With football close to resuming, we find out from Charlie Nicholas about his life in lockdown and what he has been getting up to.
What has been your go-to during lockdown?
My go-to has been getting myself fit. My training was bland when I was younger, unless it involved crossing and finishing. Keeping fit now was getting harder and harder, so I have been looking at new directions for someone my age.
I have tried yoga and stretching but it was too slow, so I ended up doing a lot of cardio on YouTube. I watched a few videos to see what I could develop and have been at it for five weeks, and I am finally starting to get fit.
I am doing just over an hour a day, so get up in the morning and get it done. My aches and pains are better and I feel mentally better, otherwise I am bored and fed up.
Another thing I have fallen into, without the grandchildren or children, is gaming. I found an Xbox and I have been practicing my Xbox skills with the golf. It has been a great resource for me in terms of the time passing, as I am not a great TV man.
If football or golf is on I am glued to it, but I need activity for my head. I love taking notes of players and studying teams, which is what I enjoy so much.
I do the fitness but at five or six o’clock it is a hard time for me, so that is the time when I go on the Xbox. It was the best Easter Sunday I have had for years.
I played the Masters with Tiger Woods in the afternoon, I was in Milan listening to the opera and then I won the family quiz! I finished it off with a couple of drinks and that was the most sensational Sunday I have had in ages.
Who has been the best/worst during lockdown, out of pundits or ex professionals?
Of our boys, Paul Merson has had a few difficulties, but he has come through it pretty well. He has enough in him to keep him active, so it has been more testing for him with the boredom and what not.
Phil Thompson has been stuck in his house. They have a few grandchildren and he cannot get to see him, and that is heart-breaking.
The babies do not get it, and they are totally bowled over with their grandchildren, so that will have been the hardest thing I think. Missing kids like that is a bit of a punishment.
Who you have been calling the most?
I have to do a bit with other businesses, so I have had quite a lot of that in the late afternoon, so that has kept me going. I am not a guy who talks consistently. We text now and again with the Soccer Saturday guys but we would much rather see each other and have a giggle.
I just haven’t had a habit of doing it, but the selection of differing videos that have been sending have been great. I would imagine that the first four weeks, the amount of videos I was getting were brilliant.
I have been sending those on to my mum, and she is a social animal. She goes to dancing, she goes into town for lunch, and having those to send has been a nice relief, so she is getting that within the boredom. I keep trying to be as fun as possible, so I have loved the videos.
What will be the first thing you do once lockdown is relaxed?
Probably, the first thing I do will be to give my eldest daughter a hug. Her wedding was cancelled and they have been in lockdown as well of course. As much as I can speak and do quizzes, you cannot physically hug them, so that will be the first thing.
I need to take mum out for a glass of wine to talk about herself for an hour! Those are the two key personal agendas, but as a football TV guy, I would love to get straight back into the studio, get the fun going again, share a couple of drinks, talk about how the season will end, and then the professional element will be back. It needs to be back!
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