BIG ZUU: BALANCING FAITH, GRIME & HOW HE TACKLES HIS INSECURITIES

Summary

Great Company with Jamie Laing
Episode: BIG ZUU: BALANCING FAITH, GRIME & HOW HE TACKLES HIS INSECURITIES
Release Date: May 27, 2025

---

Introduction

In this compelling episode of Great Company with Jamie Laing, host Jamie Laing, accompanied by producer Jemima, welcomes the multifaceted entertainer Big Zoo. Known for his vibrant presence in music, television, culinary arts, and social media, Big Zoo delves deep into his personal journey, faith, and the challenges he faces in balancing his diverse career and personal life.

Personal Background

Big Zoo, whose real name is Zahir Hassan, shares his rich cultural heritage, highlighting his Sierra Leonean and Lebanese roots. He recounts the harrowing experiences of his family during the Sierra Leone Civil War, detailing how his mother fled to the UK while eight months pregnant, uprooting their lives and relocating to a foreign country with limited resources.

• Quote: "If the war never happened, I'd never be here." (08:26)

He describes the struggles of growing up in temporary housing and the loss of his uncle during the war, painting a vivid picture of resilience and adaptation.

Career Highlights

Big Zoo discusses his achievements in the entertainment industry, notably winning two BAFTAs for his work. He reflects on the experience of accepting the awards, emphasizing the significance of representation and the challenges of navigating predominantly white and non-diverse award spaces.

• Quote: "We earned it 100%. You won that year." (23:04)

He also touches upon his ventures in music and his collaboration with his cousin, A.J. Tracy, highlighting their upcoming show Rich Flavors on Sky, which explores extravagant culinary experiences around the world.

Diversity and Representation

A substantial portion of the conversation centers on the imperative of diversity in the workplace, especially within the creative industries. Big Zoo articulates the necessity of diverse voices to foster innovative and representative content.

• Quote: "You can only have diversity in thought if people are represented." (29:40)

He shares his personal efforts to enhance diversity in his projects, advocating for inclusive practices that go beyond mere tokenism, thereby enriching the storytelling and authenticity of media productions.

Volunteering and Social Work

Big Zoo passionately discusses his commitment to volunteering and youth work. Drawing from his own experiences of receiving support during his upbringing, he underscores the importance of giving back to the community and providing guidance to young individuals navigating similar challenges.

• Quote: "Volunteering should be something we all do at least once a month." (38:11)

He reminisces about his time with City Year and the profound impact it had on both his personal growth and the lives of the youth he mentored.

Faith and Identity

Exploring the intersection of faith and career, Big Zoo opens up about his relationship with Islam. He reflects on how his faith shapes his identity and influences his work, particularly in an industry where aspects of his religious beliefs, such as music being deemed haram by some interpretations, coexist with his creative expressions.

• Quote: "I'm a pious person. I believe in [Allah] a lot." (55:50)

He emphasizes the importance of personal interpretation of religious texts and the balance between adhering to faith and pursuing one's passions.

Insecurities and Personal Insights

Big Zoo candidly addresses his insecurities, particularly about his loud and boisterous nature, which he feels can sometimes be misconstrued or used against him. He discusses the impact of online criticism and the struggle to maintain authenticity amidst public scrutiny.

• Quote: "Sometimes I'm insecure about how loud and boisterous I am." (53:45)

Despite these challenges, he remains steadfast in his confidence and commitment to being genuine, sharing strategies he employs to cope with negative feedback.

Quick Fire Questions

Towards the end of the episode, Jamie and Big Zoo engage in a series of light-hearted rapid-fire questions, offering listeners a more personal glimpse into Big Zoo's preferences and quirks.

• Favorite Phrase: "Bomber clock." (63:08)
• Greatest Compliment: "Anytime someone compliments my energy." (63:14)
• Insecurity: "My mouth – I talk a lot." (63:28)
• Last Time He Cried: Watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" clip. (63:39)
• Guilty Pleasure: Sweets. (64:06)
• Turn Off: Being rude to random people. (64:15)
• Turn On: Loving and caring people. (64:25)
• Favorite Swear Word: "Prick." (64:56)

Conclusion

The episode concludes with heartfelt exchanges between Jamie, Jemima, and Big Zoo, underscoring the importance of honesty, vulnerability, and the continuous journey of self-improvement. Big Zoo's blend of humor, depth, and authenticity leaves listeners inspired and eager to support his ongoing endeavors.

---

Notable Quotes:

• "If the war never happened, I'd never be here." (08:26)
• "We earned it 100%. You won that year." (23:04)
• "You can only have diversity in thought if people are represented." (29:40)
• "Volunteering should be something we all do at least once a month." (38:11)
• "I'm a pious person. I believe in [Allah] a lot." (55:50)
• "Sometimes I'm insecure about how loud and boisterous I am." (53:45)

This episode provides a profound exploration of Big Zoo's life, offering insights into his cultural background, professional achievements, and personal beliefs. It serves as an inspiring narrative for those interested in the harmony between faith, creativity, and personal growth.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Elise Hu]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] this is Elise Hu.

From TED Talks Daily. Athleta designed for the Power of She Whether that means chasing a dream, a toddler or a finish line, Athleta designs every style with movement in mind. Because when women move, they create change not just for themselves, but for the world around them. Athleta delivers performance innovation without sacrificing style. So you can feel boldly confident wherever life takes you, whether it's a morning run, an evening stretch, or everything in between. Athleta designed for the Power of She hey, I'm Elise Hu, host of the podcast Ted Talks Daily. For more than 20 years, Paylocity has been leading the way with cutting edge work solutions like On Demand Payment, which offers employees access to wages prior to payday, flexible time tracking features which enable staff to clock in and out through their mobile device, and numerous other cutting edge solutions that simplify collaboration across hr, finance and it. Learn more about how Paylocity can help streamline work and enhance business outcomes for your [e-mail] Simplified.

[Unknown]

Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company seniority skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply.

[Jamie Laing]

Hello everyone, My name is Jamie Laing and this is great producer Jemima.

[Jemima]

Hello, Jamie Lang.

[Jamie Laing]

Hi, how are you?

[Jemima]

I'm well. You?

[Jamie Laing]

Very good. Welcome back everyone to the show.

[Jemima]

Bang, bang, bang.

[Jamie Laing]

We're straight in there.

[Jemima]

Ping pong, back and forward, back and forward. Well, backhand, forehand. I immediately off the rails.

[Jamie Laing]

I can't wait.

[Jemima]

I'm left handed. So. Do you not know that? God, have you never seen me Use a pen.

[Jamie Laing]

I have. You're left handed.

[Jemima]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

I have not seen you. You right. Left handed.

[Jemima]

Yes. That's what left handed means anyway. Because I'm left handed and we live in a right handed world. I have to do a lot of things with both hands and when I play.

[Jamie Laing]

There we go.

[Jemima]

Yeah. So when I play any sort of racket sport.

[Jamie Laing]

Oh, okay.

[Jemima]

The French one, you have to hold. There's only that. You can only play it one way round.

[Jamie Laing]

Okay.

[Jemima]

We'll come to that on another episode. But I racket sports. I'll do everything forehand or I play. Play with both hands.

[Jamie Laing]

See, see, you play with both hands. So you swap.

[Jemima]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

That's insane.

[Jemima]

Yeah. Also ball both hands at the same time because I'm just weak. I'm not. I. I should probably put it out there. I don't play racket sports. So on the very rare occasion you see me like playing a little bit of beach volley.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jemima]

What's that? Beach beach ball with the tiny ball.

[Jamie Laing]

It's a beach. It's rackets. Volleyball.

[Jemima]

That really took you somewhere.

[Jamie Laing]

That's great. I like that. One more time. Yeah, look.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jemima]

Took you back to being on the beach. Oh, we should take GC on the beach.

[Jamie Laing]

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the show. Today's guest is very, very exciting. It's Big Zoo. Big Zoo is a singer, performer. He is a TV star, a chef, huge on social media and I want to get Zoo on for a while. He's a big character, big presence.

[Jemima]

He's great. I'm really, really excited. Also, I can't work out whether he's more chef or more music.

[Jamie Laing]

I don't know which one he is. All I do know is that his cousin is A.J. tracy.

[Jemima]

That's wild.

[Jamie Laing]

Which is pretty wild. He's a really, really interesting guy. He's all about quality. I just love his views and his passion and his just greatness. Okay, are you ready for this?

[Jemima]

Boy, am I ready. I've got my notes.

[Jamie Laing]

You do?

[Jemima]

I'm ready.

[Jamie Laing]

Are you going to take notes?

[Jemima]

No, for you.

[Jamie Laing]

Okay, good. Okay, well, listen, before we kick it off, remember to please, if you can click that subscribe button. It does us absolute wonders. We're also on social media at Great Company Podcast and you can send us an email. Great company productions.co.uk okay, here we go. Enjoy this episode of Great Company with Big Zoo.

[Big Zoo]

You're always saying it's Big Zoo and I'm in great company.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you ever have those moments where you want to be emotional? Yes. And so I do that as well. So you go and hunt for that emotional thing just cause it can make you cry. I do that. I do this thing on YouTube where I watch like military people coming home to their families.

[Big Zoo]

Oh, that's deep.

[Jamie Laing]

That goes.

[Big Zoo]

See, that's deep.

[Jamie Laing]

That's the big one.

[Big Zoo]

See, I wouldn't cry.

[Jamie Laing]

Why not?

[Big Zoo]

Because I don't know. I can't cry. I've cried a couple times in my life. Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

When I was born, you cried then.

[Big Zoo]

I cried then when they slapped, you know, when they slapped your bum.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

Pursuit of Happiness. Will Smith, when he does the clap at the end when he's walking. See, I'm getting emotional.

[Jamie Laing]

He is. Zoo is actually getting emotional.

[Big Zoo]

That makes me so. Because it's like he does. Because he's so. It's such an emotional ending. Have you watched Pursuit of Happiness?

[Jamie Laing]

One of my favourites.

[Big Zoo]

When he borrows him, you know when you ask, can I borrow $5? Taxi.

[Jamie Laing]

Can you explain to explain what the movie's about?

[Big Zoo]

Oh, Will Smith is his broke brother and he breaks up with his girl. And he has his son, young Jaden Smith. And he tries to get this job at like being a stockbroker. But then he also invested his life savings into these weird like X ray machines. So it's just about his mission from going from being really poor to becoming a stockbroker. It's based on a real life story and he's like really struggling, working in Wall street. And then he finally gets a job at the end. But what's so mad is that his boss asks him for $5 to get a taxi and he really doesn't want to give him the $5. And then when he gets the job at the end. Sorry to ruin the film for you. When he gets the job at the end, he gives him back that five do. And it's so emotional because like he still. He wants that $5.

[Jamie Laing]

I can feel it now.

[Big Zoo]

Give me that five. And then he walks out into a packed New York street and he's just walking under it and just clapping like you see. Finally made it. That that film is, is. Is really about the pursuit of happiness. And what is happiness and all the setbacks that he goes through. Also just young Jaden Smith being such an incredible actor.

[Jamie Laing]

Unbelievable.

[Big Zoo]

It's quite mad in it. Like he's done that and Karate Kid. What? What? And then he made a song with Justin Bieber. Never say Never. What a song. Honestly, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. Jaden Smith doesn't even act after that.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

Why has he really acted after that?

[Jamie Laing]

Why did he stop acting after he's done enough Karate Kid.

[Big Zoo]

That's enough. Karate Kid. And. And Pursuit of Happiness. It's like Macaulay Culkin. You've done Home Alone. That's it, innit?

[Jamie Laing]

Richie Rich.

[Big Zoo]

I'm Richie Rich. That's it. There's no more to do.

[Jamie Laing]

To Tevin. Your name is Big Zoo.

[Big Zoo]

Yes, Big Zoo.

[Jamie Laing]

But what's your Kristen name? What do you.

[Big Zoo]

What do you real name?

[Jamie Laing]

What's your real name?

[Big Zoo]

So my real name is Zaha. Yeah, Zahir. But my teachers could pronounce it, so they call me Zuhair. So they call me Zuhair. I was like, you know what?

[Jamie Laing]

Really?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. But my real name is Zaher Hassan. Zahir Hassan. But I'm named after my dad.

[Jamie Laing]

Are you?

[Big Zoo]

I'm a junior.

[Jamie Laing]

Zahar San. Junior. So, wait, hang. And. And this is because your story, by the way, I was just like, I was checking out everything. It's insane, man. Because your mum left. Well, forgive me. I got this from Sierra Leone.

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

When you were. When she was four months pregnant with you.

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

Flee to the UK and brought you up in the UK with no money, not being able to speak English, not being able to write, read anything. But then, was this an unbelievable, powerful, strong mum.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

That is wild.

[Big Zoo]

It's mad. Still, she loves it. She loves it. She loves her story. I feel like my mom, my mom was just a powerful woman and she comes from a very, very, like, mad upbringing. My mom's one of 14, like, crazy family that just comes like Sierra Leone before the war was a beautiful place. And, you know, the people. The people are amazing people with the war definitely hurt them in a lot of ways. So my mom having to leave her family and come, it was tough. But, you know, now she kind of appreciates everything that we. That. That came from that. So if the war never happened, I'd never be here.

[Jamie Laing]

Because your dad, your dad's Lebanese, right?

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

So, so are you.

[Big Zoo]

Are you.

[Jamie Laing]

You must be proud of your heritage.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, 100%. What's weird is that my dad's Lebanese, but he was born in Sierra Leone and his parents were born in Sierra Leone. So my dad really is just Sierra Leonean. He just has Lebanese heritage. So obviously we know our family back home and we know our family in Lebanon, but really my entire identity is Sierra Leone. I just happen to be mixed race. But, like, it's my.

[Jamie Laing]

Have you been back?

[Big Zoo]

I go back every year. Every December I go to Ceylon.

[Jamie Laing]

Really?

[Big Zoo]

And they love it. When I touch down, they're so excited because they know bills are paid. Fun is happening. Let's go. Rice. Everyone gets rice.

[Jamie Laing]

What's rice? As in, like rice rice?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, just rice. Just straight up rice. Rice is expensive, bro. Rice is expensive. Back home in Africa, rice expensive, especially.

[Jamie Laing]

I thought rice was cheap.

[Big Zoo]

Nah, bro. I mean, you have cheap rice, so in Africa, a lot of the times people eat broken rice. Okay. Which is the rice that doesn't get sent out. Like, it's the. Like, it's like the rice that doesn't go, like, make it.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

So just bad broken rice. That one will be long, one will be short one. Like, it's bare weird. They don't really eat good rice, so when I touch down, they know basmati is coming. Bear basmati, bear fruit. Anything you want. You're smart about. Back home, when I go back home, because a lot of it's about, like, provisionals. Whereas here, we eat what we want, we have what we want. We can order takeaway today. Like, anything we want. We can taste the world. Back home, it's just a bit different. Like buying a lot of onions and a lot of tomatoes and hella chickens and a lot of rice for your family. That's some real shit.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, but also when you have that juxtaposition, right? When you see, like, the two different sides, it makes you appreciate also.

[Big Zoo]

Oh, yeah, that's. That's why I always go back home. I went my first time. I went back to Sierra leone. I was 8. And it changed my life. I was a little boy, but it changed my life. I was playing. I was playing a Game Boy in my granddad's car. And the whole road was standing outside the car watching me play this Game Boy, just watching me play it. I was like, do you not want to play? Oh, no, we don't play. So why did I. No, you play. And they just watched me play Mario.

[Jamie Laing]

Because they'd never seen a Game Boy before.

[Big Zoo]

I feel like not to that level of Game Boy. Maybe they've seen, like, one in their life, but not, like, a Game Boy SP color. With, like. Yeah, with the freshman. Like, they was mad. They was watching me through the window. Like, this is mad. Like, and I'll never forget that moment. I was, like, raw. Like, I thought my life was in England, you know, because my mom didn't really have a lot of money, and we grew up single parent background. But then when I went to Africa, I realized, ah, you know what? I'm all right. Yeah, bro, that's Insane.

[Jamie Laing]

That's a real eye opener.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, yeah. One million. I feel like anyone who comes from like a third world country can tell you, like when you go back home, you makes you realize that like I remember just like first time I had a shower, like it in, in C night. There's no hot water. I'm like, what's going on? And then the electricity cuts out. There's no electricity. So you got pulled a generator. You're like, oh, that's why I can't charge my phone. There's all these little, little things it makes you appreciate. Like, and every time I go back, it's a reset. So I go every year to one, see my family, to two, take a break. But three to like reset my mentality. Like, you go back there, there's no Uber, there's no Uber eats, there's no Deliveroo. There's no. Everything is just like random. Like you have no control. It's like life just is life and you get on with it and they all get on with it and see.

[Jamie Laing]

That'S a good message, man. Someone's listening right now.

[Big Zoo]

Right?

[Jamie Laing]

Who's like a big fan of yours? Who kind of is because I think we're all like, especially in this like Western like society that I think it's like everything is so easy.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

Instant, instant, instant, instant. The whole time. If you want food, you can get it. If you want to get drunk, you can get it. If you want to order something, you can get it. And actually that then makes, makes us complacent and like not appreciate things. So that's a really great way as a message to, to like younger kids is like, actually no, you need to go and experience something like that and see actually what real life is like. Makes you realize how lucky we are.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, especially, especially. I think energy is the most important thing that you realize in terms of Sierra Leone is like electricity is not a, it's not a God given right. Like to have electricity. CEO has a really bad problem with, with electricity. We, we, we. Sometimes you might be lucky. You might get it for three hours a day. You might get for six hours a day. There was a blackout for two months. There's a blackout in Spain for like one day. The world at mental like in Ceylon that's continuous two months. My dad had no electricity. My dad's telling me, yo, bro, like, what do you do? That means no fridge. That means there. That means a lot of things. Like bare things that we're just so used to happ having. That means they don't work. So, like, I'll be at, like, my grannies and, like, you'd be, like, watching a film and it cuts you, like sake, bruv, like, you know what I'm saying? And then it's like. And then the generator has no fuel. So then you gotta go get fuel for your generator. And then, then you run it and, ah, there's so many little, little things. But then you realize that life could be worse. Sometimes the generator cuts and the electricity cuts and all you can do is sit because it's so hot. You just gotta sit in a balcony and just talk. Do you know what I mean?

[Jamie Laing]

I tell you what, you don't realize how many hours are in a day until everything's taken away. Trust me, dude, there's 24 hours is a long time.

[Big Zoo]

And. And I think. And the thing is, obviously, don't get me wrong, Ceylon is filled with beauty and amazing things, and there's a lot of wealth there. There's a lot of people who have continuous electricity, have continuous generator. But I don't come from a background like that. Like, my family are. Are doing all right, but a lot of them don't have a lot of money. So sometimes when, when electricity comes, light don't come, is what they say. The light don't come. And then the light's here, and then, you know, you enjoy it. And then when it goes, carry on with your day, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

I like that.

[Big Zoo]

Whereas if it was in England, you'll be calling Scottish power, going absolutely mental.

[Jamie Laing]

Scottish power, yeah.

[Big Zoo]

Or one of them. I don't know who else is there? There's Scottish power, Octopus or something. You be calling them, man. Going mental. Excuse me. I've been in my house for two hours. My TV is not working. I can't turn on light, I can't use the bathroom.

[Jamie Laing]

See, when do you realize. When do you realize growing up, that you were kind of maybe less privileged.

[Big Zoo]

Than other kids from the jump, really Straight away, instantaneously. Nah, you know what? My mom. My mom and my dad were still together up until I was about three. And that's when. When. By the time I got three is when the war got really intense. So the first. There was like different stages of the war, but, like, the first, like, initial, like coup or like Rebel takeover was in 1992. And then another one happened around. I think It's. I think it's 98. Like, there was two times it happened. And the first time it happened, my family really got hit by it. And then by 95, mom came over but then the second time I put my family really got hit by it. So my dad wasn't able to send money back home. My mom and my dad split up.

[Jamie Laing]

Wow.

[Big Zoo]

Me and my mom went from like living in a. Mom had like a nice house and we used to rent a room to someone, but then that all completely went. And then we kind of went straight into like, like temporary housing. And then we stayed at this place which I called the hotel, which is like, was like a refugee hostel kind of thing, which had like different rooms for people. It was like shared a competition. So like we had, we had a room and then we'd share a kitchen, share a bathroom. But like, I was so young, I didn't know what was going on. So I'm just in this mad hotel, there's bare little kids running around. I was like, wow, this is sick. Like, I live with like 50 kids, you know what I mean? And we're like. It was a bed and breakfast. So in the morning you can get like eggs and that and beans. And then they would take us on trips. They take us on trips every Saturday, Sunday. So I was, I knew that this wasn't normal, but I kind of just got on with it and then. Yeah, that was, that was, that was when I was like three, four years old.

[Jamie Laing]

During the war, did any of your family get injured?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, yeah, so there was. I mean, my uncle passed away during the war. My uncle Feroz, my mom's eldest brother, he, he. His story's a bit sad. Like he kind of got caught up in some stuff and, and, and he puts with the army and then he lost his life. But like, only as I get older, I get to like, kind of connect to my family on the stories about what happened because a lot of them kind of like suppressed a lot more than stuff that happened. So only as I'm like now I'm 29, my dad's really sat down and explained to me the kind of things that he went through. And my mom's explaining the stuff that her family went through. But the war was really bad, bro. It was. Problem is, is that the living conditions in Sierra Leone were really bad. So the rebels, the rebels in Liberia below, they kind of enter Sierra Leone because basically there was a war happening in Liberia. Yeah, rebel war. And Sierra Leone sent troops down to try help. And then the rebels in Liberia took that as a, like, what you're trying to get involved. Okay, what we're going to do to you. So they came through to interlock from the bottom of Sierra Leone and started making their way to the city, which is called Freetown. And obviously, I. I haven't got all the. I'm not super clued up on the wall, but I know. I know a couple things, but what I know is that what they was doing was they was taking over the diamond mines in the provinces. Yeah. In all the villages around where. Like, where all the diamond mines are. And they would swap diamonds with the west for arms and use those arms to take over. Take over villages, take over cities. That's why it's called blood diamonds. That's why they have the term blood diamonds. That's why that film by Leonardo DiCaprio called Blood Diamonds, which is. Which. Which is about Ceylon, which is literally what you see is that the guy finds the diamond and then everything goes crazy. Everyone's after him. And it's all about child soldiers. You know, the child soldiers stop him in his car. All that stuff is real. And. And what. What I think the main thing is that had the war affecting my family is that I have to. Obviously, I have. My mom's side, who's Ceylonian, my dad's side is Lebanese. So from my mom's side, they just had to stay safe and not get. Not get caught by the rebels. Whereas my dad's side, they was. They was quite wealthy. So they had. They lost all their wealth by trying to survive. So it was. There's so many different sides to it. There's so many different textures, layers. You know, obviously I lost family to it, but also the destruction it did to the country itself. Like, the war ended 2001, 2002. And, you know, 20 years on is still. The country is still battered. Like, there's young people don't have opportunities. Yeah, you got young men on the street. You just have nothing to do. You know, the corruption in the. In the government. Xyz, it's deep.

[Jamie Laing]

Did you won two baftas?

[Big Zoo]

Yes. We got. We got Duble.

[Jamie Laing]

Come on, baby. Mad.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, it was mad, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

And we were talking about earlier, your speech when you got up on stage. Yeah, man, Was powerful.

[Big Zoo]

Thank you, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you remember what you said?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I tap my mom right there. The woman in the pink. That's how it started. And then I spoke about meet tubs in Haida coming from where we come from, you know, Tabsi coming from a war in Iraq, Haida being from Kurdistan, which is not a recognized state. And then me coming from Sierra Leone. And then I spoke about working class and I spoke about tv, and I bigged up my Commissioner Natalie Rose, who's a black woman, I tackled a lot in a small space of time. And that speech, it went crazy. And a lot of people respected me for it, but I felt like it was the one chance I could use a platform to maybe just talk about all this stuff that we're talking about. I was able to kind of address it in a two minute speech. And what's sad is that if you watch the speech, I'm kind of angry because the reason I'm angry is because instead of being able to enjoy my moment and just be like, thank you, guys, I had to use it to say something powerful.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, but that is powerful, man.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, of course. But it's just sad that sometimes we have to hold that. I have to bear that because at the time I'm 25, like, I just want to get lit.

[Jamie Laing]

That's it. Right, but that's. But that. But then that shows your personality.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

Which is most people, myself included, if I was that age. Right. Would have like, not said anything profound. You just go up there and it's just like, ah, let's just go for it. But you're actually thinking clearly, you're thinking, this is my point, to actually make a difference.

[Big Zoo]

Difference, yeah, definitely. I think it's cause. Because I'm looking at the room of the baftas and it's like, look at this swanky hall, like South Bank.

[Jamie Laing]

Like, you're not nervous.

[Big Zoo]

Nah. Was I, bro? Honestly, What? I was just like, I kind of just looked at them and I was like, I always say this joke, but there's nowhere to look because you're not looking on the barrel of a camera. You're not like, hi, welcome to my BAFTA speech. You're looking in the air.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

And there's like, there's like a auto cue that is telling you two minutes. But you don't want to look at that because then you're just staring at auto queue that's telling you, hurry up. So I looked at Ross Kemp's head. I saw Ross Kemp. He's mad bold. I was like, that is my. That's my focal point. So I stared at Ross Kemp's head and I've said this bare times. I don't know if he's ever going to hear it, but one day I hope he hears it. Ross Kemp, big up, you. Because I stared at his head and it let me just zone in. And his head became an auto cue and I saw all the lyrics in his brain. But then when I was looking at, I was like, this is Some bougie room full of bougie people who probably don't want to hear this right now. But it. You better listen, you better clap. If you don't clap, you look like a prick.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you know what it like, I reckon you've had this, right, which is where, you know, with your. With your cooking show and you're presenting and stuff like that. What probably happens a lot, which is. Which, weirdly, it sort of happened to me a little bit when I. Because I came from, like, reality tv, which is a totally different story. But, gee, where people will say things like, oh, he's actually not bad. Oh, he's actually can do that. And in your head, you know you're good and you know you can do that. And so winning the BAFTA, it's like, no, I definitely should have won the BAFTA.

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

And that's a big thing, right?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, 100%.

[Jamie Laing]

And a lot of people are congratulating you because to them it's a surprise.

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

To you it's not a surprise.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, we earned it 100%. You won that year. I won the Bafta. I went ham, bruv. I did everything you could possibly do. I did every. Because we won the BAFTA for our second season, which was filmed in Covid, and we won it. We won Best Feature and I also won Best Editing Performance, and that was against the late, great Sean Locke, Alison Hammond, Graham Norton, Michael McIntyre and Joe Lycett. So, like, I've beat these incredible, incredible broadcasters, presenters to win this mad, prestigious award. And I remember, like, I remember when I. When I won it, I was like, I deserve this, but I've gone ham this year. Maybe not as ham as them, but I'm not in the positions that they are. So for. For my world, I just remember thinking, after everyone who was in the Academy that voted for me, because a lot of people think, how was it voted? Is it fake? It's just an Academy. It's just a collection of people get to decide. Half of them probably don't even watch the shows. They just click a name.

[Jamie Laing]

It's true.

[Big Zoo]

Do you know what I mean? Not everybody who's in the Academy studies what's right. A lot of times people just probably just vote for their friends.

[Jamie Laing]

There's a crazy statistic in that, that that's something. I don't know what the statistic is, but something I saw about the Oscars, something like a third or maybe more that the Academy don't actually even watch.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, watch it.

[Jamie Laing]

They just click.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. Because apparently they're changing the Rules.

[Jamie Laing]

They're changing the rules.

[Big Zoo]

They watch it to be able to decide. So when, when, when the people. That part of the baftas are probably choosing who wins the BAFTA that year, they're probably just going, you know what? I've seen that big zoo guy a lot this year, and he's doing some shit, so I'm gonna click for him. Do you know what I mean? That's how I think he got voted. Maybe a couple of them were like, you know what? I really love his shows. I really love what he stands for, I really love what he's doing. But I reckon a big percentage of them probably gone, I've seen this kid a million times. Go on, give it to him. Do you know what I mean? And, like, I think one thing about that moment that definitely changed my life is that after that I went into that baftas, I walked in, I was in my bright yellow Stone island jacket with my two friends, Tommy and Hadu, who also in Stone island, and bombers and turtlenecks. And half of the room don't even know who we are. Half of them have probably seen us. A couple of them know that we're nominated. Michael McIntyre came over, his wife and gave me a big hug because I've been on the Wheel before. The Wheel, I've been on that. I've been on that. So he showed me some love. Like, there was, like. It was weird. Like, we walked in, we kind of just felt like outcast. We just went straight to the smoking area.

[Jamie Laing]

Did you really?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, just went straight to smoking. Chilling in the smoking area. Just smoking bear cigarette. And then. And then. And then when we won, you have the dinner after.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

Which is like. And we're in the dinner, and it was like, oh, my God, I absolutely love you. You're so amazing. And. And it was just like, we just had. We want to leave.

[Jamie Laing]

Why?

[Big Zoo]

Because it just. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like. It felt like we got this shiny light on us. That just didn't. So we left. We went to Marouche in Knightsbridge and got a kebab.

[Jamie Laing]

Wait, but, hey. But explain that to me. It didn't feel right. But because you felt like people were being fake or you felt like imposter syndrome, or.

[Big Zoo]

It was definitely imposter syndrome. It was. People have been fake. It's just. I've been to a lot of award shows since, and naturally, when a person wins an award, you want to congratulate them after how genuine you are, is different because, like, sometimes people win the Award. And you really love them and you really love the show that they won the award for. So you're like, oh, my God, bro, you deserve it, man. And then sometimes you're just saying it to say it. And we felt. I felt like me tabs in high, especially because I'm with my three friend. The two friends I grew up with, we're just kind of like, yo, this energy is a bit weird, man. Everyone's just coming up to us, talking to us, like, what? Who? These people. Like, people come and say, hi, I'm the head of BBC. Congrats, we'll speak soon. And you're like, okay, we're just a bit lost in it.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you think that there is a sense of imposter syndrome in there? Because you're talking about that. It feels like an elitist industry.

[Big Zoo]

Yes. Yeah. It's like, like, it just felt like a lot of people that were like, super, like, mad powerful and mad this and mad that. We were kind of just like, following. We was the prey. Say, ooh, you love just one your Baptist. How can we benefit from you? How can we commission something now from you? Do you know what I mean? And don't get me wrong, like, there's. There's people in the room that were genuine and showed us real love. And I remember ant and Dec1 that night and we was in a table next to them and we took a picture with them with their BAFTAs. Our baptism. And I'm looking at my friends like, bro, these are like legends of tv. Like, so that was a beautiful moment. But you, all these mad, like, heads of, you know, telly, Bruv, there's like 5 million heads of everything. Heads of factual, heads of news, factual. Heads of factual entertainment, Head of entertainment, entertainment, factual. Like, it's so much that it was just a bit overwhelmed.

[Jamie Laing]

But. But let say you say you won a Brit Award.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

For music.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

Would you feel the same imposter syndrome there?

[Big Zoo]

No, because the industry is completely different.

[Jamie Laing]

Explain that to me.

[Big Zoo]

Because in music, the room's going to be full of, like, you'll have a couple of the same, like, elitist wankers, but you also have a room full of my friends and artists and different people that run labels that come from different backgrounds. It'll be a way more diverse room. The Brits will be way more diverse compared to the baftas. The baftas is not what, like, people probably don't even know what it's like at these award shows. I go to a lot of them because, thank God, I've been nominated a lot of times. But whether it's the baftas, whether it's broadcast, whether it's the Royal Television Society Awards, all of them, they're all the same. And they know they are, which is why they're trying to make a change, which is why people like me are here. I ain't winning them, do you know what I mean? But, like, those rooms, they're very old and they're very white and there's, there's, there's not a lot to say. We all know what's going on, we all know how it is, we all know how they're trying to make a change. But then when you're a young person like me in that room and you're just looking around like, yo, where's the mandam?

[Jamie Laing]

I want to ask you a big question because this idea of a diversity, right, is seriously important.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

And more. And so like, in the workplace, people want to have diversity, but a lot of people don't know why they want diversity. They just think it has to be a thing.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, of course.

[Jamie Laing]

So for someone listening now saying, like, okay, well, why do I need diversity in the workplace or in my school? What would you say to them?

[Big Zoo]

Well, a lot of people think it's about ticking boxes, right?

[Jamie Laing]

Correct.

[Big Zoo]

It's like when you watch adverts. Oh, that advert. Oh, look. Oh, it's woke now. Oh, they look, they got a lesbian couple. Oh, look, there's a black couple. Oh, look, there's a disabled guy. Oh, that adverts woke up. No, it's about representation. You can only have diversity in thought if people are represented. So if you have a room full of people who come from. All come from the same. Like, telly is made for the people, right? So if telly is not reflective of society, if, if telly is, is 50% middle class, upper class, and it's, it doesn't have a representation of the working.

[Jamie Laing]

Class and just majority white.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, and majority white, then how can it be represented of society? Now, obviously we live in a white country, we live England. But there's also a big percentage of people from different diversities. And also we want to sell TV to the world. So if you want to have more diversity in thought, you have to have more diversity in the room. Having different people around means that it brings different ideas. And it's not just about color, it's about diversity in everything, especially gender as well. Women are very underrepresented in terms of position of power in television as well. So it's not Just diversity in, like, oh, we need more black people. No, we need more every people. We need everyone. We need, like, sometimes I've been on set and I've never seen a woman in a hijab, so I'm like, there's no Muslim women here, so maybe if we wanted to cover a topic, how can we. How can she be represented? Okay, there's no Asian women here, there's no one that's disabled here, so how can we represent them in these things? And when I first worked on Big Eats, our crew was very, very, like, just not diverse at all. And I was really lucky. We made a great show and I was able to get through it. But at second season, I said, no, we need. Come on, we need more diversity. I want to get. I want to get a black director and I want to get more people involved. And by the time we did season four, it was completely just all different people represented, all different ideas. And what it meant is that you have different opinions. It's like, I give. This is the best example I could give, this not really analogy, but it's something I, I said to my friend to kind of break down because he was like, to me, oh, bruh, all this TV stuff's all just. They're ticking boxes, innit? Like, ah, you man on telly. Because, come on, they just need more black people. I said, imagine when you finish a football game, yeah, you're all in a changing room bag of lads. You're going to be talking shit, you're going to be having fun, banter, whatever. But if there was a woman in that room now, suddenly the conversation changes because you're a bit more mindful. But then depending on what that woman's like, then if she's, if she's gang, then you might say a couple more things that you wouldn't have said. But then now, if you've got three women in the room, the conversation changes. Now if you've got a disabled person in the room now, you're not going to say those things. You might have said that joke you might have said about a disabled person. But then if you learn from them and you're in that room with those people, suddenly the conversation changes. So when you're in a room full of all the same type of people, sometimes you get comfortable in saying what you want to say. Then when other people come in the room, it kind of puts you on edge. You're like, can I say that? Am I allowed to say that sexist joke I was going to say before? Maybe I Can. Because that person actually understands it respects me. And I feel like that's how you create diversity and thought. It's understanding that people can be in the room doesn't mean you should change, it just means you should learn.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah. I mean, diversity in creative industries makes innovative content. It changes the content. It makes it better, makes it different. What season were you when you won the bafta?

[Big Zoo]

Season two.

[Jamie Laing]

Season two. You won the bafta?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

So when there started to be a change, then things like that and stuff.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, yeah, defo. It definitely helped. And it also. I don't know. Look, don't get me wrong, I feel like. I feel like, obviously living in England, I feel like sometimes people are like, but we live in an English country. Why would you not want white people to work? It's not that we don't want white people to work. I want everyone to work. It's just that if you give more people opportunities, you get better content out of it at the end of the day, because when you have that. When you have those different thoughts, those different voices in a room, suddenly you start representing things that you never like. I can't speak on behalf of a woman, so if my whole team is just full of men, then I'm not representing the thoughts of women. I'm not being able to tap into what makes them great, what makes them laugh, what makes them smile, what they enjoy. So then my content isn't as good as it can be now.

[Jamie Laing]

And you're speaking from experience.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, 1 million percent.

[Jamie Laing]

You know what? That's the. That's the. That is the biggest difference for me is that a lot of people trying to make these decisions or having it. Haven't had that experience of, you know, growing up in a certain background, growing up as, you know, perhaps black or whatever it is. You haven't experienced it?

[Big Zoo]

No, no, definitely. And I think what I realized was it's about the. I think the big problem is classism. Classism within TV is the biggest problem, like. And classism within everything. I think. I think the more we understand that, if you have people from the working class getting into positions of power, it makes them. It makes them be able to bring in people and represent views and ideas that maybe are not seen if you come from a different class. And I think in telly, that's one thing I realized, is that it's like. When I got into it, I was like, yo, like, always be like, yo, where's the mandate? And it's that it's kind of mad because it's like, it's not that I want to deprive people of opportunity. Yeah, if you deserve to work, you deserve to work 100%. My director is an old white man. He's called Chris Faith. He's a fucking legend. He's amazing. He's a g. I love him so much. I'm so happy that I work with him. My exec that I work with all the time is a, is a middle aged, middle aged white brother from Manchester called Alex Gilman. I love him. If I wasn't able to work with him, I wouldn't be able to do all the great things that I do. It's not, it's not that I don't want to work with white men. I just also want to work with women.

[Jamie Laing]

I love this diverse brothers.

[Adam Grant]

Hi, I'm Adam Grant, host of the podcast Work Life. For over 20 years, Paylocity has been simplifying work with innovative solutions that teams love like On Demand Payment, which offers employees access to wages prior to payday, flexible time tracking features which enable staff to clock in and out through their mobile device, and numerous other cutting edge solutions that simplify collaboration across hr, finance and it. Learn more about how Paylocity can help streamline work and enhance business outcomes for your [e-mail] simplified Ryan Reynolds here from IT Mobile.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Elise Hu]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] does it ever feel.

[Unknown]

Like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title, industry company seniority skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results terms and conditions apply.

[Jamie Laing]

Do I am when you go through hardship, yeah, you want to help a lot more. It's really strange, right? And when you have when you've been through a lot of privilege. It doesn't come as naturally because you're not thinking, you're just. It's the norm is that life has been easy. You've had a roof over your head, you've food on the table, whatever it is, so you don't think about it as much. And more that I've got older, the more I realize that perhaps I haven't leant into that side enough. And actually, what you realize is actually helping younger kids, helping other people, helping less fortunate people. That is the magic in the world that should be happening all the time.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jamie Laing]

And you do that a lot.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. I mean, like, I used to be a youth worker. That was like, my main goal to. In terms of career. When I was a young person, I just wanted to, like, help young people. But like you said, it came from the fact that when I was growing up, I had a lot of help. So when I got older, I was like, what can I do in life? I talked to a career advisor. They're like, what, you good? I said, I'm good at talking. And she said, why didn't you work in social work? So I started, like, leaning into youth work. I volunteered for a charity called City Year.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

Which is part of the National Citizenship Service. And, you know, what was that like? That was mad. I worked in a school in East London called Hagerston. Hagerston Girls School. But it just became mixed when I came. So the oldest boys were year 10. So the eldest boys were all, like, 14, and I was 18 at the time. So when I was. I was a ta. And they kind of just, like, they really resonated with me. I used to play football with them. Like, at lunchtime, I'll be there, take off my tie and play football with them. I look like one of them. But then as soon as lunchtime's, as soon as break time's over, put my tie back on. All right, guys, get back in class. You know what I'm saying? It was mad. One thing I've always said is that I feel like we as a society have to volunteer more. Have to volunteer more. More time. It doesn't just have to be helping young people. It could be helping elder people. It could be helping people that are the same age as you. A lot of people that are neglected are young men who are from the age of, like. Like 19 to 25. Because people. Society looks at them like, we owe you nothing. Do you know what I mean? A lot of times we do focus on young. On. On young people, and we focus on Elder people. But sometimes that middle ground where you have people who have no job, have no career, have no idea what they want to become in life, they end up just getting lost in the source. And I feel like the more we volunteer, the more we give people, like, opportunities to, like, get into different careers or look at different career paths, then you kind of give that chance to the next, next level of society. And I feel like that's one, like, especially now, like, in the cost of living, all the problems that we have in England, if we all volunteered a little bit more and spent some time to, like, give young people chances to get into different jobs and different roles, you definitely see a big difference. I feel like. I feel like it should. Like, volunteering should be something we all do at least once a month. Like an hour. If everybody volunteered like an hour, two hours a month, just doing something to give back, like, just unless sometimes charity. If people think it's all about money, it's not about donating money. It's not about just going online, googling charity, sending your money, that's great. But if you give your time, that's worth more than anything. Do you know what I mean, man?

[Jamie Laing]

You're sorry because, you know, after. After 18 or even early, if you leave, you're kind of thrown out of school with no direction whatsoever. And you're right, here you go, his life. And you're 18 years old. Like, what do you do from that age? Especially if you're living in, like, under sort of, you know, if it's. You're not coming from a prudish background in any way whatsoever, maybe your parents aren't there to look after you. Whatever it is, that's when bad happens.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, exactly. Because you haven't got guidance. And then people take advantage. And that's what you see. That's what you see in life. I feel like. I feel like for young people nowadays, it's tough because, you know, it's tough for everyone. So it's hard to focus on what's going on with young people. Especially after Covid, like, a lot of youth services closed, so youth clubs, community hubs, they all closed. Like, Like, I think it was like a third of all youth services closed. So, you know, it's tough. But I think the more people, whether you're in position of privilege or not, if anyone can just volunteer time to help in, that will make a big difference, man.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you remember anyone in particular who you looked up to as a kid that really helped you?

[Big Zoo]

I mean, for me, it's a collective Bro, I'm not gonna lie. Like, I do a lot of work in my secondary school, which is hilarious. I, I, I have an award named after me, the Zaha San Award, which is about like, like the arts and creativity. And my school created it because they realized they didn't lean into that when we was at school. Not lean into it a lot, but like they didn't, they, it was second best. Yeah, it wasn't as big, as important as math, science, English, music, drama, like those kind of like cooking. But one thing my school really realized is that, so I made a show called Big Zoos, Big Eats which, which was a really successful program and it changed my life. But it's me and my two friends who went to the same secondary school. So us, all three of us did catering as a gcse. And my school look at that and go, wow. Like they went from doing catering to getting an award winning program. So we should maybe invest more into catering because we might make a couple more big zoos. So when we go back to the school, they're always so big on us like cooking with them and doing all these little things. And obviously the fact that I'm a musician as well, they would like want to invest more in music. So they created this award named after me. And every term I go and get, hand out the award and I've been doing it for about two years now. And every time I go back you just see more and more like engagement with it. Like and I remember the first time we went, they had, they wanted to do like a music section. Then this year when I went back, they had a full band. So like you can see like the, the, the influence from the school going okay, how can we use what, what, what, what zoo's gone through to inspire the kids? And a big part of that is my head teacher, a guy called Eugene Moriarty. At first he was my head teacher so I didn't really like him because when you get, you didn't want, you know who really likes their head teacher, you're afraid of them, you don't want him. But now like I see him as a friend, I call him Eugene, which is quite weird.

[Jamie Laing]

But is it weird that moment that it switches? So weird when it switches.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, but he like you like Eugene, he's, he stepped down as head teacher. Now he just works at a school. But I really see his passion for young people and how much he's just proud to try and make a change. And then another teacher, a woman called Ms. Andrews. Sharon, Sharon Andrews. She really really just beautiful, amazing woman that's. That invested a lot of time into us, cared about me, showed me so much love. Guy called Mr. Hatch. Graham. Good old Graham. He.

[Jamie Laing]

So it's amazing that you remember them.

[Big Zoo]

Of course, I know, isn't that I got my connection with my school and Bradley Wiggins went to my school as well. Yeah. Olympian, yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

What a weird.

[Big Zoo]

My school. My school. And seal. Seal went to my school. Anti seal. Seal, yeah. Yeah, Anti seal. The. The school's quite. My school's quite random, like. But we. Bradley Wiggins, obviously going there meant that when the sports depart, the sports department got a lot of love because obviously, yeah, being the. One of the most decorated Olympians, you go into our school, you get a lot of respect for that. So our sports was really, really good. We had, like, a lot of great facilities and that. So you kind of see, like, if somebody comes on the school and they go on to do good things, the school normally gets a lot of investment back in for what that person was good at. So because I've left school and I've gone on to do music, art, tv, now my school's going, okay, how can we invest in that? Because sometimes, normally the government go, all right, if that young person's gone on to do that, how can we get more young people to get in to do that?

[Jamie Laing]

If you had to give up food.

[Big Zoo]

Or music, oh, bro, come on, G.

[Jamie Laing]

What would you give up?

[Big Zoo]

That's like saying, shoot your wife or your mum.

[Jamie Laing]

I think your mum would have something.

[Big Zoo]

Nah, that's a bad example. I would say, oh, food or music, bruv. Obviously, food, like, man will die in.

[Jamie Laing]

It, but you'll survive.

[Big Zoo]

But then music, I will also die as well. I'll give up.

[Jamie Laing]

What gives you more pleasure, Fusik?

[Big Zoo]

What gives you more pleasure? I'll be real. So tough, bro. I would say food gives me more pleasure.

[Jamie Laing]

Really?

[Big Zoo]

Only because, yeah, like, I love music, my life is music. But, like, food is, like, I would travel for food. Like, I will go to the random corners of the world just to eat, bro. I go on holiday for food. I don't go on holiday for beach views, tourism. I don't care about the attractions. Like, when I went to Rome. Yeah, great. Yeah, there's mad. Oh, yeah, there's mad things here. Coliseum, like, oh, my God, that building's so mad. I don't care. I want to eat pizza. Food is banging. People like, to me, People like, to me, Rome hasn't got good food. I'm like, we just don't know how to go on TripAdvisor properly. Do you like that is banging food in Rome, bruv.

[Jamie Laing]

I. I listened to a story of yours that. That growing up, your. Your mum wouldn't change the food that she cooked.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, all the time. Same thing.

[Jamie Laing]

Same thing all the time. So you then had to go and cook some pasta?

[Big Zoo]

Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

What happened?

[Big Zoo]

So my mom. My mom, obviously being an African lady, you know, when she first came to England, she was just used to her same dishes that she cooked. Grew up cooking all the time. And what she used to do was like to. Sometimes when she couldn't be able to cook, she'll buy tortellini just to, like, pull it in the fridge, like. Because it says, like, you just boil it, heat up the sauce in the microwave. Bam. But she used to boil the tortellini for 10 minutes because obviously it's fresh pasta, but she boiled it like it was dry pasta. She didn't know the difference. So one day when my mom was pregnant, I boiled the pasta and I read the packet, said, boil for two minutes. So I boiled it for two minutes, and then I gave it to my mom's, like, yuck, this is not cooked. She's a zoo is raw. I took the packet out of the bin, I said, mom, look, it says boil for two minutes. She said, oh, okay, maybe you're right. And then I remember just that feeling of, like, proving my mom wrong was like, the greatest feeling in the world. And then I fell in love with pasta. Fell in love with, like, al dente and boiling and, like, fresh pasta, dry pasta sauces. Like, then I'd, like. And then I'd, like, learned how to make a tomato sauce. Then I learned how to make a bechamel. Then I learned how to make lasagna. Then you learn how to make spaghetti. And then you learn how to make this and that.

[Jamie Laing]

And apparently your macaroni cheeses.

[Big Zoo]

My macaroni cheese will destroy your life. It will destroy your head top.

[Jamie Laing]

How good is it?

[Big Zoo]

Oh, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

How good is it?

[Big Zoo]

Like, we'll call people. We can FaceTime people. I got people that I like that just want to come to my house and have macaroni cheese. That's all they care about. They don't want anything but my Mac. The thing is, it's about the roux. I make the bechamel with love. Yeah. Yeah. I whip it like, you could. Look at this wrist action. Yeah. I whip it with love. You can't make a roux with a whisk. You can't make bechamel. With a whisk, because then it will be lumpy. So I make it with a wooden spoon. I make it with good butter, good flour, a lot of milk. Sometimes you could boil the milk with, like, cloves and black peppercorns and bay leaf and onion. I don't give a shit about any of that. Just boil the milk. Make the milk hot. You don't have to make it hot. It's fine. You can do what you want. But then it's about how you season that bechamel. A lot of paprika, a lot of hot sauce. You have to have hot sauce, because the hot sauce, the vinegariness cuts through the saltiness of the cheese. Then you have to have mustard, hella mustard. Like, stupid amount of mustard. A lot of black pepper, a lot of white pepper, and then every version of cheese that you love, I do four cheeses.

[Jamie Laing]

White pepper.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, white pepper. Whoa.

[Jamie Laing]

Get out of here.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, white pepper.

[Jamie Laing]

That's rare. No, white pepper's lang. White pepper.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, White pepper, bro. White pepper is important.

[Jamie Laing]

Why? It's the same as black pepper.

[Big Zoo]

No, it's not, bro. Come on, bro. It's pink Himalayan salt. The same as table salt. No, the different salts, different flavors, brother. Like paprika and smoked paprika. Different paprikas. Sorry I gotta be angry at you. I was gonna you up so vex like. No, honestly, White pepper, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

It's unbelievable.

[Big Zoo]

White pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. There you go.

[Jamie Laing]

Your cousin is A.J. tracy.

[Big Zoo]

Mr. A.J. tracy. Yes.

[Jamie Laing]

Let's go.

[Big Zoo]

We was at a show, Yesterday's London headline. AJ's doing all these small, like, intimate shows. So, like, it's like, not like he's so used to doing that. Big, massive, massive arenas and shit. So, like, we've gone back to, like, the essence. And yesterday was amazing.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you love it when you see. It must be amazing when you see your friends and yourself, you know, especially as we talk about the background you come from, like, having the success.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, it's mad. It's mad like AJ seeing AJ do well kind of inspired me to want to do well. And then now the place that he's in, he's one of the most, like, important rappers of the UK scene, one of the most successful independent artists to ever come out of England. He's my friend, he's my brother, he's my cousin. He's someone that I grew up just respecting. And now we were able to kind of like, share this joy, you know, because me and him, we have a show coming out on sky this month called Rich flavors, which is gonna be sick.

[Jamie Laing]

And, like, what happens in rich flavors?

[Big Zoo]

It's just me and him eating really expensive foods and just taking the piss out of it. And then I cook my version of it. So we went to Korea, we did a bit in Scotland, and we did New York as well. And, like, we just tried all this. Yeah, Mad. It's on Sky. It's coming out soon. And it's just like, mad, just me and him eating crazy shit. Like, eating the most expensive Hanwoo beef in Korea because they don't do wagyu, because, you know, Korea and Japan is very big beef. See what I did there? Thank you very much. So we had some Hanwoo, we had some ginseng. Then we went to Scotland. We had the most expensive haggis in New York. We had the most expensive slice of pizza. It's just our view on, like, really expensive food.

[Jamie Laing]

Can I ask you, when do you ever get nervous?

[Big Zoo]

Do you know what's weird? I didn't get nervous for a long time. For a long time. Because a lot of times I was always within my work. I just kept on doing madder things. Madder things, madder things. And every time, I realized the more you embrace, the better you do. So maybe at the start of my career, when I first started hosting and first started presenting, I was a little bit nervous when I did, like, a radio show or something. But then for a long time, I wasn't nervous. But you know what? Going back on this tour with aj, I was a little bit nervous on stage. I was like, damn. Because I haven't performed in so long, I was like, this is like, what I used to do all the time. But I've gone into Telly World, and I'm so used to like, are you ready, guys? Ready? Yep. Hi. Welcome. I'm Big Zoo. Whereas that was like, there's no freestyle. It's looking at you.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's pure entertainment.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. And it was like, I was a little bit nervous. Ah. And then I kind of, like, messed up some of the songs, but, like, it was fine. I got on with it. But, like, it was good to feel nervous again. I haven't felt nervous in years, man. I felt like, do you know what's mad? I remember when I first started, started doing, like, panel shows and talk shows. Yeah, like, you know, like Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross, all them thing there. When I first. First first went on those things, I was a little bit nervous. But then you realize, like, raw. This is just a big, like, this is just like, we're just chatting. It's about who can chat the most shit and get on. On camera. Like, it's like a battle. It's like a rap battle.

[Jamie Laing]

It's like a rap battle.

[Big Zoo]

Like, if you stay quiet. If you stay quiet, you will not get a chance.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah.

[Big Zoo]

So you have to be in it. And I'm so loud, so over the top. So, like, when I started going on them shows, I realized that this is sick, man. This is dope. Like, I'm able to have bare fun. So for a couple years in telly, I've been really comfy. But, like, I remember I just sat in that takeaway. I was the guest announcer. And they're like, in the corner, we've got Big Zoo. And then I had to say my bit and I remember doing it and I'm just like, what am I doing, bruv? What? Like, what?

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, what is life?

[Big Zoo]

What is. Yo. But I put my hands in the air like this, and my armpits are sweaty. And then one of the producers sent a note, zoo, can you not put your arms up again? Because we can see you're sweaty. And I was like, obviously I'm sweaty, bruv. Man's on Saturday night. Takeaway, blood.

[Jamie Laing]

Okay, Big question for you, yeah?

[Big Zoo]

Gone.

[Jamie Laing]

What are you insecure about?

[Big Zoo]

Oh, I don't know. I think sometimes I'm insecure about how loud and boisterous I am. Sometimes I feel like sometimes that gets used against me. I feel like sometimes people, like, you're so loud, that's why you just shout all the time. Or you're just. And I feel like sometimes that makes me feel like, ra. Should I. Should I be quiet, then? But then I can't because my brain doesn't let me. Like, I'll probably think I'll be, like, mindful, like, you know, okay, let me chill out. Let me not talk too much. Let me. But then, like, I've got adhd, bro. Like, I've, like, sometimes I can't control it. And, like, I remember I'll do shows sometimes. I'll, like, get. Do, like, I'll do, like, Saturday kitchen or Sunday brunch, and I'll get, like, a tweet that says, like, that Big Zoo guy didn't understand him. All he was doing was shouting slang. And I'm like, brother. Like, sorry, innit?

[Jamie Laing]

That's who you are. You're just being authentic to you.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. But then sometimes it makes me go, like, obviously, don't get twisted. Like, if you read. If you read every negative Comment, you're gonna. You're gonna lose your mind. But sometimes it, like, you're human, innit?

[Jamie Laing]

Do they ever get to you?

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, sometimes, maybe.

[Jamie Laing]

What kind of comments?

[Big Zoo]

Just, like, stuff like that. Like, oh, this guy. Like, sometimes I get, like, things that are. This guy's only here to tick a box. Or who's this random brother they got from the street on the show? Like, shit like that. Like, don't get. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe in myself and I know why I'm here. But sometimes, you know, when I was younger, when I first started getting those, I've gone from, like, music, where I'm celebrated for my. For who I am, celebrated for my difference and respected as an artist, to going into telly where it's like, I kind of had to earn my stripes again. So when I first got into telly, there were times I was getting comments and I'm like, brother, like. And I can't reply. You know, where's it music? Like, I can. I send a ward up to your head. You know what I'm saying? Like, I come from the. From grime, where, you know, it's a bit more like, if a fan taught shit, like, I can tell them to shut up, but in tv, can't do that.

[Jamie Laing]

I want to ask you one more thing. Zu talked about your faith.

[Big Zoo]

Oh, man. It's been interesting, bro, because I wasn't really open about being a Muslim and stuff. People knew I was Muslim, but I never really spoke about it. But then I did this doc called Big Zoo Goes to Mecca, and it kind of changed my life. Like, I'm not the most religious person in the world. I don't practice Islam every day. I am. But I'm very, like. I am pious. I believe in Con a lot. And I don't know, man, it's been. It's been tough because I feel like I represent Muslims in the media. My name's the hair. I have a beard. Like, it's clear, innit? I'm one of them. I'm one of you. But I also come from music, which is also considered haram. Music is not allowed in certain areas.

[Jamie Laing]

Explain that to someone who's naive.

[Big Zoo]

So in. To people, haram means not allowed, basically. Essentially, yeah. It was forbidden. So music is considered to be haram.

[Jamie Laing]

Why? Because.

[Big Zoo]

Because there's so many teachings and things about it. Yeah, I can't get into it too tough because I'll probably get, like. Sure, I'll probably get someone just giving me a lecture, which I don't need right now, but. No, but it's fine. I'm not worried. What I will say is there's passages in the Quran that say anything that takes you away from Islam is haram, essentially. So things that distract you. But then there's also things in music that obviously promote negativity. That's also the haram that's in it. So there are forms of music that are halal, which are allowed.

[Jamie Laing]

So basically anything that distracts you away from the Quran is haram.

[Big Zoo]

Yes, essentially. Yeah.

[Jamie Laing]

So it's quite a fundamental way you have to lead a life.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah. Because some people can. Because the Quran is about interpretation. So the words of Allah, which is the Quran, is what, what we live our life as Muslims. But then you have like, you have like hadiths, which are like stories that come from those times after, and those are interpretation as well. So someone can interpret that thing and say, well, you can't watch TV then, because that's distracting you from the words of Allah, that's distracting you from your faith.

[Jamie Laing]

Do you sometimes get conflicted then where you. Now that you've done this show and you went to Mecca, which is amazing, and you sort of opened yourself up more and understood the faith more, do you then sometimes get conflicting of how you're meant to be?

[Big Zoo]

I think nah, because I'm always like, one thing I definitely know is that I can't change how I am. Like, I can. I can like grow and become. Become better. But, like, I am who I am. Like, when I get home, like, sometimes you have all these thoughts about what you want to do, and then you wake up and you just go straight back to what you're going to do. Like, you know, I'm not going to eat that food ever again. I'm going to. I'm going to stop smoking, I'm going to stop drinking. I'm going to do that. And then you wake up tomorrow, have a cigarette and have a glass of wine. So, you know, sometimes you really want to change, but you are who you are. And I feel like with me and Islam is that I've gone. I've gone on this journey to try and become a better Muslim. But I fundamentally, and I come from. I'm a grime mc. Like, I spit bars that I grew up smoking weed and drinking alcohol and talking to women. All things that are very haram, but I own those things. And one thing about Islam is that it's about repenting and how God is merciful and how it's about how we're humans. We have our flaws. All monotheism is around that same thing that all God wants is worship and our praise for making us. And in that, he knows what we are. He knows. He gave us these things that make us bad. Like they didn't just come from the ground, like from the sky, like everything we have on this earth. If you believe in God, it comes from God. So what? Humans have free will to decide what they want to do. So it's kind of like we're always going to make mistakes. We are flawed. But as long as your intention is pure and you want to change and you want to be a good person, I feel like God will look past that. So then if God will look past that, then you can't really care what people think about you.

[Jamie Laing]

You know, I grew up at my school. You had to. We had to go to church pretty much every night. I had church on Sundays. And because of that, I like, kind of like went away from it.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, but.

[Jamie Laing]

But now I think, I think some sort of faith is really important. Yeah, definitely. And what I do now is like, every evening and morning I pray to know who I'm praying to. Because I don't know what I quite believe in yet. But I pray for thanks and I'm grateful. And that has definitely changed my life. 100. It makes you more grateful. It makes you more thankful. It makes you sort of help with understanding about, like everything. Perhaps something happens for a reason. Whatever it is. Yeah, it was kind of changing my life.

[Big Zoo]

I mean, faith is. Is beautiful, bro. And I feel like some people, some people overuse it. And they, and they. There's a difference between like, religion and culture. And that's the main thing people have to realize is that what's in the book and what is taught, that's different to what you grew up with. So if culturally you have these ideologies that I don't have, doesn't mean that I'm a bad person because I don't follow what you think is right in your faith. Yeah. Because that's what you grew up with. I always say this. Like, there's one thing I always say. Yeah. There are different types of Muslims, There are different types of Christians, different types of Jewish people. There's different types of Buddhist people. There's different types of every religion. But if God made us all, then they didn't have a choice in it. I didn't have a choice if I was born here and I have this ideology because I'm from this place. This is what we think. So I can't judge you for having those thoughts in terms of like, I can't. You're not. You're not a lesser of a human being because you think this or you think that. Same way. I might follow my faith in this in one specific way. You're not better than me because you follow me in that way. Because you was born there, that's how you was raised. So someone's born in a random village and there's no religion, does that mean they're going to hell? Because they don't. They don't praise God. No, because they're born in that random village, they don't know about God there, like, so you can't, you can't. I'm just very open about the fact that I believe. Everyone has a right to believe whatever they want to believe in. And if you were raised in a certain type of way, that's how you are. If you're. If you're evil person and you believe in mad, then obviously I'm allowed to judge you and say, yo, bro, you're a bit up. But if you understand the roots of people's thoughts, it always comes from what they. What they're raised around. And if I was raised in a certain way, I have to respect that same. If you're raised in a certain way, same way you, you know, you're saying you. You told to go church all the time and you kind of strayed from it, but now you've gone back to being faithful in a specific way. Don't know we've been faithful to. But you know that you're showing love and you know that you're praying towards goodness. Someone that's super religious might turn around and say, nope, that don't count. I don't care. You're wrong. You need to pray this way, you should pray in this direction. Shut up, bruv. Sir, it's quite deep, innit?

[Jamie Laing]

I freaking love that, man. Can I say, like, enjoyed? This has been insane, man.

[Big Zoo]

It must be deep.

[Jamie Laing]

I really, like. I liked everything about this conversation. I really appreciate it.

[Big Zoo]

Likewise, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

I got final quick fire questions. You can just fire if you ready for this.

[Big Zoo]

Yeah, go on.

[Jamie Laing]

What's a saying or phrase that always makes you smile or cheers you up?

[Big Zoo]

Ah, bomber clock.

[Jamie Laing]

Best compliment anyone's ever given you.

[Big Zoo]

Oh, that's deep. I would say. Anytime someone compliments my energy, bro. Anytime. Just. Yeah, you got good energy, bro.

[Jamie Laing]

You got great energy.

[Big Zoo]

Thank you.

[Jamie Laing]

What scares you most about yourself?

[Big Zoo]

Ah, my mouth. That sounds quite dirty. Nah, joking. Nah, my mouth, bro. I Talk a lot. Sometimes I eat sharp.

[Jamie Laing]

When was the last time you cried and why?

[Big Zoo]

I watched that clip of Pursuit of Happiness, the clap on Twitter in my bed. It just came up like, you know, you know, sometimes you have like TikToks of like two minute moments from films. That's the new thing now, apparently. And I was watching that and it made me getting emotional now. Yeah. Goosebumps.

[Jamie Laing]

What's something you can't let go of?

[Big Zoo]

Old clothes that have memories attached to them. Good shout. My house is bro.

[Jamie Laing]

Good shout. What's your guilty pleasure, sweets? 100%. What turns you off?

[Big Zoo]

Being rude to random people. Like to like waiters and stuff. People like dismissive to anyone. That is like a service industry. Hate that.

[Jamie Laing]

What turns you on?

[Big Zoo]

Oh, love. People who are like loving and caring and like, like just do stuff out of like, just because they. They've got good intentions.

[Jamie Laing]

What do you like most about yourself?

[Big Zoo]

Apart from my dashing good looks, I would say I love my openness. I'm open, man. I don't judge, bro. I mean, sometimes I might do by accident and I feel bad when I do, but I respect anyone from any walk of life, whoever you are, whatever you do, I don't care, bruv. Love.

[Jamie Laing]

Final one. Your favorite swear word.

[Big Zoo]

Oh, what is my favorite swear word? I don't know. Oh, I don't know. Oh, there's so many. There's so many that are great. I'll probably say prick. You know, like prick. Because it's like, it's actually not that bad. I give my finger a little prick but then if you say it in a. You prick. It's actually really bad.

[Jamie Laing]

Z, you're brilliant. It's been amazing. Thank you so much, baby. I appreciate it.

[Big Zoo]

Five blessings.

[Jemima]

Lovely, lovely guy.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, give it to me. What do you think?

[Jemima]

The energy immediately walks in the door. He overslept.

[Jamie Laing]

He did. He overslept. And the funniest thing about him oversleeping was that he didn't lie about it. He just said, sorry, I overslept.

[Jemima]

I did that once and I got told off. I turned up to work and I was like, oh, sorry I'm late, just couldn't get out of bed. And they were like, that is not an excuse.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jemima]

I was like, well, I just couldn't. I was just woo. I just kept snoozing. I wish I did that this morning.

[Jamie Laing]

Did you?

[Jemima]

I knew 8:30 was a number. I needed to go and I didn't realize in my head I got confused and thought 8:30 was the time I needed to wake up at 8:30 was the time I needed to leave.

[Jamie Laing]

But I like the honesty from you and him. It's a good thing. It's a good thing.

[Jemima]

So immediately when he walked in I was like, we're friends.

[Jamie Laing]

Yeah, he's great. So a big shout out to Big Zoo. Thank you so much for coming on. Hey to you guys. Remember also if you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and share it with everyone. We're also on social media reat company podcast on YouTube and also you can send us an email greatcompanyamper productions.co.uk Beautifully done. Thank you very much. Listen, we're going to see you next Wednesday for another episode of Great Company.

[Adam Grant]

Hi, I'm Adam Grant, host of the podcast Work Life. For over 20 years, Paylocity has been simplifying work with innovative solutions that teams love like On Demand Payment, which offers employees access to wages prior to payday, flexible time tracking features which enable staff to clock in and out through their mobile device, and numerous other cutting edge solutions that simplify collaboration across hr, finance and it. Learn more about how Paylocity can help streamline work and enhance business outcomes for your [e-mail] simplified on WhatsApp, your personal.

[Elise Hu]

Messages stay private between you and whoever you send them to. So things like the passport numbers for your honeymoon stay between you and your fiance and that video call for your grand's 80th stays in the family. Even your streaming password stays between you and your college roommates who still ask for it every week in your group chat. Because on WhatsApp, your personal messages are yours. No one else can see or hear them, not even us. WhatsApp message privately, do you remember the brand that popped up while you were scrolling your social feed? No, but I bet you remember who sponsors your favorite podcast. That's because 74% of listeners recall the brands they hear when listening to podcasts. If you want your business to be top of mind, podcast advertising with Acast is the way to go. Book your campaign today by visiting go.acast.com ads.