AK Soufflé: Quadruple entendre

Anyone who is watching my new TV show, AK Soufflé, and if not why not, will have spotted that I have a natural gift for spotting the saucy nature of anything my guests might say, and no more so than when I welcomed Tom Wooldridge from The Terence Higgins Trust to the studio.

Poor Tom, poor, poor Tom. But it has to be said that his mission was to promote their Shrove Tuesday event, the Big Toss Off, yes, you read that right.

The Terence Higgins Trust has been in action from very early on in the history of HIV and AIDs and has been campaigning and fund raising ever since. Back at the start HIV was seen as a death sentence, with no known medication there was little hope for those who were diagnosed. But it wasn’t only the life shortening condition, it was the stigma attached to it that caused much of the problem.

This terrible disease raged havoc with both men and women, let’s not forget that this terrible virus was an equal opportunity disease and did not differentiate between either men, women or gay or straight. Many diagnosed would give up work and for many reasons, ill health, depression and perhaps most frightening of all prejudice. The stigma attached meant that many would be hounded from their jobs by the ill-informed who in many cases thought that they might be at risk from sharing coffee cups, cutlery, desks…

Apologies for my saucy behaviour!

We’ve come a long way and in many ways the Terence Higgins Trust has been instrumental in this. Medication means that people live long and healthy lives, but the battle is not over, here in the UK things might seem good, and for many it is. But for those long term survivors of early diagnoses, those who lost their jobs, many now live in poverty. It is a massive issue that the THT is keen to highlight and to tackle.

Tom came in and tackled it in a lighthearted way, but the message was strong. If like me you enjoy a nice pancake, I’m a purist so like fresh lemon juice and sugar, but go mad and go mad raising money for the THT. You can get the full details and register for their event and to receive a pack containing recipes, buntings and much more at tossoff.tht.org.uk
Thank you for coming along Tom and apologies for my very saucy behaviour!

AK Soufflé airs Tuesday & Sunday at 9pm & midnight on Latest TV, Freeview 7