“I LIVE TO EAT, I DON’T EAT TO LIVE”: MY MORNING WITH MILLY

“A bit of what you fancy does you good”, Nicola beams, “that’s what my granddad used to say, anyway”.

Nicola Millbank (or Milly, as she’s known by her 15.7K Instagram followers) thinks we could all stand to take a leaf out of her granddad’s book. The 28-year-old foodie is like a comforting, homemade apple crumble on a chilly November night. She’s wide-eyed, smiley and not once does she break eye contact with me (and not in a weird way). My GOD is she a refreshing break from the juice-drinking, yoga bunnies on my Instagram feed.

After a good hour of collaborative ranting about the perils of the term ‘clean eating’, we order silky lattes (WITH cow’s milk) and move on to the issue at hand: her eagerly anticipated cook book.  Milly’s cookbook is the product of the actress-by-day’s passion for producing home-cooked, real food and was born from her website – an online recipe book showcasing her best-loved culinary achievements.

She’s set up home in “the big smoke” with her boyfriend and Dachshund, Darcey and has been experimenting with “wholesome, delicious, sustainable” recipes ever since. Having spent the best part of her working life in the television industry, Nicola is no stranger to body pressures. Still, despite being emerged in a business where your longevity is determined by the amount of grey hairs on your head, this starlet is anything but superficial.

She could land a role as Brad Pitt’s leading lady, but NOTHING will come between Milly and her munch. And that’s exactly the way it should be.

Tell me a bit about your food background – when did you first discover that you could cook?

Growing up I was always in the kitchen helping my mother to cook; I have such vivid memories of us making butterfly cakes together! Now when I go home I tend to help her prepare the family meals but I have her to thank for my basic skills and knowledge of cookery. As a teenager, when I moved away from the English countryside to London and into my own flat I very quickly learnt to fend for myself. As a student I couldn’t afford to eat out every night and it was pointless doing a big food shop for one. I had to learn to become savvy with the ingredients I had and make the most of them. I starting watching the weekend TV cooking shows before going out for the day and would test the recipes I liked the look of out on friends that evening. Slowly it became something I was really interested in, and something which really excited me. I loved meeting different people from different cultures as this really opened my mind into what else was out there beyond English pies and stews.

What would your last supper be?

A juicy sirloin steak – cooked rare – topped with flaked sea salt and garlic butter, served with a green side salad, red wine vinaigrette and blue cheese mashed potato made with lashings of butter and cream. This would be followed swiftly by a cheeseboard piled high with the stinkiest of cheeses, fig chutney and chocolate truffles. All washed down with a glass of red…or three.

What effect has the ‘Clean Eating’ trend had upon young people’s relationships with food?

I’m getting really tried of the term ‘clean eating’. It insinuates that unless you follow this self-persecuting movement that you’re eating dirty. In my opinion, it’s created such a negative impact on people eating habits. I’ve witnessed first-hand, beautiful friends of mine, once fearless with what they eat suddenly turn their nose up at a bowl of delicious spaghetti in favour of courgetti because the clean eating movement has brainwashed them into believing that carbohydrates, in any form, are detrimental to their health. Eating a bowl of courgetti instead of spaghetti is about as appealing to me as eating a sponge.

I don’t understand why these influencers get a kick out of telling other women they can’t eat what makes them happy and insinuate that they should feel guilty or ‘dirty’ for wanting to. 

 What works for someone with a medically diagnosed food-intolerance doesn’t necessarily work for everyone else, and selling these regimented diets behind a glamorous Instagram account with glossy hair makes young and impressionable girls and boys believe that in order to achieve such a lifestyle, they need to deprive their body of the key nutrients needed for them to grow. It’s dangerous. Those at an impressionable age may see a blogger have a juice for breakfast, skip bread with their lunch because they feel it acts as ‘sandpaper’ in the gut and cut out meat and dairy from their diet entirely. Ultimately, everything in moderation is key to a healthy, balanced diet. I believe that a little bit of what you fancy makes you happy and ultimately does you good so let’s get back to having fun with cooking and eating some real food!

Did you always know you wanted to be an actress?

I never wanted to be an Actress. I trained for years as a ballerina and I wanted to become a marine biologist. I started work experience behind the scenes at a well-known theatre as an assistant stage director and although I’d always enjoyed drama at school and was involved in every school play, I never believed it would become my job. I was scouted for a modelling competition when I was 16 *she laughs – model?!* and somehow ended up on a runway walking the catwalk and winning the competition. That lead to my signing with an agent, and from that agency I got my first part in TV, a Sky series called HEX. I did my first ever scene with Michael Fassbender. He was relatively unknown back then but it’s my claim to fame to be able to say that I’ve kissed him! Even if I was only 17 and it was for a role! After that my Drama teacher said I had to audition for Drama school. I got in and the rest is history as they say!

How did you first get into acting?

It’s been tough. Even though I got into Drama school at 18 I remained unemployed and working for free in student films for two years after I graduated. I’m very lucky to be where I am now but it’s not been without graft and hard work to get here. 

Although I love what I do, I become inpatient and frustrated with the industry. It’s very fickle. Regularly people are chosen because of their looks and not their talent and it’s very much a case of who you know and not what you can do. Many times you’ll lose out to another who’s got a connection somewhere, despite having many credits under your belt and years of training. Roles will go to a newbie because of who they know – yet when I was a newbie nobody would hire me. It can be very demoralising but you just have to power through. I was always myself and refused to succumb to the industry’s cardboard cut-out of what a twenty-something woman should look like. I really look up to the woman who defy these rules, who turn their back on it all and call bullshit. They’re the woman who’ve made history.

Why do you think you have a positive relationship with food?

Growing up I always sat down to dinner with my family, no matter what anyone was doing we always made it back to the table. The kitchen was the hub of my family home. We cooked, we laughed, we cried, we ate and drank and caught up on the day’s events together. It’ such an important mentality to have I think, and something I really admire the Mediterraneans for. Taking at least two hours out of their working day to sit around the table at lunch with their families and eat together is not only heart-warming but gives them such a deep family connection.  I’m very much a person who lives to eat and does not eat to live; it’s such an important part of my life.