Catherine Lorimer's Guide to Life
Fifty something, strong minded independent woman who lives with a black Labrador called Pippa. I have lived a full life, been married, divorced, travelled with others and alone, been to concerts and festivals alone. I have run a marathon, owned and run my own small holding and separate dog walking business, I ride horses and currently own a rare breed Fell pony called Merlin. I have taken part in dressage, show jumping, cross country and long distance rides. I have been on a South African Wildlife Safari, riding horses amongst zebras and giraffe. I have worked for a Royal College, a Castle on a small country estate, in book production and publishing, for Italian and Chinese companies.
I started my podcast to help me survive divorce, it has taken me on an incredible journey and I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, doing activities the stories of which are available for you to listen to. I have met some incredible individuals along the way, real people who have overcome lots of different life challenges.
I have found myself having coffee with Paula Radcliff in Manchester, I have met Chris Evans, been interviewed by him on Virgin Radio, I have met the inspirational Richard Branson, sat next to the lovely Jake Quickendon at a charity event and asked him if he was on Instagram. I have worked on my self development, physical fitness and mental health, having suffered from social anxiety and had a massive lack of self confidence and I talk about this in my podcasts. By pushing myself to do all the things I talk about in my podcast, I have built up resilience. I am now mentally strong enough to date and my podcasts are currently on this topic. There are interviews with some truly inspiring real people to have a listen to, real life role models, who have overcome real life situations which you can listen to for advice and encouragement to help you through life.
Catherine Lorimer's Guide to Life
Christmas Lunch with Chris Evans and James Blunt
After successfully bidding on the Auction to win Lunch out at the Fox & Pheasant with James Blunt and Chris Evans, here is a podcast on the main event.
Friday the 18th November is probably going to be one of the life changing moments for me, it was the day, sprawled out on the sofa with a glass of red, I decided to put a large amount of money on the Carfest auction to have lunch with Chris Evans and James Blunt at the Fox and Pheasant pub. I have always been a massive fan of both, and I really love the Fox and Pheasant pub but this is the sort of thing that dreams are made of. Off I went and I won and was contacted by Chris Evans PA the next day to book it in and arrange who was coming with me, after a few texts I identified some people who could make it. Going and back and forth with Chris’s PA we made all the arrangements I booked and paid for my guests trains and hotels as it was a treat for them as well.
We headed off from Derby as a small group on the train, on Monday afternoon chatting away about who we were lunching with an where we were going. We wandered around London and had a few drinks in the pub before heading back to the hotel for a fairly early night.
We were up at 6.30am having stayed in a Premier Inn, the beds are always so comfy, and the showers are great. We had worked out where the number 1 the News building was the night before and then I got a call from John from the show letting me know that Chris had arranged special transportation to get us from the show to James Blunt’s pub. We got to the News tower about 8am and John came down to meet up and we excitedly went up to the 17th floor and the views are absolutely spectacular. We had a tour around the studio, and I did some jingles in one of the studios, which I loved doing.
We then we went into the control room with Aussie Jane and Marvellous Mira, and watched Chris and the team do the show then we got to go on the show and Chris invited me on as a guest to talk about my podcast, which was absolutely amazing and I got some lovely feedback from friends and family on how great I sounded on the radio and that I sounded as though I had been doing it forever and I absolutely loved it and for the first time in my life I realised what I wanted to do and that was to be on the radio as well as be a writer.
I then got to meet Sheridan Smith was amazing and then incredibly Chris had borrowed the Queens old Jag with a corgi stuck to the front of the dashboard, to drive us to the pub, it was amazing. He took us to the Mayfair Townhouse a 5 star hotel where we checked in and had a bottle of champagne in the room for us.
Chris then drove us to the Fox and Pheasant in Chelsea and I started the day with a Bloody Mary which I have never tried before and as a mid-morning drink it was quite pleasant, Tom Walker then rocked up with his guitar for a few drinks and lunch on his way to a writing session where he was getting together with a couple of new upcoming writers where they try and come up with lyrics for a new song. Tequilla Tash arrived and she is lovely and her and Chris are so clearly in love and so happy together.
James came in at 12 and got us all some drinks, he started with a Bloody Mary as well and we said hello and I wasn’t at all star struck, he is just a really nice bloke and had some great stories to tell and then tequila Tash got some tequila shots, which we downed and then we headed into the conservatory restaurant and had an amazing tea, I was next to Chris and opposite James so it was great to finally meet him and chat to him and we did the selfie thing after lunch.
I lost count of how many Tequila Shots we did but then amazingly the This Morning team were at the restaurant for their Christmas lunch so we got to meet, Alison Hammond, Phillip Scofield, Holly Willaby, Dermot O’Leary, Gok Wan and they were all so lovely and made us so welcome, it was amazing, I chatted rather drunkenly to all of them. The best moment of all though was getting a kiss on the cheek and a hug from James Blunt, it was a moment I don’t think I will ever forget. We then got a lift back from Brett who took us back in the Queens car to the hotel. We had a bit of a sleep and then headed out to the pub where I had a few bailey’s chasers, before passing out at the hotel. The guys I took with me land I oved it and it is fair to say that it was a night out that they will remember for their whole life. At some point on my return journey I decided that I wanted to be on the radio and I am now on RTC Radio on the Breakfast Show on a Thursday and Friday and I am going on a retreat organised by Chris’s Evans PA next year, when I think back to where I was this time last year, I can hardly believe it, but I have done it and it is true.