AJ: That’s when the show is really cohesive. Sometimes are guests will drop their guard. That’s when you can shock them with questions about the mundane. But they’re actually quite pleased to be asked.
But that’s something about you, isn’t it? You have the ability to cut-through and surprise people with stuff like that. Are you aware of that?
AJ: Not really, no. Because it’s live, we don’t really have time. Whether it’s someone who’s made a special film about an illness, or a family member, or it’s someone like Sir Elton John, and by treating everyone the same.
How would you describe the One Show?
MB: An eclectic mix of everything which is typically British. It’s eccentric. That’s what I love about it. Everything is possible. We can do whatever we want. We don’t shy away from ideas that people wouldn’t normally consider.
AJ: Or controversial sometimes.
MB: I like to give people a starting point with a subject. A guest will share something unexpected during a two or three minute piece and then the next thing you know someone has gone off, found out more about that subject and dedicated their life to it. That’s something I learnt back in the day on Blue Peter. The number of people I’ve met since who’ve said to me “I’m doing what I do today because of something I saw on Blue Peter.” For me, fundamentally, that’s what the One Show is really. It’s a friend that will introduce you to things so you can go off and explore it yourself.
Do you both feed into production?
AJ: Absolutely. Nobody would want to be a puppet. We come in at 2.30pm. We sit down with the editor and the producers and talk through the show. Everyone feeds into it. By the time we sit down for the show at 7.00pm the show could be entirely different from what had been discussed at the meeting.
That’s the joy of it.
MB: All we can do is set out a load of things we think might work with the person we’re interviewing that night. We’ll decide when we’re sitting there what’s working and what doesn’t. We’ll change our line of questioning according to how they respond. You’ve got to be fluid like that.
AJ: There has to be spontaneity. That’s why we do it live. You never know what will happen.
What’s been the hairiest moment on The One Show?
MB: We’ve had lots of animals going to the toilet on us ….
AJ: Do you remember Matt when Sandi Toksvig was on and that massive vulture came to the studio?
MB: Actually yes, that was pretty hairy. She jumped a mile. Then there was that time when David Cassidy who had his face nearly bitten off by a llama. He was kissing the llama saying “Oh aren’t you lovely.” We looked on in horror telling, “No! Don’t do that! Don’t do that!” The llama lurched at his face – he got out of the way just in time.
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