The High Performance Podcast

Award-winning comedian, writer, and television host Jimmy Carr has made millions of people laugh by saying the things most of us wouldn’t dare say out loud. But behind the jokes is a mind constantly wrestling with confidence, anxiety, control and the pressure to keep performing.

He joins Jake and Damian for an unusually revealing conversation about what it actually takes to build confidence, why humour can give us perspect...

When Jeremy Clarkson was sacked from Top Gear, Richard Hammond was offered something most presenters could only dream of: the chance to take control of the show. He said no. For Richard, Top Gear was never about one person, it was about the three of them, and he wasn’t prepared to step into Clarkson’s place alone.

Richard reflects on 26 years on the road and the personal cost of a life spent constantly somewhere else...

Dina Asher-Smith, Alex Albon, Nick Cox, Richard Osman and Phil Heath help Jake and Damian take on the struggle we hear about from you more than almost any other: comparing your real life to everyone else's highlight reel.

Even the people at the very top aren't immune. Dina explains why she deliberately avoids watching what her rivals do in training. Alex Albon opens up on how measuring himself against Max Verstappen at Red Bull ...

Former Red Bull Racing team principal and one of Formula 1’s most recognisable figures, Christian Horner spent 23 years building a life around winning. So when he lost the job he had done for two decades, his first feeling wasn’t anger. It was relief.

Christian opens up about the pressure of leading Red Bull through its most successful era, the emotional armour he built to protect his team, and the toll of always bei...

Andy Wilman is the legendary executive producer behind Top Gear and The Grand Tour, the creative force who helped turn a small, ageing motoring show into one of the most-watched programmes on the planet.

In this revealing conversation, Andy sits down with Jake to open up about the chaotic, brilliant, and often bruising journey behind the scenes. From the early days when Top Gear was “held together by accidents,” to t...

Boris Becker is one of tennis’s most iconic figures, a prodigy who won Wimbledon at just 17, a champion who reached the sport’s highest peaks, and a man who has faced extraordinary highs and devastating lows both on and off the court.

In this episode, Boris reflects on the mindset that drove him to success so early in life, the pressure of living in the global spotlight, and the personal challenges that tested his re...

We're revisiting this extraordinary conversation with one of our most-requested conversations - Usain Bolt.

Usain reveals the failures that changed the way he thought about performance, including the Olympics in Athens where he failed to make it out of the first round. He shares the moment his coach told him he simply wasn’t working hard enough, and the painful realisation that followed.

Usain opens up about the power o...

Nico Rosberg spent 31 years building his identity around a single goal to become Formula 1 World Champion. In this episode Nico reveals the stark reality of achieving his ultimate dream, explaining why his 2016 triumph brought relief rather than euphoria and why he walked away from a £100m+ fortune at his absolute peak.

He strips back the curtain on his legendary, fierce rivalry with childhood friend Lewis Hamilton, describing t...

In high performance, we often celebrate success, the awards, the headlines, the restaurants, the fame. But for Gordon Ramsay, the real story lies in the struggle behind the spotlight.

In this episode, Gordon Ramsay explores the true meaning of high performance, and the price of perfection. From growing up in a council house and losing his dream football career to standing beside culinary legends like Marco Pierre White and ...

Simon Sinek is an author and inspirational speaker. Simon is known for his books ‘Start with Why’ and ‘Find Your Why’, both of which focus on how to find your purpose and help those in your life find it too. Finding your Why, is the idea that “everyone knows what we do, some of us know how we do it, but very few of us can articulate why we do what we do.” Great leaders think, act and communicate ...

Dr Chris van Tulleken is a doctor, scientist and one of the UK’s leading voices on ultra-processed food. An associate professor at UCL, an NHS doctor, World Health Organisation adviser and author of the bestselling Ultra-Processed People, he has spent years investigating what the food industry is really putting on our plates.

But the truth about what we eat is far more unsettling than most of us realise...

In this eye-o...

After hundreds of conversations with extraordinary people, Jake and Damian stop and ask a question they've been circling for a while prompted by a recent social media post from Rob Beckett: how has High Performance changed since it started and are we part of the 'grindset' problem?

When the show began, they were fascinated by winning: routine, sacrifice, discipline, marginal gains. Jake once wrote a post about getting up at 5am ...

Alessandro Benetton knows what it means to challenge an established order. When the Benetton family entered Formula 1 from the world of fashion, the paddock laughed. But rather than trying to fit in, they rewrote the rules, and went on to win world championships.

Alessandro joins us to reflect on the decisions that changed everything, from recognising Michael Schumacher’s extraordinary talent before the rest of the sport c...

Dame Jess Ennis-Hill is one of Britain’s greatest athletes. A triple world heptathlon champion, European champion and Olympic gold medallist, she reached the absolute peak of her sport.

But behind the medals was a very different story....

We revisit this incredible conversation where Jess reveals what it was like to become Britain’s “Golden girl” ahead of London 2012, carrying the weight of huge public exp...

We've sat down with hundreds of high performers. These are five sentences we've never heard a single one of them say...

"I'll start when I'm ready." "That's just the way I am." "It's not fair." "I've done enough." "I did it on my own." None of them is a character flaw, but each one quietly pulls you away from where you want to be.

From the High Performance archive, Keely Hodgkinson explains why she puts her success down to 90...

Linford Christie didn't just race his opponents, he tried to beat them before the gun even fired. The Olympic champion reveals the psychology behind his ruthless approach to the 100m, and the mindset that allowed him to keep pushing when most would have stopped.

Linford reflects on the hunger that drove him to the top despite starting his international career later than most, and why winning Olympic gold in Barcelona felt more l...

Robin van Persie captained Arsenal and won the league with Manchester United, but for years he says his hardest opponent was himself.

We re-visit our classic episode with Robin where he talks about the letter he wrote to himself that he didn't believe when he read it back, the childhood friends he let go at 24, the Arsenal exit he'd handle differently and the advice to his son that Jake calls the whole podcast in two minutes.

Most of us are waiting for someone to tell us we're ready. This week, Jake and Damian argue that moment never comes, and that the people we admire most simply stopped waiting.

You'll hear from George Russell on the email to Toto Wolff that started his Mercedes journey, Robin Sharma on why it pays to be "a bit of a pirate", Alain de Botton on why the world is built by humans, not gods, and Adam Grant on the feedback that nearly m...

Donate 👉 Sir Kevin Sinfield's 7 in 7: The Grand Finale https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/7-in-7-the-grand-finale

England Rugby coach and MND campaigner Kevin Sinfield has spent years running into pain, not away from it. In memory of his friend Rob Burrow, he has pushed his body to its limits, finding in the suffering a way to carry some of the emotional weight of the families he meets.

In this episode, Kevin share...