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This post is a collaboration with TV Licensing (a trademark of the BBC), but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found my favourite shows on television have been great conversation starters and such a great way to connect with others. From striking up conversations on social media from shared thoughts to planning watch parties with friends when a new episode or season is due.
BBC TV Licensing has launched a campaign called Moments That Connect Us which is the perfect opportunity to share some of my favourite moments with you, here on the blog.
From live sport on TV to binge-watching reality shows, here are some of my favourite moments.
Tour de France Femme avec Zwift
I’ll be honest; I’m not one for watching a lot of live sport but I had to make a few exceptions starting with the Tour de France Femme avec Zwift (TdFF).
Women’s sport has been a bit of a rollercoaster lately – from the high of the TdFF making a return in 2022, to the low of Ford RideLondon Classique being cancelled for 2025. Whilst the England women’s team has been making waves in Football, teams are being withdrawn from the Women’s Championship due to lack of funding.
One of the best ways to support women’s sport is by watching it if you’re unable to be there in person. So for 2024, I hosted a series of TdFF watch parties to connect with other local women interested in cycling and create a safe space for them to learn more about the professional side of the sport and ask questions.
I feel like you can’t fail to be inspired having watched the efforts of the women taking part in TdFF. I was so inspired I put it on a T-shirt that I’ve been wearing non-stop. It says (in Italian – the language I’m currently learning) “Here For The Women”.
Olympic Games Paris 2024
Before the TdFF was live, we were blessed with what felt like an eternity (in the best possible way) of live sporting action.
Personally, I tried to watch a variety of sports and found a new passion for events I’d not even previously considered. Keeping up with all the medals wasn’t an easy task, but there were plenty of friends sharing highlights and thoughts on social media.
Watching the athletics brought back memories from my younger years as a track and field athlete but I most enjoyed watching the swimming events. As someone who started learning to swim as an adult, it’s fascinating to see how professional athletes tackle these high-level events.
I think it was in the midst of the Olympics that I signed myself and my partner up for swimming lessons at our local leisure centre, which we’ve been attending weekly ever since! My partner had always said he wanted to learn to swim so I capitalised on the opportunity to spend more time together, away from our phones.
My long-term goal is to complete the Swim Serpentine Two Mile event which will take me one step closer to completing the London Classics. I’ve already done RideLondon 100, so it’s ‘just’ the swim and the London Marathon to do to get my hands on the biggest medal I’ve ever seen.
Soaps and Reality Television
Watching soap operas and reality TV has been my guilty pleasure since I was a child. I remember living for watching Eastenders, Brookside, Neighbours, Home & Away, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale. Have I missed any?!
Can you believe that in my secondary school, we campaigned – successfully – to have our uniform changed to the same dresses they wore at Summer Bay High (in Home & Away)?
When I got a bit older and started enjoying nights out, I always had to be home and awake for the 10.30 am Hollyoaks Omnibus on a Sunday morning.
Whilst adulting means I don’t have time to indulge in all the soaps anymore, I do always create space for reality TV.
For me, watching soaps and reality TV is my little dose of drama but more so, sharing a love for a show is a great way to connect with friends. A good catch-up with a friend always involves discussing our favourite show and often, the show reminds me to reach out to friends to find out if they’re watching, what they think and how they’re doing.
I didn’t realise until I sat down and started reflecting on all these moments, how many I had to be honest.
Considering that there were only 4 channels when I started watching TV, it’s evolved a lot over the years to what we now have available to us.
Your TV Licence lets you enjoy a huge range of live TV. It covers you for:
- All TV channels, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Dave and international channels – but you don’t need a licence if you only watch non-BBC channels on-demand
- Pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media, and BT – but these are platforms that could have both live and on-demand services
- Live TV on streaming services, like YouTube and Amazon Prime Video
- Everything on BBC iPlayer.
This includes recording and downloading. On any device.
Do you have a moment connected to watching live sport or TV that stands out?
Elle
