Unlikely Friends

• Where have all the Girl Bands and Boy Bands gone?

  This week on Unlikely Friends, we don’t so much ease into the episode as dive head-first into hemorrhoids.Pauline kicks things off with a typically delicate question: “Do you give your dentist a Christmas present or—fuck that?”Naturally, this spirals into Emma suggesting Leigh should be gifting his hemorrhoid doctor, and Jill offering a frankly too-vivid description of the situation. From there, the gang take a scenic tour through arseholes in general (because of course they do).Jade shares the traumatic tale of being stung by a bee — apparently the worst pain he’s ever felt — before the conversation shifts to Christmas, where everyone realises that kids don’t want toys anymore. It’s all iPhones, tablets, and tech… the magic of Action Men and dollhouses is dead. More festive chat follows, including the now-infamous Leigh-Beat-Bunton Christmas ornament.Pauline then drops another cracker of a question: If someone owed you money, which member of the group would you actually ask for it back from? This sparks some eye-opening revelations about everyone’s spending habits — including the fact that Leigh is far more of a tough nut than anyone expected.There’s travel talk, too: how being a celebrity changes the way you move through airports, hotels, and life in general.And finally? A blockbuster discussion: Why don’t we have girl bands and boy bands like the 90s anymore? The friends dive into how music production and financing have changed, and why the era of endless pop groups might truly be over.

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• The gang get vulnerable and discuss HATS!

  Alison Hammond and Joel Dommett are asking today’s big (and not-so-big) questions for the Unlikely Friends - and things get honest, a heartfelt and very, very real.Emma Bunton opens up about dealing with “mind load” and how overthinking can take over, while "shy" Jade Jones reminds us that we’re all a constant work in progress - and that’s actually something to celebrate.Jill Francis is talking about living in the moment… even when that moment is you worrying about your kids and Leigh Francis admits he cries more than people might think - he’s just a bit embarrassed to do it in front of others. Naturally, conversation seamlessly spirals into… HATS. Yep. What’s everyone’s favourite hat? And why is the humble beret threatening to tear the group apart?And of course, we couldn’t wrap up without chatting about Jack Osbourne - and why he seems to be everyone’s favourite I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmate.Subscribe and follow Unlikely Friends wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen on Global Player, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music.💌 Got a question or topic for the pineapple? Email [email protected]

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• The One where the Pineapple Starts Talking

  This week on Unlikely Friends, Leigh Francis, Emma Bunton, Jade Jones, and Jill Francis kick things off by asking: are they posh?Leigh launches into his best posh accent and admits he quite fancies talking like that permanently. This sparks a competitive (and slightly accusatory) debate about whose kids have the poshest accents — only for everyone to eventually admit that all their children sound a bit posh-with-a-London-twist.Emma shares a brilliant mishap from Heart Radio where she ended up with chocolate smeared across her face mid-show, and Jade reveals that whatever Emma eats inevitably ends up on her face too. Leigh joins in with a cinematic confession about finding popcorn buried in his chest hair after trips to the movies.Jade introduces her term “Kwengy” — those tiny white bits that gather in the corners of people’s mouths — which somehow leads them into a chat about the mysterious white stinky mouth-balls. (Unfortunately necessary.)They summon the ancient spirit of the pineapple, triggering a chaotic city-naming game in which Jill… really gives it a go. They follow it up with Andrew Garfield’s family Christmas favourite, the Giddy and Honest game, which sends the whole group into joyful chaos.The pineapple’s topic this week is laundry — prompting memories of laundrettes in Golders Green, childhood wash-days, and confessions about how useless the boys were with laundry when they first met Emma and Jill. Leigh even admits that he once phoned Jill while she was in hospital because he’d run out of pants. Classic romance.They wrap up with a chat about spiders, frogs, foxes, and some excellent anthropomorphising from Leigh, plus a spirited debate on the mysteries of secret socks.A wonderfully weird, cosy, and chaotic episode. See you on Monday.

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• Who Got Stopped by THE POLICE!? The gang are in for questioning

  Which of the Unlikely Friends have had run-ins with the police? We’ll give you a hint… it’s more than one! But what exactly happened?This week, the gang are grilled by none other than TV favourite Vicky McClure, who brings her Line of Duty interrogation skills to the table as she quizzes Emma Bunton, Jade Jones, Jill Francis, and Leigh Francis. Let's home her skills as a BBC detective does the trick!Emma shares memories of acting on EastEnders as a kid, Jade looks back on the day he became “rich” after finding £50, and Jill opens up about the diary she keeps. Meanwhile, Leigh dives into stories from his childhood - including a run-in with the school bully.Plus, who’s the shyest of the group? Being on TV or performing on stage doesn’t make you immune to wanting to disappear sometimes… even if you’re a Spice Girl or a member of Damage.

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• Time travel, Childbirth Stories and THE BIG SHOP

  This week on Unlikely Friends, Leigh Francis has been out DJing in Manchester, while Jade Jones has been performing at Shoreditch House — much to Emma Bunton’s delight (she admits she was full-on fangirling him!).Then, the gang crack open the pineapple to reveal a classic Leigh-style question:🕰️ If you could time travel back to any point in your life — or history — where would you go?Jill’s convinced she knows her husband’s answer, but Leigh surprises everyone by choosing 2015 — the peak of his Celebrity Juice and Through the Keyhole days. The conversation soon turns to whether anyone would revisit the birth of their children, leading to a hilarious and heartfelt dive into childbirth stories — from the magical to the mildly traumatic.The gang wrap things up on a lighter note, chatting about the big shop: Tesco trips, the toy aisle temptations, and whether there’s such a thing as “taking too long” in the supermarket.

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Unlikely Friends: Podcasts in Family