English Addict episode 333 - Sunday -🔴LIVE stream / Fame & MIS-fortune / Join the LIVE Chat & Learn

You might not believe it, but we have had some really terrible weather over the past few days.

Even though right now, outside, you can see the sun is shining.

We even have blue sky.

Can you believe it?

Well, you have to, because there it is on your screen right now.

We are all together once again.

It's lovely to have your company this is English Addict coming to you live and direct from the birthplace of the English language.

You know where it is.

We all know where it is.

It is, of course, England.

Let's go.

Oh, there you are.

Hi, everybody.

This is Mr.

Duncan in England. How are you today? Are you okay? I hope so. Are you happy?

Are you feeling happy today?

I hope you are.

I have one of these on my face right now.

This is the real one.

This is the one that I like to use to encourage you to have a smile.

Because that is what life is all about.

Sometimes as we go through life, we have to have a little bit of fun.

Because what is life without a smile, without a laugh, without a nice warm hug?

Think of this as a nice warm hug through the internet.

My name is Mr. Duncan.

I live in England.

I think I've mentioned that already and I am an English addict.

Just as it says down there on the screen.

I hope you are having a good Sunday. Also, I suppose I should say

Happy New Year if I haven't said it to you yet.

Of course, if I've already said it, please disregard my greeting.

If you disregard something, it means you ignore it.

You push that thing aside, you disregard that particular thing.

So if I have already said Happy New Year to you, you do not have to worry about it.

You don't have to wave to me or give me a big kiss on the nose.

Nothing like that. Please disregard my greeting.

However, if I haven't said it, can I wish you a lovely superduper 2025.

We are here again once more.

We are back together and I hope you have had a lovely, lovely week whilst I've been away.

Did you see my new lesson?

I filmed a lesson during the week

on the coldest day of the year so far.

In fact, it may have been the coldest day of this winter.

Minus six that is six degrees below zero.

It was absolutely freezing.

Did you see my lesson all about the word freeze?

And quite literally, I was freezing.

Certain parts of my body were really suffering.

I won't tell you which parts or where they were, but let's just say they were not

having a good time.

Some of those things were actually quite shrivelled.

Shrivelled. Now there's another good word already.

You will notice that I like using interesting English words, something that is shrivelled.

If it shrivels, it means it shrinks.

It becomes much smaller than it normally is.

It shrivels.

Parts of your body might shrivel

on a cold day.

Certain types of food, if you leave it out, it will shrivel.

It will become dry, and it will shrink away to nothing.

I know that feeling very well.

You may have noticed that I'm wearing my scarf in the studio just to demonstrate how cold the weather is at the moment.

Although, having said that, we do have sunshine and the lovely weather.

People have promised that the weather is going to get better during the week.

So next week it is going to get warm again.

Isn't that lovely?

I should not forget you.

Don't worry, I will say hello to you in a moment. Out there.

Of course it is Sunday, which means that we have the one.

The only, Mr.

Steve, will be with us at around about 2:30.

We had a busy week last

week because we had to go to have our medical check-ups

lots of boring information that I could give you at the moment, but I'm not going to.

It's all connected to things like insurance and other things like that.

Quite often you have to you have to undertake some sort of medical examination.

That doesn't mean that we we are training to be doctors.

So you might say that a medical exam sounds as if we are studying to be doctors, but we are not.

So the medical exam was actually on us.

We might talk a little bit about that later on when Mr.

Steve joins us.

He was out this morning having a walk.

We had a lovely walk yesterday.

We were outside.

It was freezing cold, but as you know, I love filming everything around me and yesterday was no exception.

Take a look at what we saw yesterday whilst walking around on our freezing cold walk around the area in which I live.

We had the most amazing walk yesterday.

It was freezing cold, but everything around us was beautiful.

And see you, Nick.

I have to say, it did look lovely.

Yes, I know, I forgot to open my microphone.

Then you might find that I will be doing that quite a lot today.

Because I've had such a busy day today. Very, very busy.

I hope you are having a good time as well.

Can I say hello to the live chat?

Hello live chat.

Nice to see you here. Congratulations to Beatriz Beatriz.

Guess what?

You are first on today's live chat.

Beatriz, you are first on today's live chat.

Congratulations.

And I hope you are feeling good today.

In second place, we have Vytas. Hello, Vytas. Nice to see you here as well.

Vytas is with us also.

And yes, he is here as usual.

You know who I'm talking about? Luis Mendes.

is here today.

Hello, Luis.

I hope you are feeling better because I know last weekend you were under the weather.

I hope today you are feeling much better, much brighter.

And I hope you are in the mood for English addict.

Claudia is here.

Hello, Claudia.

Hello. Also unique way.

Nice to see you with us as well.

We also have Florence Bella. Hello, Bella.

It is a very long time since I saw you on the live chat.

It is very nice to see you back.

Jamie is here.

Jamie Bolivar says hello to everybody.

That is very friendly of you. Thank you very much.

Also we have Marut SEO.

Hello to you as well.

Palmira is here as well.

Hello.

I and z I in Z or ion Z.

Hello to Mr. Duncan. That's me, by the way.

Just in case you're wondering, ring Sak is here.

I haven't seen you for a long time as well.

Nice to see you back. We also have.

Pedro Belmont is here today.

Hello, Pedro.

Nice to see you back. Also.

Christina is here. Oh, hello, Christina.

Can I say a big thank you?

We had a nice surprise yesterday morning.

It came through our letterbox.

Thank you very much for your lovely Christmas card.

All the way from lovely Italy.

Isn't that lovely?

And there is Father Christmas

putting out the gifts for the children.

So thank you, Christina, for your lovely card and the beautiful greeting inside as well.

Mr. Steve and myself, we were very moved by your lovely thought.

Thank you.

Hello, Edwin. Mr. Duncan, you are such a great teacher.

I am learning a lot from you.

Thank you. Edwin, that is very kind of you to say as well.

Where are you watching? Please let me know. Edwin, where are you watching at the moment?

Who else is here?

Farid boules is here also.

We have. Who else is here?

Ring sack is here as well.

Nice to see you back.

Lots of people joining us today.

Virginia. Hello, Virginia and drone.

I've never seen your name on the live chat before.

Can you please tell me where you are watching? For two reasons.

It is very interesting to find out.

And also I am very, very nosy.

I always like to find out these things.

Today we have some very interesting topics to talk about.

We are talking about being famous,

having fame, being a celebrity.

A lot of people think that being famous is a good thing.

Quite often we see people who are famous as having glamorous lives.

However, it is not always the case.

As you may have seen at the past few days.

Lots of celebrities, lots of famous people are having a pretty terrible time at the moment because of

lots of the fires that have broken out around Los Angeles, so a lot of people at the moment are suffering, even the famous people.

So even though a person is famous and they are probably quite rich, it doesn't mean that life is going to be easy.

It doesn't mean that they're going to have an easy life.

Their life will not always be simple and smooth. In fact, sometimes

being famous can bring its own problems.

Problems that you didn't have before being famous can do that.

So we are looking at that later.

We are talking about fame and misfortune.

A lot of people say fame and fortune because people always assume if you are famous, you must also have a good life.

However, as I said a few moments ago, if you are a celebrity, if you are famous,

sometimes things can go quite bad, to be honest with you.

Smartie.

Hello Smartie, can you please say hi to Sarvesh and Hanyu?

Hello Sarvesh.

Hello also to Hanyu as well.

Thank you very much for watching.

I have a feeling you are there at the moment.

Are you in India?

Because I have lots of lovely new viewers watching right now in India.

So it is nice to have you here

that says I want to be rich, but I don't want to be famous.

You might be surprised to find out that quite a few people who become famous actually hate being famous.

They don't like it.

So even though you have a fairly comfortable life, because we often think if you are famous,

then your life must be comfortable and glamorous.

You will always be invited to lots of lovely parties, and quite often you will meet other famous people.

But sometimes having fame can be a negative thing.

Not everyone wants to be famous and sometimes it is possible to become famous even though you don't want to be.

We will look at all of those things later on.

Here is some interesting information at the moment for all of you sports fans watching, especially those

who like playing tennis or watching tennis at the moment

in Australia, the tennis season is now underway in Melbourne.

Yes, the Australian Open is now underway.

Talking of which.

So for all those who love tennis.

That was especially for you.

English addict is with you today.

I hope you are having a super duper Sunday.

Wherever you are in the world. I hope it is going well.

Can I say hello once again to Beatrice?

Beatrice, I believe I have heard through the grapevine

that you are not feeling very well at the moment, so can I wish you a speedy recovery.

I think it has something to do with your back,

something I can sympathise with because quite often I have difficulty and problems with my stupid back.

My reason, of course, is because I'm tall and apparently as you get older, if you are tall and I am very tall,

you can get lots of back problems and pain as you get older, unfortunately.

So I hope you are feeling better soon. Beatrice.

Take it easy.

Keep that sensitive area warm

one way or another.

Keep it nice and comfortable and warm.

So some people say if you have back pain, you should put something warm on the area.

However, other people say that for certain types of back pain, you should actually use something very cold like ice.

So I think it depends on what type of back pain you have,

but I hope you are feeling very well and very much better real soon.

Mr. Steve is just four minutes away, which gives me a little bit of time to talk about an interesting English word.

As you know, I love English very much.

You might say that I am definitely an English addict.

Here is an interesting word I heard this used the other day.

I heard this word mentioned and it was all connected to people

in authority, people who have a certain type of power.

And this can be anything really.

Maybe a person in your office, maybe a person who is your supervisor or your boss.

Everyone can have some type of power,

authority.

That's a great word. By the way.

When we look at the word authority, we are talking about a person who has a certain amount of power,

and quite often a person with power or authority might sometimes

be harsh to treat someone cruelly

an action.

So the word harsh is actually an adjective,

an action involving cruelty to be cruel, to be brutal,

to to be severe with someone.

So if you are severe with a person, you are treating them in a harsh way.

We are using that word as an adjective to be severe with someone or something.

So perhaps you are being harsh with your motorbike or your car because it won't start in the morning.

You might thump the car, you might kick your motorbike.

You are being harsh with that thing.

Something unpleasant to the senses, something you can hear.

For example, a sound

can be harsh.

Something that is unpleasant to the senses.

So maybe a sound, maybe Mr.

Steve is warming up his voice.

Sometimes the sound can be harsh.

Please don't tell him I said that. Please don't.

He will silk for the rest of the day so a sound can be harsh.

Maybe colours or light can be harsh.

So lighting that is too bright.

We can say that the light is harsh.

It is too much.

Your senses do not like it.

Harsh can also be used in noun form and the noun form of harsh is harshness.

Harshness is the noun form of harsh.

A person might be known for their harshness.

A cruel person will use harshness as a form of control.

That person's methods are harsh

as an adjective,

so the word harsh is the adjective to show cruelty or brutality.

And of course, harshness is the noun form that is showing

that that particular person is often cruel and mean.

So people with authority.

Now I in my life I have had some situations where I've come face to face with authority.

We often think of the police.

I have never been in trouble with the police.

I've never been arrested, and I've never been in trouble with the police.

However, sometimes I do have a problem with certain types of authority.

Normally, when I return back from a holiday, quite often when I'm going through the airport with my suitcase,

feeling very happy with myself, feeling really pleased because I'm back from my holiday,

quite often a person will

come up to me, normally a person in a uniform, and they will say, excuse me sir,

would you mind following me to that room over there?

And this happens quite often and I don't know why.

So quite often I am stopped by customs or the security customs in an airport,

and they will often take me into another room and ask me questions and have a look inside my hand luggage.

This has happened many times.

Not just once, not twice, but many times.

And I don't know why.

Why do people keep stopping me

at the airport to search my luggage and ask me questions?

Do I look like a person?

Who might do something illegal like that?

Of course not.

Of course not.

Mr. Steve is on his way. We are looking at fame.

We are also looking at a very serious topic.

Today we are taking a look at scams.

What is a scam?

Find out later on. We will be looking at that subject.

It isn't a very happy subject, but I'm sure we can still have some fun even with that.

Okay everyone, he's on his way. He's coming.

You don't have to wait any longer.

Mr. Steve is on his way. To.

I’m a big boy now.

English addict is with you today.

I hope you are having a good day.

And I think your day is about to get much better than it is right now.

Because he is on his way.

A lot of people ask, Mr. Duncan, can we please have Mr.

Steve at the start of the live stream?

Well, all I can say is you are lucky to get him even at this point in time, because he is a man who always has something to do.

In fact, he has some extra jobs that he has to do now because.

I will tell him in a moment.

Here he comes.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is the one. The only.

Mr. Steam.

Hello. Wonderful. Beautiful viewers from across the globe.

Here we all are again on Sunday afternoon, trying to get you to improve your English.

That's our.

That's our mandate.

Is a good word for you. Mandate?

And you can look that up.

And we want to have a bit of fun and laughter as well.

Not too serious.

And, of course, I'm Mr. Duncan's assistant. If you haven't seen me before.

Well, I say assistant, but really? Really, I'm in charge.

No, I'm only joking. But as usual, we've got lots of interesting things to talk about.

I want to say hello to Beatrice, because apparently I've been reading on the live chat.

She's not very well today. No.

She's got sciatic pain, which is a pain you get.

I think it's nerves in your back.

It is. It's a it's to do with this back pain that you get from a nerve.

My mother used to suffer from that. And then she used to have to go to bed.

So we wish you better.

And I hope Lewis is better because he had a bad cold, I think, last week. Yes.

I don't like to hear of our lovely viewers feeling unwell.

Only we are allowed to be ill.

Only we can have pain and discomfort.

But you, you shouldn't have it because let's face it, you put up with enough pain watching this.

Let's be honest with you.

Well, surely this is therapy.

It's, Because you know what they say, if you're healthy in the mind, the body gets better.

So laughter is the best medicine.

So we'll try and make you laugh, which not be too serious. Yes.

Today. And mind you, having said that, I'm like a loose cannon.

You can be.

I'm like a loose cannon or like a bull in a China shop.

Anything can come out of this mouth. Yes.

Well there's somebody pointed out last week or the other way round.

I'm a bit of an open book.

You know, I don't tend to keep my thoughts in. They have to if they're in here, they have to come out.

So what you have to remember sometimes, Steve, what you have to remember is we are broadcasting

live and also I suppose you would describe this as a big responsibility.

Would you would you say that this is a responsibility? Yes.

Because we we don't want to give incorrect information.

Sometimes we tend to stray off a bit into areas that maybe we don't know enough about.

So when you when you see, when you say we, you mean you

sometimes. Yes.

I mean, we want to get the basics right, like word spellings and, grammar and pronunciation.

Well, we have no we get all that right.

We have no problem with that because you're with me.

You say you're with the best. Apparently, according to chat, GPT.

I am the greatest English teacher on YouTube.

And that's not my that.

That's not me saying that.

That is artificial intelligence.

I does not lie.

So it must be true that since they have programmed artificial intelligence never to tell lies.

So if you ask who is the best English teacher on YouTube?

Jack chat, GPT and I think other artificial intelligence apps will put me almost at the top.

And I think in one case I am actually at the top. So isn't that lovely?

That's very nice to know. I have to say, we have lots of things to talk about. Steve.

Yes, we are talking about fame today, and the reason why I've decided to bring this particular

topic up is because, of course, we've been seeing the horrific pictures coming from Los Angeles

and around the Hollywood Hills, where those terrible, wild fires are spreading at the moment.

And and many

celebrities or wealthy people, people with houses up there on the Hollywood Hills, because we

we all know it's not a secret that the houses around there are very expensive.

And many of the people living in those houses are famous.

So I thought it would be interesting to take a look at fame as a subject, not just the up,

not just the nice things, not just the glamour, but also things that it might be seen as negative.

When we are talking about fame and before anyone asks, no,

I'm not famous.

Infamous, infamous, infamous.

That's a good one.

Which is somebody who is famous.

But for bad reasons.

I'm sure we can think of lots of people who are infamous, people who've done bad things, but they've become famous because of that.

You know that they might commit horrendous crime. Yes.

Or just be known.

Just be known for doing something not very nice. Yes, they are known as infamous.

And also today we are looking at another subject, which I think is also just as interesting.

Scams s c a m.

What is a scam?

Well, we will be looking at that later on because over the Christmas period a lot of people are

I would say that they are vulnerable because they are so busy doing things, doing lots of things.

It might be

a period of time where people might get caught out by some sort of trick

that a person will try to to put them through, or to play a trick on them.

And by that I mean to try and steal something from that person.

Normally, private information or in some cases money.

So we will be looking at that as well today.

Last week we we had a little assignment last week didn't we Steve.

We had to go and have a little medical check-up last week for various reasons.

Nothing serious. It's not us because as you can see.

Mr. Steve, look at him looking.

You would not believe that he is nearly 80.

But look, look how well he looks.

And yes, I know what you're going to say, Mr. Duncan. You also look very young.

But then I am. I'm only 28, you see.

So that's the reason why there is a big age gap between this age gap.

The four years. Okay? Four years.

I I'm younger than Mr.

Steve, but we I think we look great.

I think we look great.

So last week we had to go and have a medical examination. We had to be poked,

stroked.

They even had to feel our body.

They had to take blood samples. They had to test our breathing.

They had a look inside my ear

to try and see if there is a brain in there.

Apparently there is.

For all those who say the opposite, there is a brain inside here.

I have no medical evidence to prove that.

So everything, really everything was okay.

The only thing the doctor said to me was I had to start cutting down on the amount of rubbish I eat.

Nothing serious, but already this week, Steve, I've started it.

I'm eating porridge again.

There's nothing like a blood test that shows you're in the red to, motivate you into changing, your lifestyle.

So the only real problem, and I think it was for both of us, was with the dreaded cholesterol.

It is the one thing.

And for years and years now, I remember growing up, Mr.

Steve, when cholesterol started to be talked about, when they discovered that there was some sort of link

between that level of the fattiness in your blood to other ailments and problems like heart disease, strokes.

And now, of course, they are talking about certain types of dementia as well could be linked to high cholesterol.

So it's not it's not very nice.

So my doctor did say Mr.

Duncan

cut down on those fatty foods, you naughty, naughty man.

And I think he said the same thing to you as well.

He did, but mine wasn't as high as yours. No, but

but what it shows is actually, it's quite interesting as you get older.

That even though I do quite a lot of exercise and I do watch my diet, that your cholesterol is still higher.

That's slightly higher than it should be.

So that's, that's interesting.

But what, what the doctor also said is that having a raised cholesterol isn't

necessarily bad in itself, as long as you don't also have high blood pressure.

Yes. And or diabetes with it.

Now, I'm not a medical expert. No.

But disclaimer alert. So but from our point of view.

So I'm we're not giving medical advice.

Don't worry that they are not.

But everything for me was clean and green.

But just just that that cholesterol. Mr.

Duncan, you need you need to get it down a little bit.

Of course, I did say at the time, I said, you do realise this is the worst time of the year to have a medical check-up?

Because we've just had Christmas and you know what happened, Steve?

We all eat too much food, particularly chocolate.

Cheese. Yeah. Biscuit.

All the junk cakes I would say my consumption of, of.

Yeah.

We're talking about animal fats aren't we. We're talking saturated fats. Yes.

Which are bad for you, which is typically the animal which also happens to fat, which also happens to be the really nice fats. Yes.

And we eat we, we, we drink full fat milk.

So we switch swap to semi-skimmed and yeah, things like that.

Hopefully this will make a difference.

But we don't need to do a huge amount. But it was worth going.

I've never had a full check-up health check-up before.

But it was worth going, at least to put your mind at rest and look certain things which you could be worrying about.

They looked in places. They looked at parts of my body that I didn't even know I had.

They found things that I didn't even know I had, the think bits

that were all

tucked away and hidden, and they said, oh, oh, that that's an unusual shape.

The one thing they didn't do, Steve and I don't know why I've always wanted to have

an ultrasound or one of those scans on my head.

It. Does that sound strange?

Because I've always wanted to have a look at my own brain.

Now, that might sound odd, but I've always I'm always fascinated by what it actually looks like because we just assume

that everything in there is normal and the brain is a normal size. But.

But what if your brain is very small? I might not even have a brain at all.

It might just be full of sawdust or a piece of wood. Whoa!

If you knock Mr. Duncan's head, there's like a hollow sound.

Yes, it sounds like a.

You're like you're knocking a door, and now it's down. Now we're joking.

Well, you don't really want to have those kind of scans. If you can avoid it, because just ones.

I don't think they're particularly good for your body because they're firing something into your head.

So I really wouldn't want to do that.

I think you can get a bit paranoid.

You've got to enjoy life.

As the doctor said, you know, don't cut everything out.

You've got to enjoy life to a certain extent.

And food, of course, is one of those things that we enjoy.

What they always tell you in the UK and what they have.

The doctor that we saw earlier this week said was to adopt a mediterranean diet.

That is the recommended

best practice or best diet for you, which is,

what they mean by a mediterranean diet is lots of vegetables, fish.

No carbs and, healthy fats, a mediterranean diet.

So maybe throw some olive olive oil in there and, eat small amounts often.

But of course,

even people from the Mediterranean probably aren't sticking to that diet in modern times because it is quite.

You've got to cook your own all your own food. Really. So what?

What basic types of food are you talking about?

How do you mean, Mr. Duncan?

Well, Mediterranean diet, what are the basic.

Yeah, as I said, fish, vegetables, nuts, high vegetables.

Sort of a fish or chicken diet.

Less of the red meat.

What about olive oil? Pulses? Olive oil?

Yes, definitely.

I mean, olive oil has got massive benefits to your system.

But, yeah, it's when you're young, have to worry about these things.

And by the way, I'm trying to pronounce my words as clearly as possible.

There have been a few comments. Yeah.

Oh that's okay, Steve, you are here because your English and your speech is different from mine.

So it gives everyone the chance to hear a natural conversation taking place so you don't have to.

You don't have to do it too much, Steve. So don't worry.

I know I can't do any more. No, you you sound great to me.

You sound great.

Oh, I might look great and sound great, but inside, particularly up here.

If you could look in here, you would, you would.

You would probably have a shock if anyone, if anyone needs to have some sort of scan to have a look inside here, maybe it's Mr.

Steve, but I would love to do that.

What I want actually, is to have a three, a three dimensional model made of my brain

that I can have, and then I can put it as a paperweight somewhere so they scan your brain,

and then they will make an actual model of your actual brain, and then you can put it somewhere in your office.

I think it would make a great gift for someone.

Yes, a mediterranean diet is what is recommended.

That's what they would say in the UK, because obviously we're not in the Mediterranean.

So there's countries near the Mediterranean. Yeah, apparently that is a very healthy diet to eat.

I'd say it doesn't refer to the place though.

It refers to the types of food that are eaten. Yes.

Fish, vegetables.

You have not going to excess.

This is something we noticed when we went to visit.

Italy last year.

That there were

I don't know whether it's just because where we were, our perception was that a lot of the people there were not particularly overweight.

No, compared to people in the UK.

In fact, I think we commented on this, didn't we, when we were with

some of our lovely viewers, we actually said at the time, we, we don't see many people who are overweight or obese.

In Italy, everyone seemed slim and not necessarily healthy,

because one of the other things I noticed in Italy is lots of people like to smoke.

So there were many people smoking, but we didn't see many people who were who were large in shape.

Exactly.

Here we go. Santorini. Yeah, yeah, we just noticed that they weren't in the UK.

You get so used to seeing overweight people, that, you think it's normal that, I mean, it wasn't when my mother grew up.

She said you hardly ever saw anybody that was overweight.

I mean, grant you they were all.

They were coming out of the war there.

Yeah, and there was food rationing, but, I think people just used to.

There wasn't the availability of fast food.

People didn't eat out. They all cooked at home,

things like that, that weren't packets of crisps everywhere and chocolate on sale on every street corner.

We couldn't afford to over eat.

Well that's it.

I was just going to. Yeah.

Christina, says hello. Christina.

That, it's our body that produces the cholesterol.

Not so much of what we eat.

And that is. That is true. I was always taught that when I was at college,

in medical matters, that,

it's just what the the cholesterol you consume in food,

isn't what contributes mainly to the cholesterol reading in your blood.

And it's your liver that produces it.

In response to eating the wrong foods. Yeah.

So, it's your body.

You don't absorb much cholesterol from the food you eat.

It's mainly the cholesterol in your blood is what your own body produces.

Because you do need cholesterol.

That's a healthy body.

You've got to have it.

In fact.

In fact, when a couple of years ago, when I lost a little bit of weight,

the doctor did warn me at the time not to lose too much weight because your cholesterol level also shouldn't fall too low.

So I found that also interesting. And of course, it's not always bad either.

I don't want to get too much in the technical stuff. No, but the good news is for Mr.

Steve and myself, we are okay. We're still alive.

I have a feeling that we are going to be with you every Sunday, and also I will be with you every Wednesday for the foreseeable future.

Isn't that good news? I'm not sure if it is good news.

It's good news for me and also for Steve as well.

Lewis says I don't like fish much, but I do eat it twice a week.

Yes. That's it.

Sometimes you have to eat foods which you know are good for you, but you don't particularly like, which is why,

I mean, I like cod, and I like salmon.

Yeah, I like tuna.

I actually do like them, but I like to put them in meals where the flavour is disguised, like a bolognaise sauce.

For example, the tuna.

I wouldn't eat just tuna on its own, but I put like, to put it, And I'm sure you do this,

Lewis. But also things like cod.

Yes, cod is nice.

Cod is a very plain, fairly tasteless fish. White fish.

But if you put some batter on it, it's quite nice.

So we like, we like cod with.

I think it's got like breadcrumbs on it or something. Some kind of light batter. Yeah.

I mean that's Steve. We're going to move on.

That's why fish and chips are so popular in the UK. That's it. But but that's pretty unhealthy.

The irony is it's deep fried and it's full of all sorts of horrible grease and fat.

Anyway, Steve, what I would love to have

is a list.

Not not many things, just a list of things that I can eat that are healthy, but also don't taste disgusting.

So I think that's the thing, isn't it?

Because we've got some butter now, we've got some special butter, but it's it's supposed to reduce your cholesterol,

but it also just happens to taste really disgusting.

And that's the problem. So that's what puts me off.

You know.

You know why I always go back to eating sweet things is because it's nice.

It gives me pleasure.

I feel a certain amount of pleasure when I eat a piece of chocolate or something sweet.

And that's the reason why, you see, that's why I do it.

But when?

When we have to eat in a healthy way.

Steve, you find that a lot of the things all are really, really not very nice.

Well, we ought to be going to Santa Reno's house.

Oh, for the healthiest food, because looking at what, what they're eating, they're lots of pasta without grease.

We put pasta, olive oil, lentils, beans and chickpeas.

Good.

There we go.

Beans, chickpeas, pulses like peas, beans.

Lentils are very good for you.

I mean, in India, lentils and rice is a staple food.

Because it's got all the proteins in it that you need.

So, yes. And we do eat lentils that way. We have, like, a double a lentil daal.

I want to be two weeks.

So. Yeah, I think we're pretty good. We've just got to cut back on biscuits. Chocolates?

I want biscuits and chocolates now, Mr. Duncan.

Yeah, well, this is it.

Whenever I start thinking of healthy food or if I look in the cupboard

and there's nothing in there that I think that has to be the saddest moment.

The moment that causes me the most distress is when I open the cupboard.

And normally in that cupboard there is maybe some biscuits or some crisps or something that I can just eat very quickly.

But I open the cupboard.

And there's nothing in there and I always feel slightly disappointed when I do that when I open the cupboard,

because sometimes I go and I hope maybe by magic that cupboard will be full of lovely things to eat.

But then when I open it, there's nothing in there.

There's, there's nothing unhealthy.

Now pound mirror talks about something very interesting.

Stress produces cholesterol.

And I have read this as well that if you have long term stress it can make your body produce too much cholesterol.

I'm not sure how much evidence there is for that clinically.

But I mean I read this on a fairly, I think it was the NHS website I think, which is fairly, you know that's well renowned website.

So I think, I think you can so I think stress can make your body even if you don't, even if you eat.

I mean, some people will have a high cholesterol no matter what they do because they've got some genetic problem at fault. But,

certainly stress can, which is something we need to reduce.

In fact, I would say I would say as an overall health benefit,

not even mentioning diet or the things you eat.

I think the biggest problem if those two things are not there is stress.

So I think stress does have a very negative effect.

We are coming up to 3:00. Mr.. Steve, already I've been with you for an hour.

We had lots of snow last week and then it went really cold and we had a lovely walk yesterday in the snow,

even though it wasn't particularly pleasant.

Although Steve said today you said that you went out earlier for a walk

and now already a lot of the snow is vanishing, only to be replaced by mud. Mud?

We don't like that, not one bit.

So those who've just joined us, you're watching English Addict with myself, Mr.

Duncan and also Mr. Steve as well.

We have lots of things to talk about today.

This.

English addict is with you today.

With myself. Mr. Duncan,

do you want at some point in your life to be famous?

Fame.

I want to live forever.

I want to learn how to fly.

Fame and fortune.

We often think of those two words together, don't we, Steve? We think of fame.

And also we think of fortune.

Not by that we mean the success that comes with being famous or well-known normally brings some sort of comfort in your life.

And by that we mean money. Of course we mean money.

It can't be anything else, can it?

Really? Yes. No, no.

Only if you're famous, you will end up, accumulating wealth, because you've probably got some talent.

That means people are prepared to pay a lot of money, to have you on their television programme, sing for them or whatever it is.

Or if you become very successful in business and it's,

then you're likely to become famous, like the big tech companies in the US, you know, Amazon, Jeff Bezos.

And then we've got, all the other big sort of tech companies, Microsoft, etcetera.

Then if you've, you know, you're going to be famous just because you've got a very successful company. Yeah.

Somebody said earlier, by the way, that they, they thought that

you weren't famous, Mr.

Duncan, but you were very popular. Yes, I think that's I think that's true.

That's. No, that's I think that's that's perfect.

That's a perfect description.

Whoever said that you are absolutely 100%.

You can't be popular without being famous.

So I wouldn't say that I'm famous in the fact that I could go out into the streets

and walk around and people would know who I was, although that did happen to us in Paris, didn't it?

Once somebody saw us and recognised me, that was very still a very weird moment of time.

But generally speaking, I would say that I'm popular on the internet, but away from here, no one knows who I am.

Last week, for example, the doctor was examining me.

They had no idea who I was. They didn't know I was on YouTube. They knew nothing about me.

I was just another piece of meat in front of them to to prod and poke.

So being famous is often seen as something good, something that you want to have.

However, quite often with fame, there can also be something we called misfortune as well.

Misfortune means when things do not go as well as you want them to actually go.

Fame is not necessarily a good thing.

Fame and misfortune.

You run success early.

Hello, ransack. That, They'd like to be rich, but not famous.

Yes, yes. Because, Yeah.

So keep a low profile, make your money, but do it in the way that, you don't have to be in the public eye.

Thus, be worried every

time you leave the house that, there are photographers there, the paparazzi,

trying to catch you out, find out all about your life, and then print it in a newspaper.

Or, you know, that's part of the downsides, isn't it?

That, somebody is jealous of you because you become famous, and then they try to make money because they've known you

from a past life, and then they will sell their story to a newspaper about an affair you had with somebody.

Well, this is one of the reasons why a lot of people who become famous also like to have wealth as well.

They expect those things to go together because the wealth will allow you

to keep your distance or create that boundary of privacy.

So I think being famous is is great, but I think also you have to have a bit of security that goes with it.

And by that I mean I suppose money would be the main thing.

And of course we've seen situations where people have become famous and then things have gone dramatically wrong.

Not always

their fault.

Sometimes other things can happen.

As I mentioned earlier, we are looking at those terrible scenes coming from the United States with the terrible fires

taking place across the Hollywood Hills, a part of, I suppose, a part of Los

Angeles, which is well known for the area where all these celebrities and superstars live.

And at the moment it is all going up in flames.

So fame is not necessarily a good thing.

So are you saying, Mr.

Duncan, that being famous, the downside is that you could live, move to a rich area and then your house burns down?

Well, is that your is that where you're going with this?

Well, in in that sense, an area where you would think you would be safe and secure.

There is there is always something that can change that situation

and maybe something unexpected, maybe something you were not expecting to happen.

And of course, your own personal safety as well.

In, in, in all of those areas.

By that I mean your personal safety.

So if you become famous, Steve, there is often a price to pay.

We often talk about the price of fame, and quite often there are things you have to give

if you want to be famous or if you become famous.

There are certain things in your life that you must give away.

Can you think what they are, Steve? Well, Christina mentions John Lennon

famous shot because somebody becomes obsessed with you.

There's lots of cases of people, famous people.

Having fans that, become a bit obsessed with them.

And obviously, in John Lennon's case, it led to his death.

And I think, Marilyn Monroe, there's another famous one. Yes.

Because I think sometimes when people become famous, they find it difficult to cope with the fame.

It must be.

It must be pretty awful that your life is always in the spotlight.

Everything you do and the pressure to

keep being famous, and the pressure to be.

Because, I mean, a lot of people, you do hear some people saying, I've.

I wanted to be famous.

That was their motivation.

Just being famous alone.

Yes, is a great motivation for some people.

Other people become famous almost by accident because they've got a talent.

And then that talent has been noticed, and then they've gone on maybe to TV or films, but some.

Yeah. So they've become famous through their talent, so to speak.

But some people just want to be famous because they want to be famous and they're not too bothered how they get that fame. Yes.

I mean, there is a there's a case at the moment of, of somebody maybe I should mention it.

If I mention names, I won't mention names.

Somebody on the internet who is, let's say, has been in the news a lot because

she has let's just be let's just say been having multiple partners.

Okay. Oh, yes.

We will stay clear of that one. Okay.

Then it so, so for many reasons including legal reasons.

So we will stay away from that one.

But fame can be I suppose you might describe it as a double edged sword.

So there is something that can help you, but also something that might actually be damaging as well.

And I think the worst one, Steve, is when you become famous, but you don't want to be famous.

Maybe by accident you become famous, maybe there is someone filming an event

taking place and you are doing something, and maybe you are having just a moment of time where where you are enjoying yourself.

Maybe you are doing a silly dance, or maybe you are pulling a very strange face

and that person films what you are doing, and then suddenly

that short video goes onto the internet and then everyone knows who you are, but you have no control over that.

And I think this is one of the big problems now with being famous.

If you are well known and you have no control over it, that is the worst kind of fame because you quite often

you get nothing from it.

So you won't earn money, you won't become rich and famous, you will just become famous,

maybe for doing something very silly.

And of course, once you are at that level, you've got to be.

You probably want to remain famous.

And that that has its own pressures.

Boy bands, a lot of people become famous and they're not really being looked after or protect it from the, the effects of fame.

And as we all know, recently a famous boy band member died,

fell out of a window in,

was it brand Aries? I think it was in Argentina.

Was in Buenos Aires. It was in Argentina. Yes, yes. Liam.

Remember his name? Liam Payne. Liam Payne. Yes. That's right. Who,

tragically lost his life. But that was all due to the pressures of fame.

And something we've noticed before.

Mr. Duncan, is that rich, famous people often take risks,

because often to become successful in business

or in whatever it is you become famous or successful in, you have to be a have a certain mentality.

Well, sir.

Yes. Taking risks, a certain way of thinking. Yes.

You get a thrill from that. And, and

but even by accident, for example, if you, if you, if you've got a lot of money,

then you might want to get from one place to another in a helicopter for example. Yes.

And we know that helicopters, prone to falling out of the sky.

Well, they're not they're not prone to it.

Well, the if I fall more prone to it, then, that that, of plane that.

Yes, but that means that that's happening all the time. Well, but you know what I'm saying?

You're always hearing if of rich, successful people, dying in helicopter crash. Yes.

Well, private.

Well, they start, they decide to learn to fly or something like that.

It's a they do something risky because they want.

Because their personality is they want to push the boundaries of to see what they can do, which is an admirable, admirable quality

to have to to give yourself a goal, to push your limits of your ability.

But then at the same time that then becomes dangerous.

I mean the, there was that case of

that famous, I can't remember his name now.

He was a famous rich, I think, billionaire businessman decided he wanted to go and see the Titanic,

which is very deep in the ocean and went down in one of these,

Devices or whatever you call it, like a submarine, that takes you deep in the ocean.

Of course, it's dangerous to do that.

And, it imploded and everyone was killed.

The point I'm making is that quite often rich, successful, or famous people will do risky things because it's it's almost in their nature.

That's how they became rich and famous in the first place.

Because they, they taking risks and they'd like to do, like to push the boundaries of what they can do.

That's it.

But I think, I think yes, I think, I think it's in in their nature to take those risks.

And sometimes you can't stop doing it.

It's almost like an addiction.

You can't stop doing things that are dangerous.

And eventually, maybe, perhaps something bad will happen.

So fame is often seen as a glamorous thing.

But I can tell you now, though, I'm going to tell you something because something did happen to me

a few years ago when I was living in China,

I did I I'm not going to say I became a superstar, but I did become well known in certain area.

Yes. Locally, where you were. Yes. Because I was on television.

The local TV station had used me for certain things, and then I appeared a couple of times, English speaking contests as the judge.

And, and I even performed a song that was broadcast on television.

So in the local area, I did become quite well-known, quite famous, and it did happen.

So I've had

a taste of fame, even on TV as well.

Yes, that's TV, that's it, that's what? Yes.

So, so because because people recognise me from television, they would see me in the street and they would know who I was,

which was okay at first.

But I have to say, after a while it did become rather annoying because I didn't have

I didn't have the fortune,

so I would walk around the town doing my shopping and people would come up to me and start talking to me

and asking me questions, and then just just general things.

I think for two reasons. One, because they recognised me.

But also the other thing was because I'm an English teacher, so they knew that.

So so I think there were two things happening there.

But after a while it did become a little

annoying and difficult, especially when people were starting to turn up in the area where I lived.

And they were asking all of the shops and the shopkeepers where I lived that that was that was the point where I realised

that being famous or well-known, even in a small area, is not

a good thing,

because I've I've had it happen to me for real.

So if you'd stayed, you could have become you were a local celebrity, I would say, when you were in China. Yes.

But this is how a lot of, famous people start off.

They become popular in a local area, and then they spread out from there.

So you could have you could have been popular all over China if you'd stayed.

Well, have I stayed in this teaching school?

Have I stayed there?

I don't think things would have worked out quite well

because China itself was changing and it was changing into something that was the opposite

to to the things I represented, if that makes sense, because China wants to go in a different direction.

So I was useful there at that point in time.

However, had I stayed there, I probably would, have ended up leaving anyway

because the the political system and the climate, the political climate in China was changing.

Even while I was there. I could tell things were were changing.

But having fame is not necessarily a good thing. I will be honest with you.

There is always a price to pay,

and I it's a privacy basically, isn't it? Yes.

You you can't go out of the house.

People will start to try and find you and they will bother you when you're walking around the street, which is nice.

It is lovely, don't get me wrong, but it can be a little annoying as well.

Fortunately, here in the UK.

No one cares who I am so I can walk around the streets.

I can go anywhere and people won't know me, even though I think a couple of times in Much Wenlock,

someone came up to me and asked if I was Mr.

Duncan, but I have a feeling that maybe they were local and perhaps they had seen me on the internet.

Maybe. Who knows?

But this is the thing. You see, this is the thing about what we do, Steve.

You never know.

We might do something on here one week and then it becomes viral and then suddenly everyone knows who we are.

How would you feel about that, Mr.. Steve? Would you like to be famous?

No, I think I'll.

I'll take the ransac approach, which is rich, but not famous.

But then it must be. It must be, I would

be interested to see what it

feels like to be famous, because I think, and somebody pointed this out earlier.

You must feel almost invulnerable.

I think you probably.

I mean, we're talking from our perspective, really not being famous people, but, it

it must be that you start to to think that you're almost invulnerable,

and that, sort of normal life events can't affect you and that nothing could possibly happen to you. Yes.

And maybe you believe too much what you're saying, particularly if you're.

I'm thinking now of a famous sort of health expert who was a doctor,

in the UK, had a television programme, a series of programmes all about improving your health.

He was actually a medical doctor.

And, a lot of his work was around exercise and pushing your body,

in order to extend your life was part of part of the something he used to talk about.

He used to undergo, intra sting, procedures for medical science.

And the TV, for example, he got himself infected with a tapeworm. Deliberately?

Yeah, once. Just to see what happens when you get infected with a tapeworm.

But he was very well known in the UK, and he was always doing extreme exercise.

And unfortunately, he decided, when he was on holiday in a great I think it was a Greek island

in sort of 45 degree heat to go off on a long trek into the hills.

And sadly died.

And I think that's a case of, of

maybe you've just got things out of proportion, the sense of danger and reality.

You're pushing things a bit too far.

Because maybe you've become used to that fame, or you don't think anything can happen to you.

But of course, if you push the limits of what the human body is capable of. Yes.

If you don't have that support there at the time you need it, then you it's you're taking a risk. Yes.

It's it's the difference between fame and the illusion that it presents and reality,

which sometimes when you become famous or wealthy and famous, you might forget all about the reality of life.

You almost become trapped in your fame and it becomes linguistic.

I'm sorry.

I was just saying. Yes. Christine? Yes. You've got the name right. I couldn't think of the name.

Okay.

Yeah. Become. What would you say you become?

Yeah. You become.

You're almost in a bubble of, Where

you're not really living in the real world anymore.

Even the physical, real world.

And you lose perception of of maybe what stand for so many.

If you were a celebrity and you needed to get from one gig to another or something, you might.

Somebody might lay on a helicopter for you.

But, you know, it's quicker than driving from going on the train or flying, but.

Yeah.

Is that I'm not saying helicopters are dangerous, but, you know, is that a bigger risk?

There was there was a somebody recently.

He was. Oh, it was a football player. Okay.

He was travelling back from France,

back to England for a match.

I think it was last year or the year before, and they had to go from one match to another match.

I think it was a football player. He was playing on the team. I have no idea. Yes.

And they had to be at a certain place back in England for another football match

or had another engagement, and they took a private plane, a small private plane, somewhere from France back to England.

And it got caught in bad weather and it crashed and he was killed along with the pilot.

Pilot, of course.

But, you know, a commercial airline would have been a lot safer.

And so I'm just saying you maybe get yourself involved in these more risky endeavours, if you if you become rich and famous.

Yes, but it's not all.

It's not all about being killed anyway.

It's sometimes it's just having fame and then misusing it.

And one of the big problems, I think, with it, with being famous, is quite often you will end up surrounded

by people who won't say no to you.

So you believe your own publicity.

And this is one of the things that we talk about when we talk about the price of fame.

Sometimes you can believe your own publicity.

That means all of the things that the newspapers are printing about you and all the nice things they are saying.

You actually believe that all of that is true when most of it is just hype

to to to promote your thing, your song, your movie, your show, anything.

And I think that's part of the risk when you become famous is you are always going

to have people around you that will they will agree with everything you say.

No one will ever say.

I don't think that's a good idea.

I don't think you should build a huge swimming pool

in your garden

and have lots of luxurious parties late at night around the pool.

Can I just say that that might not be a good idea

if you are a celebrity, if you are becoming famous, there is one piece of advice I can give you.

Never get a swimming pool, have a house, have a lovely garden.

But don't.

Whatever you do, don't have a swimming pool.

And certainly if you do want a swimming pool, don't invite lots of people around, where there's lots of alcohol and

and other substances available. Don't do it.

I think if you if you look across history, Steve, it's celebrities and celebrities

involved with swimming pools.

Quite often the story is a bad one.

It doesn't it doesn't end well.

So if you are famous, don't have a swimming pool, leave the swimming pool somewhere else.

Fill it in. Even if you move into a house and there is a swimming pool, just fill it.

Fill it full of concrete because it will eventually bring lots of bad luck.

Let mentioned something earlier that yeah.

Yes. Even if you are famous when when you're gone.

When you've left this

earth, mortal coil.

And I'm really cheerful today.

Well, I'm just saying, when you have, then it's not long before everybody just forgets about you.

And it's, you know, unless you are really, really famous or infamous.

Yeah.

Then you will not be remembered for very long.

Yeah. Just the same as all of us, really. I mean, we think of,

we're only we're only remembered, really, as long as there are people still alive.

Remember us?

And when they're gone, then we go, oh, there you, Mr. Duncan.

Well, have your YouTube channel.

People will be able to watch you in a thousand years time.

Well, maybe, if YouTube is still allowing you on that.

Well, if YouTube still exists, if YouTube still exists, if the internet still exists, you see. So.

So everything I do could just vanish completely without any warning.

So if YouTube suddenly stopped being a company, if the internet suddenly stopped working,

or maybe it became illegal to have the internet, suddenly I would vanish.

It would be like

a light being switched off.

Who was Brian Jones?

He was a member. Now I want to say.

I want to say the who, but it probably isn't.

But the Brian Jones died in a swimming pool.

He died it that so that there might be a very long list of celebrities who came to a bad end,

or of course, were involved in some sort of scandal connected to a swimming pool.

We have at least two in this country.

In England, there at least two people who

who over the years have been involved in swimming pool situations that did not turn out very well.

That's all I'm saying.

The other one to be wary of is if you become rich and famous.

Rolling Stones rolling stones, I think might get it wrong.

So I, I'm not a big fan of the Rolling Stones, you see, and they are a little bit before my time.

Yeah.

I mean, I think you do.

See, I don't know if you were to take some, analysis and look at the average life

expectancy of a of a celebrity or a famous person compared to the general population. Yes.

It's the perception is that quite a lot of celebrities seem to die.

But isn't it, you know, of of accidents or drugs or something.

Yeah, but is that any more in proportion to the a normal population or not.

Yeah. Well I don't know that because we well, we just happened to hear about it because the famous.

It's on the television. Yes.

Because if you, if, if the, if the person that lives down the road from us who nobody knows

falls down the stairs and breaks their neck, no one cares because no one knows who they are.

But if a famous person does the same thing, suddenly it's huge news.

Yeah. So your perception is that

a higher proportion of rich and famous people die young. Yes.

Which of course, some people don't mind as they probably don't like them anyway. Okay.

It's just, these these are weird, weird directions.

There's always some. There's always a bit of jealousy, isn't there? But I don't I don't think celebrities die young.

I think a lot of them,

normally they fade away and then eventually you hear of them again, but normally after they've died.

So I think fame fades and then the person dies, and then you, then you hear about them again and and everyone goes, oh, I remember him.

I remember that that woman. Yeah. She used to be in that TV show.

So I think fame is a strange thing.

We often describe fame as fickle.

Fickle. So you might be famous today,

but suddenly tomorrow, no one cares who you are.

And that in itself is very stressful.

For somebody who likes being famous and, I always remember,

you know, getting an insight into what it was like to be, a famous performer and the stresses that are involved.

I saw an interview by Shirley Bassey.

It was of course, I'm a great fan of it was her birthday last week

with her birthday last week, and it was also Rod Stewart who was 80, I believe.

So he's still going despite the excesses of his youth. Yes.

So yeah.

Yeah.

So yeah, I want you if you've got a talent and you, you start to become famous.

The pressure is then on you to keep on performing at a higher level.

Yeah, well, maintaining that level. Yeah.

Otherwise people start to criticise.

That must be an incredible stress, on you.

Yes. But. Well, Well, being famous,

they say becoming famous is normally the easy part.

Staying famous is the hard one.

Because there are two things that come around.

If you are famous, there is, of course, your your own talent, your health, your age as you get older.

So you might fade away as you get older.

Also, there are other people as well who might be coming along, so you might be the greatest entertainer in the world.

But suddenly there is a younger, more attractive entertainer coming along and he is more sexy and more talented than you.

And then slowly you get pushed out and this new person replaces you.

But of course, talent, if you've got real star quality talent, this is something that, famous people often do.

They often behave very badly, don't they?

Or arrogantly, when they become famous because they know that people want them on television?

Yeah.

Want to see them perform so bad behaviours start to come out like you might speak to people in a bad way.

You might start to have lots of tantrums.

I'm not going to mention James Corden, but I am going to mention James Corden.

James Corden apparently is one of the worst celebrities for being an absolute.

Now I want to say a really naughty word, but I can't.

But let's just say he

he is someone who who in public, in a public situation, maybe a restaurant or something like that.

He is not the most pleasant of people to know because they become arrogant, they become full of their own ego.

So they think the whole world has to move around them because they are so successful and famous.

Yes. I mean, people with talents or another word to use for a talent is a gift.

And I saw this once, mentioned quite recently, actually, in a video I was watching.

If you have a a gift,

then it's been given to you.

So you've got that gift.

So you shouldn't become arrogant about it because you've been given it.

So you've been lucky to have that. It's not that you've acquired that.

You've been given that gift. And it's it should be used responsibly.

Token of of of of, celebrities who, who walk out, you know, in a flounce off and,

out of performances, walk off, they lose their temper.

I was reading, an interview about Maria Callas. Oh, yes.

The other day.

I don't know how I got into that, but I started watching,

and she was quite famous for sort of losing her temper, having tantrums, walking out of performances.

And you hear this a lot with performers.

Pavarotti? I don't know.

I don't think he used to walk out of performances, but he was always used to back out of performances.

Was known for that. But,

Maria Callas was famous for throwing tantrums, as was Shirley Bassey.

Can I just say I.

I forgive Maria Callas because.

And there might be lots of people out there who've never seen her perform.

She was a goddess. Yeah. She was.

I've of performing.

She was a she wasn't a star.

That that that that word is actually demeaning.

She was the most talented, one of the most talented human beings.

Certainly with her singing the style, the her ability.

So, I will actually forgive Maria Callas.

Oh, yes. Well, this is it. If you are that talented,

then you can probably do anything and get away with it because people will always want to see that talent.

However, she explained in an interview I saw was only two years before she died because she died quite young, didn't she?

I think it was 77, 78, something like that.

She died and, and she was, the interviewer was, was berating her berating.

There's a good word, of, attacking almost, isn't it?

Berate. If you berate someone, you're bothering them. Attacking them.

For her moments when she, loses a temper and walks out.

Apparently, she said she often used to do it deliberately.

Because all the other people around her, the musicians were not matching

up to her level of performance, and this was a method that she used.

So if she threw a tantrum and walked out, it was often because the musicians were being lazy

and weren't coming up to a level of, of performance that she wanted.

And, yeah, I used to. I saw this with Shirley Bassey as well.

She used to get into these stops because the microphones weren't working properly.

Other people weren't there. So talented. They have to bring everybody up.

They have to bring their level of performance up to the to their level.

And sometimes throwing a tantrum is the only way of doing it, apparently.

Well, yes. I suppose another one that I always think of is Elton John.

He was very well known for for having real, real anger issues with people around him.

And I think at least what I love about certain celebrities is they are they are willing to say

that they are not perfect people, unlike James Corden, who often says, oh, I'm a bit stressed.

Oh, I've got all my millions.

I have to count my millions of pounds every day. It's very stressful.

I want my egg done properly. Send that egg back.

Apparently, he once had a real tantrum in a restaurant over an egg.

And this is it.

You see, this is what happens when you become famous. So I forgive Maria Callas.

I don't forgive James Corden.

One of one person has talent, the other one

zero talent.

And that is my take. It's not beauty.

If you've got something, if you've got this gift, if something's being given to you when you were born, you could say, you know,

a gift from God.

You could say some people might look at it that way, or it's, you've got this genetic ability, you've got your beautiful,

good looking or handsome, then, you know, you can understand why people will become, bad.

You know, their behaviour could become quite arrogant because they know they've got something that you want,

and, and thus they don't have to be quite so nice to you as they otherwise would do.

Yes, but you can almost forgive it.

Live as you say, like Maria Callas, Shirley Bassey, if they've got a great talent, because, I don't know.

You forgive. You forgive some people everything. Don't you?

Even beautiful people get away with one.

Well, the phrases, you know, you could get away with murder if you are

attractive enough.

And I think that there is some truth to that. Okay.

I'm not sure how true that is.

I would, I would leave definitely leave that one there.

So as we've seen today, fame is great. It brings lots of things people know who you are.

You get recognised in the supermarket and you might if you are lucky, you might make lots of money as well.

However, fame has its ups and its downs.

It can be a good thing, maybe a bad thing.

Maybe we'll find out the one day.

Mr. Duncan, what fame is like, I think, I think, and, well, I don't think I know I'm never going to be famous.

I'm never, ever going to be famous for two reasons.

One, I don't think I will, and two, I don't think I want to be because I've had a taste of that.

So unless you become famous and then you have wealth so you can protect yourself

from the outside world because there are some there are some crazy people out there,

you know, there are some, there are some slight wacko who's out there, you see in the world.

And that is what I would be afraid of, to be honest.

Interesting subject, though, I have to say.

I think, I think that is a subject that you could talk about that subject every week and still and still come up with a different angle.

I should have asked, have we actually got anybody famous?

What do you know, actually tuning in to this channel. Unlikely.

But you never know if you are famous whatever your particular talent is please let us know.

Yes.

Although, although on the live chat anyone could say anything, I suppose

if you could say.

Oh, yes, I'm, I'm Leonardo DiCaprio and I'm just brushing up on my English,

but I'm busy at the moment making lots and lots of movies and dating girls that are way, way younger than they should be.

That sort of thing.

Anyway, talking of which, talking of people doing things to mislead you, Mr.

Steve, because we live in a world, would you say the world we live in, Steve, is fair or unfair?

I think I think it's yes, I think it depends where you're born and the family you're born into.

I guess talent is not distributed evenly.

But if you want to think of if you want to achieve something in life, I think, I think

then if you apply the right mental attitude, I think you can achieve anything you want to.

I do believe that. Okay. I mean,

some people start off

in life with an advantage that others don't yet, so.

Enough. Steve. I was looking for a yes or no.

So is life.

Is life genuinely fair or is it unfair?

Would you say?

I think it's fair.

Yes. Fairly fair. I think life is one of those things that comes along.

And sometimes nice things happen and sometimes bad things happen.

And the real secret of getting through life is just to keep going and not stop.

But the reason why I mention that, Steve, is because there is something that kind of happen to people.

Something unpleasant,

unpleasant things that might happen to people.

Because human beings, even though you are now watching two lovely human beings here on your screen, some people are not very nice.

Some people can try to deceive you.

And today

we are going to look at a subject that will finish today's live stream

and maybe even our careers.

Here we go, Steve.

It's on the screen right now.

The phrase you see on the screen at the moment says beware of the scammer.

This is something that, that is, being talked about quite a lot at the moment in the news for various reasons.

The word scam is an interesting word, and this is one word that you will hear used

quite a lot when we are talking about people who are deceived, lived,

tricked or misled into doing something.

So when you think of the word scam, Mr.

Steve, how would you define that word?

Yes. A a process or a business opportunity that is fake.

Somebody is trying to get you to do something, usually to get your money.

And, they are doing it.

They are trying to defraud you out of money.

That's the usual reason for a scam, is that says he wants to get some of your money. Yes.

And they are, they are using practices that, unsavoury, practices,

or illegal practices in order to deprive you of that money.

Have you got an actual definition from a dictionary?

I have, I oh, I just wanted to see Mr.

Steve and listen to Mr. Steve's version because that is it.

You see, what is a scam?

A scam is something designed to mislead you into doing something that you would not normally do.

So that is it.

And, a scam is something that a person will do.

A person will try to mislead you, to get you to do something that you would not normally do.

And I suppose one of the, one of the main things that we think about when we think about people who might deceive you

or get you to do things that you wouldn't normally do, often are related to two things money and love.

Believe it or not, they are the two things that people are often using to scam other people.

By the way, the word scam can be used as a noun and also a verb.

The thing, the trick, the misleading thing is a scam

and also as a verb, you scam someone.

So there are many types of scam can you think of?

One is Christine is mentioned one here a scam to steal your identity?

Good, because the object, the objective behind that of course is to get hold of your money.

Because if they steal your identity, they can use that information to log into bank accounts.

May be savings or whatever.

The worst

things is people use your identity then to borrow money from a bank.

That happened to me once by something.

So you might suddenly find on your bank statement that there is something that is being bought and you didn't even buy it.

Somebody else has stolen your credit card or your debit card number,

and all of the identity connected to it, and they've been using that card to buy things.

And then suddenly, as Steve just said, it happened. It happened to you, didn't it?

Yes, it happened to me. I wouldn't call it a scam. It was just sort of.

Somebody stole my my, this was going back about 20 years.

They stole my 25 years ago.

They stole my from a hotel room. I was on a business trip.

Well, and, I had to get changed quickly in between one meeting and another the evening.

And I just took my jacket off and left it in the room.

Normally, I would always put my sort of bank cards and any documents in a safe.

If there is a safe in the room.

But I didn't on this occasion because I was in a rush, and that one time I didn't,

and I didn't notice to the next day,

because they were very carefully somebody had in the hotel had had got

hold of the keys to the rooms and the the hotel security obviously wasn't very good.

And, they managed to break into a number of rooms, including mine, steal

a credit card, and also my driver's license, which I used to carry around with me.

No, I don't anymore.

And, the next morning they.

I didn't notice to the after I came to pay the hotel that the car was missing.

And by that time they had, they had gone to a bank and, used my, driver's license

and my card as I'd to take out a loan of several thousand pounds.

I don't think you can do that anymore.

I think the bank's security is a lot better now.

I got all the money back.

The bank accepted it was their fault.

Yeah, and I got all the money back, but. But, yes, that wasn't really a scam.

Well, they they were scamming the bank. Yeah, well, they, they actually are scamming it.

So for that you just see you're the conduit.

You're the, the means. Yeah. They were scamming the bank.

Yeah.

So, so in order to get money from out of the bank by using fake I.D., which happened to be my I.D..

But bank fraud.

Bank fraud is a common one.

Because, as you say, you carry around so much personal information on your mobile phone.

Smart phones nowadays are also quite vulnerable to that sort of thing as well.

So when we talk about scams, Mr.

Steve, we often think of this word on the screen now deception.

Deception. I like that word. I don't like when it happens,

but deception is to trick

or mislead a person by putting up a false front.

Deception.

You are appearing to be something you are not, and deception is probably one of the most common forms of scam,

because quite often deception will be used against a person.

They will use their own emotions to get that person to do something they would not normally do.

So deception.

You might appear to be someone you are not.

You might appear to be a nice person, or a kind person or a lovely person, but all you are doing is trying to get that person

to to give you things, maybe to give you money or their possessions, or maybe you are trying to get into their will.

Something like that.

And deception is possibly one of the worst features of human behaviour.

I think. So here's a word the dress. Thank you. Dress.

They con con you? Yes.

Is this a word you got coming up with? Shall we mention it?

You can't mention it because the word con, of course is is short for confidence.

So you get a person's confidence, you con that person.

You are using a person's confidence to, to to get things from them.

A confidence trickster is another one that we sometimes use.

Or con artist. Con artist? Yeah. Con man.

Yeah.

Somebody who who convinces you that they are legitimate.

And, they've got your best interests at heart, and then they take you for money or something like that.

But, yeah, a con artist or a con person, but we would say con man is what we used to say.

That's it. But yes, somebody who deceives you,

brings you into their

confidence, and then you trust them, and then they're just waiting for that moment that they can.

Maybe you they need some money or something like that.

I mean, a common one now is I get a lot on my mobile phone.

Well, we will not be talking about that anymore.

Okay. We've got to move on because we are running out of time as well. Get rich quick.

Mr. Steve, I have a great plan for you.

Oh, yes. I've got to tell you about it.

This this now, this plan will mean that in a year from now, you will be financially secure.

I guarantee you that you can earn up to $50,000 a month.

Oh, Mr. Duncan, yes, and I know you. So I trust you to. Do you want to know more?

I absolutely, I you know, I'm sick of my job.

Too often these these people play on your fears or your insecurities.

So yeah, I Mr.

Duncan, I, you know, I want more money. I'm in debt.

I hate my job.

I want to be financially free and you've got an ideal proposition.

All of those things are true. But the way that. Yes, it's a great scheme.

Now, all you have to do is sign up and you have to give me.

Now there is there is a fee that you have to pay to join this thing.

Oh, right.

But it's it's only £1,000, but it's only £1,000.

But I guarantee by the end of this year you will be earning $50,000 a month.

So what's £1,000 for a mr. Duncan? Well, that's that's a registering fee.

I promise that will also allow me to send you some of the information about my, my lovely scheme that I have

that will make you really, really rich.

So as you can see from that, I am promising Mr. Steve something that

probably is not true or real.

Get rich quick.

There is no such thing

as getting rich quick unless you win the lottery.

Well, well, yes, but then.

But then even that, the odds of that are so small. So. Yeah.

I mean, you have no chance of winning the lottery, but if a person offers you something

that seems too good to be true,

it is too good to be true.

It is not real. It is fake.

They are trying to get money from you.

Get rich quick. No one gets rich quickly.

Unless, of course, they are lucky enough to to pick the right numbers in the lottery, but otherwise it takes hard work.

Lots and lots of motivation, lots and lots of blood, sweat and tears as well.

Yes, probably.

We saw a programme the other night about, And in fact I got involved.

I won't say what it is. Don't worry, Mr. Duncan.

Okay, let's just call it a multi-level marketing. Yeah. It's organisation.

It has.

It has a very particular shape.

If you've ever been to Egypt,

they have a lot of those things.

Then, sometimes referred to as a, as a, a pyramid scheme. Oh, okay.

I wasn't going to use the word again where you are recruited by somebody, usually somebody, you know,

who says they've got this wonderful business opportunity and, it could be makeup.

It could be all sorts of different things. It could be health drinks.

Yes, I mean, seminars, and, the sort of the way it works is that, is that you you are supposed to

sell some of this product to your friends.

And then you will also recruit some other friends to do some selling, and then they recruit other people,

and then they show you this model whereby suddenly you'll be massively rich in about a year's time.

Yeah.

So that's it's based on the fact that you're recruiting all these other people to sell products for you.

Can I just stop you there, Steve? Recess. Because we've got to make sure we're clear on this.

That sort of selling is not a scam.

So a scam is so technically I know, I know where you're coming from, but technically, is

is not a legal or a scam because most of these companies still exist and they haven't been closed down.

But I know it means Steve, it is very easy to get sucked in to these things,

especially when the the the promise of fortune is just

out of reach and all you have to do is give some money,

give some of your time, and choose lots and lots of other people to help your business grow.

Unfortunately, reality is not quite

the same.

Yes, usually you you've got this something and they sort of fish now fishing.

Somebody put that under earlier, which is quite common on the internet, on emails, fishing at its peak age.

I qiang I think it's spelt different to the, the sort of fishing for actual fish in the sea. Yes.

I've put the word on the screen.

That's it. Somebody mentioned that earlier. So thanks for that.

Is, is where is where somebody is, is trying to get your identity usually or

get you to log in to, click on, on a link somewhere, to get your identity.

And they usually use sort of urgency or fear as a means of doing it.

For example, I get quite a lot on my phone where they say to me, oh, your delivery by Royal Mail has been delayed.

Royal mail is, is our main postal service here.

And it's a text that says your your your parcel has been delayed.

Please.

So please click here to get it re delivered or something like that.

And of course it's a con. Yeah.

Because well the other, the other of course is, is just somebody promising you something normally large sums of money.

Now I, I have my email address and Steve, I can tell you I get around 500

fake spam junk

emails every month in my account, and many of them are lonely widows who have $20 million that they want to give to me.

For some reason, they've chosen me out of all the people on the planet.

They've decided to to send me all of their lovely, vast, massive fortune.

And all I have to do is send the cover charge for the transfer.

So I have to send them some money first so they can send me their millions and millions of dollars to my bank account.

But the but the sum of money I have to send is normally quite small.

Maybe £1000 or £2000.

Which which is small.

When you compare it to the millions I'm going to receive, the only problem is it's a scam.

It isn't. It's a scam.

It used to be Nigel Aryan princes and Nigerian millionaires who were transferring their money from their funds

and they wanted to to give it to well, I had lots of offers many years ago.

Lots of Nigerian princes and businessmen were all trying to send me millions and millions of dollars.

Unfortunately,

I never took

up the offer because they were all, unfortunately, scams.

And here's another word from Valentin a Ponzi scheme.

Oh, that's a good one.

That's a good one.

Again, it's a it's a kind of scam involving, sort of investments.

I think that's more sort of involved with investment,

where you give your money to somebody who promises to sort of double it or something by investing it.

Yeah.

In these, wonderful, companies that they, they, they, they alone know are going to be successful.

That's it.

And you give them your money and they will promise, you know, in two years to double it by investing it somewhere on the stock market.

But in reality, they just take your money, and they don't invest it at all, probably.

And they.

Yeah.

So that's that's what a Ponzi scheme is.

It's more sort of to do with financial, aspects.

And of course, that area, that area is incredibly risky.

So this is the reason why nowadays, if you are going to trust someone to invest your money,

you've got to make sure you can see that person.

If you can be local to that person, you know them personally and you're not just doing it through the internet.

That is the problem nowadays.

We've we have become so, so used to using the internet for everything.

We forget that the person at the other end might not be the person they say they are.

They could be someone who is trying to trick you into giving them your money.

And it does happen quite often.

The rule of thumb is, isn't it?

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. As I said earlier,

and anything that it's offered to you, if it seems great, like if I said to Mr.

Steve, I had an amazing business idea and all he had to do was invest £10,000, I think.

I think Steve would definitely say, I don't think so.

I think you are trying to scam me.

And of course the final one, Mr. Steve, is love.

Oh love.

I think this is the worst of all the types of scam.

When you use a person's emotions, maybe they are a lonely person, divorced or even widowed.

Maybe their husband or wife has died and they've been left some money.

A person who is targeted,

and the way they use that person's emotions to get everything from them.

I think that is the worst type of scam.

And the other one, of course, is that a lot of these scammers, prey on the elderly.

They play up, they play on, or they try to take advantage of.

I should put that put it that way.

Someone's vulnerabilities and, age is a kind of vulnerability.

And maybe some people I mean my mother was, my mother got caught out by this, but I'm talking about huge sums of money.

A person that comes into your life and, and you don't have I don't think you have to be old, though.

You might be lonely. You could be in your 40s and lonely, but you have lots of money.

And then you start looking around, maybe on a dating site, and then you think you found the right person.

And they seem lovely. They seem so charming and witty.

They seem like that could be the one that could be the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

All they need.

All you need is is some money

and they will slowly, over time, introduce these things into the relationship.

Whatever it is, money will slowly become

a big feature of the relationship and they are using your emotional weakness which is looking for someone looking for love.

You want someone to be near, to trust, to have and to hold.

Yes. But certainly as well as that, it's anything that your

whatever, your vulnerability is, there will be somebody out there will try to exploit it, for their own benefit.

And so, quite often my mother used to get lots of phone calls,

because she was elderly, living on her own, particularly during the pandemic period.

She felt very lonely.

And many elderly people get these just these phone calls.

And my mother just wanted to talk to somebody, and she would get into conversations with whoever was on there.

We used to warn, you know, don't if you don't know them, don't have anything to do it.

But one of them managed to get through and conned my mother into signing up for something.

I think it was insurance that she didn't need.

Wasn't a huge sum of money, but I remember looking through her bank.

I used to go through my mum's bank statements to to help her, you know, every month.

She used to like me to do that.

And I noticed one month there was this new payment, £120 a month or something.

And I said, what's this, mum? She said, I don't know. Anyway, we looked into it. It turned out

this company, we found the bank and it was a scam.

They were phoning people up and getting them to.

They would prey on the elderly people, who were very trusting, maybe and maybe bit lonely and con them into signing up

to, you know, some kind of fake insurance policy, but it's it's everywhere.

There's always somebody out there trying to scam you, will con you into some.

And and this is one of the most worrying ones is the one

that involved your, your need for another human being to be with you in your life.

I think that of all of all the cons of all the the tricks that a human being can play on another using a person's emotions

or their weakness, a moment of weakness where they might be lonely or they feel vulnerable.

And that is the moment when people like that will try to get

what they can from someone else.

I think it is they are the worst of the worst.

They should be thrown into prison for ever and ever.

But quite often they can take the money, Steve, and then vanish.

And that's the blue. That's the worst part.

Absolutely disgusting.

Anyway, we hope, we hope none of you have been scammed, or conned,

I mean, work, we get a lot of training at work to look out for phishing emails.

They're always putting us on training courses so that we can recognise those.

And there are certain things that you can.

I mean, they get cleverer and cleverer at disguising, where they're from.

But, yeah, they just want you to click on a link which then identifies you and and they can then,

get your computer filled with malware.

Or get into the company's systems or your own system.

It's because of the, the common one we used to get was someone would phone and say they were from Microsoft,

and they've noticed your computer has a problem, and so they will

they will talk you into giving them access to your computer so they can remotely use the computer.

Now that that one is not so popular anymore, because most people are aware that Microsoft will never, ever phone

you at your house, there is no way that someone at Microsoft is is looking at everyone's computers to make sure they're working.

Okay, so that doesn't exist.

That is 100% a scam is another word, a charlatan.

Oh very. Bots put that on.

Thanks for that.

Yes, a charlatan, a person. Hoffman, a person who pretends to be something they are not.

Yes, a con person.

Nuh And you know, they might be trying to get something from you.

Con artist. Charlatan.

I think you can use those words interchangeably.

There are other words I want to use, but I can't use them here on YouTube, unfortunately.

It's a shame. Well, I think look, have you noticed what time it is, Steve?

I have, and I knew it was getting late because I was feeling hungry and, in need of a cup of tea.

Yes. Me too.

I have to say, I forgot to bring my water with me into the studio, so I didn't have it actually here with me.

So I took a big risk today just in case my throat became dry, I think.

I think the reason is I'm wearing my scarf, you see?

So my throat has stayed nice and warm.

But it's been great to be here, Mr. Duncan.

Yes. I can put down my notebook and go into the kitchen and make you a cup of tea and some of my, hot crust.

Not hot, crisp and bread. Some of my tea cake. Bread.

Oh, sultanas and butter. I'm going to put pure butter on today for you.

I know you're trying to lower your cholesterol. Well, as the doctor said, the doctor did say

you can still have a treat

now and again, so you don't have to completely cut out all of the stuff you enjoy eating.

Sometimes you can give yourself a little treat, which is what we will be doing at the moment.

I don't feel as though I've paid that much attention to the live chat today.

We've been so busy talking about other subjects

I haven't really had time to to mention, all the lovely people that have been on there today.

But maybe next time. So I look forward to seeing you all again.

Next Sunday, Mr.

Duncan will be posting new lessons, and he'll be doing his live stream again on Wednesday.

So tune into that and I'll see you all, a week from now.

Thank you, Mr. Steve. There he goes. Give us a lovely smile and a wave.

There he goes.

That was Mr. Steve.

So now you know who Mr. Steve is. And he will be back with us next Sunday.

Of course, we will have lots of other things to talk about next Sunday as well.

I hope you've enjoyed the last two hours,

two hours and 30 minutes we've been with you.

I hope you've enjoyed the show.

I will be back with you on Wednesday.

Wednesday lines and look out for some new lessons as well.

During the week I will be posting new English lessons as well.

Thank you for your company. See you later.

You can watch this live stream again with lovely captions in your own language.

Later on, and I will see you on Wednesday live from 2 p.m.

UK time. And of course,

until then, you know what's coming next.

You do

take care of yourselves, enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care of yourself and each other.

A big hello to you wherever you are and of course...

ta ta for now.

See you on Wednesday.