Giovanna Fletcher opened the week's Tracks Of My Years by taking Vernon Kay all the way back to childhood car journeys to Italy, with Bananarama, Billy Ocean and Tina Turner cassettes on loop until the family crossed the border and her dad switched to traditional Italian music. She also described her Nonna's village being devastated by a 1980 earthquake, and how the family ended up living in prefab chalets while still growing tomatoes and jarring sauce. Her second pick, Frank Sinatra's My Way, came from boozy family karaoke parties with her auntie, a nod to what Giovanna called the "chaos" of mixing her Italian and Essex sides.
The best bit of listener business came via a voice note played on air: Catherine from Marden, previously heard trying to collect a shout-out from every Radio 2 presenter on Joel Dommett's Saturday show, revealed she still hadn't had one from "the tall guy on the mornings." Vernon took the hint live on air and finally gave her the mention she'd been chasing.
Ten To The Top saw Gareth from Dundee, a sexual health nurse who admitted his manager might be listening in, score three points after struggling with several tricky rounds. He was beaten by Tony from Kent, a floor layer whose wedding had a quirky "number 7" David Beckham theme, who went on to score 14 and take home the coffee mug.
Vernon's Vault marked 50 years since Britain's first High Speed Train, with listeners sharing family memories of drivers and engineers from the era, including one whose grandad worked on the very first HST.
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