“I’ve never been on a chat show where we’ve started with anecdotes from therapy” says Josh Widdicombe setting the tone for a lively and uninhibited conversation on The Claudia Winkleman Show, tonight (Friday 17th April) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 10:40pm
Joining Claudia on the sofa this week are creator, writer and star of the multi-award-winning Schitt’s Creek Dan Levy, acclaimed stage and screen star Cush Jumbo, Ted Lasso actor Phil Dunster, and comedian Josh Widdicombe.
Discussing his new series ‘Big Mistakes’, Dan Levy reveals how he approached creating his latest character, explaining: “I thought, what is the furthest thing from me? And a religious leader came to mind. He is a non-practicing gay pastor who finds love and then is secretly practicing, hiding it from the church, which becomes a problem, especially when crime is involved.”
To ensure authenticity, Dan also explains how the production enlisted an expert in organised crime. The research uncovered some startling truths, including real-life smuggling tactics, with him remarking, “we found cocaine in the testicles of a bull – and it has happened. They would take them off, insert it, and reattach them.”
As he sets up home in London, he turns to a very unholy experience from the last time he was living in the UK. Having felt inspired by Notting Hill at 21 years old, and wanting to ‘find himself’, Dan told viewers: “I did not find Julia Roberts… I did find other things though…” before continuing a story on how he rented an apartment that his neighbours speculated the previous occupants “might have been a mother, daughter sex duo!” he goes on to reveal the horror he found as he deep cleaned his new apartment…”a phallic shaped perfume bottle, wrapped in a condom and tied at the end.”
Dan also reflects on the origins of Schitt’s Creek, revealing: “We almost sold it in America and then we found out they had a problem with the name and didn’t want to make it, so we took it up to Canada and made it there… It would have never been made on network television in America I think.” adding “My dad [Eugene Levy] was adamant [about changing the name] because there was a lot of people saying, ‘what if we called it Upper Creek?’”
He adds: “In the last season of Schitt’s Creek, I was in a neck brace because I was so stressed out that my neck muscles seized and I had to wear a neck brace for the entire last season of the show. I would direct in the morning, and chiropractors would come in at lunch so that I could move my head to perform in the afternoon.”
Thanking Dan for his commitment, Cush remarks “On behalf of everyone that loved that season, thank you for your service!”
Cush also admits that she has a “no arseholes policy” on set, with Dan revealing that when he was making Schitt’s Creek, he cut someone from the edit for being rude to his crew: “When there are people that are tricky, they stand out… I am very protective of my crew. I don’t like people coming into my team and treating them badly.” joking: “For actors out there, that can happen to you. You’ve got to be nice!”
Sharing a surprising story about his early career, which got the guests and audience very excited, Phil Dunster admitted: “I was at drama school and a girl’s got to eat, so I became a butler in the buff.”
Turning to his latest project , ‘Rooster,’ in which he stars alongside Steve Carell he says of him: “It puts the ‘don’t meet your heroes’ thing to void because he is such a warm lovely person… he is the funny guy on set, but he loves laughing at other people’s jokes more than he likes telling them! He’s just a great guy”
Josh also attempts to explain British TV icon Mr Blobby to Dan Levy, with Claudia declaring “That is our Mickey Mouse!” prompting Dan to respond: “This is absolutely bone-chilling. If this person turned up at my house, I would call the police.”
Revealing that he now lives in the former home of Noel Edmonds, Josh Widdicombe explained: “The estate agent said, ‘you’re not going to believe who used to live here’ – and it was a deal.”
Finally, a surprise moment at the end of the show leaves Dan exclaiming: “You people are fucking crazy!”
For further enquiries please contact lucy.waller01@bbc.co.uk / millie@plankpr.com
All images are available from PA.
The show is produced by So Television and Little Owl Productions, and ITV Studios is the distributor.
ENDS
Notes to editors – All quotes in this release were made during the recording of the show but won’t necessarily appear in the final version.
