OLYMPICS SPECIAL: Max Whitlock on Paris 2024, life as a gymnast and retirement

This week, for our series finale, I, Kelly-Anne Taylor, bring to you our Olympics special – it is an interview with the most successful British gymnast of all time – the six-time Olympic medallist, and the most successful pommel horse worker in the Games’ history – it’s Max Whitlock. In this episode, we reflect on his career – how he started gymnastics, his training regime during his teenage years (which hit highs of 35 hours a week – alongside school!) and competing in London in 2012. We also talk about a period of low mental health that he experienced after the Tokyo Olympics – and how having his daughter Willow, altered his approach to the sport. Plus, he talks about preparing for the Paris games and reveals why he has chosen to retire now. I hope you enjoyed our series finale with the delightful Max Whitlock. I have loved choosing the guests for this series, researching, writing questions, and curating these interviews for you – wonderful listener. It is a joy and privilege to be able to create this podcast – and I want to thank you for listening, for writing in, for reviewing and for taking the time to listen to these conversations. Remember, that there is a wealth of archived episodes for you to go back and enjoy – be in my conversation, from the very early days of this series, with Stephen Fry in which we talk about how TV helped him come out, or my chat with the phenomenal duo Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver – in which they discuss the perils of fame and the misogyny they’ve faced – or you might like to listen and laugh to my conversation with Miriam Margolyes. You can also feast on our weekly recommendations podcast – in which I, and my co-host the TV critic and RT columnist Caroline Frost, run you through everything to watch that week on telly – and, tell you what to avoid. Thank you so much for listening – I’ll be back very soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Om Podcasten

We’ve all been there – sat in front of the television, flicking through channels, getting increasingly frustrated – there’s so much on, but nothing to watch. TV critics Caroline Frost and Shem Law have you covered. Each Friday, they serve up short, sharp television recommendations to mark your cards for the week ahead. They’ll tell you what to watch – and what to avoid. They watch it all, so you don’t have to.   No more asking: what’s on TV tonight? What to watch? Or, what should I watch? Instead, listen to Smart TV for your weekly round-up of TV programmes and film reviews. You’ll find out about the latest series dropping that week, what to binge and what television show will become the next watercooler moment.   Radio Times’ journalists Caroline Frost and Shem Law will cover all things terrestrial as well as what’s on the streaming sites – they’ll cover what’s broadcast on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky to NOW, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Netflix and Apple TV.   Whether you like Entertainment, Current Affairs, Documentaries, Dramas, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Thrillers, Sports or Radio – they’ll have you covered. If you enjoy our weekly round-up of television reviews, do search for the View From My Sofa podcast which sees Kelly-Anne Taylor sit down with a celebrity guests to talk about their lives through the prism of TV.