They know I’m not a safe pair of hands... I’d planned to set fire to sponsors’ table but they said I couldn’t
JACK BRINGS AN EDGE TO THE BRITS
Jack Whitehall will make his debut as host of the Brits tonight knowing ITV bosses want him to add a bit of edginess to proceedings… but he wonders whether they will still be talking to him after the show.
The comic, 29, admits there has been some “back and forth” with ITV over his script, particularly as the awards kick off at 8pm, well before the watershed.
He says: “By booking me, they know what I do and my brand of humour. They know I am not as safe a pair of hands as other presenters. They have accepted that I will be doing my version.”
He is following in the footsteps of James Corden, and Ant and Dec, and was thought the perfect choice after last year’s show, hosted by Dermot O’Leary, 44, and Emma Willis, 41, was branded dull by some viewers.
But speaking ahead of tonight’s ceremony at the O2 Arena in London, Jack reveals one sketch has already been ruled too much.
He says: “I wanted to set fire to the sponsors table but they wouldn’t let me do that. I wanted to go to the Mastercard table, introduce our lead sponsors and then the head of Mastercard. Then knock over a candle and set fire to it all.
“To be fair to them, and this is why they are great, they did entertain it. They did at least tell me they were going to go away and see if it was a possibility. Five minutes later they came back and said, ‘That’s never going to happen, Jack’.”
Anyone expecting a shock-fest will be
I know they definitely have a beeper and there is a delay too JACK WHITEHALL ON SHOW SAFEGUARDS
disappointed. He says: “I don’t think it’s that risque, but then I am reminded that my tolerance for being risque is not the same as anyone else’s.
“I am trying to be true to myself and my tone of comedy. But at the same time, you have to be slightly aware that the show is going out at 8pm on ITV.
“It’s about finding the right balance. I think anyone who expects a full-on, firebrand dropping truth bombs left, right and centre may be disappointed. It’s about pushing it as far as you can go and stepping back and listening to them when they tell you you’ve gone too far.”
He was slated in 2012 after making a crass joke at the expense of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. On BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs last week he recalled how his remark about a bladder infection upset his family, including his dad Michael, 77, who appeared with him in Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father.
Jack now “self-censors” more and says this will apply to his Brits stint. He says: “I am approaching it with a degree of caution and with a filter in my head.
“You mature to an extent and learn lessons. But there will be something else around the corner that upsets people.
“That’s the nature of it, I guess, until I cease to do any comedy at all and lock myself away in a room and write a novel.”
In any case, ITV have safeguards in place against stray swearwords.
He says: “I know they definitely have a beeper, which is something they probably shouldn’t have told me, and there is a delay too. I have been beeped before on Soccer AM. The whole interview was beeped as it was 9.30am in the morning.
“Hopefully, that won’t be the case with this and there isn’t one long beep in between all of the acts.”
Among those set to perform is Dua Lipa, 22, who has five nominations, including best British female, and Ed
Sheeran, 27, who has four nominations, including album of the year. He is also up for best British male alongside Liam Gallagher, Stormzy, Loyle Carner and Rag‘N’Bone Man. Wolf Alice are up for best band and Drake is nominated for Best International Male.
They may be some of the biggest names in music, but they will not be off limits when it comes to Jack’s script.
He says: “There are a few references to people in the room. Its best not to prewarn them – you want their reaction to be real and you don’t want them to give you the opportunity to take the joke out.”
Jack says he has been in contact with his mate James Corden, 39, who fronted the ceremony for five years.
The Late Late Show host was embroiled in controversy in 2012 after cutting short Adele’s acceptance speech.
Jack says: “I saw James after the Adele thing and he was really cut up about it. There is no way I am cutting them off mid-speech. If Stormzy wants to do a three-hour speech, he can have the stage.”
But he is full of praise for James and the others who have hosted the Brits, saying: “Dermot did a great job with Emma Willis at such short notice last year. They are model professionals.
“Ant and Dec have huge amounts of experience, especially live TV, which I don’t have. James was great, doing five years in a row – he obviously did something right. Hopefully I will step up to the plate.”
So if it all goes well tonight, will he be back again next year.
He says: “It’s not in my hands. They will have to see how far I push it and if I am allowed back ever again.”
The Brit Awards are on ITV at 8pm.