![]() “In Barbados they don’t drink with guilt or shame. “This lovely man called Ryan took us out and he said it’s all a respected part of culture,” chirps Miquita (also chuckling away). “In Barbados, you have a beer with your food at 8am on a Saturday morning and basically go on a pub crawl,” says Andi (in stitches of laughter). This is rectified as the intrepid travellers explore the Caribbean island by island (Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados), meeting islanders to get a real sense of local life and – most importantly – learning the different ways they let their hair down. Photograph: Errol Ettienne/BBC/Somethin’ Else To the point where I – a woman of Caribbean descent – didn’t even really know much about the other islands.” The pair also hope their adventure will help to change people’s perceptions of their destination: “In the UK, there’s a sort of homogenised idea of the Caribbean,” says Miquita. “We realised a dream to be more than presenters after broadcasting for so many years.” “It’s a big deal for us,” says Andi, of roles that saw her and Miquita work closely with the director, and get their teeth stuck into the editing. Not only did the duo finally get the chance to showcase their story, they were able to do it as more than just the stars of the show they pitched – they are also producers. “But the Black Lives Matter movement blowing up – it gave us the opportunity to tell what we’d wanted to for a long time.” “This kind of story has always been really important to us – and the world – it just wasn’t given a platform,” says Miquita. The new show was the pair’s second shot at it they had been trying to get it commissioned for nearly five years. “She didn’t get the personal, familial, gut-wrenching ‘connection’ that I wanted her to have.” “She was a moody teenager!” Andi quickly interrupts. “Mum treated me to a trip to Antigua for my 11th birthday, but I didn’t want to go if I’m honest I was young, settled at school and probably in love with a boy I didn’t want to leave behind,” giggles Miquita, fully aware of how brattish it sounds now. ![]() “My parents grew up on different ends of the same street in St John’s in Antigua,” recalls Andi, “but they didn’t actually meet until they moved here and went to a dance in Leicester.” It’s this sort of tale that has always piqued her curiosity about her heritage, but it’s taken a while for her daughter to catch up. Their next project is BBC Two’s culture series The Caribbean With Andi and Miquita, which airs on Sunday. Separately they are great – but united, they have an endorphin-pumping energy that can force a toothy smile out of anyone. They also charmed viewers on Celebrity Gogglebox. ![]() They gained a deeper understanding of each other, and got a flair for working together, so when the pandemic hit, the pair formed a bubble and started an irresistibly upbeat Instagram series, What’s for Dinner Mummy?, documenting the joy of cooking. It started with a BBC roadtrip show in 2018, Eight Go Rallying: The Road to Saigon, which saw them drive 3,000km around south-east Asia in a Morris Minor. ![]() But between bickering over which houses are the best to peek into on walks back home in east London, bursting into unstoppable deep belly laughs every five minutes, and occasionally pausing our conversation to answer the calls of other family members, it becomes clear that a restful time isn’t something the Oliver women experience much of.īoth have successful television careers in their own rights (TV chef Andi is now a regular on weekend cooking shows Miquita is best known for hosting 00s hit teen-show Popworld) but, in recent years, mother and daughter have merged their professional paths. “We just want to sleep for a bit,” groans Miquita. “We’re like Batman and Robin – obviously, I’m Batman.” Andi Oliver, 58, is with her daughter, Miquita, 37, bunkering down in a coastal cottage in Hastings for a while to recuperate after a busy 12 months of working together.
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