A Show With No Guests — Apparently
The plan for this Freaky Friday was simple: no guests.
Kevin the Scotsman had originally hoped to come along but couldn’t make it, Webby wasn’t feeling his best, and it looked as though I would be doing the show largely on my own.
Then, about five minutes into the livestream, a gentleman wandered over and asked what on earth I was doing.
His name was Ashley.
A microphone was available, there was an empty chair and, before long, Freaky Friday had a guest after all.
Meeting Ashley
Ashley was visiting Tenerife and staying locally before flying home the following morning.
What began as casual chat about Tenerife and his hotel quickly became a much more personal conversation.
When I explained a little about Christine, her MS and our life together, Ashley revealed that his own mother had lived with MS for many years.
That shared experience changed the entire conversation.
Ashley spoke warmly about his father and the years he had spent caring for members of his family. He made the point that when somebody is seriously ill or using a wheelchair, attention naturally goes to that person — while the person beside them doing the caring can easily become almost invisible.
It was an unexpectedly thoughtful moment from somebody who had only wandered into the livestream a few minutes earlier.
Living With Illness Without Letting It Become Your Life
We talked about Christine’s attitude towards MS and our belief that illness doesn’t have to become the only subject in your life.
Ashley also talked about his mum, how her MS gradually became more visible, and how the family dealt with it.
The conversation then became particularly personal when Ashley explained that he had gone through a very difficult period himself earlier in the year.
His conclusion was very much about wanting to live, experience things and make the most of the time available.
It wasn’t a conversation I’d planned, but that’s exactly why it worked.
Then Webby Arrived
Later in the programme Webby arrived — looking considerably different following the removal of the moustache he’d had for more than half a century.
That inevitably produced plenty of comments from the audience.
Dawn apparently approves of the clean-shaven version, although whether the moustache eventually returns remains to be seen.
Webby wasn’t feeling one hundred per cent and was drinking water rather than his usual Heineken, which naturally caused almost as much concern in the chat as the missing moustache.
Football Takes Over
With Webby in the chair the conversation inevitably moved towards football.
Coventry, Everton, Spurs, Leeds, Watford and Manchester City all came up, along with questions from viewers about the weekend’s matches.
Fury versus Joshua also produced some debate before the conversation returned to Watford, Ashley’s connections with the area and memories of Vicarage Road.
Webby also talked about what was coming up at the Beer House before eventually heading home for some rest.
Ashley Returns
After Webby left, Ashley stayed for the final few minutes.
We talked about YouTube, cars and why he enjoys watching Matt Armstrong, along with the difficulty creators have maintaining the thing that originally attracted an audience as their channels grow.
Ashley summed up something I strongly believe myself: being yourself is considerably easier than trying to maintain an invented online persona.
The final QQ of the night led us into electric vehicles. Ashley believes EVs have a future but that the infrastructure simply isn’t ready yet. We also briefly discussed whether hydrogen might eventually become a more practical alternative.
And then it really was time to go home.
There were bacon sandwiches waiting.
The Programme That Wasn’t Planned
This episode is a good example of why I enjoy live broadcasting.
There was no booked guest. There was no prepared interview. Ashley simply walked over, sat down and started talking.
Webby arrived later and completely changed the tone again.
Sometimes the programme you didn’t plan turns out to be far more interesting than the programme you did.