came to my retreat many years ago and, and Casper who owned it with all his guys. Right. Things we haven't talked about and we haven't got time to I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Masterchef. Soapstar Superstar. Calendar Girls. All of the Peter Pan didn't even know that, you were in well. How to Stop Being a Loser? I didn't know. You starred... hang on these. I have to do this. This can't be for next time. Starred in a romantic comedy called howtostopbeinga loser alongside Richard E. Grant!
Gemma Atkinson:Richard E. Grant, Martin Compston, was in it aswell
Jason Vale:Pamela Anderson! All right. I'm going to go look for that. Where can watchthat! Airborne. Another film. Night of the Living Dead! Gottacheckoutthesefilms
Gemma Atkinson:So many Brit films. And again, but this was all before I was like active on social media. So it took me a while to join social media. I think I was maybe four years late to joining. Even a Facebook. And all my mates at school was saying, you should get on Facebook we can all chat. I said I don't want to chat, I'm good! But then when I did get on it, it was like, you got hooked like everyone else. So I was a
Jason Vale:You do get hooked. How many times a day do you look at your phone or you're, or you're at that?
Gemma Atkinson:Too much! too much
Jason Vale:yeah, we all do
Gemma Atkinson:I try to turn it off from 8 o'clock in the evening. From seven, eight in the evening. I like to keep it off if I can. And I try not to get on until 10 in the morning. Sometimes it's a bit earlier.
Jason Vale:well. It's hard cause your, your alarm's on your phone as well as, so It's a bit tricky. So then you have to reach for your phone and then all of a sudden, you see you haven't turned off the notifications and you can't possibly have notifications turned on on your Instagram. You would. All it would do is ping reminders. I use my phone for reminders instead of my paper diary so every... Throughout the day there's a reminder of well, when this is over, right? When is, it was almost over, which is good then you got to get yourself, obviously with Gorks over to Juicy(Oasis), back to Juicy! have a bit of a blast and when not, if, when he says tentative voice now,Juicy Escape ever opens
Gemma Atkinson:Well, it'll be worth it. Do you know, I would say to you about that Jase, obviously you and Kate are taking it all on now, and it's the stress now, but the amount of people whose lives will change from coming to that retreat. From my first time alone at Juicy Oasis in Portugal, I was a completely different person when I was leaving. With the mindfulness with knowledge, everything. I was like, wow, this was incredible. Just from seven days.
Jason Vale:I really appreciate that. I just hope, that Kevin Costner is correct. If he isn't, I'm going to hold him personally responsible. You know, he said, "if you build it, they will come". Well, the little gitbetterberight. Because it is, you know, they say whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, I'm waiting for the muscles to build. Because I've just got back and I'm like, the stress is huge, and that's going to sit with me today, that wonderful quote, that changed many parts of your life as well from Oprah Winfrey. Let's leave it at that. So what was it again? Final time?
Gemma Atkinson:If you have a chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you choose to dance.
Jason Vale:Gemma Atkinson, everybody! you very much for coming on! Gemma Atkinson! Thank you very much.