Interview Transcript:

(Introduction)

Phil: Hello guys, this is my interview and analysis. I’m here asking the older generation - what it is like
between now and then. Things that have changed and haven’t changed.

Continued

Phil: And here is exhibit A - my mother, who is very sharp-tongued and very mind spoken. She knows
everything inside out. She could speak for England. So I’m going to ask you a load of questions and
I’m hoping this time you don’t laugh your head off.

Continued

Phil: And I hope we can get through this. Right, now I’m going to ask you a load of questions and I
hope we can get through this and answer them perfectly for me.

Continued

Phil: The thing is, what does the word celebrity mean to you?

Tracey: Celebrity these days, The word ‘celebrity’ anyone who goes on a reality tv show, to me, that
is not a celebrity. What we did in my day, this was a few years ago, people liked Norman Wisdom,
Benny Hill, I don’t like Benny Hill - and a few of the other.

Phil: Wasn’t Benny Hill the one who done the running?

Tracey: Yeah. So Celebrity can mean anything these days - It can mean someone on the street, a load
of women getting together, bitching about each other and they’re called celebrities.

Phil: So is there a difference between now and whenever?

Continued

Tracey: Yeah because we didn’t have reality shows in my day. You had to work to become a
celebrity. We didn’t do reality shows at all.

Phil: What reality shows did you have in your day like Geordie Shore or Love Island?

Tracey: The nearest reality show we had was like Opportunity Knocks which was a talent show. Just
things like that. You would never of had Big Brother or anything like that or Love Island. Infact, you
wouldn’t even of had women taking their clothes off.

Phil: So, not the Full Monty? I’ve watched bits of the Fully Monty and I like that. I mean, taking your
clothes off for charity? I would do it for charity but not anything else.

(Laughing)

Phil: If you had the chance back then, what would you of changed?
Tracey: There isn’t a lot I would of changed. There is a lot of good people, then, who earnt their
status as celebrities. Well as now, anyone could be a celebrity.

Phil: Well, yeah, now anyone can be a celebrity -

Tracey: Well, yeah, they could come along and interview us while we’re having coffee and have a
good laugh and that would make us a celebrity-

Phil: By doing TikTok, I follow people doing TikTok and I follow influencers making it big wherever
and I just think sometimes I wonder how they got there. I don’t think they got there by hard graft. I
just think they got their place because of, you know, they’ve been giving out to the world. I think
people take it for granted. I think some of these people do. And, I just think, I just think like you
should have what you doing like, you’ve not got a backup plan-

Tracey: Stop, stop, you’re supposed to be interviewing me! Not giving your views.

Phil: I am! I am!

Tracey: You’re not supposed to have a view.

Phil: Alright, just carry on with it then!

Continued
(Laughter)

Phil: Don’t worry, they’ll get it…

Phil: We’ll move onto the next question.

Phil: What changes do you think there have been between now and then? Like, like celebrity wise?
I’m more depth

Tracey: Like, you go back to reality shows, you would never have people romping around.

Phil: Like on Big Brother…?

Tracey: Yeah, Big Brother, Love Island. And you weren’t allowed to swear, now it seems like anything
you do is swearing. People don’t know how to sing, they just rap. It’s just ridiculous now.

Phil: I think especially after the watershed-

Tracey: Yeah, I remember when I was younger. Chuck Berry brought a song out ‘My Ding-a-Ling’ and
ig was banned from the radio.

Continued)

Tracey: And now you can swear all you want. You get a number one.

Phil laughs)
Phil: My next question, can you go more into depth? … What are the differences between celebrities
on Tv between now and years ago?

(Long Pause)

Phil: And what advice would you give them?

Tracey: Years ago, they could act, you either take your clothes off or swear. What are celebrities?
You’ve got influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Look, you got someone who washes their hair with
shampoo and that makes them a celebrity.

Phil laughs)

Phil: Leal wouldn’t like you for saying that.

Tracey: It’s true, but now, what is a celebrity? I would call half of the people I see on TV, non -
celebrities. To me, they haven’t earns their stripes, they shouldn’t be on there.

Phil: I agree, it think some of them - especially on Love Island, some of the people I’ve seen and
heard of, I think how on earth, I think, some of them do take it for granted. I think some of them do
it to raise their status up a bit. I think some people don’t even want to be on Love Island. I just think
they want to get to where they want to be -

Tracey: Yeah, they just to want to jump to the front of the cue. Even our own celebrity people like
Holly Willoughby and Phil -

Phil: Holly Willoughby is lovely-

Tracey: Yeah, she is lovely but every time you turn off on the TV, the same faces, time and time
again -

Phil: We had this the other day, you want fresh faces-

Tracey: I want new!

Phil: Yeah, I understand that

Tracey: They don’t need to have the same faces. I mean like, Phil, every time you turn on, you got
adverts on with him selling gin or insurance and cars and anything. The man is so boring I know. I just
want to see new faces. It’s either people who are working on the morning shows and that and they
go and take over the evening shows…

Continued)

Tracey: And if it’s not them, the kids do take over the evening shows. They’ve done absolutely
nothing to earn their place on TV. They’ve done absolutely nothing to learn how to act.

8:45

Phil: Yeah, Yeah.

Continued)

Phil: The next question that I’m going to ask you… What do you think about reality shows like Love
Island-

Tracey: You really don’t want me to answer that, do you? If I had my way, they ban the lot of ‘em.
We don’t want em on TV, I mean, Gogglebox? What’s the point of that?

Phil laughs)

Tracey: Oh my god, you can sit there and mouth off about anything. I used to watch X Factor but
that became manufactured. It’s all staged, I don’t want to watch something staged. If you’re going to
put a reality show on, put something natural on - real life.

Phil: What would you, What would you think real life that you would put on yourself?

Tracey: Me, they wouldn’t wanna follow me-

Phil laughs)

Tracey: I wouldn’t have anyone watch me.

Phil: I think you’d be a good town crier or something.

Tracey: Town crier? You saying I’m loud?

Phil laughs)

Phil: Yeah, I think you’re boisterous. I think you can put your point across. I don’t think you’re
worried about putting your point across. You just put it straight.

Tracey: I don’t want to see reality TV, I just want to watch something good on TV. I want something
that makes me laugh.

Phil: What things would they be?

Tracey: Comedians. I haven’t seen a good comedian in ages, but, Catherine Tate’s Nan makes me
laugh.

Phil: Yeah, she’s funny. Do you like Russel Howard? You know he used to live in Bath? I know that he
was born in Bath.

Tracey: Anyway I’d like to get all reality off. I don’t like Reality TV.

Continued)

Tracey: And I certainly don’t want to see them on my TV in the morning. Any of them. Half of the
people that they call celebrities. Piers Morgan. Because he’s got a big mouth. You don’t even want to
go there with me on the bloke (Laughing)

Phil: I think we can all agree with you on that one.

Tracey: It’s just Trash TV, isn’t it? To be honest…

Phil: Yeah, I don’t even think you can get up and say ‘oh, I’m going to watch this in my morning’. I
can’t even watch Lorraine in the morning without seeing something trashy.

Tracey: It’s all staged, everything’s staged. I’ve been there, done that. You’re told what to do-

Phil: You’ve been there with own experience, you have been on Lorraine, you have met Lorraine and
how did you think that was on Lorraine?

Tracey: Like being told what I’m supposed to say. That’s not true.

Phil: Some of the stuff that you said in the interview with her, some of that wasn’t true?

Tracey: It was true, what I’m saying is - when they came to the house, they did my hair and it looked
awful. Absolutely awful. (Laughing) I looked like my mother! Instead of looking younger, I looked
about 20 years older.

Phil: I’ve seen the photos and the videos of it, I’ve watched your videos-

Tracey: But even that, I said to them ‘What the hell has he done to my hair?’ And they said ‘No,no,no
- you can’t say that’ You must you say you like it. What’s the point and then I get cooked a meal and I
couldn’t eat it because it was all full of diary and they even bother to find out whether I could eat it.
The kids eat it. It was supposed to be my day, not the kids day.

Phil laughs)

Tracey: Is that it?

Phil: Is there anything else you want to put on that point?

Tracey: Oh, I could carry on for hours, but I won’t.

Phil: The final question that I’m going to ask you. I think I asked you this earlier but I want you to
engage on it more…

Continued)

Phil: If you had any changes for the celebrity world, what would they be and why would you make
that happen?

Tracey: NO MORE REALITY TV, JUST BAN IT -

Phil: What else?-

Tracey: All those Housewives, those celebrities -

Phil: Like the Housewives of Cheshire?

Tracey: Any Housewife! Is it really real? They only go out drinking coffee because they get paid
stupid money to do it.

Phil laughs)

Tracey: And then they’re called a celebrity. They wanna bring back some fun - the old comedies.

Phil: Well, what would you bring back in the TV world if you had a choice?

Tracey: Love Thy Neighbour. Really Love Love Thy Neighbour

Phil: Wasn’t Patrick Trueman in there?

Tracey: Yeah. You know, proper, wholesome comedians. But I think one of them is dead now.

We both laugh)

Phil: I think, I think some of the old timers are actually coming back. Like, you’ve got the Fresh Prince
of Bel Air, and I know you don’t really like that.

Tracey: I did like that-

Phil: I used to watch it, they bought back a reboot of it. Yeah, I think bringing things like that back-

Tracey: Look what they’ve got now, they’ve got Married at First Sight back on. By the end of the first
episode, I wanted to tear them apart because it is all just staged and if they can be that cruel and
people find that as entertainment, bring cruel to people, it should never be on, should never ever be
on TV.

Continued)

Tracey: Infact, I would sue them if it was me.

Phil: Quite frankly, I just think why would you put yourself in that position even if it is for a fee, why
would you do that if you’re not going to mean it?

Tracey: Well, if they offered me £500,000 or whatever or a few hundred grand. I would do it just for
the money.

Phil: Then you’d divorce them after a few weeks.

Lots of laughter from Phil and Tracey)

Tracey: Oooh bitchy!

Continue laughing)

Phil: Is there any other things that you’d like to talk about?

Tracey: Just put more comedy on! Look at it! They’re taking off Holby, I mean, why would they take
off Holby? I love Holby City. What are they going to put on? Some other trash?!
Phil: And Neighbours?!!

Tracey: Oh and Neighbours is going as well. l love Neighbours. I’ve watched it from day one.

Phil: Wasn’t there a soap called Brookside years ago? Would you bring that back?

Tracey: Yeah, even the soaps. They are so far-fetched. Keep Meena in!

Phil: In Emmerdale? You love Meena don’t you?

Tracey: Yeah, she’s the type of girl I want to be.

Phil: If you was a soap producer, would you have her back in?

Tracey: Too right I would have. They should have done it different, if I was doing it, i would have
done it different and expanded it more. She should of got away with a lot more.

Phil: Yeah I think, people underestimated soap actors-

Tracey: It wasn’t reality was it? She was 5ft4 and she went around killing grown men.

Phil: Yeah, but I think they underestimate soap actors because like if someone from Love Island
could easily get noticed the minute they step out of Love Island, they got all these deals and things -
that’s fine. I just think people like Meena who plays this amazing caricature. I think they deserve
more praise than anybody else-

Tracey: Well, she’ll go far-

Phil: It think with that role, she’ll go far-

Tracey: Yeah, but she’s on TV killing people. She’s not on there taking her clothes off. That’s the
difference.

Phil: Yeah, I know that and that’s what people should be noticing - things like that. Not like low self-
esteem. People wanna do it, then people will do it .

Tracey: You have to have low self-esteem to do things like that. If I caught my kid on Love Island,
they wouldn’t be coming back home.

Phil: Hit the nail on the head for that. Don’t you think?

Pause)

Phil: Well that was an eventful interview. My Mum Tracey, she’s very sharp-tongued and
opinionated I hope you enjoyed this interview and I hope that you just enjoyed it.

Laughs)

Phil: Right, I’m going to turn this off now.

Laughs)

Ending.