JaackMaate’s Happy Hour

Only a few thousand people have ever had the chance to lace up their boots and play in a Champions League final… but less than 50 have ever refereed it. And of those 50, only 2 have been English. Today… we speak to one of those men. Mark Clattenburg.  From refereeing the 2016 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, to also refereeing the iconic France vs Portugal Euros final in the same year - Mark has been the man-in-the-middle for some of the most iconic football matches in recent history.  What is it like to not only share the field with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, but to referee them? Who is harder to control? Who’s the best up close? Just how difficult is it to referee maniacs such as Luis Suarez? Who is the worst footballer to share a pitch with?  Mark Clattenburg was an elite referee who operated at the top level for 13 years, and today on Happy Hour he shares some exclusive behind the scenes stories that are guaranteed to make you see referees in a different light. Is it ever truly possible for a referee to be unbiased? Mark’s answer might shock you!  What’s the biggest on field mistake Mark ever made? How about his greatest call of all time? Just how did Mark play a part in the recent Lucas Paqueta betting court case? Do refs ever get a kick out of sending somebody off? Now that Mark is fully retired, he has no problem sharing the ugliest parts of the beautiful game.  Mark’s podcast Whistleblowers is available on all podcast platforms now! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/whistleblowers/id1763839656 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy New Year! As is our annual tradition here at Happy Hour, we’re rounding up the year with a Big Fat Quiz. Jaack is hosting while Stevie is going head to head with comedian and fan fave Jamie Hutchinson, plus newcomer Liam Shaw who hosts his very own pub quiz podcast.  Liam (or whatever his name ends up being) is one of Jaack’s favourite online content creators who posts comedy sketches under the alias TheSquidVids. And for those who don’t know Jamie from ep #551, he has plenty of stories from 2007 which was the last good year of his bleak life, and we hear all about his “genital stimmer”, which we’re fairly confident no-one else on the planet experiences…   Join us as we look back on the biggest and silliest stories of 2025, including AI actors, jewellery heists, the new pope, kiss cams, pregnant cartoons, and former lesbians.  Will Stevie defend his title, or will we see a brand new winner take home the trophy? Play along with the boys and let us know how many points you scored!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Betwixmas y’all. In the final episode of the year, Jaack and Stevie decided the best festive finale would be to look back on all of the guests we’ve ever had on Happy Hour and decide who the sexiest 11 are.  We debate a genuinely controversial Top 10 that’s guaranteed to split opinion. We have to jog Stevie’s memory too as we go through a top 11’s list that he made in the back of the car while smashed after the Christmas special recording.  We also rank the funniest guests ever, the best stories the podcast has produced, and give our personal picks for the top guests of the past year. Plus, we settle the debate on who the most “Happy Hour” guest is that could genuinely be our honorary Fifth Skin…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a beer heavy episode with special guests Jon Beer and pint-lover BambinoBecky joining us for our festive finale! Nothing says Christmas like 5 men (and Becky) discussing premature ejaculation while downing copious amounts of alcohol. Get ready for a festive episode that absolutely derails within minutes.  In our longest Christmas special EVER, Father Rizzmas is back with another Christmas quiz, Secret Santa turns unexpectedly nasty, and Anonymous Questions expose what everyone really thinks of each other!  Stevie drops a confession that completely smashes his long-held reputation as a perfect driver, and Jaack admits to stealing a neighbour’s pet, before traumatising everyone with a horrific story from a gym shower that should never have been witnessed.  We might have to sue John Lewis over some deeply questionable crackers. We say a very emotional goodbye to the last ever batch of Charlie Hodson’s sausage rolls. BEEF is also on the menu as Stevie has a bone to pick with one of our guests…  We react to the wild assumptions about Becky and Jon that our viewers have submitted, we play a few rounds of the iconic game ‘Carrot in a Box’, and see the episode out with another legendary rap from Alfie. Merry Christmas you lovely humans! 💛   (Please let us know if you came while listening.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year’s Christmas special guest is the man who made Jaack fall in love with comedy in the first place. From The Office and Extras, to a body of work that’s influenced an entire generation, the legendary Ricky Gervais returns to Happy Hour. Ricky first appeared on the show when the podcast was only a few episodes old, at a time when every bit of support mattered, and his early appearance gave the show a huge boost. Now, more than 600 episodes later, it feels incredibly special to welcome him back.  Ricky tells us about the time he nearly died on stage, why the adverts for his vodka company Dutch Barn were banned, and how he decided which charities would receive his incredibly generous £2.4 million donation.  Known for his infamous bath pics, Ricky also weighs in on Jaack’s story about deliberately waterboarding himself in the bath just to see what it felt like. The conversation takes a deeper turn as Ricky opens up about coming to terms with his own mortality. But on a lighter note, Ricky reacting to some of the Internet’s best animal news stories leads to us uncovering how he was once involved with a monkey let loose inside an IKEA!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices