Made In Chelsea’s Louise Thompson On LA Living, Celeb Spotting & Her Daily Diet

Louise Thompson was in town this week launching the JUST EAT Retreat at this year’s Electric Picnic – basically a chill-out zone with… well, we’ll let Louise fill you in, shall we?

“I’m a big fan of festivals, so any opportunity to be a part of something like this is amazing!” says Louise, the smiliest sleb we’ve ever spoken to (seriously). “The JUST EAT retreat is an area at Electric Picnic – which I’m going to this September – where you can take time out to relax, listen to DJs and chill in a hammock, get a face paint, drink coffee, get your nails done! Basically, it’s really great for chicks.” She laughs. “Or, y’know, for anyone to meet up with people. Festivals get a bit hectic – so it’s ideal!”

To celebrate the announcement, JUST EAT are also doing a deadly giveaway – order a takeaway from JUST EAT and you could win one of 10 pairs of VIP weekend tickets to EP. Just look out for those special chopsticks in your bag!

Pssst: We’ve got the skinny on Louise’s festi-fabulous look!

Series 9 of E4’s semi-reality show Made in Chelsea wrapped up a few months ago, but you can expect the MIC massive back on screens very soon for their summer special, Made in Chelsea in LA. In fact, “I literally got back, what, two nights ago?”

So, isn’t she a bit jet lagged?! (We’re astounded by how chirpy Louise sounds!) “I think, the more that you think about and make an issue of [jet lag], it just won’t go away,” she advises. “You have to pretend it’s non-existent, and get up early, no matter how tired you are!”

Travel tips

Louise’s life – London one day, LA the next, Dublin the next – must be fairly travel-heavy. Any top tips for frequent travellers?

I’m petrified of flying!

“I’m actually a really bad traveller, because I’m petrified of flying!” Louise confides. “I always bring my laptop, and my big, heavy, noise-cancelling headphones so that I don’t have to hear the sound of the engine.” Wanna know what else is in Louise’s carry-on?

“I have a Prada carry-on, and a handbag, so I fit everything into them,” she says. “And you know those little plastic bags for your toiletries? I bring my own, and it’s about 10 times the size, but they always let me by! I also bring a jumper, because it tends to get quite cold – and magazines. Another thing, it’s totally geeky, but I’m known for it, is Sudoku – in LA, for the first few weeks before Alik arrived, I was by the pool, addicted to it for hours… I actually need to get a life! I’m really good at it!”

Far fewer people recognised us in LA – it was really nice!

Going from London – small, very compact, where everyone knows her – to LA must have been quite the culture shock; was it nice, being relatively anonymous?

“It was really nice,” Louise admits. “Far fewer people recognised us – mainly English people who were out there visiting or working. It was a lot more relaxed! It’ll be weird going back to London now.”

But when we ask if Louise would up sticks and go to LA… “I don’t think so!” she declares. “I like denser spaces – New York or London, but LA didn’t really appeal.”

And in case you’re wondering? Louise didn’t spot any celebs in La-La Land. “Everyone else did, but not me!” she laughs. “I was in places, and someone would say, ‘oh look, it’s so and so’, but I just kept missing them. And I was told I’d see a Kardashian on every street corner, and I didn’t see a single one! On the last day, I was in this hat shop and I saw Boy George! That was quite funny.”

Foodie fan

Let’s talk diet; Louise is in town to talk about JUST EAT, but is she a big takeout fan? “My diet is completely mixed,” she confesses. “I go through phases of either being really healthy, or really unhealthy. The last few months, in LA, all I did was eat out or get takeaway – I didn’t cook once. On holiday, it’s nice to indulge and part of the fun is exploring and eating in new restaurants. That’s basically mine and Alik’s relationship.”

I basically just eat whatever I want!

Louise says she’s in “pretty bad shape” – although, judging by these shots, we’d beg to differ! “When I’m not with Alik, I tend to try and be a lot more healthy,” she says, “but I don’t stick to any rules. I love spicy food, and my number one would probably be Mexican – but I also love pizza. I basically just eat what I want!” (We’re not jealous, we swear.)

Finally, we asked Louise what she reckons she’d be doing if Made in Chelsea hadn’t come along; according to her LinkedIn, she worked in American Apparel before (tellingly) becoming an ‘actress’ on the hit E4 show.

“I have a degree in geography, so I’d probably be working in the city like a lot of my friends – working really hard, really long hours and trying to get to the top,” she posits. “I’m interested in energy and renewable energy, so probably something like that.” Does she ever feel jealous of her friends with the ‘normal’ jobs?

My friends’ social lives are pretty limited.

“I do envy my friends sometimes – they just have a lot more structure,” she says. “I’m quite OCD like that, I like to be very organised. At the same time, I have a lot more freedom and time off, and their social lives are pretty limited. They have to save funds for the weekends!”

Louise’s whole life changed, she said, “from just saying yes to one stupid question.” Food for thought!

• Interview
• Louise Thompson
• Made in Chelsea