carsales Drive-Thru car chats with Angie Kent
Dog lover Angie Kent chats to carsales about all things cars, opening with a generous dose of honesty that we’ve come to expect from the former Gogglebox and The Bachelorette star.The smiling bundle of energy that is Angie Kent has been on our television screens for several years now. Most Aussies were introduced to dog-loving Kent in 2015 as we sat in our lounge rooms watching her sit in her lounge room throwing down some hilariously candid commentary with best bud Yvie Jones on Gogglebox.
In 2019 she vacated the couch and braved the jungle in season five of I’m a Celebrity… Get me out of Here!, followed by her starring role on The Bachelorette. Kent admits she’s “a bit of an open book” as she chats to carsales about all things cars, opening with a generous dose of honesty that we’ve come to expect from the Nissan Australia ambassador.
“It took me four times to get me my manual licence! Which is pretty bad. I don’t know anybody who has taken that long. I kept on, what do you call it, stalling! I was so nervous and shaky. It was four or five times!” laughs Kent, who drives a Nissan Qashqai (with a six-speed automatic transmission).
Who taught you to drive?
“My mum and dad tried to but it was too hard so I ended up having a lot of driving lessons. Heaps and heaps and heaps!”
Would you call yourself a car girl?
“To be honest, no. I’ve always just appreciated different cars. I’ll know a shape and colour but I don’t know what car it is.”
What is your earliest memory of cars?
“So my first car was a Holden Barina – and it was so old and it was blue and manual! I was only tiny – like 16 [years old] - and my legs would get a full on work out because I’d have to push so hard on that thing [the clutch]. I had too much stress from that car. I don’t think I could never go back to a manual – maybe, but I reckon only in desperate times.”
What are your bad habits in the car?
“I eat in my car. Which stinks the car out but I love eating in my car, I don’t know why!”
How would you rate your parallel parking skills on a scale of 1-10?
“I reckon I’m pretty good – depends what mood I’m in though. I’m gonna say a seven. I’m [driving] in Sydney too so that adds kudos.”
How awful is your driver’s licence photo on a scale of 1-10?
“Awwww mine is pretty bad and I’ve seen some shockers in my time. [I was] undiagnosed celiac – [think] swollen chubby cheeks in the middle!”
How would you rate your navigational skills – on a scale of 1-10?
“Oh like a three. I’m really bad, so bad. I still don’t know names of the streets. I am the worst.”
In heavy traffic do you merge patiently or sneak up the inside lane and pray someone takes pity and lets you in?
“No way, I’m too [much of a] goody-goody. I hate getting in fights so I’ll wait patiently.”
Do you regularly top up with petrol or do you wait until the light is flashing and engine failure imminent?
“I probably shouldn’t admit that… now I’m a good responsible girl. [BUT] in the past I’d wait until the very end and I’m freaking the hell out!”
What’s the longest car journey you’ve done?
“I love driving. I know a lot of people don’t but its one of my safe places… the only time I get to be alone is when I’m driving. Even driving to see somebody for an hour is not an effort, I love it. The biggest road trip I do is the Sunshine Coast, to Brisbane to visit my nan and pop.”
Have you ever been to the drive-ins?
“No. I’ve never been. To eat in your car and watch movies... it would be my heaven.”
What celebrity would you love to road trip with and why?
“Oh – Ilana [Glazer] and Abbi [Jacobson] from Broad City – it’s one of my favourite shows about two best friends.”
Have you ever watched any of The Fast and the Furious movies?
“Oh when I was younger, yes! I just know old mate Paul Walker was in them – and I’ve seen about two. I’m not a big car head, I just appreciate a nice colour car. If it has air conditioning, a good sound system and it’s auto, I’m so stoked!”
What are two things we’d find in your car?
“Oh in my old car, definitely a pair of shoes and you’d always find a jumper. I pretty much lived out of my old car. And the petrol thing [jerry can] just in case I broke down and had to get to the petrol station and I could fill up with. I had everything you could think of in that car!”
What’s a feature in your car you couldn’t live without?
“Oh now that I have this new car I’m obsessed how I can speak to Siri through CarPlay. I couldn’t go back. Now I’m like ‘hey Siri put on Spotify, hey Siri message Mum.’ I spend most of my time in the car doing it just because I can now! I love it. I never knew how addictive it could be. I’ve always had a not fancy car! It’s so cool. And seat heaters, oh my god, its ridiculous.”
On dogs in cars?
“Oh my gosh I had my little Hyundai i20 when I had all those rescue dogs back when I was on Gogglebox. So to get Sissy the big bull dog cross boxer in the car it was pandemonium. It was madness. She’d try to squeeze her way into the front and then all the dogs would try. The little old ones would struggle to get in, some needed lifting.
"The hardest part is getting them back in the car when you wanted to leave from the park. We’d have to pretend we were driving off – call their bluff - like you do to kids! And it worked, they’d be like, wait for me! Yvie [Jones] had a car specifically for the dogs though. Otherwise our cars ended up filthy.”
Do you know what some car-related acronyms mean?
ABS – no… abs? I’ll have no idea, I’m so bad!
ESC – no
AEB – airbags? oh no…
RCTA – how do people even know this? I’ll have to read my handbook again!
Do you taxi or Uber?
Uber
Do you sit in the front or back of taxi/Uber?
“I sit in the back. I don’t know if that’s rude? I kinda did it as a respect thing – like I do in a taxi.”
Uber rating
4.66
“I always rate them but I didn’t know they were rating me!”
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