06/12/2013 The One Show

Tonight on The One Show. How the storm surge swelled up a street. We

are there as homes collapsed into the sea.

Hello and welcome to The One Show with Chris Evans. And Alex Jones.

Our guest tonight is a man who not only met Nelson Mandela, but last

year ran 27 marathons in Mr Mandela's honour. It is Eddie

Izzard! I should add that I failed in that attempt. We will talk about

it later. Salute to the great man. We would also like to show as many

pictures of viewers of The One Show with the former South African

president, we can. Eddie has relatives on the south coast. He

called them before the show. What news? They said the weather has been

fine in Bexley on Sea. He said there are things coming down but it has

not hit Bexley on Sea. Maybe it has just jumped Bexley on Sea. You said

you did not really know about it because you have just come in from

Canada? No, I had not picked up on that. No. It sounds

semi-apocalyptic. Not as bad as it could have been. Last night we were

reported live from Great Yarmouth as residents prepared seed offences. He

stayed with them. 15,000 in all evacuated. The real drama was

happening up the coast. David Whiteley was therefore The One Show.

Everything you will see unionists next film happened between last and

this morning. -- in this film. Every day Jackie dreads listening to

the weather forecast. And today more than ever. What is predicted to

happen tonight could literally change her life. Jackie's home is

perched precariously on a clifftop. The violent storm expected could see

it topple over the edge into the sea. A neighbour has already moved

out, his home condemned. It is only a matter of time before Jackie's

home suffers the same fate. How worried are you? Very worried. We

don't know what the next storm is going to bring. Do you ever go to

bed thinking, if we have a bad storm tonight we may wake up in the house

homeless? Yes. That is what we think. Look how close the house is

to the edge. The whole resort is fighting for survival. When you get

weather like this, it is no wonder people in Helmsley are worried about

their future. -- Hemsby. There are no sea defences. So they are doing

it themselves. The fear of losing part of the village has brought the

whole community together as the storm rages outside. They have

gathered for a fundraising evening. It will add to the ?20,000 they have

raised to pay for their own seed offences. The whole community seems

to be behind this? 100%. We're having fun and raising money. The

community is dead set on enjoying and raising money at the same time.

The money raised will help to build sea defences? Every penny. While we

are filming in the pub, the storm surge is making its way down the

North Sea. The lifeboat hut is literally tipping into the sea. The

high tide has chiselled away underneath the foundations and it is

tipping up. Jackie and her husband, Steve, have been at the pub for the

fundraising evening. They have just returned home. Jackie is just going

into the house now with her husband. It is really close. The back of the

house has gone. What are we going to do now? I cant believe this has

happened. What is happening? We don't know because we are not

prepared for none of it. Where will you go tonight? People have offered

us somewhere to stay for the night. We did not expected to go this. Time

is of the essence. People have come down to help Jackie and Steve move

stuff out of their house before it goes over the edge. They are

grabbing anything they can. The house is not safe.

You need to prioritise now. They know save the house is not safe. You

can hear it rocking at the back. Everybody is out of the house. That

is it. Just as we go, we see the floor lifting. And what was

Jackie's neighbour's house is carried away by the sea.

In daylight you can see just how destructive the waves have been. It

is still so powerful this morning. The waves crashing on the beach.

This is as close as we can safely get. You can see the house now down

on the beach with four other houses lost last night. Jackie, this is

just on real? That is the living room, that is. It was the living

room. What time did it go over? We don't know. I cannot believe that is

your house on the beach. This is devastating. You have lost your

home. Yeah, lost everything. For now, the couple have been put up at

a local holiday camp. With another surge expected

I have come back from a tour on Canada. I played Moscow and

Istanbul. Germany is coming up next year. The DVD is on sale. With

subtitles as well. Also, I talk about stuff that is from Wikipedia,

cats with Guns, the Roman empire, you press a button and get all the

facts checked. It's an educational tool. There is a bleep track so the

kids can watch. Good for the young ones. You are celebrating 25 years

this year? Yes, I'm 25 years old. It's good now in my young life to be

touring after 25 years. You think when you started you would tour in

French, you would do it in German, Russian? I never thought that. It's

OK to be ambitious, I never thought I could get that going. The French

took 15 years. 15 years from the first one, that is in the

documentary of me being terrible in French. I got the fear in my head. I

couldn't think of the words I knew. I was sweating and bad. They asked

people, how do you think it went? The British people who were there

went - it was awful. A French woman said - he tried. It was good. Vint

are you for trying, strength over adversity. You love to experiment

with tours and live gigs before the 2020 assault on the Mayorship of

London? I have five-and-a-half years to go. I have to do. That I want to

do gigs and be torning in, Spanish, German and Arabic if I can get it

go. You are protective of your private life. Is there anything you

would want to get out of the way? I'm a transvestite. Are you ready

for that? Yeah, pretty much. I don't think it will be a huge difference

between being a performer... Celebrity... In the way that the

press might say, can we look at your private life. If people in my

private life don't want to be talked about in the press, I have to

respect that. That is their wishes, I don't talk about them. Where do

you sit on the subject of chocolate Brownies? I think they are

fantastic. I don't eat them any more. All sugar is fantastic. It's

drugs to me. I can't do it. If if you your body to be a sugar-free

temple of health, fine, you might want to look away. If you worship at

the temple of gooey snacks, you are in the right place.

Hard on the outside, squidgy on the inside. Chocolate brownies started

out in the USA as the accidental result of a badly made biscuit. We

asked you to send us your recipes for the UK's best brownie. Here are

the finalists. Gerri from Hertfordshire. I only use

top-quality ingredients. That is how I know I am the -- minor the best

brownies. Georgia from Sussex. I use cheaper chocolate, which works

brilliantly. And Becks from Brighton. My recipe has a secret

weapon. My home-made blackberry brandy will blow the judges's minds.

All of our contest and will have to impress me and Angela Gray. What are

the key features? I would say texture. Good overriding chocolate

flavour. Slightly crunchy on the outside. Not too crunchy. Good

squidgy factor. It is baking time. Former dinner lady Gerri is hoping

to impress. What are the three -- what do the chocolates at? It adds

to the taste and texture. The brownie itself is 4G. The chocolate

stays whole. It gives you a different taste experience. Gerri's

brownies are not for the faint-hearted. They are smothered in

Cocoa, double cream and peanut butter. I know you used to work in

school catering. Did you feed these to the kids? No. They could still

eat sponge when I work in catering. But nothing like these. Next is

Becks. She adds home-made blackberry brandy. Where did you get this

outrageous recipe from? The depths of my desire is to combine alcohol

and chocolate. It is boozy. You have got to like the blues to like this.

Because some of her family have coeliac disease, the brownies are

gluten-free. Does using gluten flour make a difference? Would defy you to

notice the difference. Finally, it is Georgia with her budget

brownies. She microwaves are chocolate, covers the lot and, she

is finished. I started making them one I was a student. Stuck for cash.

It made sense at the time. People enjoyed eating them. I tried more

expensive chocolate. I found the cheaper chocolate is work just as

well. What is the problem with using cheaper chocolate? The flavour is

just as good. After 40 minutes in the open, Georgia adds edible

glitter while Gerri and Becks give their brownies the finishing

touches. Time for tasting and judging. First up, Gerri's triple

chocolate peanut butter and cream smothered brownie that cost 78p each

to make. The peanut butter brings an edge of saltiness. That said, the

one thing is it removes the crunch from the top. Next, it is the

gluten-free boozy brownies from Becks costing 69p each. It

chocolatey and 40 and has lovely texture on top. It is almost

perfection. Slightly flowery. Finally, Georgia. A pinch at 27p.

Does it taste cheap? No, I don't think so. It does not do it

justice, really. They are like disco brownies. I like the squidgy nests

above the cookie. Eating dung, it is judgement time. I have to say, for

chocoholics like myself and Angela it has been fantastic. They were

superb. But there has to be a winner. The winner of the cook-off

is... Gerri! The richness of flavour and texture meant that Gerri's

really is Britain's best brownie. Thank you very much, congratulations

to Gerri. Here she is. They look incredible. This competition has

changed your life, hasn't it? It has. It really has. It made a huge

difference. How has it inspired you? Well, what I'm looking to do in the

new year is to try and sell my baking into small outlet's that

don't have time to bake themselves. Your recipe is on our website. Have

a taste. When we say award-winning brownies, we were going to present

you with an award, Alex went to grab it and smash it into pieces. It's

not an award you wanted to win. It must have been cheap. It is in two

bits. Try and make that. Presentation. I'm sorry, Gerri.

Sorry, Gerri. Hopefully, your business will take off and it will

all be worth it. Round of applause for Gerri. Why did you do that? I

told you I would sort it out, I did. Nelson Mandela created a lasting

impression on the people that met him, symbolising many things to many

of those people. The One Show has been to hear how he touched

different people's lives in some so many ways. -- so many ways. I met

Nelson Mandela months after he was released from prison. I met him in

1998 when I was six. He came to Cardiff. I was privileged to meet

Madiba when he visited our community in Brixton. We used to write to him

when he was confined on Robben Island. He said publicly he wished

to thank people who had been in support of their struggle. I was

Chief Executive of Lambeth when Nelson Mandela came to visit in

1996. I first met Nelson Mandela here at Wembley Stadium. I produced

the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute and his official

international reception. Madiba was a tremendous inspiration because he

embodied having confronted the extreme of what we were

experiencing. During 1970s there were hand-to-hand fightings, stones,

bricks, petrol bombs were seen on the streets of Brixton. We wanted to

be respected. We had no place in the system. Apartheid is an unimaginable

thing for most people. Being regarded as less than human. Not

being able to be free. This reflected certain of our

experiences. For us, he was the model of challenging those things.

What struck me when he came out of prison was, firstly his lack of

bitterness. If anything, the years in prison made him more determined

that South Africa would be free. Having met him on a number of

occasions, every time was a privilege to be in his company. When

you spoke to him, you felt he was speaking to you, not to anybody

else. Some other politicians their eyes are shifting when they are

looking over your shoulder for someone more important to speak to.

I presented the flowers as planned. I walked along the red carpet. I was

supposed to sit in the audience with my dad. He said, sit with me on the

podium. I sat on his lap. His personality shown through

straightaway when he was interacting with the children, dancing,

clapping, singing. He was enjoying himself. That really came through,

his charisma. As Nelson Mandela came out of the car there was a cheer and

eruption of sheer joy. When he spoke, you could hear a pin drop. I

love each and every one of you here without exception. I think I was

speechless actually. I felt I was in the presence of somebody who was

utterly exceptional. He hadn't been used to talking on television, he

wasn't used to microphones. Before he went into prison he was speaking

off the back of lorries. He was wait politely for the crowd to be quiet.

That was an eight minute standing ovation. After eight minutes he

decided to speak. He started with the very historic words... Thank you

that you choose to care. We were having lunch in north London. We

said, we are concerned about your health? He simply said, thank you

for your concern, I have 27 years to make up for. I thought, there you

go. Over the last 15 years I've felt like a closeness to him and a bit of

a link when I heard about him in the news. I felt like, I know him

almost. If I had to describe him in one word "humanitarian" one word I

would say "charismatic" The key thing for me is "integrity" His

towering humanity. Great courage, great compassion. Great spirit,

reconciliation. The Reverend Rose Wilkins is here

for us. Nelson Mandela's legacy is about the lesson he taught us all in

forgiveness, isn't it, really? Absolutely. Many years ago someone

asked me what my ambitious in life was -- ambition in life was. I said

my ambition was to meet Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela

was the hero amongst us. You know, normally we have heroes on a page in

a book that you read about. He was living. He was here. For me, his

legacy will actually not so much about someone preaching from a

pulpit, someone living out what forgiveness meant. Someone living

out what love is. That was real and tangible. He was not a power hungry

person. He wasn't about that. He really simply wanted to serve, to

care for the vulnerable. He wanted justice. He wanted freedom. That's

just an amazing thing to hang on to. Great legacy. Forgive comes from a

lack of bitterness and anger, which surprised so many people after he

was incars rated unjustly for 27 years. They continued to be surprise

about that? Yes. The reason people are so surprised he can be so

forgiven. We know if that was our experience the rage that would be

inside us, for such great injustice. Yet, we do not see that rage from

him. What we see is pure love. Pure love. Just reaching out, not unlike

the love of Jesus Christ. We know that Nelson Mandela has affected and

inspired you. What were your impressions when you met him the

first time Well, he wasn't meeting people. It was 2011, a couple of

years ago, he wasn't meeting, suddenly he was. I was doing charity

gigs in South Africa for his charity and he was going to be there. My

mind was blown by meeting him. He had a great energy. He was saying,

"I met the Queen of England, she was there, the Queen of the Netherlands

I met her. You must tell me about this. What is it you do? I do not

know what you do." He was chatting away. Who landed on the moon...

Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was walking out as I was going in. Did

you give him a hifive? I didn't realise he was sitting there. The

intended 27 Mandela marathons. 27 in 27 days as a tribute to his 27 years

in prison. After four I had to stop. The doctor told me to stop. That was

great. I'm plugged into doctors who are telling me what I should be

doing. I will go back hopefully 2014 doing all 27. I will keep doing it

until I do it. What an amazing effort. The Thank you to our guests

this evening. His DVD is out now. Now it's the South African Cultural

Talents Choir. Have a great weekend, goodbye. Goodbye.