Sophie Ellis-Bextor Spinning Plates Episode 21 Feb. 15th 2021 Transcription part three
SEB asks about SB's "unusual" childhood.
JM:..I've had to explain to him...you can't do things like shout out in school, "my mum's famous".
JM tells quite a sweet anecdote about SB being in the green room at This Morning and Jack coming back from her bit to find him riding around on Mo Farrah's shoulders. There's more general SB chat.
JM:..I don't talk about those kinds of things (meeting famous people) at the dinner table because it's just a bit gauche.
JM:...there was a period when he (SB) would repeatedly ask about why Daddy couldn't live with us...I was like, we don't have the room, Daddy's got two other children, Daddy's got a wife...I did wonder...maybe we could just amalgamate into this commune and co-parent each other (Transcribers note: I think Daddy's wife might not have been too keen on that, can you imagine it?)
JM:..then his (SB's father) relationship didn't work and SB really pumped it up and was "so can Daddy come and live with us now?" (I explained) Mummy loves girls and so Mummy's partners have all been women...he was fine after that.
They talk about co-parenting and get onto Jack's relationship with SB's grandfather (SB's dad's dad).
JM: When it came out that I'd been struggling he (the grandad) absolutely bollocked me.
The chat moves onto Jack having ADHD.
JM:...(because of the ADHD) I've thrown my hat into some rings and I'm like "I'm going to be vegan now" and because of the arthritis that didn't work out so well for me, I needed fish, and Omega 5...for my joints...People were really disappointed in me...I never asked for my life to be lived in public, everything I I do with puppyish good intentions...people weaponize mistakes.
Jack goes on to say that a famous friend of hers told her he didn't put every waking thought on Twitter, but she says that's not a option for her.
JM:...I like to reach out...say hey people send me pictures of your dog...I'm sad make me happy again...
They chat about media perceptions.
JM: I just carry on, bumbling along like a little puppy (Transcribers note: the tweeness makes my teeth hurt) shouting about things that excite me...or irk me.
SEB brings up the Katie Hopkins court case. Jack talks about the abuse she got from it, death threats and threats of sexual violence. Apparently at one time she had thirteen thousand examples of extreme abuse about her screenshotted on her phone, but she had recently deleted them.
The chat moves on.
JM:...I'm doing occasional commercial partnerships with brands which align with my values. (Transcribers note: Del Monte have been accused of crimes against humanity)
They talk about Jack's lawyer, she apparently recommends him to the many people who contact her about taking legal action.
JM:...I've become something of a quiet go to (for people waning to sue for libel) ...I say, I can put you in touch with people or I can glance it over (Transcribers note: has lawyer Jack been spotted before?) I always say you have to be prepared because once you take it on you can't back out , 'cause if you back out of a pro bono legal case you are liable for all the fees...people say to me it's so brave of you to pursue it to the end but it wasn't. I was told I'd be liable for three hundred grand and I only had about forty quid in my bank account. (Transcribers note: I'm pretty sure it's been established it wasn't pro bono, please correct me if I'm wrong.)
The last twenty minutes or so are about Jack coming out as/being non binary and general chats about trans issues. This portion I don't feel fully comfortable picking to bits as its a sensitive issue, and it's not that relevant to the timeline.
The end
I've realised I left out a short section where Jack talks about a time towards the end of the poverty when she would go to local council meetings most days and sit in the gallery, just her and a reporter. Many of her "bloody raging" essays came from these meetings. I was wondering what she had done with SB during the many days she was in the public gallery, or did she take him? I can't see toddlers being very welcome at local council meeting and I really wish SEB had asked her.
