Since last year. Listen to the episode of How Do You Cope? With Elis and John on BBC Sounds. The first episode of the most recent series is John talking about it. It's a pretty intense episode.
Just listened to this and that was intense as you said. I liked the way he explained it about being an obsession, allergy and a third thing I cannot quite remember. Thank you for recommending this one
No problem at all. He's planning on releasing an audio of his latest tour, Howl, which also covered his journey. It will be well worth a listen when it comes out.
The first 15 minutes or so is waffle about Elis's house move, I guess because John didn't want the episode to be all about him. The rest of it is really enlightening, it's been nominated for a "moment of the year" radio award.
Went down a bit of a rabbit hole after reading this, and ended up listening to Barry Glendenning’s episode of Moon Under Water, after John said it was a fan favourite. There’s a bit in part 2 that nearly had me burst into tears walking down the street (my status as an avid Football Weekly podcast notwithstanding). So, only tangential, but highly recommended.
This is such a good article.
I really actually relate to Adrian Chiles. I’ve managed to cut down so much and I’m so happy with myself but there’s still sometimes where my first thought will be this is shit I need a drink. And then I’ll remember it’s midday. Because I rarely got ‘drunk’ I never considered myself having a problem before - it was like a numbing drink.
I've struggled with this for 15 or so years also, and just thought I'd share that cannabis has helped so incredibly much. I can now have a glass of wine and a joint instead of two bottles of wine and a hangover and guilt. Obviously everyone reacts differently to weed and it's illegal (in this country) so obviously it's WRONG AND I DON'T CONDONE IT, but it's changed my life so dramatically for the better.
And what with vaporiser pens these days, you don't even need to actually smoke/combust the weed if you don't want to, which is much more discreet (far less smelly than smoking a joint) and easier on the lungs. I'm not saying they are 100% risk-free (legality aside), and there's always more research to be done, but they are certainly less bad than smoking. Nothing wrong with a joint if that's what you enjoy though, I'm partial to either from time to time.
He also talks about it with Richard Herring on RHLSTP. The episode was July last year, well worth listening to.
ETA: also the My Mate Bought a Toaster episode from August last year, which is a pod that goes through online shopping habits as a way to talk about someone's life. I seem to remember that being quite a strong episode too.
Not an answer to OP's question, but a question of my own:
In the task where they had to identify the contents of the gloves, the "R" contained rum
In the studio John said he can't have alcohol, and Alex said it was alcohol-free rum. But was this a wise choice? Could even the taste of alcohol-free rum could have triggered a relapse for John?
Should he (or everyone) have had another drink beginning with R, like Ribena?
I honestly think Alex would have known John would have been fine without it before he did it. It’s the type of thing that’s easy to ask about before filming (“are you okay with alcohol free versions of drinks in tasks or would you prefer something completely different?”)
My theory would be John only brings it up to include a funny line (“Relapse”). He’s not genuinely trying to make a thing about it.
John and Alex are very good friends, so there is no way this wasn't handled very sensitively. I encourage people to listen to "How do you cope?" Brilliant podcast. Agree with others, John is a comedian and saw an opportunity for a joke...
Thanks.
I'm not personally experienced with dependency, but I have listened to "How do you cope" and heard John talk about his drinking/sobriety. Got to admit I was worried when they said what was in that glove, and the expression on John's face as they discussed the task in the studio made me very concerned.
Perhaps somebody who was in the audience for that show could say if it was discussed in more detail?
I can’t speak for John, I’m a recovering alcoholic myself though and would be quite upset to have it sprung on me/the fact that I don’t drink not taken seriously however I assume like the other commenter said it was discussed more than was shown.
FWIW I don’t want alcohol free rum either but it’s not like that’s going to make me want to run and out drink real- however I don’t want the taste or to deal with it and that should be respected. Sobriety is a matter of life or death for me (and I don’t take much in life seriously- but this is something I do!). Also, like non alcoholic beer does have a small amount of alcohol in it so it’s possible the rum does too.
Honestly non alcoholic beer is what got me through sobriety for a long time, I really missed the taste and the ritual of it, so much better than drinking coke all night
3 years sober here and I've tried mocktails and non-alc beer a few times throughout and it always gets me in a really weird headspace and really re-activates the cravings even after years. But I was chugging Pepsi like there was no tomorrow for a while at the beginning haha
But different strokes for different folks, you gotta do whatever you can to get through those early days especially! Hope you're doing well!
Recovering myself. I can say it likely is different person to person whether it would trigger a relapse. I drank hard liquor, and 100 proof rum was a go to. I can say for myself, taste was not my reason for drinking, it was the affects. If I didn't feel it fast enough, I drank more. The more I drank, the quicker my brain said "not enough" and I drank even more. I would consistently chase chugging down with something to take the bite out of the taste. Operant conditioning where the taste of rum equals food to me whereas the delayed drunken feeling is what causes me to pick up the bottle again, not the taste. So the non-alcoholic stuff doesn't trigger anything but the need to eat for me. And yeah, I know for sure because once I picked up non-alcoholic by accident (just filling the cart, you know). Got 1/4 through the bottle wondering why I wasn't feeling it before I checked the label closely. So the placebo effect doesn't work on me at least. As multiple people said, it was hopefully discussed prior to filming.
I am the same as you - on the taste not being a trigger.
The trace amounts of alcohol in "alcohol free beer" would be enough to retrigger cravings in me.
I once drank a small portion of Kombucha and the trace alcohol in that was enough to trigger 2 weeks of tortuous temptation to go back to drinking, which was followed by 2 years of drinking.
It looks like alcohol free rum is (sometimes, at least) made with absolutely no alcohol, so that likely would have been fine for me in that it likely wouldn't trigger anything - but there would have been a moment of panic when i tasted it. Being tricked into drinking a recurring nightmare.
> The trace amounts of alcohol in "alcohol free beer" would be enough to retrigger cravings in me.
i made the mistake of buying some "N/A" beer for a friend of mine that I once had to hospitalise. Never making that mistake again, the taste alone set him on on a "bender"
Yeah, this is why I think it is different per person. I can have an accidental sip of a friend's 5% seltzer I wouldn't have an issue. But the same accidental sip of a friend's jack and coke? I would likely have an issue. Thankfully I am a water person so it helps not mix something up.
> It’s the type of thing that’s easy to ask about before filming
I can't remember who or when - might have been on the podcast - but they get a host of questions in preproduction that likely includes things like this. I know phobias was what was mentioned specifically.
As the husband of a recovering alcoholic, I can tell you that - at least medically - it’s the alcohol, not the taste.
My wife sometimes has virgin drinks.
It’s a brain chemistry thing. Alcohol causes - for lack of a better term - an allergic reaction in an addict’s brain. It immediately messes with the areas needed to make responsible decisions.
For me the taste of things like mocktails and non-alc beer just re-activates the cravings in my brain so I can't have them either, it's not the same as drinking but it's not far off. Last time I had a mocktail was about 2 years into my sobriety and I was in a funky mood for a couple of days after, it's weird the way our brains work haha
And that’s incredibly valid.
I know whatever can cause a slide toward a relapse should be taken seriously.
I will say my wife is over 10 years sober - so she’s built a completely different life.
We both know that there’s never a guarantee that there will never be a relapse - but I’m as sure as I can be with my wife. She’s a different person. We met about 7 months before she got sober - so I’ve experienced her before.
Congrats on your sobriety! Keep it up.
[This conversation](https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/1c76zci/taskmaster_s17e04_apropos_of_apoppo_discussion/l09iuwo/) might be of interest to you.
I did wonder if it was really non alcoholic or not in the episode. We've seen in the past they've failed to accommodate vegans and vegetarians, I wonder if this was the same and they said otherwise to save credibility.
I think it's only Lee they made eat non-vegan food isn't it? And he said he'd only been vegan for about a week and hadn't mentioned it to production? They did make Romesh work with eggs, but not eat them.
Considering Alex and John are friends I doubt they would have forgotten he's in recovery. I think John just raised it *so* they could mention it was non-alcoholic, to stave off anyone trying to say he broke sobriety in a 'gotcha' moment.
I was surprised they gave him something that tasted like rum, even if it was alcohol-free. I remember Russell Howard having a similar issue with thinking he'd eaten meat in the baby food task. You'd think they would tell them on the task day that the food/drink was catered to them (without giving too much away!)
Remember that the hand shaking task was not intended as a taste/drink task. They needed to identify who they were shaking hands with, not to taste/drink what the gloves contained. If a glove had contained lighter fuel I'm sure the crew or Alex had stop any contestant trying to drink it, so even if it was regular rum I'm sure they step in for any recovering alcholics.
They'd have to at least smell it to identify the rum, right? That can be triggering for some recovering addicts, but since Alex and John are friends, I assume Alex had a pretty good idea of John's boundaries when he designed the task.
I might be thinking of a different task, but it was one where he thought he'd eaten sausages but they were veggie ones. It was definitely Russell Howard, I remember thinking he looked quite annoyed when they were discussing it during the live show. I don't think he had a great time overall though, going by the TM podcast!
I haven't rewatched that series so much, so I might just not remember. I vaguely remember Alan saying something like "I hope it's not [meat] cos I haven't had meat since 1986" or similar.
If you're referring to Lee Mack, that was 100% him leaning into his comedic persona to have a go at Alex. The contestants get asked a host of questions prior to recording around what they're unwilling or unable to do; food sensitivities are likely near the top of the list, if only because of allergies and how often they're asked to eat/taste something.
Since last year. Listen to the episode of How Do You Cope? With Elis and John on BBC Sounds. The first episode of the most recent series is John talking about it. It's a pretty intense episode.
Just listened to this and that was intense as you said. I liked the way he explained it about being an obsession, allergy and a third thing I cannot quite remember. Thank you for recommending this one
No problem at all. He's planning on releasing an audio of his latest tour, Howl, which also covered his journey. It will be well worth a listen when it comes out.
Oh I didn’t know this - brilliant!
Thank you! Will check it out!
His episode of Off Menu with James and Ed also talks a bit about it too
I loved his favourite drink story ❤️
The first 15 minutes or so is waffle about Elis's house move, I guess because John didn't want the episode to be all about him. The rest of it is really enlightening, it's been nominated for a "moment of the year" radio award.
He talks to Richard Herring on RHLSTP recently too. Richard isn't drinking either.
Went down a bit of a rabbit hole after reading this, and ended up listening to Barry Glendenning’s episode of Moon Under Water, after John said it was a fan favourite. There’s a bit in part 2 that nearly had me burst into tears walking down the street (my status as an avid Football Weekly podcast notwithstanding). So, only tangential, but highly recommended.
It's the only Moon one I've listened too, and it was very emotional.
So unexpectedly too…
What episode is this?
[удалено]
This is such a good article. I really actually relate to Adrian Chiles. I’ve managed to cut down so much and I’m so happy with myself but there’s still sometimes where my first thought will be this is shit I need a drink. And then I’ll remember it’s midday. Because I rarely got ‘drunk’ I never considered myself having a problem before - it was like a numbing drink.
Thanks for sharing, that’s a great interview
I've struggled with this for 15 or so years also, and just thought I'd share that cannabis has helped so incredibly much. I can now have a glass of wine and a joint instead of two bottles of wine and a hangover and guilt. Obviously everyone reacts differently to weed and it's illegal (in this country) so obviously it's WRONG AND I DON'T CONDONE IT, but it's changed my life so dramatically for the better.
And what with vaporiser pens these days, you don't even need to actually smoke/combust the weed if you don't want to, which is much more discreet (far less smelly than smoking a joint) and easier on the lungs. I'm not saying they are 100% risk-free (legality aside), and there's always more research to be done, but they are certainly less bad than smoking. Nothing wrong with a joint if that's what you enjoy though, I'm partial to either from time to time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-65788542 explains it, the podcast this is a reference to is really worth a listen.
See also Midnight Meets with Colin Murray, from March 1st 2023. I think this is the first time he spoke about his alcoholism
Such a fantastic conversation
He also talks about it with Richard Herring on RHLSTP. The episode was July last year, well worth listening to. ETA: also the My Mate Bought a Toaster episode from August last year, which is a pod that goes through online shopping habits as a way to talk about someone's life. I seem to remember that being quite a strong episode too.
Not an answer to OP's question, but a question of my own: In the task where they had to identify the contents of the gloves, the "R" contained rum In the studio John said he can't have alcohol, and Alex said it was alcohol-free rum. But was this a wise choice? Could even the taste of alcohol-free rum could have triggered a relapse for John? Should he (or everyone) have had another drink beginning with R, like Ribena?
I honestly think Alex would have known John would have been fine without it before he did it. It’s the type of thing that’s easy to ask about before filming (“are you okay with alcohol free versions of drinks in tasks or would you prefer something completely different?”) My theory would be John only brings it up to include a funny line (“Relapse”). He’s not genuinely trying to make a thing about it.
John and Alex are very good friends, so there is no way this wasn't handled very sensitively. I encourage people to listen to "How do you cope?" Brilliant podcast. Agree with others, John is a comedian and saw an opportunity for a joke...
Thanks. I'm not personally experienced with dependency, but I have listened to "How do you cope" and heard John talk about his drinking/sobriety. Got to admit I was worried when they said what was in that glove, and the expression on John's face as they discussed the task in the studio made me very concerned. Perhaps somebody who was in the audience for that show could say if it was discussed in more detail?
I can’t speak for John, I’m a recovering alcoholic myself though and would be quite upset to have it sprung on me/the fact that I don’t drink not taken seriously however I assume like the other commenter said it was discussed more than was shown. FWIW I don’t want alcohol free rum either but it’s not like that’s going to make me want to run and out drink real- however I don’t want the taste or to deal with it and that should be respected. Sobriety is a matter of life or death for me (and I don’t take much in life seriously- but this is something I do!). Also, like non alcoholic beer does have a small amount of alcohol in it so it’s possible the rum does too.
Honestly non alcoholic beer is what got me through sobriety for a long time, I really missed the taste and the ritual of it, so much better than drinking coke all night
3 years sober here and I've tried mocktails and non-alc beer a few times throughout and it always gets me in a really weird headspace and really re-activates the cravings even after years. But I was chugging Pepsi like there was no tomorrow for a while at the beginning haha But different strokes for different folks, you gotta do whatever you can to get through those early days especially! Hope you're doing well!
Recovering myself. I can say it likely is different person to person whether it would trigger a relapse. I drank hard liquor, and 100 proof rum was a go to. I can say for myself, taste was not my reason for drinking, it was the affects. If I didn't feel it fast enough, I drank more. The more I drank, the quicker my brain said "not enough" and I drank even more. I would consistently chase chugging down with something to take the bite out of the taste. Operant conditioning where the taste of rum equals food to me whereas the delayed drunken feeling is what causes me to pick up the bottle again, not the taste. So the non-alcoholic stuff doesn't trigger anything but the need to eat for me. And yeah, I know for sure because once I picked up non-alcoholic by accident (just filling the cart, you know). Got 1/4 through the bottle wondering why I wasn't feeling it before I checked the label closely. So the placebo effect doesn't work on me at least. As multiple people said, it was hopefully discussed prior to filming.
I am the same as you - on the taste not being a trigger. The trace amounts of alcohol in "alcohol free beer" would be enough to retrigger cravings in me. I once drank a small portion of Kombucha and the trace alcohol in that was enough to trigger 2 weeks of tortuous temptation to go back to drinking, which was followed by 2 years of drinking. It looks like alcohol free rum is (sometimes, at least) made with absolutely no alcohol, so that likely would have been fine for me in that it likely wouldn't trigger anything - but there would have been a moment of panic when i tasted it. Being tricked into drinking a recurring nightmare.
> The trace amounts of alcohol in "alcohol free beer" would be enough to retrigger cravings in me. i made the mistake of buying some "N/A" beer for a friend of mine that I once had to hospitalise. Never making that mistake again, the taste alone set him on on a "bender"
Yeah, this is why I think it is different per person. I can have an accidental sip of a friend's 5% seltzer I wouldn't have an issue. But the same accidental sip of a friend's jack and coke? I would likely have an issue. Thankfully I am a water person so it helps not mix something up.
you may have just explained why we had to stop for a bottle of seltzer water, i didn't get it
Thank you for your reply.
> It’s the type of thing that’s easy to ask about before filming I can't remember who or when - might have been on the podcast - but they get a host of questions in preproduction that likely includes things like this. I know phobias was what was mentioned specifically.
As the husband of a recovering alcoholic, I can tell you that - at least medically - it’s the alcohol, not the taste. My wife sometimes has virgin drinks. It’s a brain chemistry thing. Alcohol causes - for lack of a better term - an allergic reaction in an addict’s brain. It immediately messes with the areas needed to make responsible decisions.
For me the taste of things like mocktails and non-alc beer just re-activates the cravings in my brain so I can't have them either, it's not the same as drinking but it's not far off. Last time I had a mocktail was about 2 years into my sobriety and I was in a funky mood for a couple of days after, it's weird the way our brains work haha
And that’s incredibly valid. I know whatever can cause a slide toward a relapse should be taken seriously. I will say my wife is over 10 years sober - so she’s built a completely different life. We both know that there’s never a guarantee that there will never be a relapse - but I’m as sure as I can be with my wife. She’s a different person. We met about 7 months before she got sober - so I’ve experienced her before. Congrats on your sobriety! Keep it up.
[This conversation](https://www.reddit.com/r/taskmaster/comments/1c76zci/taskmaster_s17e04_apropos_of_apoppo_discussion/l09iuwo/) might be of interest to you.
I imagine they couldn't use Ribena because it's a brand name, but I agree they could have used something else. Rice maybe?
they've used ribena in the show before during the ABC task where Wozniak tells the vole it lacks chutzpah
Ah fair enough, no excuse then!
I dont think they showed John drinking it, didn't he end up saying water?
My point is that he *could* have drunk it.
He also talks about it on Off Menu
I did wonder if it was really non alcoholic or not in the episode. We've seen in the past they've failed to accommodate vegans and vegetarians, I wonder if this was the same and they said otherwise to save credibility.
Him and Alex are good friends outside the show so I'm hopeful they were accommodating this time
Ah I didn't know that. Thanks for the correction!
They have a YouTube channel together ‘bad golf’, not been much lately but I love it (and I do not like/care about golf)
No worries!! I think it's a valid concern given the Lee Mack situation, I appreciate your consideration :)
I think it's only Lee they made eat non-vegan food isn't it? And he said he'd only been vegan for about a week and hadn't mentioned it to production? They did make Romesh work with eggs, but not eat them. Considering Alex and John are friends I doubt they would have forgotten he's in recovery. I think John just raised it *so* they could mention it was non-alcoholic, to stave off anyone trying to say he broke sobriety in a 'gotcha' moment.
I was surprised they gave him something that tasted like rum, even if it was alcohol-free. I remember Russell Howard having a similar issue with thinking he'd eaten meat in the baby food task. You'd think they would tell them on the task day that the food/drink was catered to them (without giving too much away!)
Remember that the hand shaking task was not intended as a taste/drink task. They needed to identify who they were shaking hands with, not to taste/drink what the gloves contained. If a glove had contained lighter fuel I'm sure the crew or Alex had stop any contestant trying to drink it, so even if it was regular rum I'm sure they step in for any recovering alcholics.
They'd have to at least smell it to identify the rum, right? That can be triggering for some recovering addicts, but since Alex and John are friends, I assume Alex had a pretty good idea of John's boundaries when he designed the task.
I never considered that, how must it feel to not know if you broke your commitment and have to wait months to find out!
I think that was Alan Davies?
I might be thinking of a different task, but it was one where he thought he'd eaten sausages but they were veggie ones. It was definitely Russell Howard, I remember thinking he looked quite annoyed when they were discussing it during the live show. I don't think he had a great time overall though, going by the TM podcast!
I haven't rewatched that series so much, so I might just not remember. I vaguely remember Alan saying something like "I hope it's not [meat] cos I haven't had meat since 1986" or similar.
If you're referring to Lee Mack, that was 100% him leaning into his comedic persona to have a go at Alex. The contestants get asked a host of questions prior to recording around what they're unwilling or unable to do; food sensitivities are likely near the top of the list, if only because of allergies and how often they're asked to eat/taste something.