Presenter Vogue Williams has said close friend and stand-up comedian Joanne McNally “feels like family”, as she spoke about their long-running friendship and working relationship.
The podcasting duo behind My Therapist Ghosted Me have been part of the same social circle since their teenage years, but their friendship didn’t fully develop until McNally moved to London.
Speaking to Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio 1, Williams said: “We’ve just been friends for so long that she feels more than a friend – she feels like family. We spend an awful lot of time working together. I know that she always has my back. We just get on so well.
“We are really different, but it just doesn’t matter, we still connect on a different level.
“We met each other when we were 17 or 18 but never hung out. Then we kind of came together when she moved over to the UK and we’ve been really, really close friends ever since.”
Williams said she and McNally handle disagreements quickly, ensuring issues do not drag on or fester.
“I think when you work with somebody you have to work things out really quickly. If you ever fall out or disagree about something, it’s not something that would fester between us. We’re both very much people who are like, ‘Ah, this annoyed me, let’s talk about it now.’ I don’t have friends that I fall out with. I think I have a really, really great group of friends around me, including her, and I feel really lucky with that.”
Williams, who shares three children – Theodore, Gigi, and Otto – with reality star Spencer Matthews, has said her father Freddie, who died when she was in her early 20s, would have been an incredible grandfather.
“He would have thrived and taken them off with him. I always say to my kids, ‘Now he would have got you anything you wanted’ and spoiled them rotten. I think he really would have enjoyed being a grandad.”
She added: “It’s a real shame. That’s why when we had Theodore, he was named Theodore Frederick after my dad.
“But I mean he lived life to the fullest. That man certainly had a fruitful, fun life.”
Williams, who is expecting her fourth child, also spoke about McNally’s reaction to the name she has chosen for her unborn baby.
“I would say she was slightly taken aback, but it’s a name I’ve loved my whole life because one of my little brother’s friends was called that. It’s very different – I’d love to be called it,” she said.
Williams and McNally currently appear together on Celebrity Gogglebox, which airs on Channel 4 on Fridays.
“It’s as much fun as it looks. It’s exactly what you think it is, you’re sitting on a couch together, no one else is in the room with you, there are snacks out. I left the other day and I was thinking this is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I love it so much.
“It’s a three-hour record: you’re just sitting there watching and eating and chatting, so it’s a very fun job to do.”
Sunday with Miriam airs on RTÉ Radio 1 from 10–11am.