Full Chat podcast: Suzi Perry reveals what Valentino Rossi is really like away from the track

Motorsport journalist and presenter Suzi Perry is the first guest on the second series of motorcycling podcast Full Chat.  

She joined hosts Iwan Thomas and footballer-turned-presenter David Prutton to discuss her love of motorcycles, presenting MotoGP and what Valentino Rossi is really like to interview.

Television presenter Perry first became a familiar face covering MotoGP for the BBC for 13 years and is now fulfilling the same role with TNT Sport (formerly known as BT Sport). She also appeared on Channel 5’s The Gadget Show for nine years and hosted the BBC’s Formula One coverage from 2013 to 2015.

Suzi Perry on how she was treated by Valentino Rossi

During the episode, Perry detailed how she felt incredibly fortunate to interview Rossi over a number of years, and gave an insight into how he really is away from the camera. When asked by Thomas who her favourite rider was to interview, she responded: “Of course it’s bloody Valentino. My career went alongside his time in the paddock, and that’s been my absolute joy really, to build up this professional relationship with him. 

“I remember the first time I interviewed him was in Mugello in the pit lane and I had Loris Capirossi on one side and Valentino on the other side, and I’m sure everybody knows the difference in height. So we looked like a little trio. 

“Valentino, this is going back to 1998, didn’t speak very much English in those days, but he had this incredible charisma already, and this sort of party boy circus, bringing the show attitude, and doing it out on track winning as well. He was already world champion in 1997 in 125cc. 

“I asked Loris a question about him being at home in Mugello blah blah blah, Loris answered it and he was brilliant as always. I looked at Valentino and I asked him a different question, and he looked at me and he sort of screwed his face up and he went ‘Ahh I want the same question as Loris’ because he’d worked his answer out. So I had to repeat the question to Valentino, that was the first interview I did with him. 

“And he didn’t stop making me laugh for the following 25 years. We had a lot of incredible interviews. He had this gift where he’d make you feel like the only person in the whole world and he was telling you something really special. He would listen to you and he would cock his head on one side and listen to what you were saying, process it, and give you an answer.”

Perry, who has also appeared on Fuelling Around, a motoring podcast produced by our sister company Adrian Flux, went on to share more thoughts about the Italian icon as well as discussing a wide range of points from her own career. 

“What I think people don’t know about Valentino, well maybe they do, but he’s really smart. He’s built himself this incredible business empire, I mean he’s loaded” she laughed. 

“Secondly he was ruthless as a rider on track, and off-track with business as well. So he’s super, super, super smart. He knew exactly the landscape when he was talking to you, and he knew exactly what he was doing.”

Plenty more episodes of Full Chat to enjoy

Series two’s engine has barely got warm, but we’ve got a whole host of episodes for you to listen to if you’ve missed the previous series of our motorcycling podcast.

You can listen to Full Chat on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.