The Radio 1 DJ and I’m a Celebrity runner up on a childhood spent watching sitcoms with his mum, from the Dawn French classic to The Royle Family and Keeping Up Appearances
I’ve always been obsessed with TV and radio. I used to record loads of different programmes when I was growing up. While most kids were out playing football, I’d be reading the Radio Times and circling what I was going to watch that week with a Biro. I remember being 10 or 11 and watching A Touch of Frost on a Friday night with my family in Burnley, Lancashire, eating a bag of M&Ms. It’s such an underrated British detective drama, and David Jason is brilliant in it. There are loads of actors who featured in it who are big names now, too – I watched one recently and Damian Lewis was in it. I still watch that detective drama slot on ITV on a Friday – Vera at 8, then when that’s finished I switch over to Gogglebox.
With my mum, Wendy, most of the programmes we watched were reruns of old comedies. I loved Keeping Up Appearances – Hyacinth Bucket is one of the great British comedy characters, and it is just a joy to watch. I think what everybody loves about it is that we all know someone who’s a bit of a Hyacinth, and it’s a reflection of Britain now and then. I couldn’t imagine anybody else in that role but Patricia Routledge – her delivery’s great but she’s also very slapstick, like when she falls off the boat while “luxury yachting”.
