Hilary Whitehall on working with family and her Mother's Day disasters

"Working with family is a mixed blessing," says the actress and mother to comedian, Jack Whitehall

One4all teamed up with actress, podcast host and comedian Jack Whitehall’s mum, Hilary to help the public avoid a forgetful situation this Mother’s Day. Picture: Trevor Leighton

Working with family can certainly bring some challenges but for Jack, Hilary and Michael Whitehall, it seems to be working a treat.

With their own comedy series (Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father) and podcast (The Wittering Whitehalls), the trio spends plenty of time together. 82-year-old Michael Whitehall worked as an agent before he decided to join his son, comedian Jack Whitehall for a new adventure. Hilary also pops in to check on the hilarious duo on occasion and to act, as she says, as “peacekeeper”.

“As you would expect, working with family is a mixed blessing,” Hilary tells me over Zoom. “I quite often find myself in the role of referee. They do disagree. It will not surprise you to learn that they have slightly different views on things, but my role is Peacekeeper and Peacemaker when they disagree on things. They also work at a different pace. So again, I have to slow Jack down and speed Michael up so that they meet in the middle in terms of pace.

“It's a lot of fun, and it's very interesting. Jack is very creative. He's got an amazing mind and it's wonderful to watch him work.” 

Their travel shows usually see Jack and Michael venture to new places, try new things, and inevitably, have a (hilarious) disagreement or two. While Hilary is an actress, her husband of 37 years was more used to being in the “backroom” and to decide to take up a performing career at the age of 72 was “interesting”, she says, “But he took to it like a duck to water”.

“We were privileged and blessed enough to have a son who was very successful very early on. But how lovely that he wanted to then share that with us,” she adds.

And with a travel show, comes plenty of amazing memories too.

“I wasn't on all the travels. I used to dip in and out of it, but certainly for Michael to travel the world. I mean, a trip to Putney High Street is an adventure for him. He's not an easy traveller. So, for Jack to take him off to the Far East and Australia, Eastern Europe and America was amazing. Amazing. A real privilege.” 

Hilary and Jack Whitehall. Picture: Trevor Leighton

Hilary and Michael also share another son, Barnaby and a daughter, Molly.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, a bubbly Hilary tells me her adult children love to “wind [her] up” each year and pretend they have forgotten to get her a present. 

According to research conducted by One4All, one in three Irish people admit to forgetting Mother's Day. But one year as teenagers, Hilary says her children *really* didn’t get her anything. And boy, did they pay the price.

“There was a lot of teenage talk about how they didn't have time to get anything and I sort of struggled through breakfast thinking I'll just take this one. It is what it is. I went upstairs to run a bath. I thought, I’ll have a bath and calm down. Then I thought, No, I'm not taking this. So I came back downstairs and I berated them for 10 minutes," she explains.

“Then I came out of the kitchen back into the hall where there was literally water running through the light fittings because I hadn't turned the bath off. I went upstairs into the bathroom and I came in and said: ‘Right, not only have you forgotten Mother's Day, but you've made this happen. So you're all going to contribute to the builder to put this right. And that was a very expensive Mother's Day for them.” 

This year, Mother’s Day is a little different and falls the day after her granddaughter’s birthday.

“I think the two-year-old birthday may take precedence. They'll all remember the birthday and forget Mother's Day,” she says, but hints that she would love a One4All gift card.

Dressed in a green jumper and matching sunglasses, Hilary also explains her love for Ireland. After all, it is where her parents met. They were both students at Trinity in the late 1940s.

“If it wasn't for Ireland, I wouldn't be here,” she says.

“If Jack is ever playing in Dublin, I'm right there. And then my nephew has married an Irish girl. She's actually a surgeon over here. She came over here to train, and they met and so we have experienced an Irish wedding. That is a big beast. An Irish wedding is a whole weekend of a big celebration. And we loved it.” 

But despite their continuous jokes about forgetting Mother’s Day (and actually forgetting that one time), it’s fair to say the Whitehalls still make one another laugh.

“They all make me laugh. Still. Michael is a very funny rapporteur. I mean, the first time I met Michael, he made me roar with laughter and he still makes me roar with laughter 37 years later.”

• One4all teamed up with actress, podcast host and comedian Jack Whitehall’s mum, Hilary to help the public avoid a forgetful situation this Mother’s Day.