Sunday with Helen Lederer: ‘My ideal is to be with nice people’
What time are you up? Later when it’s darker and colder. I’ve got a bad habit of lolling and reaching for the TV. It’s bad if Andrew Marr is on, because then I’ve stayed lolling too long. It’s a sign I should be up and at my life.
What’s for breakfast? I’m trying to get limber, so I’ve invested in a frightening PT who tells me not to eat breakfast until however long after the previous night’s supper. I always forget how many hours it is, so I’ve got these CBD gummies from the health food shop. They’re like fruit pastilles and they keep me going if I get a bit peckish.
What were Sundays like growing up? We’d have a cooked breakfast, with a nice table cloth, and my sister, my mother and father and I would store up news so we’d have a very nice conversation. For Sunday roast, we’d have beef – I remember it always being tied up with string. There’d be homemade Yorkshire pudding and a jug of gravy, then at 4pm we’d have tea, with cake, followed by supper. It was a lot of food!
A Sunday tipple? It’s a treat to allow myself a drink in the daytime, but if I’m having lunch with friends, I might have two vodkas, because I’m under the impression it’s healthier! At 7pm I might have a glass of cava with a bit of cassis, then I can half think it’s Ribena. In the old days it would be more, but my excess has been moderated.
What makes Sunday special? My ideal is to be with nice people – people I like, who I hope like me, with a glass of something and some good food. I like it to be relaxed, not too full on. I had a lovely time at the Begging Bowl, a Thai place in Peckham. I was with two friends I hadn’t seen for ages and it was so nice I burst into tears. I was het up because I’d been working hard. Every time the waiter came over, we waved him away, because we had to wait until I stopped crying. It was quite jolly!
Helen Lederer is performing in Proud Cabaret All Stars at Proud Embankment in January, February and March (proudcabaret.com)