Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life

Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter

Mike Tindall has opened up about one of the few things that brought him to tears.

The former rugby star recently appeared on the Oh My Dog podcast with comedians and co-hosts, Jack Dee and Seann Walsh, where he talked about the three dogs he shares with his wife and Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall.

The three canines, black labradors Storm and Pepper – who are mother and daughter – and Blink the Brindle Boxer, are named after “power women” from Marvel Comics.

“The only times I’ve ever cried, well really ever cried, [was] when I had a bull Mastiff called Misty who died and then Cawley, who was Storm’s mum when she died as well,” Tindall said on the podcast.

He continued, mentioning that because Storm is 15 and has begun to move more slowly. “It’s difficult with her at the moment because she is, you know, unfortunately, she’s very old now and it’s getting to that sort of time where you’re asking the question, ‘is she enjoying what she’s doing,’ you know?” Tindall said.

“She’s just got no interest. You shake a lead at her, you go out, you go outside. You have to sort of drag her outside. She’s like, ‘I don’t want to go’. And I’m like, ‘Well, yeah, you need to sort of go too’”.

Even once he does get Storm outside, Tindall said she does her business, immediately runs back inside, and flops onto her bed. He went on to compare his oldest dog to an elderly person.

“She’s like, an old human being. She hates noise,” he said.

“So whenever she’s, like, happy as Larry, and then you get down for the breakfast time and she’s like, ‘Please open any door – I’m going to a different room because the noise is doing my head in’”.

Although this doesn’t mean she’ll completely ignore the treats when they come out. “It’s like she’s 16. She jumps in, bouncing around, tail going mad, spinning,” Tindall explained.

The royal family member has previously revealed the clever nickname he gave to the Prince of Wales.

Back in December 2023, the royal family member appeared on the Seven: Rob Burrow podcast with his wife, Zara. Early in the episode, Burrow asked the couple whether they had any nicknames for each other or other members of the royal family.

“We basically call each other ‘munchkins’ a lot, don’t we? Or ‘my love,’” Mike told podcast co-hosts Rob Burrow and his wife Lindsey, as he joked that it would be up to Zara to reveal what name she’s given him in her list of phone contacts. The 45-year-old former rugby player then took the opportunity to share the unique moniker he gave his cousin-in-law, Prince William.

“The Prince of Wales is known to me as ‘One Pint Willy’ because he’s not the best of drinkers, coming from a sport where it is built on the social aspect and a couple of beers being sunk quite often,” he said. “That is one I will definitely give away for the Prince of Wales. One Pint Willy. It’s out there now, sorry sir.”

Zara chimed in: “You’re in so much trouble! A lot of those nicknames kind of fly around.”