Psychic Social Podcast
🔮 Amazing Psychic experiences & my life’s work . . . [with Astrologer, Russell Grant PSPE:029] 🔮

[00:00:01.18]    Welcome to Psychic Social, brought to you by psychic.co.uk.

Oliver D.:             [00:00:12.23] On this episode of psychic social.

Russell G.:           [00:00:15.16] Suddenly, it was bathed in this kind of blue luminous light, but this time, he was there. He held up what looked like a medal, a gold coin and on it was an angel.

Oliver D.:             [00:00:38.09] Welcome to psychic social, with me Oliver Duke, the podcast that explores all things from the psychic and spiritual perspectives. Including interviews with famous psychic practitioners, discussions about the afterlife, the paranormal and much more. So relax and enjoy the show. Well, today's guest on psychic social should really need no introduction.

One of our most loved astrologers in the UK and around the world over the last four decades. He's been a wonderful television personality for many years, not only appearing on breakfast television, but also having his own television and radio shows. He was the first person in over 300 years to present a member of the royal family with an astrological chart for her royal highness, the queen mother. He starred in theaters across the land in many roles, including west end hit stage shows at the palladium.

Known to all as the UK and Ireland’s best loved astrologer, he's written over 70 books to date, and written horoscopes for the biggest national newspapers and magazines, as he still does today from his home in North Wales. So we'd like to say a very warm welcome to astrologer Russell Grant. Thank you so much for joining us on the psychic social podcast today, Russell. How are you doing today?

Russell G.:           [00:01:49.15] I’m doing well, Oliver. It's an absolute delight to be able to uh, chat with you. And um, yeah, it's a lovely day of a little bit of crispy sunshine, wintry sunshine, I prefer to humid, humid summer.

Oliver D.:             [00:02:04.19] Well, it's wonderful to have you on the show uh, Russell. And um, yeah, the weather is very nice today, I’ve been out for a walk this morning and it's a bit chilly though, isn't it? I think it's about zero degrees.

Russell G.:           [00:02:14.10] Lovely. As an aquarium born February the fifth, with Saturn rising, then give me the winter anytime.

Oliver D.:             [00:02:21.19] Yes. I like a crisp cold morning, yes. It's very nice. Okay, well um we wanted to sort of kind of move into the show with you, um into psychic social today. Um, now kind of with the various challenges that we've all had to face over the last 18 months or so due to the pandemic. I mean, how did you personally kind of maintain positivity and kind of a higher vibrational state with everything that's been going on?

Russell G.:           [00:02:46.12] Well, without sounding predictable, um, I actually gave a lecture to the northern light’s astrological society in Blackpool. Um, and it was just after my father passed in 2019. I gave this talk, and the talk was really about 2020. I spoke at length about this huge conglomeration of planets in Capricorn and Aquarius, and said that the coming year would be very difficult.

We'd learn about ourselves; we would become like hermits. We would feel isolated, we would feel cut off, but if we used it in the right way, we would discover a lot about ourselves. Now, when COVID came, and all of those things that I’d said months before, I then realized that this going more deeply into ourselves in so many ways psychologically, emotionally and so on. I was always prepared for it, because Saturn rising in my jar is the hermit in the tarot. So I love to be on my own, I love to be cut off and I love to be isolated.

So when the COVID came along, I was kind of half waiting for something to happen, although I didn't know what it would be, because I realized that the state of the planets meant, that not just me, but everybody, uh, individuals around the world, would have to rediscover their strengths, their weaknesses or maybe in some cases, discover their strengths and weaknesses.

So what it meant for me was being cut off completely was a pretty wonderful time, because I didn't have to worry about getting to a theater on time, because I’d gone back to performance in recent years and strictly come dancing. Um, I didn't have to worry about that. I didn't have to worry about going out anywhere. So I was able to catch up on all those things that I loved doing but had lost touch with and sight of. One of them being calligraphy, I absolutely adore color and being able to write beautifully.

That came from my father, who worked at pinewood studios and he was a libra son. He was the kind of guy that could take a pen and turn a poster into a work of art in a matter of minutes. And so I got back to calligraphy, I got back to writing. I’ve always had a love of local history, so on Facebook, I opened up a new group called Middlesex heritage. I was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex. Of course, the papers were still going out. A couple of months earlier, Reach PLC had asked me to write for all their titles.

So the express group, the star group and the mirror group. So let me put it like this, the whole COVID year, well and more months uh, oh goodness because we're talking about 20 months of it now, um, gave me a chance to catch up, gave me a chance to look at myself and gave me a chance to prepare for a lot of things, and it kind of culminated for me in uh 2021 when my dear mother died of dementia a couple of weeks before my 70th birthday.

Oliver D.:             [00:06:48.09] Well, we're sorry to hear about that, um, that must have been very sad for you. Um, but I mean leading up to that like you say, you know um, you found it, this you know difficult time that's been for everyone. It was a chance for you to kind of really sort of look within, and you know maybe ask questions about yourself and kind of like really immerse yourself in the things that you loved.

I think it seemed like a lot of people did find that difficult potentially to begin with, and the people that really found it difficult um to be on their own at home, I think maybe found out parts about themselves that they didn't know about, and really discovered themselves more potentially had that not happened.

Russell G.:           [00:07:28.11] Yes, most definitely. And I think there are many people who actually like to be cut off, unlike to look within themselves. I did a lot of meditation and many things which I hadn't been able to do, caring for my mum and losing my dad. Well, not long before losing mom. So I was able to um, to come to terms with a lot of things with my mum and dad, which was a very good thing.

But of course, a lot of people, and I know many people, my Chad was the kind of person who did not like to spend more than 10 minutes on his own. He liked people around him though, time was very gregarious. He was captain of a golf club in Middlesex, and he was very gregarious. My mother who was gregarious on the outside, actually loved to be on her own and get on with their knitting and watch the black and white movies on television.

So that would have been the self-discovery of a lot of people, this whole conglomeration of planets at that time, uh, that was going on. Um, would have meant that people would have been challenged and tested. For some people, it meant going out and getting themselves a pet. I know one very close friend of mine here in North Wales, um, she went out and bought herself a cat.

Now, 20 months later, she has four cats and for her, she would tell you herself, these have been the company I craved throughout the whole of the pandemic. And she was never allowed animals by her parents in the past. So it was interesting how that came to pass, that she had the animals, because they were the company that she needed and craved.

So for many people, the challenge and the test would have been difficult. Because if they're used to going out and being with people, and that wasn't happening and wasn't allowed due to the lockdowns, that would have been a very difficult time, a time of self-discovery. But also, a time when it would have pinpointed their own weaknesses that they would have probably have had to work on.

Oliver D.:             [00:09:56.11] Yes, exactly. I’m sure a lot of people, many people have grown uh for the better throughout all this experience. Um, well Russell, we wanted you to kind of sort of take us back to kind of the very beginning of how it all started for you, how um you got into astrology. Did this kind of arise from any kind of innate psychic abilities that you felt possibly as a young child?

Russell G.:           [00:10:19.18] Well, you mentioned something here, Oliver, that's very interesting, because young child it was. Because uh, we were living in Ickenham, again in Middlesex. You'll see that that is my mantra uh for everything, where I live, Middlesex comes into it. Um, because my roots and where I belong have always been very important to me, and people who are psychic very often have a familiarity with a place.

A place that they feel uh, more spiritual, more psychic, more aware of their senses, their sixth sense and opening their third eye is very often in a place where they are very compatible with the earth, and the nature around them. And for me, it was Ickenham, and my dear grandfather, who'd passed in the 1970s, um, he was devoted to me when I had an accident when I was a kid, and was rushed into the hospital.

My grandad used to come round with a pair of ladders on his bike, and climb up to see that I was all right in the children's ward. But when he passed over, he had a very distinctive cough, my grandad, Percy. And you know when people uh were in his well, in his aura, his orbit, they would all go here comes Percy, because he had this kind of cough and clearing his throat. And one night, there I was lying in bed and about two or three in the morning, there was this kind of hazy light, and it was almost like a blue light that was flooding my bedroom.

Now, you need to understand I was only about eight or nine years old, and I heard the cough, I heard my granddad's cough. But um, he uh, I mean, how he managed to get um through to me, I just don't know. But what happened was then when I went downstairs, because I should have made the point that my granddad was still alive at this time, and um, it was as though um I was being told that something was going to happen to him. And indeed, what happened to him, it may have been a number of years later, but what happened to him was he was taken into hospital, he had lung cancer and passed away.

A few weeks later, um, you know taking uh time to realize that when we pass over, the soul has to find its way, see the light be moved on, the transition period if you like. Um, that same thing happened to me again in the bedroom. Suddenly, it was bathed in this kind of blue luminous light and granddad's cough. But this time, he was there. And he held up what looked like a medal, a gold coin and on it was an angel. I went downstairs, and my lovely grandmother who was eventually going to pass over from dementia at 99 years and six months.

My grandmother who was obviously Percy’s wife, came to me and said um, darling, I had a feeling last night that I should give you this, and Oliver, without a word of advice, she took this coin out and it was the angel of mons. And my grandad had fought in the first world war, and he had been given like many other, uh, people, men who were fighting in the trenches, um, had and they were given this angel of mons.

And it's an angel on a medal and the medal was gold. And I told my mum this, and she'll know you must have been dreaming it, but I knew I hadn't, and my grandmother had given me the medal, which I still have to this day. And that was my first psychic experience, and from there on I’ve been exploring the whole psychic side of things ever since.

Oliver D.:             [00:15:02.02] Well, that's fascinating story. Uh, so how old were you again did you say it at that point?

Russell G.:           [00:15:06.29] Well, the very first um feelings that I had, I would have been about eight or nine. So we're talking probably early sixties. Um, and granddad passed and probably about oh nine, ten years later. And that whole experience happened again, but this time he had passed on. So the first experience I just had this blue light bathing the room, and this very uh his, I suppose his signature was this cough and clearing throat, and that's all I heard the first time, and I didn't understand it.

The strange thing Oliver was I wasn't scared. And then all those years later when grandad did pass, um, I got exactly the same experience, but this time, it was him. A sort of foggy, misty almost, I guess some people would say what you would expect, a ghost story to be like, but there's nothing ghostly about it. I just saw my granddad holding up this medal. And um, and he was obviously saying to me that um, he was around and he was protecting me. So the two very powerful experiences I had. But after the first one, a few years later, I went to a spiritualist church in Reynolds Lane, again in Middlesex of course, and I joined with my friend Wendy, the local spiritualist church, and I was involved with a wonderful medium called Renee Hindle, who took me into a psychic circle.

Renee is no longer with us on the earth plane, um, she's uh obviously moved on psychically, she's an old soul, but she taught me everything I knew. And the first thing that I got when I sat in the psychic circle was um this woman, ahead of me on the other side of the circle. A pair of scissors and a poodle, I will never forget it. And Renee told us always if we got something to give it to the person, or to give it up to the circle.

And I looked at this lady as Renee came around the psychic circle, and uh Renee said okay Russ, did you get anything from uh you know the meditation? And we were uh, had that silence and were connecting. And um I said, I don't know who you are, but I’ve got these scissors and I’ve got a poodle. And she just looked to cast and she said well, you don't know me and I don't know you. She said I have a pet parlor, and most of my day is spent clipping dogs, especially poodles.

So that's what set me on that road you see, and Renee helped me to do that. And I then gave, I then went on the platform, and I was giving demonstrations of mediumship at a very early age. And sidekick news for a wonderful journalist called Kate Hunter um, did a whole story on me. And the first um demonstration of mediumship I gave was a Rainer’s Lane of course, that was my home church.

But I used to go to a lot of the churches in the west of the county, uh Ups bridge, Rice Lip Manor and so on, and give demonstrations of mediumship. I never forget in the Oxbridge evening, uh, when I was giving uh a demonstration. This little lady was sat there, must have been 50 or 60 people in Oxbridge that night in the church. And I came to this little lady was crouched down, and I said to her, I’ve got a lot of sparrows around you and they're all flying, I don't know much about birds but they're small birds.

And I’m led by one of them to you, and her name was sparrow. Mrs. Sparrow, and that came through. And then much later on, um, when I was working at BBC breakfast time, I went up to Aberdeen, and I was asked to give a demonstration of mediumship, and uh, I was very happy to go up there. And uh, I was in this huge hall in Aberdeen it was packed, it was absolutely packed. And I came to this lady, and um, I was horrified of what I saw Oliver. Because I saw this fire all around her, and it was though it was happening. And this fire it just wouldn't go away, and um, I just said to her, look, you've got to be so careful, I said of the fire.

And as I’m getting from what looks like a mobile home or a caravan, I don't know what it was. And she said I understand perfectly what you're saying, because she said that in the past year, there was a fire in the caravan park where she'd gone on holiday, and it destroyed not just her caravan, but a number of them and that was in Scotland. So that was another thing that stays in my mind so much.

And then I had a wonderful time of course with the late great Doris Stokes, who I’m sure many of your listeners will remember being one of our greatest mediums. So she took me under her wing, and I believe I’m somewhere in one of her books, voices in my ear, I think was the one that I was in.

Oliver D.:             [00:21:29.13] Right, wow, that sounds like some amazing, fantastic experiences um, in your early, you know career, and early life moving forward.

Russell G.:           [00:21:36.23] Absolutely. Early to sort of mid-20s I would say.

Oliver D.:             [00:21:39.07] Yes. Your mediumship was very strong by the sounds of it as well.

Russell G.:           [00:21:42.22] It was, yeah. And it's a strange thing, because when astrology came along, I suddenly realized that a lot of people, there was very little connection between the two. What I learned was to be psychic needed channeling, needed controlling, needed discipline. Whereas, and it was a natural born gift that you had.

Whereas with astrology, it is very mathematical. Um, and you can learn how to be an astrologer um, you can't learn how to be psychic. You've either got it or you haven't. And although, all of us have those feelings and those sensibilities, um, I believe that if you've got a natural psychic energy within you, it can be used for the good. And there is the discipline that's required, the discipline required for astrology is something completely different, because you've got to be able to these days as computers.

But when I first started, you had to do Algorithms and algebra, and all the things I despise doing. But, um, I founded the British astrological psychic society, which is no longer with us. Um, but I founded that because I was trying to tell people how you could use the two together, but actually, they were very separate things. I believe that if you cast a chart, and I still do to this day, when I cast a chart, I use my intuition very much to give an interpretation of the natal chart.

Oliver D.:             [00:23:29.25] Okay. would you say your psychic abilities are as strong as your mediumship abilities? Or is there one that would be stronger than the other? Or how does that work with you?

Russell G.:           [00:23:38.19] Um, well, um, obviously I use astrology every day of my life, because I’m still writing stars at 70, and um, continue to. Here, in where I live in North Wales, here the nearest spiritualist church is now up in Bangor. So I don't really, I don't do platform work anymore. In fact, I really stopped doing platform work after uh, the queen mother came to the ideal home exhibition in uh 1978.

And I’d been asked by the daily mail to uh, guide them, not in a psychic way, to guide them into creating this huge big attraction that the ideal home exhibition, it was called stars in your life. It was to explain astrology to people and invite people to come along and get their charts done. The queen mother opened this final ideal home exhibition at Olympia, uh before it moved over, I believe it's else court now.

So when I presented a chart to the queen mum, uh the photos are all around on the internet and what have you. But it then led to these big headlines, evening news, daily mail, of course, because daily mail was the newspaper in the company that ran the ideal home. By royal appointment said one, um and astrologer royal said the other. And so really from that time I never, I never really involved myself anymore in the psychic world, I went headlong into astrology because, and I felt psychically, this was the good lord sending me in the right direction. That meant that I was now going to do more and more astrology, which of course, I did.

Oliver D.:             [00:25:50.27] Yeah, of course you did. Lots of it, yeah, exactly.

Russell G.:           [00:25:54.11] I t's never stopped.

Oliver D.:             [00:25:56.17] Yes, exactly. Well, I hope it won't, yeah. Um, well yeah, wonderful to hear all that Russell, thank you. Well, we'd like to move on and talk a little bit about your kind of theater appearances over the years, I know there have been quite a few. Um, out of all the kind of stages you performed on and theaters you performed in. Uh, what would you say was your kind of is it favorite stage show that you started, could you pick one?

Russell G.:           [00:26:18.24] Yes, no problem, at the London palladium. And at the London palladium, in the early 70s I was with Tommy Steele, in hands Christian Anderson, the musical and I was his understudy. Um, I had a wonderful time, the great choreographer Jillian Lynn who we've sadly now lost, and Tommy who's with us. Um, it was a wonderful time in my life. And then straight after strictly come dancing, I think it must have been 34-35 years after my first appearance at the palladium in Ans Anderson.

I was asked to take over from Michael Crawford in the wizard of oz. A wonderful show, and it was uh Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production with Bill Kenwright. So strictly took me back full circle to the London palladium, and that is just the most amazing place to play. I mean, to work at London palladium twice, um, is incredible. But the second time, to see your name on buses on London underground stations in newspapers, strictly for 12 weeks only, the play on the strictly come dancing was just incredible.

But every theater has certain magic, at grand theater Blackpool the most beautiful theater, uh, a Matchum theater, Frank Matchum with his glorious uh, this theater design, uh south sea, the king's theatre in south sea, there's so many theaters. But you don't really get bigger in this country and probably some people say in the world than to star at the London palladium after strictly and to be part of a production uh, 30 odd years before.

Oliver D.:             [00:28:24.02] Sure, exactly. Well, it's fantastic to hear that, Russell, thank you. Well, um, I think we're going to talk a little bit about strictly uh after the break.

But we're going to move into a break now, and we're hearing some fantastic stuff from the UK and Ireland’s best loved astrologer, Russell Grant here on psychic social today and we're very much looking forward to hearing more from him in part two, where we're going to hear more about Russell’s experiences throughout his life including his TV appearances like we've just mentioned on strictly come dancing, celebrity MasterChef, his books and much more. So we'll see you after this.

AD:                        [00:28:56.12] This is psychic social, where the world's best psychics tell you their story.

Oliver D.:             [00:29:05.28] We do hope you're enjoying our podcast interview so far with Russell Grant. Now, we're delighted to say that Russell has joined us here at Psychic.co. UK as our brand-new in-house astrologer. That means he'll be writing your weekly horoscope for your star sign and delivering it to you every Monday morning. Now, all you have to do is head to psychic.co.UK/horoscope, and then scroll down to choose your star sign.

Now, once you've read your horoscope, you can just pop in your name and email address and Russell will send you your latest horoscope directly to your email inbox every Monday. It's as simple as that. So once again the website address to find your star sign and sign up is www.psychic.co.UK/horoscope. You can also just go directly to your star sign by simply going to Psychic.co.UK/ and then type in your star sign. So slash Aries, slash Leo and so on and so forth. We'll put all these links below in the show notes of this podcast, so you can click directly on them there too. We're very much looking forward to seeing you at the website to read your horoscopes. Now, back to our chat with Russell.

AD:                        [00:30:14.06] This is psychic social, the spiritual home of psychics.

Oliver D.:             [00:30:25.04] Welcome back to part two of psychic social, and our wonderful chat with astrologer Russell Grant. Now, before the break, we mentioned Russell your TV appearances in recent years, in particular strictly come dancing and celebrity MasterChef. Now can you tell the listeners about these? Please, I’m sure they'd love to hear what it was like for you to appear on these shows.

Russell G.:           [00:30:46.14] Well, strictly come dancing, um, I first got the phone call which was June the 24th, 2011. Um, I was just sat down minding my own business and the phone went, and it was a wonderful lady called Daisy Moore who was the celebrity booker, and she said um, would you be interested in coming on strictly come dancing oh no, I’m far too old, because I was 60 then.

And um, my family when I told them, especially my mother, um, said oh, you can't turn that down, I said well, I’ve not done it yet, they've just asked if I’m interested. You can't, if you turn this down or the opportunity to even meet somebody the producer as it so happened, you'll regret it. So I agreed to go to Manchester and meet up with Maura Ross who's the producer, and we don't like our house on fire.

And we met at the Malmaison opposite Manchester piccadilly station, and uh for those people who know the Malmaison, they know that it's very red and plush and velvet. For the people who don't know Malmaison, the best way to describe it, I always think is one of those Parisian salons from the Edwardian period. It has that kind of um, glorious plushness about it, and you expect Lily Langtry to pop in any minutes or uh, Edward vii. That's the kind of style it was in.

So uh Maura Ross said to me if you ever danced before? I said well, I’ve been to drama school but we never danced, it was more of acting and what have you. Um, so she said um, can you do anything for me in the coffee part of Malmaison, and she pushed back the table, she said right do some steps for me. And I did what always comes naturally to me, now I know I didn't at the time, but my somber walk.

And she said oh, you're natural, how amazing. And she said I’ll call you in a fortnight um to see um whether you know you might be interested or not. And we carried on from Manchester the family and I up to Preston, where we had family. And um, I got a call at five o'clock that same day offering me it. So within about three hours, I got offered it.

Oliver D.:             [00:33:25.02] It was the moves.

Russell G.:           [00:33:27.14] I mean, I was kind of well, I was taken, well, just took my breath away, like it is now, because I’m recalling that whole time. And um, I knew I had one more big show to do, in fact, I was doing a show up here called Bliss, by a fine uh author called Ed Penny, and they wanted me to play dusty Springfield in it. And I played Dusty Springfield, and uh, I did one of her big numbers, um, I closed my eyes and counts 10.

And um, no it wasn't, it was you don't have to say you love me, I want you to do the other one. But anyway, I then traveled down to do strictly come dancing, there were a couple of nasty pieces in the press about an outsider says, a spokesman says, he'll be too fat to get round, uh, the ballroom. Which up to a point was pretty true, but I’d lost nine stone in weight over about three years and um, many reasons which I won't go into. Uh, but basically, I did strictly come dancing, uh the press predicted I would be out by the second week.

Um, but I didn't. I lost it, well, almost through to the end. And then Flavia and I did the Christmas special, Moira Ross the producer, asked if we would do the Christmas special as the guest stars which had never happened before. I have no doubt whatsoever Oliver, it was the most magnificent, wonderful, brilliant time of my life. And uh, it's something, in a way I wish it had come a lot earlier, because I would have been younger and I wouldn't have had the creaking joints.

Because by the time of the third week when we were doing the summer, my cartilage went in my knee and I had to wear, if I wanted to stay in, I needed to wear a brace. And the brace stretched from my ankles to my hip, I’m holding my knee in place. And um, we were doing the cardio and oaks number, Bella the devil, you know, Halloween week.

And um, we got through it, although the brace started to slip halfway down my leg during the number. But when we came off Robbie savage, you became a very close friend of mine said Russ, you've got to look, Kylie Minogue on Twitter. I went on Twitter, and there was Kylie saying does anybody know if Flavian and Russell got on well with my number better the devil you know and everyone was saying yes, such a trend.

I know what that means now, I didn't at the time. Um, I said yes, we did fine, but we didn't know if we're through yet, because that's not until uh, the results show. And she said oh shimmy Russ, shimmy. And then when we did it takes two on the Monday, because we knew by then we got through, Zoe, oh the wonderful Zoe Ball who I adore, one of the nicest women you'll ever meet in the world.

She said we've got a message for you and Flavia and it was Kylie, who um, they recorded sending uh this message saying I hope you go all the way blah blah blah. So it was magical, it was a dream come true really. I just wish I had been younger, so that my joints weren't quite so fragile.

Oliver D.:             [00:37:10.22] Well, it's very physically demanding dancing, isn't it? And even in your 60s, and um yeah, I mean speaking from, I’m in my early 40s, and I struggle with my knees at the moment, so I can't I can imagine you did very well.

Russell G.:           [00:37:22.06] Yeah, it was difficult. I mean we rehearsed from ten to eight every night every day.

Oliver D.:             [00:37:26.08] Yes, so tough, isn't it? Well, that sounds, it's wonderful to hear all that um about your experiences on strictly come dancing and I’m sure everyone really enjoyed listening to that. And also, about you know celebrity master chef, I think was it three years later you went on that, can you tell everyone about that at all?

Russell G.:           [00:37:43.23] Yeah. It was actually, it was, funny enough, I was asked to do it when I was in the middle of um Hans Anderson. Sorry, I’m going back to, I was asked to do it when I had just started, the wizard of oz at the London palladium in the February. And I couldn't, there's no way you can appear in a huge western shirt at the London palladium and do MasterChef, because it's all done in a fortnight.

And the hours are horrendous. I mean, I was getting up at 4am a.m. and a car was picking me up at 6-7 a.m. to get us over to once with the studios where we were doing it. So I turned it down the first year I was offered it, but I did decide to do it the following year. Now, the following year, I was in the west end with Flavia and Vincent in midnight tango at the phoenix theatre. I was only going to be doing the west end part of the show, and then it would go on tour.

But I knew I couldn't go on tour, because I had so many things to do quite frankly. And uh, it was the April of the following year, so that would have been 2013. And uh, it was lovely. I had a wonderful team. I had the wonderful Susanna Constantine from Trini and Susanna, who was absolutely lovely. Sophie Thompson, Emma Thompson's sister who we're still the best of friends, lovely. And Todd Carty, what a sweet man he is.

And um, we just had a great time, it was lovely. I got through, I think I got through to what they call oh Jodie Kidd, the model, she was adorable. Um, I think we got through to the semis or just before then whatever that round is, because it's all done in two weeks, I mean, it's all done. Um, anyway, however long I was there, I know I was there up to the point where you had to work in a west end restaurant, and I along with Jodie was sent to a Mayfair restaurant, oh my goodness.

Down in that kitchen in the dungeons, it was so hard, so difficult. I burnt my fingers and hands, because of the hot plate. Oh, goodness me, lovely to do, not glamorous enough for me like a strictly come dancing was, but it was still great and still wonderful friendships came from that.

And I got through the first round with my grandmother's, my grandmother Lily used to do those amazing fish and chips, and I did place and chips and mushy peas, I think. Um, and Greg said it was the best batter he has ever tasted of fish. And in fact, a couple of years before strictly, I did um, I think they renamed it from Hell's kitchen, but with Marco Pierre White, so I done a cookery show with him and that was very.

Oliver D.:             [00:41:18.09] Sure. But you love cooking at home as well, I take it?

Russell G.:           [00:41:21.07] Well, I do. But Marco Pierre White said I made the best scrambled egg that he'd ever tasted. So I had my little fountain, the rest were kind of true.

Oliver D.:             [00:41:32.12] That's some good kudos that is. The best batter ever, and the best scrambled eggs as well.

Russell G.:           [00:41:37.29] I know, unbelievable. But it's a pity you couldn't put the two together.

Oliver D.:             [00:41:41.27] Yes, it probably wouldn't work. Well, it's great to hear all about that um, thank you, Russell. Um, well I mean we wanted to move on and chat a bit about your pet psychic service. I mean, how did that come about? And have you kind of got any great stories you can share with everyone um since you started that?

Russell G.:           [00:41:57.14] Yes, I did a wonderful show, everything's wonderful with me. But that's because I’m forever grateful to the good lord and spirit, you know being such a support to me. Um, put it up to the universe, and you know you get your answer. Yes, I’ve always loved my animals, always. And I did a show called Russell Grant's all-star show, which was a network show in the 90s.

I’ve got a wonderful rating on it, we got 46, 47% of the available audience on the afternoons, and we had a pet psychic on. And um, she was chatting about, uh, we had you know members of the audience brought their pets along. And I was fascinated by this, because I had always been told since the Renee Hindells days and Renee the slain spiritualist church had always been told that pets can see spirit.

And I’d always notice that with my cats or with my dogs, I’m sure people listening to this have had this experience. Where suddenly, your pet will look up, and I’d go Owen, that was my chocolate Labrador, what are you looking at? And would be intently focused looking into a corner or upwards or something. And I was absolutely sure that um, that they were watching and seeing spirit. I had no doubt about that.

And um, well one experience I did have with our lovely Labrador, was I was walking uh very late at night, it was very much in the dark. And um my dog was walking me round, and suddenly stopped, wouldn't go any further. And was looking up all over, I can't even begin to describe Oliver, what was happening. But basically, um, he was on a lead, and uh, he started to drag me in a different direction.

So I went round and trusted in him as you would. And the next morning I found that what he'd done was he had taken me around what was like an area of muddy quicksand. And if we'd have walked into it, well, I don't know if we'd have gone down for the third time.

But he'd certainly saved me from an experience that I would have preferred not to have had, but I still believe to this day that our pets have got psychic abilities, and have the um, the intuition and that sixth sense that many of us don't have, that they can see spirits. And it's wonderful.

Oliver D.:             [00:44:59.12] Yes, I’m very much believer of that too. And I think that um yeah, I think they can very much sense other energies that sit alongside our energy, and the physical plane that we can't, a lot of people can't sense.

Russell G.:           [00:45:12.06] I agree with you, Oliver. It's interesting now that um, there's been these uh, scientific reports that uh, that's some dogs, I don't know if there's a certain breed, um, can actually detect cancer in a person.

Oliver D.:             [00:45:28.24] I’ve heard this as well, yeah.

Russell G.:           [00:45:30.12] I find that fascinating

Oliver D.:             [00:45:33.14] I was going to say that I’ve seen also that they can, some particular dogs can uh, predict when their owner's about to, or is leaving for home or is on the way home. They sort of stand and move towards the door and stand at the door and start to wait. Have you seen that at all?

Russell G.:           [00:45:47.00] Oh yeah, absolutely. No doubt about that, absolutely. No doubt whatsoever. I live near a place called Beddgelert in Snowdonia, and the name of, uh, the little town village is named actually after the dog, because the dog was so faithful to its master, that um the dog would actually sit by the grave of the master and just simply not move.

There are so many tales about the loyalty, the fidelity of animals, it's unbelievable. I love them dearly. When I lost, Owen which was just before Christmas in about 2005 or 6 I think it was, I didn't want any more animals. And I didn't want any more animals because the emotion of losing him was as much as the emotion I had of losing a loved one.

Oliver D.:             [00:46:44.20] Sure, I can definitely uh agree with that. I mean, we had a cat for 18 years at home when I was growing up, and when he died, you know it was literally like another person died. It was horrible.

Russell G.:           [00:46:54.05] I know, absolutely, totally.

Oliver D.:             [00:46:56.26] Well, it's another fascinating subject, that I’m sure we could talk about all day, but um, we're going to move on to your next uh question here.

Um, so um now you've written a number of books over the years, um, and now with writing clearly being one of your favorite things to do with the horoscopes and astrology. Um, would you say that writing the books is a real love for you that absorbs you like the horoscopes like the astrology?

Russell G.:           [00:47:18.24] I love writing, um, my astrology books, but I’ve done them all now. There's only probably one more I need to write, which would be the ultimate coffee table book, right? Of how you know astrology began and all that goes with it. I produced an astrology kit some years ago, which was a big seller.

So the people could learn to cast their charts. But I’ve written over 70 books now, and most of that total is due to having to write 12 books for the year ahead, and I did that for a number of years. But they're not sellers anymore, because people go online and people can get in magazines, the year ahead supplements. So people don't buy the books as much as they used to. I mean, you're talking about selling millions.

In the 1980s, when I was on breakfast television, my very first book your sun science, which I dedicated to the queen mother, because if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been even known as an astrologer. And that sold loads and loads of books, I think it got to number four in the uh, British paperback uh charts, amazing.

It was a big seller, around the world it sold two million copies. I did my dream dictionary, uh, that was incredible. I mean, that and a couple of my other books that I’d written, love signs I think might have been one of them, uh, were actually translated into Afrikaans, Finnish, Danish, Spanish and so on. So my dream dictionary, only last year was translated into Japanese.

Oliver D.:             [00:49:19.05] Amazing.

Russell G.:           [00:49:20.15] So, um, I’ve got lots and lots of books, but there's not many more books in astrology. But I say there's only one really. I’ve done the rest. I had a huge success with my Astro tarot pack, that sold millions around the world too. And in fact, the pack went into, the United States as a museum of tarot really. I think it's based in Stamford, Connecticut, I know it's based in Connecticut, and they have the original cards that were used for by the princes and the publishers.

So I mean, dream dictionaries, astrology kits, um Astro tarot cards, uh, your sun signs, your love signs and so on. But interestingly enough, after ten years with Richard Branson’s virgin books, I had a wonderful trip over to Australia where my books became bestsellers, and I was on all the programs out there. When I came back, Richard Branson said look, you've sold so many books for us. Um, is there a book you would like to write?

And I said yes, I’d like to write a book on the real counters of Britain, and I wrote this local history book, which also became hardback and that became a bestseller and I loved writing that, because it took me away from the subject which I was uh, involved with on a daily basis, to something that was a treat for me when I wasn't writing stars. And then I wrote a history on the city of Gloucester.

So those two books have a special place in my heart, because they're two areas of uh, my life that I really love and continue to love. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a geography and history teacher.

Oliver D.:             [00:51:15.04] Right. So that's where that came from.

Russell G.:           [00:51:17.03] That's where that came from.

Oliver D.:             [00:51:18.00] Yes, sure. Well, that's very interesting to hear that, Russell. Um, well we're going to move on to um, well it's a question that we kind of ask everyone that comes on psychic social, uh and it is kind of what are your thoughts about the afterlife through your kind of psychic experiences so far, you know during your life? And what do you think happens when we leave the earth plane?

Russell G.:           [00:51:38.05] When we leave the earth plane, for me, I believe that we have to go through certain transitions. Um, the seven planes, the seven levels before we reach the alternate which in many people's minds is what you were classed as heaven. I believe that we go back to a state of when we feel at our very best, when we feel at that particular time in our earthly terrestrial lives, we were at our best.

So I believe that we return to an age, um or a time when we feel at our most comfortable, our most happy and um, most joyous. And for every person, that will be a completely different thing. And so for me um, I mean the soul goes marching on thinking of that, the battle him of the republic, um glory, glory, alleluia, soul goes marching on.

And I believe that's what happens with us. Uh, and I believe that we do meet our loved ones. I remember reading a book called his death, the end. I don't know if you know it, Oliver.

Oliver D.:             [00:52:58.08] I’ve read a few books on passing on and death, but not that one, no?

Russell G.:           [00:53:02.11] Yeah. Well, death is the end. I can't remember who's written it, because this long time since I read it. But I believe that you get to that point where there is a gateway, and at that gateway, this sounds idyllic and some people may think illusory and stupid, but I don't really care because it's what I believe, but I believe our loved ones are waiting for us at that gate. And uh when we pass through that gate, we are back to that sublime time for our soul and spirit.

Oliver D.:             [00:53:40.00] Hmm, well that's interesting and great to hear your thoughts uh on that Russell, thank you. Well, now we're coming towards the end of the show, and the kind of last question we got for you is going to be moving slightly away from the psychic and spirit world. We just wanted the listeners to know a bit more about you in terms of what you like to read and what you like to watch on TV. So are there any kind of like TV shows or box sets that you are into recently?

Russell G.:           [00:54:02.13] I love water presents on channel four. I love all of the, and BBC for doing them as well. I love continental cinema, continental series. I’m particularly fascinated by Nordic Noir. But I’m more at home with continental stuff with subtitles than I am with any British dramas. I know where that comes from in my chart. I have Uranus, which is the planet, which some people call the oddity planet.

But it's the planet that goes for unusual eccentric risqué, uh, out of the ordinary, extraordinary things. And the ninth house is the area of the chart which is travel, and anything to do with the international. So put Uranus in the ninth house, and you get my fascination for all those things which are other television, um, networks across the constant. I saw one recently from Bulgaria, which was just incredible.

I feel that in many ways, that what they produce on the continent in Holland, in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, uh is just incredible, I’m watching one at the moment, uh called witch hunt, which is Norwegian. So I love that kind of telling. And um, if I’m going for lighthearted Telly, then I absolutely love David Dickinson and Dickinson’s room.

Oliver D.:             [00:55:42.18] Right, okay. Yes, who doesn't like that?

Russell G.:           [00:55:44.25] He just makes me laugh; I just like him very much. But the other thing that I love is, um, with television, I love anything that is a documentary, but uh, with a historical uh slant. So I would thoroughly enjoy programs on the first world war, and um, not so much the second, but the first world war, but anything historical, so documentaries really are where I'm coming from when it comes to television.

Um, yeah, I mean that would be it really. Um, and I’m more of a radio person to be perfectly honest with you, I love radio plays. Because it allows your brain and the imagination to work. I’m well aware having been a Carer for dementia for both my grandmother and my mother, that you need to use the brain like a muscle and that's what I do. And one of the big channels I love is talking pictures. Talking pictures with all of those great black and white movies.

I absolutely love why? More than anything, because my mum and dad worked at pinewood studios and that's where they met. So my mother was a contract secretary for all the big British stars Deborah Carr, Dirk Beaugard, Stuart Granger my dad was a set designer. So when I look at a lot of, the um films on talking pictures, I very often see either my uncle's name come up John Pedro, my mother's brother.

Or I know that my father had worked on something like life spirit with no coward, or my mother had done the contract for Debra Carr in one of her movies. So I love talking pictures.

Oliver D.:             [00:57:45.16] Wow, that's really interesting. I’m sure everyone listening would have found that interesting to hear all that as well, thank you, Russell. Um, well they say it's been wonderful to have you on psychic social today. And before we let you go, Russell, we need to let everyone know that Russell has joined us on psychic.co.UK as our brand-new astrologer, to provide weekly horoscopes for you all which we're so pleased about.

All you have to do is head over to the site, hit the link, psychic.co.UK/horoscope. And then you can choose your star sign, you'll be able to see what's in store for you for the week ahead, and that'll be right there for you on the site. So, um, thank you again for this Russell, I’m sure everyone will enjoy reading their horoscopes each week at the website. So again, head to psychic.co.UK/horoscope and check out your horoscope for your star sign right there.

And all that leaves me to say is thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all this great stuff with me and the listeners here, Russell. It's been a wonderful introspective into your life today, and thank you for joining us on the show.

Russell G.:           [00:58:42.05] Oliver, it's my pleasure. And thank you for inviting me to produce and present, well, astrology on your new venture.

Oliver D.:             [00:58:53.23] Thank you very much, we're delighted to have you on board, so thank you and thank you for joining us again. Take care of yourself, and we look forward to talking with you again soon. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Russell G.:           [00:59:02.14] God bless you.

Outro:                   [00:59:08.04] Thanks for joining us on psychic social, from psychic.co.UK. The spiritual home of psychics.