Fashion Passion, Idolizing Drogba & Bond with Hamilton

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This Sports Conversation represents a new series where leading personalities from sports and entertainment join presenter the interviewer for frank and detailed dialogues about football.

We'll explore mental approach and motivation, covering defining moments, career highlights and personal reflections. This series reveals the individual behind the player.

Reece James started training with Chelsea at the age of six and - after developing through the youth system and into the first team - is now club captain.

The defender introduced himself to the Stamford Bridge faithful in impressive fashion, netting on his first appearance in a comprehensive win over the opposition in 2019.

Now 25, his professional achievements so far include earning his England debut against Wales in 2020, claiming the Champions League with his club in 2021, and being named team skipper in 2023.

Nevertheless, his journey hasn't been without challenges, with a series of injuries impacting him over recent years.

The athlete spoke with the interviewer to talk about his professional peaks, Thiago Silva's influence, and his friendship with multiple Formula One title winner the racing driver.

The interviewer: First question: name, where you're from, and what's your coffee order?

The athlete: I am Reece James, I was raised in Mortlake, near Richmond - I'm sure more people will recognize that area. My coffee is a flat white.

Kelly: Has it always been a flat white?

Reece: No, it started with, like, vanilla lattes and similar drinks.

Kelly: Let's start by discussing soccer. What significance does soccer hold to you?

The defender: Essentially, from childhood, it's kind of all I knew in education. I wasn't the most academic student, and I simply adored the sport.

Kelly: What's your earliest memory of participating? Is this tough to respond to because it represented a significant aspect of your childhood and growing up?

James: Not particularly, just because my recollection is quite poor. My first remembrance was likely, I don't know, going to watch my sibling play. He is two years older than me, and he used to play as well.

The host: It was significant in your household, correct, because your dad was deeply engaged? He's a soccer trainer too, isn't he? Tell me a little about that.

The athlete: So there was three children growing up. We were all football mad, and he obviously was a coach as well, and we used to train a lot with him.

Kelly: Do you remember many of those sessions? Since I learned that starting from the age of four, you practiced outdoors and he was doing exercises with you in the back garden.

Reece: Yeah, I remember - the drills started young. Thankfully, they proved beneficial for me and my sibling [the club and England attacker Lauren James].

The interviewer: Tell me about your initial club that you represented as a youngster, its name, and your memories?

The defender: I don't remember much, to be honest. It was the local team in the area. I think I played for about a year. It was from there that I was scouted for the professional club.

Kelly: And you weren't a defender at first, correct? Talk to me about your positional journey and its development...

James: I started off as a forward, and then subsequently transitioned to the wing, left wing, right wing, and eventually to central positions, and then eventually at defensive role, and I disliked it at the time.

Kelly: Why did you hate it?

Reece: Because I consistently desired to occupy central positions. You didn't touch the football as much but one day it just clicked and I've been a defender since.

Kelly: You said you began as a forward - who served as your role model?

Reece: My idol was [the legendary] Drogba. I was a Chelsea fan during youth and he was the player I admired.

The host: Identify a pivotal moment in your professional life - a moment that has shaped you and the player you have become?

Reece: I'd likely identify going on loan. Bridging the gap between academy and senior level is the hardest and this represents likely what many athletes making the jump find difficult.

Kelly: You're referring to Wigan, of course. What made was Wigan the ideal team for you at the time? The location was distant from everything you knew in the capital - why did it work so well?

James: The primary factor is that I played consistently, which proves beneficial. I gained a lot of experiences - I relocated from my friends and relatives and had to mature fast. Playing on a regular schedule helped a lot.

The interviewer: Which individual exerted the biggest impact on your professional journey?

The athlete: I would say [the experienced Brazilian] Thiago Silva. He's nearly sufficiently experienced to be my father and has played at the highest level for many years. He consistently attempted to assist me from the moment he arrived and still does, presently he is departed [after leaving the club in that year].

Kelly: In what way would he assist you?

Reece: These were little messages off the pitch. On the pitch, he occasionally observe situations that I perceived alternatively and attempt and offer alternative perspectives.

The presenter: It was undoubtedly nice to see him this summer [during the tournament]?

Reece: It proved great to reconnect with him. I'm pleased that his team performed admirably in the tournament [they lost in the penultimate round to the champions Chelsea]. It is always good to see him.

Kelly: Were you able to return and experience again a single game in your career, what would you choose?

James: If the outcome is remains the identical - I'd select the European Cup decider.

The host: Besides victory, what made it exceptional about that night