SIXTY SECONDS
THE HAPPY MONDAYS SINGER, 58, ON TACKLING STAND-UP COMEDY, WINDING UP BARONESSES AND COPING WITH LONG COVID
How are you doing at home in Salford today?
Great. I’d just put on a documentary about the assassination of Kim Jongun’s half-brother when you rang.
As someone who used to suffer from stage fright, what made you decide to attempt a five-minute stand-up comedy act for Channel 4’s Stand Up And Deliver?
Well, I got over my stage fright years ago with the band. With the band, I was always telling jokes and acting the knob. I just thought with this, ‘Yeah, that’s something I can do’.
Because it’s just you being yourself…
Yeah, but then it started to get scripted and, because I’ve got ADHD, I don’t remember stuff. I stayed up all one night and spent days trying to learn a routine. I couldn’t do it.
At least you have fellow Salford boy Jason Manford as your mentor.
Jason’s brilliant. He’s from my neck of the woods. They wouldn’t let me have autocues so Jason was holding up these bleeding great signs for me.
How did you get on with the other celebrities, Rev Richard
Coles, Corrie’s Katie McGlynn, Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi?
I’ve met Richard a few times on Chris Evans’s radio show. He’s a good bloke. Everybody was pretty cool.
How about the baroness?
Ah well, I was giving it to her big time. ‘Your dad must be ashamed of you. He’s a bus driver and you’re a Conservative baroness.’ But I was only joking. She’s great. She was a bit concerned that she was using the F-bomb. [Shaun does posh voice] ‘What will people think of me using the F-bomb?’ She wasn’t brought up with an accent like that, was she? But she’s a great woman.
Did you go to watch your dad Derek doing stand-up when you were a teenager?
I was a billion miles away from it. That’s teenagers for you. The other day it was my girl’s birthday party and she wouldn’t let me put her on my social media stood next to me, blowing out the cake. Just a couple of years ago she was still daddy’s girl.
With the band I was always telling jokes and acting the knob so I thought I can do this
This show is for Stand Up To Cancer. You lost your nana and both grandads to cancer. What are your memories of them?
I pretty much lived at my nana’s. My mum and dad were working and were only 19 years old when they had me.
Which grandad got you a job as a messenger boy at the post office?
That was Bill. In those days you delivered telegrams that were evicting people from their flat. I’d turn up at 7pm, when it’s dark, and knock on the door with these telegrams and I’d see the whole family hid behind the couch. Billy died later on of cancer but when I was ten, my other grandad died of bowel cancer.
Do you think appearing on reality shows as well as doing your music is just the way of the world now?
If you go back to the early Noughties, I got asked to do Big Brother and I went, ‘No way.’ I was like, ‘I’m an artist. We don’t do that.’ I gave it to Bez, who won it. Just after that, you would look at what was happening in America and you’d be getting big stars like Run-DMC and Snoop Dogg doing these reality shows. It was all part of the new thing of attracting people to your music.
Have you got a solo album coming out this year?
Yeah, the single drops on, I think it’s
March 15 and then the album’s out in June. The single’s called Mumbo Jumbo.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about you?
It’s funny because I can go out now and I’ll bump into a load of 22-year-olds and they’ll be, ‘Do you want a line?’ I’ve got three kids older than that. They think it’s still all like that.
What gives you peace of mind?
Just having my family around and that. When I’m at home and I’m just sat watching telly or walking in the woods.
How has your health been since you had Covid last year?
I got back from filming in London for Stand Up To Cancer and brought Covid into our house. One of the girls had it but had no symptoms, the other girl had it but with symptoms, my missus had it, the lad had it. So I get it and it was terrible. Even now, once or twice a week I can’t wake up in the morning. I keep falling asleep. It’s long Covid.
It’s your 60th next year. Does that bother you?
I’m just pleased to be knocking about. If you can get through your fifties, which is the most dangerous age for men, as I’m told, hopefully I’m alright. I was looking at Shane MacGowan and thinking I’m doing good because I’m not being wheeled on stage yet.
Stand Up And Deliver begins on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday
HANDS UP if you’ve made every excuse under the sun not to train after a long day at work? Fitness is as much a mental journey as a physical one and reaching your goals also requires you to overcome excuses and bad habits. Essentially, reframing your thoughts around fitness – whether that’s goal setting or the language you use – is what will create positive change.
Global fitness Instagram sensation, Krissy Cela, says fitness is not a quick fix and it’s not a novelty. ‘If anyone ever tells you their fitness journey was easy, or that it happened with a smile on their face, then they’re lying,’ she says. ‘Mine certainly didn’t.’
Heartbreak spurred Krissy, 25, into self-development and the gym. Her social media account took off after she
‘With the right mindset, fitness and a healthy relationship with food can be second nature’
filmed and posted herself doing exercises so that she could watch them back and tweak her technique. She now has up to three million followers across social media channels and launched her Tone And Sculpt app two years ago.
She admits fitness didn’t come naturally at first. ‘My journey into the fitness world was never about the perfect body, it was about making positive changes to feel better mentally and physically,’ she says. ‘In the beginning, I skipped workouts and restricted my diet. It was difficult for me not to focus on a physical aesthetic and change bad habits.
‘Exercise is seen as something of a chore, but why don’t we see it as something to look forward to? All you need to do is change your mindset for this to happen. People look at me and think I love working out and that [motivation] comes naturally, but it doesn’t. I was just like you, knowing I should workout but not really knowing what to do or having the motivation to do it. Humans are the kings and queens of excuses. If they don’t want to do something, they will find any excuse under the sun. I always say to people, ask yourself, what would the best version of you do in this situation?
‘Saying “I can’t be bothered” is building the concept that you are a lazy person. The best version of you would get up and get moving. A cardio session, a quick sculpt, there’s always time for something, even if it’s only for 20 minutes.’ In her debut book, Do This For You: How To Be A Strong Woman From The Inside Out, Krissy offers up a motivational guide for women, focusing on both mental and physical strength. ‘There are so many different styles of fitness now that you can end up doing something you don’t necessarily like,’ she says.
‘Take some time to learn how your body moves and what works for you. Also, it’s important to have structure. I don’t believe it’s good to do random workouts. The aim should be to create a strong foundation to build upon.’
She is well-known for a combination of circuits and resistance. ‘My style incorporates weights, not just body weight.
‘When you’re doing these crazy HIIT workouts you might be burning calories but by stripping back, learning the basics and understanding compound movements (moves that target multiple muscle groups at the same time), you can solidify your form and technique and create good posture and overall strength.’ Once you find your passion, Krissy says to commit, plan and an schedule to stay on track.
‘Don’t rely on motivation. Like the moon, motivation will be bright and full on occasion, only to dim through the day. ‘Discipline is stability and structure. It’s unwavering. ‘With the right mindset you can have a life where fitness and a healthy relationship with food are second nature.’
■ Do This For You (Octopus Books) is out now, priced £16.99; krissycela.com