Jonathan Ross' parents 'borrowed food from other people' when growing up
Jonathan Ross has recalled how his mother and father "borrowed food from other people" when he was younger as they were poor.
Jonathan Ross' parents "borrowed food from other people" because they were poor.
The 64-year-old broadcaster and his five siblings rarely ate homemade dinners when they were younger because of his mum Martha and dad John's financial state and admits that his parents often had to resort to desperate measures.
Accompanied by his daughter Honey, Jonathan told Jessie and Lennie Ware on their 'Table Manners' podcast: "When I was very young, sometimes we struggled with cash, so food would be borrowed from other people ...
"We were poor. We were not a well-off family.
"We would all be around the table, but dinner wasn't a big kind of gathering meal. It was really much more of a pragmatic, you-need-fuel kind of situation.
"So we would all come in, my mum would always cook, the food was rarely kind of homemade from scratch.
"Once again, that's probably due to the sort of financial situation, I don't know."
The host of his eponymous late Saturday night ITV talk show can be reminded of the time his parents were fighting to make ends meet by looking at his wonky fingers as one of the digits was sliced off when Jonathan was one-and-a-half years old when his mum left him alone with his then three-year-old older brother, TV and radio presenter Paul, as she went out to source food to feed the family.
He said: "My fingers are a weird shape.
"I cut my finger off when I was about one and a half because she'd (his mum) gone out to borrow food.
"We had no food in the house, and she'd left me, not a wise decision, to be looked after by my older brother, who himself, was only three-and-a-half, I believe."
Honey had the complete opposite experience of meal times with the family, and she feels very appreciative.
The eldest child of Jonathan and his wife Jane Goldman said: "I grew up in Golders Green, North London, and I was very lucky.
"My mum's an amazing cook. She's incredible. She's very warm, very, very maternal.
"And you're (Jonathan) a really good cook as well.
"You've [got] better.
"When I was younger, you weren't amazing."
'Table Manners' with Jessie and Lennie Ware is released weekly and is available to stream on all podcast platforms.
