Frankly my dears - Dettori comes clean on Loose Women

ITV promised to use other programmes to cross-promote the biggest racing days and this week Frankie Dettori was the beneficiary – or victim, depending on your point of view – as he found himself sandwiched between four Loose Women.

Dettori, billed by the programme as the greatest jockey in the world – a title Ryan Moore would surely let him keep in exchange for not having to make such appearances – danced on to the popular weekday lunchtime chatshow astride a hobby horse and sat politely through a range of questions from Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Lisa Riley. It is fair to say their questions differed slightly from the ones typically posed by Nick Luck or Ed Chamberlin.

Frankie Dettori talks to Coleen Nolan

The quizzing the Loose Women gave the Italian could be summed up as everything you did not want to know about Frankie Dettori, such as whether or not he manscapes (if you don't know, probably best not to google it while at work), but the former champion jockey did discuss his son Rocco's ambitions to follow in his footsteps and how the injury suffered by Freddy Tylicki had affected his desire to support that.

Dettori said: "To be honest with you I didn't want him to follow in my footsteps because of the dangers.

"One of my colleagues recently took a bad fall and has been paralysed and you fear it could happen to my boy, but he's very committed and wants to do it so I will help him if I can."

He added: "He's 12 and wants to ride with me, so I guess I'll have to go on for another four years at least."

Above a banner that read 'I've been on a diet for 30 years!', Dettori also discussed the struggle of fasting to make the weight, the physicality of jockeyship and the difficulties of fame and getting back to the top after his ban.

Loose Women: everything you didn't want to know about Frankie Dettori

Loose Women: Wax on or wax off? Do you manscape?
Dettori: Wax on

Safe bet or wild card?
Wild card, always

Natural or fake?
Natural

Puppies or kittens?
Puppies [Gasps from the studio audience]

Hard or soft [big pause] boiled?
Always hard [Great laughter]

Kisses or cuddles?
Cuddles

Lights on or lights off?
Lights on [Ooohs from the crowd]

Diet or doughnut?
I love a doughnut

Pyjamas or birthday suit?
Pyjamas these days

Buff body or dad bod?
Buff

Horses or humans?
Horses, they can't answer back

Bermuda shorts or budgie smugglers?
I'm Italian, budgies of course

Gym or gin?
Gym

Boys' night or date night?
Boys' night

Romantic or realistic?
Romantic

Snog, marry or avoid, Clare Balding, John McCririck or a horse?
Let's stick with the horse!