Eddie Izzard explains how fear made her learn to be a pilot

What did you miss?

Eddie Izzard shocked Saturday Kitchen host Donal Skehan with the revelation that she has a pilot's licence. The cook and presenter was left baffled by the news of Izzard's hidden talent away from acting and comedy.

Izzard explained that she had learned to take on a lot of things that scare her, having had to overcome a lot of fear in order to come out as transgender several years ago. One of those things was air travel.

Who, what and why?

Izzard appeared on the show to discuss bringing her one-woman production of William Shakespeare's classic tragedy Hamlet to the London stage. The 62-year-old star recoiled at being offered ricotta cheese as part of a recipe on the show.

"I'm scared of cheese, but I'll try it. I'm here to try things," said Izzard. "Having come out as trans four years ago, I had to push back a lot of fear in my life."

She then went on to explain that some of the things she decided to try in order to get past fear were a lot more dangerous and dramatic than a few piece of cheese.

Izzard said: "I learned to fly because I was scared of flying, so I have a pilot's licence. I pushed back on fear. You know, like, bumpy air. I used to be very scared of the bumpy air. But it's just like bumpy road, but it's in the air. So I got the hang of it."

Skehan was taken aback, explaining that in all of his research prior to interviewing Izzard on the show, he had no idea that she had learned to fly alongside her many pursuits, including in politics and marathon running as well as comedy.

He was particularly impressed by Izzard's unique production of Hamlet, in which she plays 23 different roles and even manages to stage a sword fight with herself.

What else happened on Saturday Kitchen?

Skehan was joined in the kitchen by chefs Sabrina Ghayour and Jack Stein, as well as wine expert Olly Smith. Fans on social media, though, were disappointed by the absence of regular host Matt Tebbutt.

Viewers were given the choice of whether Izzard would be served her food heaven or hell at the end of the show. The heaven dish was a "trio of Thai treats", while her food hell was a seafood dish including fish, clams, and mussels.

Read more: