'I had half a Guinness – he looked distasteful'

It’s been seven years since Adam Hills swore off the booze – saying he’s ‘much happier and more productive’ because of it.

But he has confessed he’s slipped off the wagon twice, when drinks were thrust upon him. One was by the wife of his rugby league coach at a wedding. And the other was by Russell Crowe… in very unusual circumstances.

‘It wasn't just any old pub,’ he told the Dish podcast. ‘He invited me to his farm in New South Wales. And I was almost summoned.

‘Like I love Russell Crowe. He's amazing. I got a message saying, "Do you wanna come to the farm on Sunday?" And I was like, "Oh, I'm visiting my granddad this weekend. I'm a 19 hour drive away." And he wrote back, "There are these things called planes."

‘So I said, "Oh look, I'd love to come, but I need to do publicity in Melbourne next week." And then he wrote, "Don't do press on a Sunday." I was like, "No, I'm not. The press is on a Monday morning, but I need to be in Melbourne by 11". And then he wrote back, "There's a 9am flight, you can make it." I was like, "I'm coming."’

There he has rebuilt the pub from his 2010 Robin Hood film, The Blind Rabbit.

‘So we walked in and there's rugby league on TV and he said, "Uh, do you wanna pint?" And I went, "Um, I'm off the booze." Thinking, I've said "off the booze", he’ll know what that means.

‘He just went, "Yeah, but you're in The Blind Rabbit." I was like, "Yeah, but…" I said, "Genuinely, I haven't had a drink for a couple of years."

‘And he went, "Yeah, but you'll have a Guinness in the Blind Rabbit" "Okay." So I, I had half a pint of Guinness, and even the half a pint, he looked distasteful. It's almost like saying I'm lactose intolerant, but it's mother's milk, so I’ll have some.’

• Dish from Waitrose & Partners, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett is available on all podcast providers now.

Published: 19 Apr 2023