The podcast Parenting Hell with comedians Rob Beckett and Josh Widdecombe has become a must-listen for mums and dads, who love the comedian pals' warts and all honesty.
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As parents, we love our kids, but we all know it can be a tough gig and there are some seriously unglamorous parts to caring for our little people. Now, Rob and Josh have put pen to paper in Parenting Hell The Book, revealing more hilarious tales from their home lives.
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"We realised we had loads of funny stories from before we started the podcast," reveals Rob, who explains they have even included chapters from their wives.
"Lou and Rose contributed. They do the audiobook [too] so they get their say, because they don't often get heard, so you can hear Lou and Rose slagging us off. And there's my parents and Josh's parents. It's nice, a real collaborative effort."
Read our interview with Rob below…
HELLO!: Your podcast has a huge following amongst parents. How does that feel?
Rob: I like it. I listen to podcasts all the time – I'm obsessed with them. I listen to them when I'm walking or tidying up, doing the dishwasher or sorting out, doing the garden and all that stuff. I love it; it gets you out of your own thoughts a bit which is always important.
HELLO!: Did you ever imagine the podcast would take off as it has?
Rob: No, not at all. It's been a bit of a surprise, a happy accident rather than by design. I think that's why it's gone so well, because it's authentic and honest.
If this was a TV show, we'd never have been as honest as we have been because we've got total control over this. We can say and do whatever we want, and I think people notice that, and it's a different side to us that you would find with Josh on The Last Leg or me on The One Show.
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HELLO!: Your recent podcast about Josh having his child's party above a pub was brilliant…
Rob: That's the funny thing as well, Josh and me approach everything so differently. It's hilarious. He lives in East London. I would find it so depressing. Everyone's so young and beautiful and carefree. I'd find it miserable. I like living near old people; it makes me feel better.
I play football with the school dads – they're all 45. I feel unbelievable! One of the new dads from school turned up and he put the top on. His top came up and he had a six pack, and we were like, 'Leave it out mate, this isn't the place for that, you can't be doing that here'.
Parenting Hell by Rob Beckett and Josh Widdecombe, £10, Amazon
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HELLO!: What was it like writing your book Parenting Hell?
Rob: I really enjoyed it actually. I didn't want it to just repeat the same stories, because we've got a really good relationship with our listeners where we want it to be like 'we're all in it together'. We don't want it to feel like we're just rinsing them, so we sat down and went through it.
My eldest was four when we started [the podcast] so I realised I had four or five years of content that I'd never really mentioned, so it's all really funny stories and it's really easy to read.
HELLO!: There's a chapter on your accounts of the birth of your kids…
Rob: Oh yeah, horrible. Awful. Everyone says it's magical. They're on crack or their life's sh*t!
HELLO!: When you hold your child for the first time, it's a special moment…
Rob: No. Not for me. I was so anxious. I was like, what do I do now? I held them but I was going, 'Oh my god!' Obviously, it was amazing and I love them.
There's also a lot of people out there that when they get given their baby they go, 'F****** hell, now I've got to do this, Jesus'. It's like the world's biggest to do list just landed on your life. Twenty years of to do lists.
I wasn't in a very good mental state at that point, so I'm better now. If I had a kid now it would be unbelievable, but I wasn't in the right mental state. I'm not beating myself up for that – it's just good to accept it rather than beat yourself up for not feeling the way you wanted to feel.
Oh, and when they go, 'It goes so quickly when they're little'. No it doesn't. It's the longest five years of my life, I'm dying. And I've only got two kids!
HELLO!: Will you be having another baby then?
Rob: No, I'm alright, I'm done. It depends, if the podcast starts dipping, I might bang out another kid.
HELLO!: We particularly enjoyed the chapter 'P*ss, Sh*t and Sick…
Rob: We just wrote chapters that were funny. The book is supposed to be funny, enjoyable and relatable. So there's none of this, 'Oh, I remember their first steps'. I don't really, but I remember when they shat on me.
HELLO!: Do you and Josh WhatsApp each other a lot with parenting chat?
Rob: Yeah all the time. Well, we don't anymore because we save it for the pod. We text each other near enough every day with all sorts of general chit chat and gossip, football stuff and all that. He might go, 'Oh I've had a nightmare today' and I'll go, 'I can't wait to hear it on Monday'.
That's where it came from really – it's just WhatsApp chats, pub chats and coffee shop chats, but live on a podcast, and we're honest, where a lot of parenting is bullsh*t and lying isn't it?
The amount of mates you have on Instagram, and you know they're going for couples counselling or something. Lou comes back from her mates and starts telling me who's got the hump with who and I'm like, 'Not them surely? Their Instagram is unbelievable and then they're rowing.
HELLO!: Do you and Josh do joint playdates together with your kids?
Rob: We don't really do casual playdates. Josh comes to us for birthday parties, summer parties and barbecues and things like that – but day to day popping in for a playdate doesn't happen because they live a bit further away.
As they get older, we'll plan a little holiday together. The thing is, if we both go on holiday together then we've got the same stories for the podcast. I'd be like: 'What have you been up to? and he'll say, 'Exactly the same as you'.
The comedian Rob Beckett
HELLO!: Your youngest has just started school. How's that going and do you do the school run?
Rob: Yeah, I normally do the school run drop off and then Lou does the pick up because I'm normally working evenings and afternoons. [My daughter] loves it. She's at that stage where she's over the initial excitement. The other day she said to me: 'Dad, when does this stop? When is it over?' I went 'A long time yet'.
I love the school run. I've got more of the grandad energy. I chat to the grandparents more than the parents. Because I'm self-employed, my job is a bit more on my terms. Some people work in the corporate world or for their boss and are rushing in and out. I sort of float about in the mornings.
Old grandad Chris on the school run I speak to a lot. He's a retired cab driver. Me and grandad Chris get on like a house on fire. I get on with him really well, but you can't really go to a grandad, 'Do you want to go for a pint at 8am after the school run'. It's a slippery slope.
HELLO!: Yeah, nowhere is open then…
Rob: I know.... 'Do you want to just come back to mine and just stare at each other until we're allowed a pint?'
HELLO!: Do you go out for a drink with the other school dads?
Rob: We do actually. I've not been for a little while but we play football on a Sunday five a side, so I see them every week and occasionally have a beer after. But I've been trying to stop drinking. I can't be busy and be a dad and get hungover. I can't get the balance right, so I'm ducking out of drinking a bit at the moment.
HELLO!: It's Stoptober isn't it….
Rob: Oh, nothing to do with that. Why do you have to do it when there's a poster? Do you know what I mean? Do it when you want. Do it now. Why do you have to wait for a poster and everyone else to do it?
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HELLO!: Half term's coming up – how do you feel about the school holidays?
Rob: I love it but the summer holidays are too long. By the end, it's like mini lockdown isn't it? I love it all, then after a week I'm like, 'Aw they've got to go back to school' but when it's the six weeks, I'm like, 'I think they need to go back to school now'.
HELLO!: What's Christmas like in your house?
Rob: Loads of food, loads of people. We do a year on year off, where my family come one year then Lou's family come one year. 'Good year, sh*t year' I call it. So we've got Lou's family coming this year and my family coming boxing day. Quite full on but I'd rather stay in my own house.
HELLO!: Do you do Elf on the Shelf with your kids?
Rob: We did it one year but I can't be bothered. That's just a pain in the arse. You always forget. If the kids bring it up, we'll do it again, but we couldn't get the elf in time last year. I doubt if we'll do it this year. Is that bad? Am I a bad parent? By day five you run out of ideas and then you start making the elf sh*g the butter.
HELLO!: Do you dress up as Santa?
Rob: If there's an outfit, it's been known. I wouldn't say it's one of my things. I do the cooking on Christmas day, love doing that. I do a big roast that my kids don't touch and they end up eating 15 Yorkshire puddings.
HELLO!: What are mealtimes like with your kids? Are they fussy eaters?
Rob: Oh, it's beige, beige, mainly beige plain pasta, baked beans, microwavable veg. Quite bad actually but life's hard isn't it? We're quite strict. If you want desert you've got to eat your veg. Old school, classic, straight down the line.
HELLO!: And you're doing a Parenting Hell tour! Tell us about that…
Rob: We'll have a famous guest to be interviewed in the second half, to be announced. It will be like a normal episode but we'll adapt it so there's stuff we can do in the room. Loads of funny stories, fun chat with me and Josh and then we're going to play silly games and get the audience involved as well.
Parenting Hell The Book by Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe is out 13th Oct RRP £20 available in hardback, ebook and special audiobook edition (Blink Publishing)
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