Perdita
18-03-2009, 12:20
He's probably best known as Alan Carr's co-presenter/partner in crime on The Sunday Night Project - but now Justin Lee Collins has done a Beyoncé and decided to go it solo. This week, the West Country's finest - 'JLC' to his mates - is back on our screens with new venture The Justin Lee Collins Show, a weekly entertainment show for ITV2. How will he cope without Alan? We hooked up with JLC himself to find out.
Tell us a bit about the show...
"It's a chat show. It's a big, fun, chat show, and the emphasis is on the chat. I've been doing it a long time in other formats, but I wanted to talk to people properly. People have been saying, 'What's the hook?' but there is no hook - it's a chat show! It is what it is. I feel passionately about it because it's the one thing in television I've always wanted to do, and now I'm doing it!"
Who have you got lined up to appear, celebrity-wise?
"For the first show we've got Catherine Tate, Billie Piper and comedy actress Kevin James. It's a strong lineup. Lionel Ritchie is penicilled in for the second show. What a coup! Beyond that, I don't know."
We hear there might be a sing-song along the way...
"I love singing! It's something that I wanted to incorporate and it's very old fashioned to come on singing a song. I'm all for the retro. There's a karaoke element, which is similar to what Noel Edmonds did for his NTV show. We've taken that idea and adapted it a bit and it's really good fun. If we could just drop in to a karaoke room somewhere in the country, and drop in on someone singing and ask them to do a duet with me, it would be quite a novel approach - a nice way to end the show."
How does the show differ from The Sunday Night Project?
"It's very different. The Sunday Night Project was one guest host every week and this will be much more. It's more about stripping that back. There are no sketches and I won't be dressing up as a woman, I'm sorry to say! But we'll have some fun."
So have you ditched Alan for good?
"Oh God no! The Sunday Night Project hasn't ended - we'll be back at the end of the year. We're just temporarily coming apart to do different things. I'm still in touch with him and I love him."
What's the role of the audience in the new show?
"There's a section called 'Blast From The Past' where I chuck a rubix cube at the audience and whoever catches it can win some retro prizes - like an Etch-A-Sketch. I will try and win it for them by bringing on a mystery guest. I don't know what they do; all I know is they were once very briefly famous for doing something. There are yes/no questions and from their answers I deduce what they were famous for. For example, if I correctly guess that the woman stood in front of me was the Shake 'N' Vac lady, the audience member will win the Etch-A-Sketch."
Are you feeling pretty confident?
"Very confident! I had Bungle on from Rainbow but I didn't get him. That meant a guy from the audience didn't win an bike, but that's how it works. You've got to take the good times with the bad! I didn't win the bike, but I did win the Etch-A-Sketch."
Who else might appear in 'Blast From The Past'?
"All the guests from that section are from the '80s. It would be disappointing if they were too recent, so I want someone from 1990 at the latest. The '90s were good times. I could get Sporty Spice - I like her."
Are you nervous about the show?
"I'm not nervous at all. What I'm really looking forward to is just sitting down and talking to people, and not having those conversations broken up by other stuff. It's me asking what I want to ask and trying to get a great interview. If you're getting on with someone and there's a little bit of banter, then that works for me. I could watch it all night long."
The Justin Lee Collins Show starts Thursday, March 19 at 10pm on ITV2
I wonder if they repeat the show later at a little earlier time, I will not be able to watch this as it is too late for me on a weekday.
Tell us a bit about the show...
"It's a chat show. It's a big, fun, chat show, and the emphasis is on the chat. I've been doing it a long time in other formats, but I wanted to talk to people properly. People have been saying, 'What's the hook?' but there is no hook - it's a chat show! It is what it is. I feel passionately about it because it's the one thing in television I've always wanted to do, and now I'm doing it!"
Who have you got lined up to appear, celebrity-wise?
"For the first show we've got Catherine Tate, Billie Piper and comedy actress Kevin James. It's a strong lineup. Lionel Ritchie is penicilled in for the second show. What a coup! Beyond that, I don't know."
We hear there might be a sing-song along the way...
"I love singing! It's something that I wanted to incorporate and it's very old fashioned to come on singing a song. I'm all for the retro. There's a karaoke element, which is similar to what Noel Edmonds did for his NTV show. We've taken that idea and adapted it a bit and it's really good fun. If we could just drop in to a karaoke room somewhere in the country, and drop in on someone singing and ask them to do a duet with me, it would be quite a novel approach - a nice way to end the show."
How does the show differ from The Sunday Night Project?
"It's very different. The Sunday Night Project was one guest host every week and this will be much more. It's more about stripping that back. There are no sketches and I won't be dressing up as a woman, I'm sorry to say! But we'll have some fun."
So have you ditched Alan for good?
"Oh God no! The Sunday Night Project hasn't ended - we'll be back at the end of the year. We're just temporarily coming apart to do different things. I'm still in touch with him and I love him."
What's the role of the audience in the new show?
"There's a section called 'Blast From The Past' where I chuck a rubix cube at the audience and whoever catches it can win some retro prizes - like an Etch-A-Sketch. I will try and win it for them by bringing on a mystery guest. I don't know what they do; all I know is they were once very briefly famous for doing something. There are yes/no questions and from their answers I deduce what they were famous for. For example, if I correctly guess that the woman stood in front of me was the Shake 'N' Vac lady, the audience member will win the Etch-A-Sketch."
Are you feeling pretty confident?
"Very confident! I had Bungle on from Rainbow but I didn't get him. That meant a guy from the audience didn't win an bike, but that's how it works. You've got to take the good times with the bad! I didn't win the bike, but I did win the Etch-A-Sketch."
Who else might appear in 'Blast From The Past'?
"All the guests from that section are from the '80s. It would be disappointing if they were too recent, so I want someone from 1990 at the latest. The '90s were good times. I could get Sporty Spice - I like her."
Are you nervous about the show?
"I'm not nervous at all. What I'm really looking forward to is just sitting down and talking to people, and not having those conversations broken up by other stuff. It's me asking what I want to ask and trying to get a great interview. If you're getting on with someone and there's a little bit of banter, then that works for me. I could watch it all night long."
The Justin Lee Collins Show starts Thursday, March 19 at 10pm on ITV2
I wonder if they repeat the show later at a little earlier time, I will not be able to watch this as it is too late for me on a weekday.