After lockdown I’m not sure I’ll BBQ again

COLEEN, 55, lives in Cheshire with her son Shane, 31, and his fiancée Maddie. She is a panellist on Loose Women.

“On Friday night we always get a takeaway and take it in turns to get a Chinese, Indian or a pizza. Even during lockdown, we still make sure we celebrate the start of the weekend. After dinner, we’ll usually play card games. Shane and Maddie live with me at the moment, so we all hang out together. If Maddie and I can get away, we’ll sneak off and watch a few episodes of our current favourite show, Little Fires Everywhere.

“On Saturday mornings I’m always the first up to let the dogs out. That’s always the first thought in my mind – I don’t want to wake up to see they’ve made a mess of the floor. I have four dogs and six cats, so I have a cup of tea and listen to the radio while I tend to the animals and then have a lovely few hours of ‘just me’ time, before the madness begins.

“If the weather is nice, we spend afternoons outside on the patio listening to the radio and often we’ll have a barbecue. Although after lockdown I’m not sure I’ll ever want a barbecue ever again, I’m sick of the sight of them. Then I take the dogs out for a walk and get ready for the evening.

“Now that the Premier League is back on TV, there’s usually some of that on at the start of Saturday night. I love the way they’ve recreated the crowd noise, I think it’s brilliant. When I first heard it, I rushed in from the kitchen to start shouting about why they had huge crowds of people there but my son explained they just play the crowd noise for a bit of atmosphere. It is great and a nice welcome back into ‘normal’ life.

“After football, I get to watch my programmes, which are all the Saturday-night favourites. I’ve loved Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow as it reminds me of Saturday night telly when I was growing up. It’s so comforting and harmless – and a welcome relief from the news, which always depresses me at the moment.

“On Sunday mornings, I’m up early with the dogs again and, to be honest, it’s such a day of rest for me that I don’t usually even get out of my pyjamas.

“I’ll cook a roast or Maddie will, then after, I settle down to some TV. I used to love all the period dramas and waiting for the next episode every Sunday. I can’t wait until they start filming some again. Then when I’m at the studio filming Loose Women, I’m up at 4.30am to get to London, so Sunday has a strict 10pm bedtime.”