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Adrian Chiles

Adrian Chiles

The Sun

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Why do so many people dream of being dog groomers? Haven’t they seen the toll it can take?

Why do so many people dream of being dog groomers? Haven’t they seen the toll it can take?
yesterday 6

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I have lost all faith in zips

I have lost all faith in zips
previous day 8

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

This year, I want to say thank you more. Here’s why you should try it too

This year, I want to say thank you more. Here’s why you should try it too
16.01.2025 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

For the first time in 35 years, I’m having to use a pen and paper. Help!

For the first time in 35 years, I’m having to use a pen and paper. Help!
15.01.2025 8

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I can’t forget the confused old man on the bus the other day

I can’t forget the confused old man on the bus the other day
09.01.2025 9

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Many wise people have told me how to live a better life. Obviously I didn’t pay attention

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever had? It’s a common question to lob in at the end of an interview. I mean the kind of interview you...

08.01.2025 8

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Dear Santa, please bring back the plastic lids on yoghurt pots

All I want for Christmas is the return of yoghurt pot lids. And not just for me, for everyone. In this season of goodwill, I want everyone to get a...

18.12.2024 20

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Years of curiosity caught up with me – and I called that mysterious motorway helpline

I wasn’t sure if he wanted to fight me or just tell me something, but the bloke in the car behind wanted me to pull over. As far as I could see,...

27.11.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Do you want to hear about my dreams? No, I didn’t think so

There are three things I find fascinating about myself that I can’t tell anyone about without boring them to death: music, food and dreams. Someone...

21.11.2024 6

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

We’ve lost 20,000 pubs since I started drinking in them. That sends a chill down my spine

A closed pub is a sad, sad sight. Where once was life, people talking and laughing, now there is none. OK, bad stuff would have gone on too. I get...

20.11.2024 2

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Nicola Jennings on Elon Musk being appointed Trump’s ‘head of efficiency’ – cartoon

13.11.2024 2

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Inside I am smiling. So why do I always look so miserable?

There are several problems with my face, not least of which is that I look so bloody miserable all the time. Honestly, I’m usually smiling inside....

13.11.2024 20

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

A good book, peace and quiet and somewhere to sit: who could ask for more?

It’s excellent toilet reading, I say, when I’m talking about my book of some of these columns. People laugh, but on the quiet I mean it as a...

07.11.2024 2

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Ancient gameshows, long-dead stars, Gregg Wallace … I’m fascinated by Mum’s taste in TV

One thing led to another this week, and I spent some time with my mum. She spends her days doing four things, to all of which she brings great...

06.11.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I had never really considered bad luck before. A brilliant memoir changed all that

Today, I’m interviewing a jockeyon my radio programme about his memoir. Being not much into horse racing, I knew next to nothing about Davy...

31.10.2024 30

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Do motorway billboards signal the first death throes of capitalism?

I glimpse them in the distance just as the M4 readies itself to peter out into west London. They are now to be found along furred-up arterial roads...

30.10.2024 40

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

By assuming I am incompetent at everything, I’m making it so much worse

There is something worse than pure incompetence, and that is next-level incompetence – when your incompetence starts feeding off itself. It’s a...

23.10.2024 3

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Crisps, nuts, pastries, chocolate – put me at the wheel of a car and I will eat the lot

Tim Spector, the doctor and diet bloke behind the Zoe nutrition app, has a lot to say about how different bodies process the food put into them in...

16.10.2024 1

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I’m happy to be called love, bab or even pet. But I’d travel miles to be someone’s duck

At 8am on Sunday I was desperately short of fuel while heading north from Birmingham. I should have stopped at Tamworth, but I wanted to make my...

10.10.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I’ve spent my whole life searching for the perfect pillow. Will this torment never end?

Happiness is a comfortable pillow. Not that I would know, as I’ve never had one. If ever I do find one at a hotel or some such, I will certainly...

09.10.2024 2

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Would you row across the Atlantic with someone like me? I certainly wouldn’t

Here are three of my favourite uses of figures of speech to describe the competence of footballers. Actually, there’s four, but one is too rude....

19.09.2024 5

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

She’s not just ‘Mum’. She’s my mum – and she does have a name

It turns out that I have strong views on the use of possessive determiners, which is odd because I’ve only just found out that’s what they are...

12.09.2024 20

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

After decades of trial and error, I think I’ve nailed the perfect handshake

Nearly 40 years ago I was introduced to a builder called Ambrose in a very dodgy pub in Birmingham. The moment has remained with me partly because...

11.09.2024 4

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Britons are most considerate drivers in the world. There – I said it

I met a middle-aged American couple who had been driving around the UK. Although they had enjoyed the experience, they had a question for me: why...

05.09.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I didn’t know what to expect from the Youth Sports Games. But they blew me away

Even though I didn’t know Graham Norton, I ended up playing simultaneous chess alongside Nemanja Vidić. I should explain. A couple of brothers...

04.09.2024 20

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

You know what nobody has ever said? ‘I wish that event went on a bit longer!’

Is it just me, or do most events go on a bit too long? Or, as in the case of the Olympics closing ceremony, a lot too long. The Olympics themselves...

14.08.2024 1

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I have sciatica — now I never go anywhere without a small, hard, ball

I never go anywhere without a small, hard ball about my person. Sciatica, you see. In my case it involves a shooting pain originating somewhere in...

08.08.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

Watching the Olympics is making me wonder: is sport good for us?

Is sport good for you? I’m beginning to wonder. Ahead of the Olympics I spoke to Andy Hodge, one of our greatest rowers. He told me how, plagued...

07.08.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I always expect a warm welcome in Ireland. But Galway blew me away

When it comes to friendliness and fun, I hold the Irish to higher standards than people of other countries. So when the chap at the car rental desk...

31.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

How do young people ever get any work done? They’re always so distracted

‘You are bloody useless,” the erection manager said to me. He was referring to my proficiency at scaffolding. His name was Alan and that was his...

24.07.2024 2

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles

I found a witch supply store opposite a Nisa Local. It’s the start of a magical journey

I saw a strange thing on the way to Cradley Heath. Or thought I did. I was driving my mum’s car to a garage for a service. I passed a shop for...

18.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Adrian Chiles