He used to upload sketches to YouTube while folding jeans in a shop. Now he gets chauffeur-driven through Hollywood. As his celebrity-studded new gameshow hits primetime, the comic shares his view from the top
The first time I interviewed the comedian – and now TV star – Mo Gilligan, he was still on the verge of major-league success, his days folding jeans in high-street retail only months behind him. “I feel like you’ve grown up with me, Brian,” he laughs when we meet again today. “You’ve seen me from the start, innit? You’ve seen my hair and my teeth change.”
I’d love to confirm this lengthy career-long connection, but that first interview was only three and a half years ago. It’s just that, since then, the 34-year-old has enjoyed what every glittering Gilligan profile describes as “a meteoric rise”. It’s one perfectly symbolised by the circumstances of our encounter today – on the sky-high top floor of NBC Universal’s London HQ, a jaw-dropping panorama of the capital framing Gilligan as he talks.
