People working towards a cure are amazing

Why is SU2C so important to you?

I lost my uncle two weeks ago to lung cancer. This year is going to have a bit more of a purpose for me. As you get older, more and more people seem to be battling it, and it becomes more and more relevant.

You’ve been to UCL Cancer Institute to see where some of the money goes?

Whenever I do Stand Up to Cancer, I always donate and I like to get as much information as possible so when I’m talking to people at home, I can look them in the eye knowing I’ve done something about it. These people working towards a cure are amazing, and every penny goes straight into research.

How do you control your emotions?

I don’t! The clips with the children are just heart-breaking. It’s not just me crying, it’s everyone behind the scenes.

You get so sad, but in those last minutes you understand where the title Stand Up to

Cancer comes from because something happens and you go: “Right, come on then! Let’s do this. Let’s do it for that little girl.” What was it like losing the autocue? Well, you just look like you’ve sh** yourself. But you just go into weird auto-pilot where you’re just filling the time.

Your experience in stand-up helped?

Oh yeah. Me and David Walliams were doing Comic Relief when Russell Brand was 20 minutes late and we had to fill for 20 minutes. I was basically just telling people what we were going to have for tea and asking David if he was going anywhere nice for his holidays.

I mean, I can fill for a couple of minutes, but 20 minutes? I was telling people my PIN by the end of it.