The Penny Smith Appreciation Society

Penny and John: Hello everybody, welcome to our web chat.
sad panda: I would like to ask Penny and John whether they made any
New Year's resolutions?
John: Behave badly and grow old disgracefully - which I've sort of
done already.
Penny: Not to make any resolutions.
Jane: John - Who's the most impressive person you've ever interviewed?
John: It's a close call. Possibly Teddy Kennedy (brother of Jack) in
America. He was very adept at avoiding questions, particularly over
issues of a personal nature. Also, and perhaps surprisingly, Anne
Widdecombe. I've interviewed her both briefly and at length and she
always demonstrates a razor sharp brain.
Emma Wright: Penny - What's your secret for looking so young? Who's
the picture in your attic?
Penny: John Stapleton says the secret is to always sit next to people
like him. I once saw a card which said: "Do you want to know the
secret of how to look young, slim and attractive? Always stand next
to old, fat, ugly people!"
Sandy (Bedford): Do you both get on as well as it seems on TV?
Penny: Don't be ridiculous I loathe him! He's fat, stupid and he
wears ridiculously short skirts, considering his age! Of course I
love him.
John: Yes, of course. What you see is what you get. We are genuinely
good friends who enjoy going out together socially.
Andy: John - As a Man City fan, do you have a friendly rivalry with
Eamonn who's nuts about Man Utd?
John: Anything but ..friendly. However, I did take him to Maine Road
once where he went down in history as the only person ever booed into
a stadium!!
ray: Penny, would you like your own chat show?
Penny: Yes, why have you got one on offer?
Gareth: Have either of you overslept and been late for work? Like I
was this morning?
Penny: Yes but not so badly that I didn't make it on air but I was
hugely discombobulated and spent the entire time feeling out of
control. Luckily I had John's hand on my thigh to help me through.
John: That helped me as well, but for different reasons. And yes I
have overslept and, worse still, I dream about oversleeping which is
a terrible nightmare.
Lynne: Penny, who is the most annoying or the rudest/dumbest person
you have interviewed and when?
Penny: I did do an interview with Andy Garcia about a film he was in -
and I presume he was tired.
Guest5: John - You also present My Favourite Hymns - are you
particularly religious?
John: No, is the answer. But that doesn't matter too much because
it's useful sometimes to be a doubting Thomas and my guests talk
about their life and times and pressures they've faced as well as
their faith.
Angi: Penny - Where was you new yoga video filmed - it looks idyllic?
Penny: It was in Majorca, and it was beautiful. Luckily we had good
weather and a fantastic cameraman who happens to be Lorraine Kelly's
husband.
Michael Peters: What's the secret of GMTV's success?
Penny: The sofa and the attractive colours.
John: Covering news and current affairs in a folksy sort of way that
doesn't patronise the viewer.
Maggie Rogers: John - Are you more proud of The Time, The Place... or
Nationwide?
John: Difficult one. Nationwide - and what a good memory you've got -
was a tremendously happy ship. But The Time, The Place� was all my
own, as it were, and brought me into contact with a lot of people all
over the UK. It's a difficult shout.
ray: Penny how do you manage to keep your sense of humour at such an
early hour?
Penny: Just looking at John Stapleton's face every morning! But
genuinely I'm just glad to have a job and one that I love.
Helen: Good morning to you both. Have you both always wanted to work
in TV or did it just happen that way?
John: Sadly, you may think, from the age of about 15 I always wanted
to be a TV presenter and, perhaps worryingly, mapped out my career
from that age. How's that for precocious.
Penny: No, I wanted to be a feature writer on the Observer, but I
accidentally fell into television.
Genesis: Penny, as you are into yoga are you interested in any other
mystic arts?
Penny: I hardly think yoga is a mystic art. It's just a way of
getting to old age with flexibility. Yes of course I'm into
witchcraft and every Sunday can be seen slaughtering a goat in the
kitchen.
Andrea_Stoke: John - Your wife Lynne is a great role model to cancer
sufferers. How did you cope when she was being treated?
John: With great difficulty particularly as our son was three years
old at the time and I'm not ashamed to say that I wasn't sure how
we'd cope without Lynne. Thankfully it all turned out well and she's
now got the all clear.
Penny: Penny, what is the most expensive item you have ever bought?
Penny: I've just bought a 42" Hitachi plasma screen and DVD and I'm
on soup rations for the next year.
Russ: Penny, do you choose your own wardrobe or is that decision made
for you?
Penny: I suppose I choose it but it's not necessarily the type of
things I'd wear in real life.
Denise P: John, I read in a newspaper that you had a form of anorexia
when you were younger. Do you grow out of it?
John: Someone suggested I had a skirmish with it, which is probably
true. But being a typical man I never spoke to a doctor at the time.
Certainly I deliberately lost a lot of weight, which is a very stupid
thing to do. I didn't so much grow out of it as meet a good woman.
Penny: I can definitely vouch for the fact he has a healthy appetite
now as our Friday lunches sometimes run over into Saturday.
AnnaB: Penny - Is it true that you've been told not to wear short
skirts anymore now you've turned 39?
Penny: That is a steaming pile of wombat's droppings. a - I'm 37, b -
my boss likes my short skirts, c - I don't think I've ever had a memo
from anybody.
paddy: How do you cope when you have to cover a story like the one
over the new year with the two girls being shot?
John: You have to shut of a compartment of your mind and tell
yourself this is work, this is news, I'm on telly. It's something
that's happened and we have a duty to report it however unpalatable
it may be to us personally.
ray: Penny as a journalist do you like to do more reporting than
presenting?
Penny - If you mean do I like writing. I love writing. I'm trying to
do more of it. I can give you my agent's number if you need it. But,
as for going out on the road, I have to confess I do like the comfort
of a nice warm studio.
aldebron: What are you both looking forward to in 2003?
John: A good sleep, although I don't think I'll get it, at least not
while I'm at GMTV.
Penny: I'm going to stay in more although at the moment my next free
evening in is in the middle of March.
Gibbo: Due to the nature of morning television - the early hours -
how do you unwind and what times do you have to go to bed?
John: We both work it differently. I stay up all day, play my Abba
records and watch my City videos, feed my hair and go to bed at 9.
Penny - I go to sleep every morning after work. Get up and do yoga.
Phone John to see if he's fed his hair and go out every night to make
sure I feel happy.
RichJ: To both. Is there anything you would change about the Newshour
Penny: Yes I'd move it to 10am
John: That's a bit early for me. Can we settle for just before the
pubs open?
Lynne: If you both wrote a book each what title would you give them?
Penny: I would call mine "It Could Have Been Worse"
John: "How To Have A Full Head Of Hair" If I actually knew anything
about it, it would be a best seller.
Penny: Or you could call it: "Down Boy, Sorry The Wig Got Out Of The
Box"
Penny Fan: Penny, where do you buy your underwear?
Penny: the same place as John
John: but black frills look better on me
denny: Has anybody ever set you up with a joke, while being live on
TV?
John: Yes, Chris Morris. He came on The Time, The Place� but I didn't
know it was him at the time he claimed to be some nutty professor.
Fortunately we sussed him before the end of the show. The scene was
not pleasant.
Mart: Penny, who is your favourite musician, songwriter or singer?
Penny: So many to choose from and so little time. If you're talking
about popular beat combos as John would put it then: Marvin Gaye,
Christie Moore, and Van Morrison. If you're talking about opera -
Jose Cura and Anghela Gheorgiu.
denny: John - do you still live in Manchester?
John: No, but sometimes it feels that way because I go back to watch
Man City as often as I can. I'll be there tomorrow.
Penny: I hope they win, he's got droopy ears the day after Man City
lose and they sit unhappily on the sofa.
Gibbo: Have you ever turned up for work 'accidentally' hungover or
with a 'lost' voice?
John: Hung over, yes, several programmes have been brought to you by
the makers of Anadin, but my voice has remained intact
Penny - Yes probably, but I do try and stop drinking by 7pm if I'm
doing it at all so usually I just feel dreadful - nothing that seeing
John's face in the morning can't cure.
philipd: Penny and John what is your favourite time of day and why?
John: I enjoy early evening when we get together as a family and I
enjoy the odd glass of chardonnay.
Penny: What rubbish. I know I can't phone him after 10am because he's
incapable of speech after the odd bottle of chardonnay - and I say
BOTTLE.
ray: If war breaks out in Iraq, would you like to go and report from
the war zone?
John - That's very much on the cards at the moment. I haven't got a
visa for Iraq but we're working on it. It's quite likely I'll finish
up in either Kuwait or Qatar.
Tazman: Have you become emotionally involved with a story
John: Yes, I remember doing The Time, The Place� about meningitis
when a woman told me how her six year-old boy who had been fine one
minute and was dead just a few hours later. My own son was the same
age and his image flashed before my eyes. I found it so difficult
that I had to go to a commercial break.
Penny and John: Thank you all very much indeed for your questions,
both serious and funny - we've really enjoyed it and we'll do the
same again sometime soon. Meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy
GMTV and in particular the Newshour.