S1 Ep8: Where's Home Really... for Melissa Hemsley?

04/20/23 • 35 min

"Take That wanted us to cook for them on tour so I said to my sister: ‘I like to be in bed early!’ Plus, I don’t know if it’s our Filipino blood but we aren’t big drinkers.”
Best-selling cookery writer, chef, TV presenter and self-labelled "real food activist”, Melissa Hemsley joins Jimi for her joyful take on her mixed British and Filipino heritage and the elements that make up ‘home’ for her.
Melissa shares why her ideal restaurant always involves dogs, the rollercoaster reaction to her first appearance on ‘Gogglebox’, and the importance of the figure of "Big Vange" in her life. Plus, she reveals the initial backlash she experienced from the food industry as she wasn’t a professionally trained cook and discover if she did agree to cook for Gary Barlow and co on the road...
Keep up with the show or get in touch at whereshomereally.com.

Previous Episode

7: Where's Home Really... for Nihal Arthanayake?

“My first ever racist exchange was such an underwhelming experience for everyone involved!’
Jimi talks to BBC 5Live broadcaster, and former DJ and rapper Nihal Arthanayake, who takes us on a journey from Sri Lanka, to Harlow in Essex - via White Hart Lane and his beloved Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Find out how Public Enemy gave Nihal a sense of belonging and why, despite being an avid football fan, he avoided attending games for 20 years. Plus, he reveals which of his family’s Sri Lankan dishes should come with a serious health warning...
Keep up with the show or get in touch at whereshomereally.com.

Next Episode

S1 Ep9: Where's Home Really... for Rickie Haywood-Williams?

"The overriding factor that drew me to support Liverpool FC was John Barnes... he had Jamaican heritage, my dad’s Jamaican, he was a phenomenal player, and he looked like me!"
Jimi is joined by presenter and BBC Radio 1 DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams for an entertaining journey from his proud South London roots through to his BBC One primetime turn on 'Strictly Come Dancing', via his Jamaican ancestry.
Rickie shares why he has an eternal love for Croydon, his mum’s Caribbean take on the Sunday roast dinner, and using a radio studio as his classroom. Plus, discover which reality TV series making a big comeback he’d love to do...
Keep up with the show or get in touch at whereshomereally.com.