EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Rugby stars Mike Tindall and James Haskell fail to turn their #1 podcast into profit

He has experienced perhaps the greatest moments an athlete can dream of – playing in a World Cup winning team – and is married into the royal family.

But it seems that Mike Tindall’s life is not exactly easy.

Although he no longer has to risk his body as in his rugby days – breaking his nose at least eight times and once risking his life when he suffered a punctured lung, a ruptured liver and lost two liters of blood – Tindall (44) , said you still appear to be battered.

In financial terms, it is…

I can reveal that the company he started three years ago with ex-international James Haskell, 38, and Old Etonian broadcaster Alex Payne, 42, now has a deficit of £342,266 – almost triple last year .

James Haskell and Mike Tindall on the House of Rugby Podcast. Launched in 2018, it quickly established itself as the UK’s most popular rugby podcast

The numbers hardly reflect the dazzling promise of the trio of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby’s first podcast, produced by their company BigJam Productions, which rose to #1 on the Apple Charts in December 2020.

By this point, however, Tindall and his fellow podcasters were embroiled in a legal tangle in the High Court, where they were being sued for damages for so-called “disclosure”. The case was brought against them by the new owners of a company for which they hosted House Of Rugby, which quickly established itself as the UK’s most popular rugby podcast after it launched in 2018.

Tindall, who married Queen Elizabeth’s eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips in 2011, joined Haskell and Payne in a vigorous defense claiming they are owed £75,000 in unpaid fees by House Of Rugby’s original producers . The case was settled just over a year ago – without a trial.

Tindall has since posted on I’m A Celebrity and interviewed Zara for a YouTube channel – the first in a series he hosts called Mike Drop.

Neither Tindall, Haskell nor Payne responded to my request for comment.

Tindall, who married Queen Elizabeth’s eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips in 2011, defended herself as vigorously as Haskell.

Dangerous? No, my cheetah is just a cat

Freya Aspinall certainly seems to have inherited her father Damian’s fearlessness when it comes to getting close to wild animals.

The 19-year-old, who spent her childhood at Damian’s wildlife gardens in Kent, shared this photo of her resting on a grass next to Saba the cheetah. Freya, whose mother is actress and model Donna Air, looked completely at ease with the big cat, who has been raised with her brother Nairo at Howletts Wild Animal Park since birth.

Freya Aspinall certainly seems to have inherited her father Damian’s daredevilry when it comes to getting close to wild animals

The pair were the first British-born cheetahs to be reintroduced into the wild. They were initially moved to the Ashia Cheetah Sanctuary in Western Cape, South Africa where they stayed before being moved to Mount Camdeboo Private Game Reserve and then properly introduced into the wild.

Comedian Rob Delaney thought he had some great anecdotes up his sleeve. Until he found himself with Tom Cruise on the set of the latest Mission: Impossible movie – and realized that he would never make it to Hollywood superstardom by dropping the name. “Tom tells me stories about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton,” says the 46-year-old. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I saw my friend Jeff play,’ and he’s like, ‘Well, Elizabeth Taylor called me.’

Petronella Wyatt was apparently unaware of how seriously Italians take religion. Boris Johnson’s former lover, who once holidayed in the staunchly Catholic country for Easter, thought she was going back to a bakery for some popular spicy treats, but she was quickly disproved.

“In Venice there is a chocolate shop near a friend’s house. They sell delicious chocolate with statements from the Karma Sutra,” says the 54-year-old author. “I wanted to knock someone down at Easter and the owner looked at me in shock [saying]: “We don’t sell them during Holy Week!” Totally right too.

So can he talk?

Huw Edwards would rather prepare in public than ask TV producer wife Vicky Flind for her opinion

If anyone sees Huw Edwards talking to himself on public transport, don’t be alarmed. The news anchor doesn’t show the first sign of insanity, he just talks through every scenario that could happen during King Charles’ coronation.

“I would be lying if I said I don’t train in my head. I often sit on the tube and think, “What would I say if that happened?” or “What’s the best way to put it?” says the 61-year-old, who directs the BBC’s coverage on May 6. views. “I don’t stand in front of a mirror and say to my wife, ‘Can you listen to this? I think she will probably ask me to leave the room.’

Edited by Jack Teague