Ever feel guilty about how much TV you watch? Nick Grimshaw can relate – but he stands by his love of telly.

“I love watching the telly – Gogglebox was like my dream job, because I really do like watching the telly,” says the presenter, podcaster and DJ, who first joined the Celebrity Gogglebox line-up with his niece, Liv, back in 2022.

“I love spending time with the dogs to wind down, exercise, just having people over. My dream situation is just to loll around the house with friends and the dogs and watch telly.”

He admits there can sometimes be “a bit of guilt for watching mind-numbing telly”, but adds: “I actually sometimes really need it, and I think everyone needs it, if you’ve been doing work all day and running around.

“I quite like coming home and just watching something easy and mind-numbing, but I quite like the idea of doing something alongside that – doing something crafty or making something semi-worthwhile,” he says.

The former BBC Radio 1 presenter – who currently hosts Waitrose’s Dish podcast with Michelin-star chef Angela Hartnett – counts doing something creative or crafty in front of the box as added self-care, too.

“I’m no scientist – I have just seen this on Instagram – but apparently using your hands is really good for your mental health, your brain functionality and calming you down,” says Greater Manchester-born Grimshaw, 39. “That’s why I like cooking, because you’re making something with your hands.”

He’s not the only one embracing the wellbeing benefits of crafting. According to a new survey commissioned by mobile network, Three, 39% of Brits say turning to arts and crafts activities makes them feel calm, while 31% say it gives them a sense of achievement.

And while crochet may once have been seen as a bit of a ‘granny’ hobby, it seems that’s far from the case now – as nearly half of the Gen Zs (45%) surveyed said they know how to do it.

Grimshaw – whose career started in student radio before landing his first job at the BBC, quickly moving on to present shows for Radio 1 – has now teamed up with the brand on a campaign to teach the nation how to crochet while sitting in front of the telly.

The idea is, being on our phones while watching TV has become so commonplace for many of us these days, why not learn a beneficial skill and boost your wellbeing in the process? So, Three created a Mobile Crochet how-to guide for viewers.

For Grimshaw, anything that keeps us away from the dreaded doom-scrolling or falling down a ‘comparison trap’ on social media is good news.

“I think using [your phone] for something that can either make you feel better, or you can learn from, is really good. You don’t have to be doom-scrolling, basically,” says the broadcaster, who also reveals he is a fan of doing daily Duolingo – the popular language-learning app.

“I think it’s good to have those 10 minute breaks or, when you’re zoning out watching the telly, to sit on your phone and learn from it. Bad for me is scrolling and thinking, ‘Look at their life’ or, ‘Look at what they’ve got’ – that’s what is bad on your phone.”

Grimshaw lives in North London with his fiancé, dancer Meshach ‘Mesh’ Henry (they reportedly started dating in 2018 and announced their engagement in early 2022), and their two dogs, who occasionally feature in snaps on the presenter’s Instagram.

Like lots of people, he says he and Henry were first inspired to try and get crafty during lockdown, admitting he tried “every craft going” during that period.

“We did paint by numbers, we ordered a Mona Lisa and a Scream painting… never did it, and then we did knitting. Mesh got really into knitting and really went for it, went from never knitting before to us having a spare room full of wool,” Grimshaw recalls, laughing.

His approach to self-care has changed over the years, though. Grimshaw admits it’s quite a recent concept for him – as for many of us – and he’s not really one for buzzy wellness trends or over-complicating it.

“Self-care is kind of a half-annoying phrase, but also, that can be anything,” he reflects. “It can be eating food that is good for you, or having a shower or getting dressed in the morning. I don’t think it needs to be meditate with a Gwyneth Paltrow candle.

“I just think it’s something that I never ever thought about, or anyone even thought about, or it felt a bit exclusive to care about yourself, whereas now everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I should probably do that’,” Grimshaw says.

“I do attempt to meditate, and I can get really into it for like four days, then not do it again.”

For more information and Three’s guide to Mobile Crocheting, visit three.co.uk/gogglebox