Podbit · Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe

S12 EP48: Stop me if you've heard this one before

Explore episode Jun 19, 2026

Society & Culture

The Holiday That Never Was: Bumping Into Your University Tutor

S12 EP48: Stop me if you've heard this one before · Jun 19, 2026 Society & Culture

At 18, on a first big holiday to Asia, a listener clocked their university tutor at the airport. Panic. Awkward glances on the flight. Then at the other end, the tour guide revealed he was waiting for two more for the same experience. It was the tutor and her husband. Six hours in a car, three nights in a tent. The tutor thought the listener was a different student entirely.

Where this was said

Seeing People on Holiday: The Uni Tutor Tent Nightmare

At 41:40 · chapter starts 40:20

Rob introduces listener correspondence about bumping into people you don't want to see on holiday. The standout submission comes from an anonymous 18-year-old on her first major trip to Asia with her boyfriend. She spots her university tutor — a figure already established within her flatmate group as 'a bit of a monster' — at the departure airport. There are agonising glances on the flight but neither speaks. At the destination airport, the tour guide waiting to take them up part of the Tian Shan mountains mentions he's waiting for two more people who booked the same experience. It's the tutor and her husband. Six hours crammed in a car together, three nights camping on a mountain, and the tutor doesn't even correctly identify who the student is — thinking she's someone else entirely. On return to university, the student posted about the experience on the course Facebook group and received a formal reprimand for sharing her lecturer's 'private life'. She was known for the rest of the year as 'the girl who went on holiday with her tutor'.

Society & Culture

Uni tutor shared tent for 3 nights

S12 EP48: Stop me if you've heard this one before · Jun 19, 2026

A listener on a backpacking trip in Asia discovered their university tutor had booked the exact same remote mountain experience, forcing them to share a car and tent for three nights.

Comedy

The Secret Business Class Upgrade

S12 EP48: Stop me if you've heard this one before · Jun 19, 2026 Comedy

Rob Beckett negotiated a last-minute business class upgrade on a South Africa comedy tour without telling his fellow acts. He hid in the airport lounge, waited until Tim Sherwood boarded to time his own entrance, and made it all the way to his seat — only to turn around and find Simon Evans and the entire promotion team in the front row of premium economy, staring straight at him. The steward closed the curtain. He never looked back.

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