Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Nick Grimshaw likes nothing better than talking old times – which is even better when his job is to interview people.
But in his personal life the BBC Radio 6 Music breakfast show host admits he is equally guilty of damaging the art of conversation by staring at his phone, even at the dinner table.
“I love talking to people,” he says, “and my worst thing is when everyone is sitting on their phones – and so do I, so I’m not making any decisions.” “I get too attracted and then I get caught in an apocalypse.”
So with Christmas preparations underway, the 41-year-old broadcaster has teamed up Uber Eats And the Mowgli restaurant chain is coming up with ideas that will spark conversation at the Christmas dinner table, Uber Eats research found more than a third (37%) brits Struggles to hold a conversation and 65% report being regularly distracted by technology while eating.
Grimshaw has helped create a set of festive conversation cards that include questions like ‘Have you learned a lesson that’s stayed with you?’ and ‘What mealtime tradition would you like to start?’ Present questions like.
“I’ve always loved having dinner with people, having a laugh, and I love the idea of encouraging people to put their phones away and actually have conversations around a table. I know, 2025 will be off to a phenomenal start!”
Presenter, who also co-hosts the foodie podcast Dish with Chef angela hartnettLaments the fact that people need to be reminded not to look at computers during dinner with friends and family.
“It’s become the norm,” he says. “But when I was growing up, we would always have tea together as a family, and sit at the dinner table every night.
“I was really happy that my mom and dad enforced it on us. If that were the case they wouldn’t have allowed me to talk on the phone at dinner time.”
He says he always enjoyed sitting around the table with friends and family, and suggests: “I think it probably helped me do my job, because it was normal to sit down and talk every night.”
There are many rites of passage when a teenager goes to university, and Grimshaw’s was not one of those, sitting at the table for dinner. “Going to university, I ate for the first time on my knees. I couldn’t do it, it was too alien to me, and I remember thinking, oh my God, GodHow do I do this? “I was never really allowed to do that at my mom and dad’s house.”
But how things have changed.
“I know it’s bad,” he admits, “but sometimes I find myself eating on my knees, watching TV on my phone, and working on my laptop. This can’t be healthy!
“So I actively struggle to do that — I try to be phone-free as soon as I wake up, and I try not to be on the phone before I go to bed. But it’s hard to stay away from it, it involves everything, obviously — your schedule, your plans, and maybe a recipe, and as soon as I touch it, I’m on Instagram or Instagram or tiktok Or something.”
He says he tries to move his phone away from him, and if he’s watching a movie, he might even leave his phone in the other room.
And he points out that another reason to limit screen time is that it can impact memories. “When you’re on your phone while eating dinner or meeting people, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I feel like I don’t remember the meal or the moment because I’m just on my phone. I think it’s important to remember whole memories instead of scrolling TikTok.”
So, as a professional conversationalist, does Grimshaw have any tips for dinner guests who may find it difficult to strike up a conversation naturally at the table?
“It’s really important to ask questions and listen,” he says. “I think people just ask and maybe don’t listen to the follow-up or try to relate to it in some way. It’s about being quite genuine, listening and asking open human questions, not yes-no questions.
“Ask about what you’re interested in. Whenever I’m interviewing someone, I’m always thinking, why do I care? What do I really want to know, or what’s the thing that sticks out in my memory about this person. So I just try to find out what’s naturally interesting about a person.
“I think you can just apply it to dinner. Be polite, courteous. Be interested in people.
“And I also think if you’re going to a big event or dinner it’s always OK to offer some of yourself, like ‘Oh, were you a little nervous to come, because I was?’, as well as to expose a little bit of vulnerability.”
However, despite all his advice about being a good conversationalist, Grimshaw admits that, as he’s gotten older, he enjoys having a little quiet time.
He says that although he loves his job and feels very lucky to have it, “I also really enjoy being quiet. And the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve found quiet time and time to myself.”
“When I was younger it always felt like you were lost, or maybe being alone was a bit sad or pathetic. But now I really like it.”
He adds that his partner, Meshe Henry, is away from home right now and admits: “I spent the whole weekend alone, and loved it – no disrespect to everyone in my life.
“So I think it’s good to have those quiet moments and relax a little bit.”
Because his alarm goes off at 5:20 a.m. when he’s doing the breakfast show, he says sleep is very important to him. “I always love to sleep in on the weekends or when I’m on vacation,” he says. “And I also love going to the gym – I never thought I’d be that kind of person.
“Every time I go, I’m like ‘Wow!’ Comes out. Because you feel better, it really works. I know people have been saying this for almost 100 years, but it never fails to surprise me how much better I feel.
He goes to the gym three times a week, and lifts weights – something else he never thought he’d do. “But I really like it,” he says, “because it’s slow and I’m not being yelled at—it’s not like a bootcamp situation.
“It’s quite meditative, you really have to breathe through it because it’s terrifying. But I think it’s quite cool to do something you don’t necessarily like – I enjoy the fact that it’s hard and it’s mind over substance.”
Nick Grimshaw has teamed up Uber Eats And Mogli To help create festive conversation cards, which will be included in a lucky selection of Mowgli orders via Uber Eats across the UK to foster meaningful and entertaining chat.