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00:00 [Music]
00:03 I'm joined by Martin Comston and Phil McHugh and we're here to talk about Martin Comston's
00:08 Norwegian Fling which is out on the BBC this month. So hello both.
00:12 Hi.
00:13 How are you?
00:14 Good, good, really good.
00:16 Promos, we're coming just to the end of our wee promo tour but it's really nice when you're
00:22 on something that you're proud of yourself and that you love being part of but it's nice
00:27 when you can feel that people who have seen it enjoyed it. So it's actually really exciting
00:32 this time because when we did it the last time we didn't know how people would take
00:36 to it and we didn't know how it would turn out but this time there seems to be a real
00:39 anticipation about it so it's exciting.
00:42 So for anyone that doesn't know, how did you meet and how did the series come about?
00:48 So we met when we were in our late teens here in Glasgow actually. We were kind of both
00:54 on the circuit of going out to a lot of events. I was starting in television, he was in acting
01:00 and we went out a lot of the similar events in the city centre and usually the last two
01:05 at the bar and that's really how we started and sometimes how we end still. But that kind
01:13 of set off our friendship and over the years we've grown alongside each other and during
01:21 Covid time Martin was learning Gaelic and I'm a fluent Gaelic speaker so as well as
01:27 having Duolingo with his bad pronunciation he would tap into me in WhatsApp to get the
01:32 right pronunciation for some of these words but it kind of fascinated me when I said to
01:38 him "Oh well I've always wanted to make Gaelic a little bit more cooler, you know,
01:42 I want to make it, I've always had that ambition that it should be, you know, seen
01:46 by the masses and, you know, it's not just a phase that's dying out or anything like
01:51 that. And with this boy's, you know, profile as well I thought well why don't we try
01:56 and do something together, you know, you're learning the language, I'd love to kind
02:00 of make it a little bit more cool, let's find out maybe if you've got any Gaelic heritage
02:04 or any ties to there, to Hebrides. And then we had several conversations together before
02:09 we went to production company and they really took that initial idea from us and it became
02:17 what we now know as Scottish Fling. So it did become a little bit more adventurous but
02:22 that idea of, you know, exploring what culture is today and digging deep into various parts
02:28 of our homeland, a country that we both are very proud of and love, you know, intently
02:36 actually but ultimately that show resonated so well with a lot of people and we thought
02:44 well let's go again. And we didn't really know where to go but there was a few countries
02:51 on each of our lists and then actually Norway came out of the blue. It was one of these
02:56 things that we thought, wow, we don't really know much about that country, we'd love
03:00 to know more. There's similarities there between certain parts of Shetland and Orkney
03:08 and especially kind of the west coast of Norway and Bergen, especially in that kind of oil
03:17 and gas industry. Fisheries, the forestry as well as kind of the big industries that
03:24 they have. So for us it was, it was like, yeah, let's get our teeth into this one and
03:30 that's why we packed our bags and off we went.
03:33 Well that answers my second question which is why Norway.
03:37 Yeah.
03:38 But so I've had a little preview of some of the episodes and I really enjoyed it. But
03:43 there was an episode when you were going out to buy boots, an awful lot of sense. It's
03:47 quite different to here so can you tell us a little bit about that?
03:50 Do you remember how to pronounce it? I can't remember the thing that
03:53 B-A-N-S-E-L-A-V-E
03:54 Yeah, it's, I think the booze was all, it was government controlled if I'm right, if
03:58 I remember right, yeah, so you can only buy it from these certain markets to buy, you
04:01 can buy beer in most places but to buy liquor you have to buy it from government so then
04:06 it's all high priced and all the tax kind of stuff so it was a bit, and it shuts really
04:11 Yeah, it closes early and it's only open certain days
04:14 Yeah and I think it was closed on Sundays so it is a bit of a shock to us, you know,
04:18 when you're kind of, used to being able to buy it whenever you want. But I mean it's
04:21 just, it's just their culture of it, you know, yeah, yeah
04:24 They don't have a huge drinking culture, not a wee team
04:27 No, not tons, it seems to be when the sun's out, they descend and apparently, because
04:32 they don't have a lot of sun, everybody literally just stops working and everybody seems fine
04:37 with that, like nobody seems to get in trouble because it was weird that one day in Oslo
04:41 when the sun came out just the place was absolutely heaving
04:45 Yeah, it was mobbed
04:47 But you notice it as well when you land into some of the airports, like when we landed
04:52 in Oslo, Duty Free was packed full of locals stocking up because it was much cheaper
04:59 and that is the big difference, it is costly to drink out there, you know, if you're buying
05:04 alcohol in the stores or inside hotels and restaurants, you know, it does become more
05:09 of a luxury to buy, whereas, you know, it's not like that here, we've got access to it
05:14 at all times, so, but it's a really interesting way of not even controlling it, just kind
05:20 of allowing people access to it when they want
05:23 Because I think we maybe medicate a bit with it to an extent in terms of when you've got
05:28 cold weather, darkness, you know, it's very easy for people, they've got the extreme version
05:33 of it, maybe it just regulates it a bit more because you're up there and it's pitch darkness
05:37 for months, it's probably easy just to kind of ting it, but they seem to have their heads
05:42 screwed on with that stuff, they just get themselves bundled up and go skiing
05:45 Which is healthier
05:47 Exactly, yeah
05:48 Like, we're talking to people and say like, when you see that amount of snow, they say
05:52 we have barbecues in the snow, like they go, they have a couple of beers and a load of
05:57 meat and have a barbecue out in the forest in the snow, it's wild
06:00 Yeah, so there's things we could learn maybe, but also
06:03 Tons we can learn from them, they very wisely invested their oil fund, you know, their infrastructure
06:09 is amazing in terms of the roads, their green energy, you know, they're really, really pushing
06:15 that, there's electric cars everywhere, I think they've got the highest electric car
06:18 per person in the world I think
06:20 There's a lot of Tesla's kicking about
06:22 Just cars, other cars are available
06:24 Yeah, with a lot of things they just seem ahead of the game, like silly things which
06:30 might seem really mundane, but you can, 5G everywhere, and I mean literally at the top
06:35 of a mountain or at the bottom of a tunnel, like tunnels are miles long, but you can have
06:41 a full internet signal wherever you go and it's free, you know, yeah, they definitely
06:46 seem, I don't know why we're so far behind them in certain aspects
06:51 And even, you know, the great outdoors there, they're just at more, they're more at one
06:56 with it all, you know, they've all got a second home, a cabin in the north, or a cabin even
07:01 miles from the city centre, they all escape in the weekends and they go to these spaces
07:07 that are tranquil and beautiful and surrounded by forestry, and we don't really tend to do
07:13 that as much here, you know, I think we're put off by the great outdoors, but actually
07:16 on our doorstep here, we've got all that access, but we just don't use it as much, and they
07:22 seem to grasp that and really enjoy it way more than what we do
07:27 So yeah, I'd love to kind of take that and give it to everybody in Scotland to say, you
07:32 know, we've got the space, we've got the environment, let's just go and see it all a little bit
07:36 more
07:37 Yeah, well one of the things you did that we don't do here was eat a sheep's head
07:42 Which, as someone who doesn't even eat lamb, just the thought of was slightly giving me
07:47 the bulk, but can you tell us the story behind that and how did it take?
07:52 Look, it was not high on my list of priorities when I got there, but you've got to embrace
07:58 the culture, you know, it's something they do at Christmas and when you hear the history
08:01 behind it, it's because the farmer would sell the best parts of the sheep and keep the head
08:05 for themselves, because that would sort of maximise their earnings
08:09 It is quite brutal, it can be quite brutal
08:12 The process is quite brutal to watch
08:14 The process is quite, I mean, if you're going to eat meat, you've kind of got to make a
08:17 peace for that kind of thing, and it's better that all of the animals getting used rather
08:21 than any of it going to waste, but no, it's not advertising, really not, and fair play
08:26 to Phil for having a go at the eye
08:28 But that was the real delicacy of it all as well, wasn't it?
08:31 Yeah, just it wasn't
08:32 The eye, you know, I thought we need to try it
08:34 You've got to try it, I mean, if you're going to be there, you've got to try it, because
08:36 we get our back up when people slaghag us, you know, so you can understand that, but
08:41 no, it's quite, visually it's quite striking
08:44 But it wasn't too unpleasant to eat, if I'm honest
08:47 The sheep was kind of just like ham
08:49 Just a bit, yeah, I think if you'd have got it off the plate like that, and you'd have,
08:53 fine, but when it's just there, poor thing
08:56 Covered in ketchup or gravy, maybe
08:58 Like staring in the head, like, yeah, it's full on
09:00 Yeah, I was going to say, because haggis doesn't look like what it is
09:03 No
09:04 It's this actual head
09:05 Yeah, if you just turn it with a stick, it was, yeah, it was quite surreal
09:09 Yeah
09:10 Something very authentic or organic about it as well, the process, you know, actually
09:17 the lady that was showing us around that farm, she was so proud of it, because it was the
09:23 only place in that region that produced these, and people do buy it for their celebratory
09:30 times around Christmas, so it is something that they're so proud of, which is amazing
09:35 to see
09:36 I'm assuming that probably wasn't one of your favourite things to eat when you were there
09:41 Did you find a favourite food or drink or something unusual that you liked?
09:45 I don't think we found a favourite, I don't know, I didn't personally find a favourite
09:49 thing to eat, but what I did love was the day that we spent in Credo, the restaurant
09:54 So there's a very famous Michelin star, female Michelin star chef, and she was the first
10:00 ever restaurateur to win a green Michelin star award, and we had the day with her and
10:07 her team, and her team were all very young, all highly enthusiastic about their kind of
10:12 roles and jobs, and the best thing, not even just about the food that we tried that day
10:19 with her, but actually it was the family feast that she created for the entire workspace
10:24 and all the employees
10:26 Yeah, the family meal before
10:27 It was a real kind of, and not just like a quick fix meal, this was a really wholesome
10:33 hearty meal, they all sat down at a big table that was upstairs in the kitchen, all gathered,
10:38 had conversations together, you know, spoke about life, work life, personal life, and
10:44 take that hour away from the kitchen to actually enjoy some good food, and that was brilliant
10:49 that day wasn't it?
10:50 I think that was, I mean it wasn't my finest moment, but the fishing day, because I, yeah,
10:56 I fell to pieces that day, we were celebrating National Day the day before and it turned
11:02 into a bit of a late one, so being up in a fishing trawler, seeing these fish getting
11:06 pulled out, seeing gutted, just didn't quite sit quite well for me, so luckily Phil took
11:11 up, once I, once I had come back from hanging over the side of the boat and we got back
11:17 to this lovely island, the fishermen, his family, they had their own little restaurant
11:21 on this little island, and you got, I mean it was the freshest fish and chips you're
11:25 ever going to have in your life, it was like, they caught it, they gutted it, and then they
11:29 deep fried it, and it was, that was, that was delicious, the actual fish
11:33 And the whole family involved
11:34 Everybody involved
11:35 The kids are out fishing with them and, you know, helping plate up, that was really special
11:39 Yeah, that was amazing
11:41 So from food to drink now, Martin you met some wolves and had a great time, although
11:47 it looked a bit nerve wracking, I know that not everybody went in there, but in the past
11:52 you've mentioned you'd like to bring out your own whisky and call it Wolves Head, tell
11:55 us more about that
11:56 Oh no, we would, because we've got the podcast, we kind of had an idea of, our podcast idea
12:03 was the clown and the wolf man, and I wanted a whisky with, but I wanted a striking bottle
12:08 because everybody says that's, if you're going to try something new, what makes you try something
12:11 new, going it's the bottle, but I think I'm settling on the beer now, I think I want to
12:15 bring out my own beer, that's what I want to do
12:17 And is either of those likely, do you think?
12:19 I think the beer is, it's very likely, yeah, very likely, I think we're very lucky I've
12:23 got a pal in LA who owns a brewery, so I've been working with him, so I think, yeah, I
12:28 think at some point later in the year hopefully you're drinking Restless Natives beer, but
12:32 who knows
12:33 I'm going to bring out my own Pina Colada brand
12:35 I mean that's been done before, so why not?
12:39 Well there's a market, there's a space
12:41 So also on Scan we like to ask our guests about their Desert Island jams, so it doesn't
12:51 have to be whisky, but I think you are a whisky fan
12:54 Yeah, like I do love a Glenrothes, I wouldn't say I'm a whisky expert by any means, but
13:00 I do, I got into, especially when I'm at home, I don't like, maybe it's just getting older
13:07 and being a dad and stuff, I don't like drinking at home in the house, but actually there's
13:12 something different about having just a dram, because you're not necking glasses of wine
13:16 or beer and making you feel rough and all that, but just a nice whisky, I'm probably
13:22 a fan of Glenrothes, have a nice Glenrothes with a wee bit of ice and just have one of
13:26 them to watch a nice TV before you knock out for the night
13:31 So that would be what you could say
13:34 That sounds good, right now that sounds great, I'll have whatever you're having
13:40 What other two drinks would you take away with you, it doesn't have to be whisky
13:44 I love, I love a Malbec, I do love a Malbec, but there's a wine brand which they don't
13:51 sell over here, and hopefully they're coming soon, because it's very reasonably priced,
13:54 it's called Josh, it's a California wine, and they've got this Cab Sav, and unfortunately
14:00 me and my wife collect the corks, and now when you see the amount, we're like, alright
14:06 that's maybe a bit much, but it's only like 15 bucks, which is about 12 quid for a bottle
14:13 of this stuff, and it's gorgeous, but it's not for sale over here yet, I hope somebody
14:17 brings it soon, and I am brew
14:21 I am brew, classic
14:23 I'm not a huge whisky fan, but I love gin, and for me the still only one since they've
14:29 come out was the Isle of Harris gin, I love it, I think it's brilliant, so big fan, managed
14:35 to go to the distillery as well and experience it up there, and they just seem to be doing
14:40 phenomenal work now globally, and they've got a great bottle, as you just said, every
14:44 brand that works has got a nice bottle, so stick a candle in it at the end, you get them
14:50 two for one, it's brilliant, and another two, I don't know if you know Rosalind, but I was
14:56 recently on Saturday Kitchen, and my great friend Helen, who's a brilliant wine expert,
15:04 best friends now, she actually opened a bottle of Cremant, but I'm a huge fan of Cremant,
15:10 because it's a much more cheaper version of champagne, but you've still got all the things,
15:15 it's really nice, you can get it for ten quid in the supermarkets now, and you're still
15:20 paying thirty, forty quid for a bottle of champagne, so Cremant for me, and sparkling
15:25 water, I mean I just love a San Carlo gin, I cannot drink sparkling water, I love it,
15:30 the best, I've had somebody, I read someone describing it, it tastes like TV static, I
15:35 think that's exactly how it is, it makes me thirstier when I drink it.
15:40 Really? Oh I love it.
15:41 It's fizzy but with no taste, it's really strange.
15:43 Yeah, it's weird.
15:44 See I find it's a very good hangover cure as well.
15:46 Really?
15:47 Oh yeah, it's one of the best.
15:48 I like that.
15:49 So just another quick travel question for you Martin, are there Scottish food and drinks
15:55 that you miss or take with you when you go back to America?
15:59 I would call it slice, but I'm for things square sausage, you can't, just the dimensions
16:05 of that for a roll, you know, I had it this morning actually, and it's the first time
16:10 I've had it in ages, it's just so good.
16:13 What do you have on it?
16:15 Just butter.
16:16 No single ketchup, no burn sauce?
16:18 I just like it a bit thick, but I like it just a buttered roll and a nice bit of slice,
16:21 it's just a perfect, I think it's my, anything I would take it, if I could take it anywhere
16:27 it would be that, and it's a weird time to say it, but I don't think many people do like
16:33 a west coast Chinese curry, like a beef curry and chips out of Chinese here, like even if
16:39 I go across to Edinburgh and stuff it doesn't taste the same, and that would probably be
16:45 my death row meal, the salt and chilli chicken wings and beef curry and chips, the only other
16:49 place that kind of does it similar is, seems to be Belfast, I mean we're west coast, we're
16:54 right there, but yeah a west coast beef curry, yeah that would probably be my, I've not had
17:00 one in months now and I've got one on Friday night when I'm going to sit down with my folks
17:06 and watch Norwegian Flying, which is out on the Cross-Eye player, and I cannae wait for
17:12 that.
17:13 Sounds good, also this takes me on to my next question, I was going to say east versus west
17:17 in terms of food, but what I'm going to say is, Phil tell me your favourite places to
17:21 eat and drink in Scotland?
17:23 Yeah, right my favourite places, in Edinburgh, I mean I live in Edinburgh so for me it's
17:30 got a much better variety of restaurant choices because you've got so many independents as
17:36 well as the kind of big brands, but I love a Sunday roast at Hawksmoor, I think it's
17:43 brilliant, and Sunday's a day that you can switch off, or I try to switch off just from
17:48 life and having a few hours there is just magical, good bottle of red and a nice Sunday
17:54 roast, you can't beat it, so Hawksmoor's definitely up there.
17:58 I'm a huge fan of Tom Kitchen's restaurant in Edinburgh as well, the kitchen, it's brilliant,
18:03 it's been there for decades now and he seems to still pull it out of the bag when it comes
18:08 to good food, it's a bit pricey at times but you don't go there all the time, you go there
18:14 occasionally, and I'm a big fan of Jimmy, of Jimmy Lee as well, we both love Jimmy's
18:22 food, I know you're a massive Cantonese fan, I love his salt and chilli brand as well,
18:29 it's great food.
18:30 Phil's got me into all these places, I mean for me it would be, was it Chateau X?
18:36 Yeah, Chateau X, you'll have that.
18:38 Great steak, duck and waffle, which for me, I was like, he took me in, I'm like, it's
18:44 a waffle with duck and an egg, and soy sauce, I was like this sounds horrendous and it is
18:49 delicious, like it's the first place when I say to people go try it, but make sure you
18:54 try it, because I -
18:55 The combination, you're like what? But actually it works.
18:58 The first place I always go is Jimmy's salt and chilli, his salt and chilli place is just
19:03 sensational, I'm determined to get one opening green hook at some point, but yeah, Phil's
19:11 turned me on to all those places.
19:13 And on the west coast, I mean, there's a lot happening now in Glasgow, it's brilliant,
19:18 you know, for years, Edinburgh was always way ahead with the food and drink scene, but
19:23 Glasgow seems to have really picked up in the last year or so specifically, Hazel, which
19:28 is amazing in Glasgow, I think it's a brilliant restaurant, and the merchant city as a whole
19:33 just seems to be taking a new lease of life. So yeah, there's some really exciting developments
19:38 out there, and yeah, I can't wait to be part of it all, with my PR company.
19:43 When you open up a place, we should open a place called Clang.
19:48 That's what we'll do, I'll open up a place.
19:50 Yeah, and we'll get food from every place we want to go.
19:52 A collaboration with chef Jimmy Lee.
19:54 Yeah, Jimmy's, what's Jimmy's place in town?
19:58 Lychee Oriental.
20:00 That, because I remember telling him, and he was so funny because he's the sweetest man, Jimmy.
20:04 Yeah.
20:05 A brilliant professional, but I was like, look, how do you make that curry sauce? Because
20:08 if I could make that at home, which I cannot tell you, he says, they make it for like eight
20:13 hours, I don't know, like a boil it, but yeah, he was very guarded on how to make a good
20:18 curry sauce.
20:20 It's trade secrets.
20:21 It's trade secrets, but it was, yeah, Lychee in town, that's a phenomenal beef burger.
20:25 And one of the places that we like to go in Edinburgh is Nightcap.
20:28 Oh!
20:29 We love that.
20:30 I tell you right now, you get the, what's that on?
20:33 It's on Queen Street.
20:35 Queen Street, so you just come by the back of St Andrew's Square.
20:37 Brilliant place.
20:38 I was a stool in that place. Like I, when I, I tend to stay in, in St Andrew's Square
20:44 and when I'm there, I love the Grand, and if you can get, the Glen Eagles Townhouse roof,
20:48 if you can get in there.
20:49 Yeah, it's brilliant up there.
20:50 If you're up there on that roof in the summer with a glass of rosé, it's sensational, but
20:54 the best, I'm not a big margarita guy, but the best margarita I've ever had in my life
20:58 is in Nightcap, which is just round the corner.
21:00 It's a tiny wee bar as well.
21:01 Like a speakeasy, and they only let in, they're like the capacity, so it's, you know, but
21:07 they only let in people in terms of, they could pack that out, but they only let people
21:11 in at the tables.
21:12 They don't let people just stand at the bar, so it just feels like, you just feel like
21:15 you've got space to sit and catch up and quiet.
21:18 And it still feels like a wee bit of a hidden gem as well.
21:20 100%, so Nightcap for sure, that would be highly recommended.
21:24 Well it was National Margarita Day on Thursday, so.
21:26 Oh, there you go.
21:27 That was the place.
21:28 You don't need to go.
21:29 I'm just curious.
21:31 So we talked a little bit about how the Scotland leg of this came about, but how did this trip
21:36 compare to Scotland?
21:39 I think it's, it feels, it felt more epic at the time, and it feels more epic now even
21:44 looking back.
21:45 It just felt that we had a little bit more time ourselves of conversations, you know,
21:50 lots of travelling hours and days of kind of being in the car together.
21:54 So we kind of got to spend a little bit more time with each other.
21:57 Yeah, you've got production companies there that are filming it, but actually that time's
22:01 also valuable because they've become part of a family for that show.
22:05 Yeah, we're a tight little bunch.
22:06 And the same team worked on season one as they did season two.
22:10 And then in terms of kind of like the adventures that we got up to, I definitely, for me personally,
22:15 pushed the limits on my adventure part, you know, by trying to jump into anything and
22:21 jump off everything.
22:23 You know, we kick off the show with a zip line and we're then ending up being in the
22:28 kind of North Sea cold waters on the oil rig training.
22:33 So, you know, beforehand I would have been like, "Oh no, I don't want to do that."
22:37 This time I was like, you know, "I'm okay. Let's go for it. Let's try it."
22:41 No, it definitely felt, just literally it was more of a vigil because when we were filming
22:47 here, one of the great things about it is that we were at home.
22:50 So if we were on the East Coast, Phil was going back to Edinburgh, he's going back to
22:53 his house and we did a lot on the West Coast.
22:55 So I was going back.
22:56 I mean, I actually wanted to start it.
22:58 Like I live, my place is right on the river in Greenock and I was trying to see if there
23:01 was any way he could pull up a boat to the front of the house so we could just start
23:05 it right there.
23:06 I did find you a boat though in season one.
23:08 Yeah, you did find me, well, if you would call that a boat.
23:11 But we were literally just, I was going home after a couple of nights.
23:14 So you weren't on the road as much.
23:16 You'd do two, three days, then we'd have a day or two off at home.
23:20 Whereas with this, we were just on the road all the time.
23:23 And we had a lovely day where we stopped in this place and there's a whole crew.
23:28 There's a core of about ten of us who've all been together.
23:32 And we just, on our day off, all went to the beach together.
23:34 It wasn't like everybody's going, right, we just had six days filmed.
23:37 It wasn't like, oh, we're sick of each other.
23:39 It was like, right, let's all meet here at 12 o'clock tomorrow.
23:42 And we had a barbecue and went swimming out in one of the fjords, which was a bit nippy.
23:46 Did you get in?
23:47 I did, yeah.
23:49 Yeah, we had the saunas and then the fjords.
23:51 It was brilliant.
23:52 Yeah, that was lovely.
23:53 It was like a wee guy just built a sauna on the beach.
23:55 It was just like a wee hut.
23:56 It was mental.
23:57 It was roasting, wasn't it?
23:58 It was.
23:59 It was brilliant that day.
24:00 And I think that's part of the, you know, the series works so well because we've got
24:04 a brilliant team behind that as well.
24:06 Yeah.
24:07 Everyone from the cameraman to the soundman, they're fully part of it.
24:11 And that helps us, it puts us at ease to do things, to meet people, to be a little bit
24:17 more open.
24:18 And that makes it all special for us making it.
24:21 Not so sure if it's the special thing that they see on camera, but for us to kind of
24:25 get the best out of it.
24:26 It's useful to have an incredible team.
24:29 Nice.
24:30 And what's next for 2024 and this year?
24:34 Any future projects?
24:36 Well, my pina colada brand.
24:38 Yeah.
24:39 We'll see.
24:40 We'll take Christmas.
24:41 Who knows?
24:42 I mean, listen, I'm just so thankful and lucky to have Martin by my side on both these seasons.
24:48 I thought season one was a dream and then I get a season two and it's, you know, it's
24:55 kind of, it feels bigger, more powerful, it feels better.
24:58 There's a huge energy around what we've just been doing over the last kind of week on an
25:03 advance of the show coming on air.
25:05 So that's exciting.
25:06 That kind of makes me kind of want to do a little bit more in this field.
25:09 But, you know, who knows?
25:11 I mean, that's the beauty of it.
25:13 This is just, it's almost like a holiday with your pal for two months of the year.
25:19 And for me, that's plenty.
25:22 I'd be happy if I had that for all my life.
25:25 So, yeah.
25:26 Yeah, you could start filming.
25:27 You job in Glasgow in two weeks.
25:30 So that could be taking a couple of months.
25:32 And then big 4-0 in May.
25:35 It's quite terrifying.
25:37 And then for all of us, Scotland and Germany.
25:41 I cannot wait.
25:42 Yeah, that's like, it's kind of timed quite well that for me.
25:46 And the last time we qualified for, I mean, obviously the boys did amazing to get to the
25:52 last one, but it was during COVID.
25:54 The stadiums were half empty.
25:57 It felt weird having Euros in Scotland to an extent.
26:00 I thought it was all here, but then you feel quite right.
26:02 This is the first time we've qualified for Euros since I was 12 and I'm 40 next year.
26:07 And the next one.
26:08 So it was nice to say to be able to say to the missus, because we would easily say, look,
26:13 I'm disappearing for three weeks in Germany on to watch Scotland.
26:16 But I think I'm getting away with it because of my birthday.
26:19 So that's how you're going to celebrate your birthday.
26:21 Yeah, that's my birthday.
26:22 I'm going to Germany to see the boys.
26:24 I hope so.
26:25 But just seem to be there.
26:27 It's just to experience that.
26:28 I never honestly, you start to lose hope after a while.
26:31 Just going like, is it ever going to happen?
26:34 And the way the tournaments are going now, it's all this spread over countries thing.
26:38 Whereas the old way I grew up watching it was always in one country.
26:41 And what I loved about it is all the different nations descending on that.
26:44 And you're going to bump into different cultures and all that kind of stuff.
26:47 That's what I'm excited about in Scotland on the opening night against Germany in Munich.
26:51 There's probably a half a billion people watching this game.
26:54 And the fact we're involved in it and to be there and like everybody I know is going to go out for it.
26:59 You know, so I can't wait for it.
27:01 I mean, I hope we do well, but it's more just the experience.
27:04 Yeah, should be good.
27:06 I'm not going, my boyfriend's going.
27:08 I'll see you there.
27:10 Might even go myself.
27:12 Well, thank you very much.
27:14 Thank you.
27:15 I'm really looking forward to seeing the full series and see where you end up next.
27:18 Thank you.
27:19 Thank you.
27:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]