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So,
another series of Big Brother is just weeks away … do you approach
it with dread or excitement?
I love
it - I can't wait. I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to do it. Although
I can't exactly retire I don't have to take work if I don't want
to do the job.
When
they came to you with Big Brother's Little Brother what was your
initial feeling?
I got
it straight away. And I loved the idea of it - they just said to
me, you can play around with it, it's going to be your baby and
I thought we're not going to run out of content.
And
I saw after the first year that there was this sort of insatiable
appetite for people who wanted to know more about it, which hasn't
been exhausted now - the minute you've got new housemates in there
you've got new ideas.
So
there's always a point to the show - yeah I thought it'll get derided
but any show that's reality-based will get derided. I always think
if you can explain the show in a couple of sentences and someone
understands it you're on to a winner.
Give
us the couple of sentences then…
Well
the great thing about Big Brother's LB is it is exactly what it
says on the tin - a Little Brother, as in you love your big brother
but you're not afraid to kick him in the shins and run away. You
wouldn't stand up to him because he's far too big and he'd beat
you up, but every now and again you stick your tongue out being
cheeky to him.
All-time
favourite moment?
I'm
doing the 50 best bits of Big Brother for E4, so I've been watching
them all - and there are so many!
I'd
forgotten all about some of them - Amma shouting at Stuart in series
2. You watch it and think - if that had happened last year it would
never have been off the front pages!
Anything
Jade does just makes me wet myself. 'Portuganese' was good - I loved
the verruca argument most though. Every now and again she just reverts
to being a five-year-old and you've got to love her for it.
Tickle
- he was a star. 'Evening all' and Hotel California were both excellent.
He's a nice guy and very intelligent.
A lot
of the series 3 moments were sort of halcyon for me - Sandy leaving,
Alex doing 'that's the way I like it'. Kate winning, Jade getting
her clothes off - and Jonny came 2nd - that's incredible - he almost
won!
What
about Best Ever Evictions?
My
best eviction was the night that the public really got it - and
I don't mean that in a patronising way.
It
was the night when Jade and Adele were up for eviction all week.
Jade was way ahead (in a bad way), and then Graham Norton delivered
this monologue one night on why the whole public should keep her
in. I watched it and thought - he's right, because she's just great
value.
And
then Adele came out to this horrible cacophony of boos and I felt
really sorry for her. The public had kept in the person who they
reckoned would be most entertaining.
You
get to chat to the housemates more than some. Have you stayed mates?
It's
quite difficult to stay friends with them because it's such a surreal
relationship really, but you sort of want to be a confidant and
you're not going to give them a hard time.
I
think people are responsible for their actions and you should hold
them to that - I gave Adele quite a hard time when she came out.
Tickle's a good guy - I've got his number and I speak to him every
now and again. And I got Federico and Ray over to Ireland for a
charity football match. They're great, but I wouldn't see them every
day.
You've just got back from LA. What were you up to?
Big
Brother 5 starts on the same night that Friends finishes so I was
out there doing links for the night from the Friends set. We had
four hours on the Central Perk set on the sofas and everything.
The final show went out the night we flew back - and 50 million
people watched it apparently. Amazing.
Did
you steal any mementos from the set?
Yeah,
I nabbed some coffee beans. Problem was they'd all been there for
about three years so I ended up giving them to a friend of mine
who lives out there. We got loads of photos - I'm a big fan of Friends
and American sitcoms in general - there can't be any argument as
to how good a show you are if you've been going for ten years. It's
not just a great sitcom but also a funny soap opera.
You're
top of M&S's list to do an underwear campaign? Up for it?
Well…
no. I heard that but I'm not really comfortable enough with my body
to do something like that.
You
could use socks for ballast…
I'm
not saying I'm not comfortable down there, fella! I think I'd probably
need to work out a bit more. It's flattering to be asked but I don't
think I could follow it through.
Radio
Times recently described you as the natural successor to Terry Wogan
and Michael Aspel. Is that a compliment?
Loving
the Wogan reference. Aspel's good, ermm, but Wogan and Jonathan
Ross are my two doyens of television. I've met both of them and
you don't really have that much to say because you're just like
gobsmacked. If I can be around in 20/30 year's time I'll be happy.
Check
out the new house!
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