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Welcome to the third and final installment of our blog series getting to know members of the 17�Թ����� Content Team through a series of quick fire questions. If you’ve not already read parts 1 and 2, catch up now. Today we’re chatting with 3 members of the team, a couple of who you may not have heard from before as they work more ‘behind the scenes’ on all things content…

Alan Capel – Head of Community

What’s your favourite place on earth?

“Oh lord. There is a park in Leicestershire called Bradgate Park, I grew up near there and used to spend many happy days of childhood there and I still go back to it now. It’s a special place”

What was the first album you bought?

“Ooo the first album I bought was by Showaddywaddy and it was called Red Star. The first single I bought was by T Rex and it was called Metal Guru”

You get stuck in a lift with 3 people (dead or alive) who are they?

“Gary Lineker, Barack Obama and who else? Someone who would be interesting, like an absolute psychopath…Iggy Pop. Oh hang on, can they be dead?”

*confirms they can be dead*

“In that case, Joe Strummer from the Clash instead of Iggy Pop.”

What is your favourite movie quote?

‘My mistake, four coffins…’ – Joe, A Fistful of Dollars

What’s the last song that was stuck in your head?

“The last song that was stuck in my head is Three Lions or Vindaloo”

What’s your favourite TV show?

“The Sopranos. My daughter Meadow is named after someone from the Sopranos, Meadow Soprano”

Do you have an unusual celebrity crush and if so who is it?

“Gary Lineker” *laughter* “Ok a woman…there are loads now. Helen Mirren, she’s a bit old now but then so am I”

What’s your favourite ’90s jam?

*looks confused*

“Oh music! I though you meant like strawberry or raspberry…I’m so old” *laughing* “favourite 90’s song is Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis”

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

“What about pets?…oh I’m not very good at this. Something that annoys me, queuing. Queueing really annoys me, I am rubbish at queuing. I have to be first everywhere”

What was your childhood nickname?

“Yes I was called Bert and hundreds of people still call me Bert”

How do you take your tea?

“I take it with milk and no sugar, but I like it to be quite strong”

What is something everyone looks stupid doing?

“Curtsying, people just look stupid when they curtsy”

Do you like cheese?

“It’s alright…I’m not a massive cheeser”

What’s your favourite cheese?

“I should say Red Leicester because it’s from Leicester and there’s a theme with Lineker running through this but I don’t actually like Red Leicester, so I can’t say that. I quite like Stilton but only on a burger”

Ben – Content Operations and Services Manager 

What’s your favourite place on earth?

“Favourite place on earth? I don’t know, I’ve not been to all of the places on earth yet…I quite like my house, my bed possibly. Favourite place I’ve been to so far, probably Gozo in Malta. It’s very laid back, chilled, warm, nice food, close to the sea…”

What was the first album you bought?

“This is going back to cassette tape days. The first cassette tape I owned was given to me by my gran which was Deep Purple – Machine Head, kind of border line heavy metal. First one I bought was Madonna – True Blue, so quite varied”

You get stuck in a lift with 3 people (dead or alive) who are they?

“My wife and my two kids”

What is your favourite movie quote?

“We’ve got no food, we’ve got no jobs… our pets’ heads are falling off!!” – Lloyd, Dumb and Dumber

What’s the last song that was stuck in your head?

“I’ve got a recurring one that gets stuck in my head from the age of about 17 and I have no idea why and every now and then it gets stuck in my head on a loop. It’s Touch Me by Samantha Fox”

What’s your favourite TV show?

“Errm I think Mad Men was probably the first thing I really binge watched and I still think it’s one of the best things I’ve seen on telly.”

Do you have an unusual celebrity crush and if so who is it?

“Yes, it is unusual because it’s a man crush but George Clooney is a very handsome man and I just think he’s got better with age and it’s something I aspire to. The other reason is my wife has a massive crush on him as well so the more I can look like George Clooney the better for everyone”

What’s your favourite ’90s jam?

“Possibly going to be any number of Prodigy songs, because Prodigy was my sound track of the 90s. Sort of early ages of clubbing just coming out of raving, into the more commercial clubbing scene and I think Prodigy transcended both.”

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

“I don’t really have any, I’m quite chilled and relaxed. I don’t generally get bugged by anything. Getting stuck in traffic to and from work is annoying, as it’s something that happens regularly and it’s frustrating when I just want to get home or I’m desperate to get to work, to get home”

What was your childhood nickname?

“So, I grew up in Kent and a lot of people knew me as Benny, which is odd because no one calls me Benny now and occasionally when I go back and visit people in Kent people shout “Benny Gray” and I think “wooow” I’ve not heard that for a while. When I went to grammar school everyone called me Grayson and from there now everyone in my rugby team knows me as Grayson”

How do you take your tea?

“Strong with two sugars. Builders tea”

What is something everyone looks stupid doing?

“Cutting their toenails. You can’t do that gracefully”

Do you like cheese?

“Yes, I do like cheese”

What’s your favourite cheese?

“At the moment as it’s BBQ season and my wife is vegetarian, Halloumi”

David – Content Operations

What’s your favourite place on earth?

“I don’t know, wherever home is”

What was the first album you bought?

“I don’t know, it was probably Muse or something”

You get stuck in a lift with 3 people (dead or alive) who are they?

“Is it boring to just say 3 of your friends? If I was being awkward, just my fiancé”

What is your favourite movie quote?

“It’s alright, Andy! It’s just bolognese!” – DC Andy Wainwright, Hot Fuzz

Last song that was stuck in your head?

“Errr *thinks for a long time* I feel like it was something I’m not proud of being stuck there. It was probably Havana by Camila Cabello”

What’s your favourite TV show?

“Probably the US Office”

Do you have an unusual celebrity crush and if so who is it?

“I don’t”

What’s your favourite ’90s jam?

“Um, probably something by Blur”

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

“Probably something people do when they’re driving, rude drivers. People tailgating you in the fast lane”

What was your childhood nickname?

“Sharpie or something like that”

How do you take your tea?

“With milk and on the stronger side, no sugar”

What is something everyone looks stupid doing?

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Do you like cheese?

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What’s your favourite cheese?

“It depends on the purpose, for daily use obviously mature cheddar but maybe a mozzarella would be a more special cheese. That said, what about manchego for crackers”

We’d love to get to know you better, so why now have a go at answering some of the questions yourself in the comments below!