‘PIERS MORGAN BEING BOOED IS ALWAYS FUN’
The superstar host discusses the star-studded new series of A League Of Their Own, his four-way bromance, and that pesky Piers Morgan with Boyd Hilton
If you could sum up James Corden’s current mood in one word, it would be “enthusiastic”. We’re in his dressing room at Elstree Studios, as he prepares to host the final recording of the twelfth series of Sky1 show, A League Of Their
Own, and his mind is flitting from one topic to another at breakneck speed. Last night he saw the “incredible” stage play
The Ferryman in the West End, this morning he took part in a Vogue photoshoot by Mario Testino (“Yeah, I know... Crazy, right?”), and he’s very keen to know what his friend Harry Styles is like in the film Dunkirk, which he hasn’t had time to see yet, mainly because he’s been busy filming these nine new episodes of ALOTO. He’s flying back to LA the next morning, to resume his normal schedule of hosting The Late Late Show every weekday. And he’s revelling in the profound pleasures of a Nando’s delivery for lunch, which he generously offers to share with heat. Floating around the place are his cherished
ALOTO co-stars Jack Whitehall, Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp – and heat can confirm their giddy chatter off screen is every bit as deliciously funny as it is on the actual show. Corden’s face lights up when discussing those guys, and he’s clearly formed a bond for life with all of them. Before we get deep into the bromance, however, there’s Piers Morgan to discuss…
Who have been your favourite guests in this series of ALOTO?
Well, Romesh Ranganathan is an incredibly funny man, and I love him every time he’s on the show. Thierry Henry is a wonderful guest to get, and [Chelsea footballer] Cesc Fàbregas was great. Cesc says something on the show that he’s never said publicly before, which felt like quite a moment. Piers Morgan being booed is always very fun, and the audience’s natural reaction to boo him is quite astonishing.
What do you make of Piers becoming such a hate figure? I think it’s a strange thing, because Piers just sees it as sport. I think if you spend your life as a tabloid newspaper editor, and then you become as influential and powerful as he is on TV, you understand that having an opinion is very valuable. But his opinions often seem a tad offensive to many… The truth is that anyone is allowed to be offended. There’s a strange thing happening in the world right now, where if you’re offended, there’s a sense of outrage about it. But what people have to realise is that being offended is fine. Because we all wholeheartedly reserve the right to offend and be offended. Are you surprised to have reached the 12th series? Absolutely. When we started out it was a sports quiz, and now it’s… well, it’s hard to say exactly what it is. It does feel that now, more than ever, people are coming to the show to check in with this lovely, organic relationship that has formed between the four of us – me, Jamie, Freddie and Jack. And I don’t think anyone ever anticipated this would be the crux of the show, but it does feel like that. And I think the Road
Trip series have really helped with that. It’s like a joyful Top Gear. Do you know what I mean? In the way that Top Gear started as something and then just became these three guys bouncing off each other organically. Except you don’t get the Top
Gear guys enjoying a naked mud bath together… No. Ours is a lot more homoerotic. It’s a very gay-friendly show. Yes, it’s maybe the most homoerotic show on TV… You’re absolutely right. Listen, we end this series of ALOTO dressed in Mamma Mia! outfits, singing
Waterloo… If we’d had tried to do that on series one with Freddie and Jamie, they’d never have done it. But now they feel much more at ease and they’re up for anything. You even got Jamie Redknapp to recreate the orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally… How did you react when you saw that? Oh my God. Well, I wasn’t there, but I saw the guys the next day and they were telling me about it and, honestly, I thought, “This is one of those things where you had to be in the room… I’m sure it’s funny, but it can’t be as funny as they’re making out.” But, if anything, they underplayed it. Can you understand why Jamie had such trouble performing the “orgasm”? Of course! The guy played in Euro 96. We’ve lived with Jamie being on television for so long now we forget he was one of the most exciting footballers around at that time. He was f**king good, and so now he’s a TV star having to re-enact that orgasm scene in front of real punters in the deli where they filmed
When Harry Met Sally. It’s not his natural habitat! What’s your favourite moment of the series? I really enjoyed the volleyball. Because that is the purity of the show, right there. It’s as stripped-down a piece of TV as you can find – just four people, playing volleyball on the beach. And yet, for some reason, you’re invested in it. I can’t work out why, but I love it when the show gets quite competitive… Who’s the most competitive among you? Jamie. He’s the most fiercely competitive. Freddie is the natural born competitor. He’s just a fearless man. He’s not used to losing. We shot the Christmas special, where we have a baseball challenge, and the guy training us from the LA Angels said Freddie was the most naturally gifted baseball player he’d seen. Fred then casually mentioned how he was offered a contract by the New York Yankees to play baseball when he was 18, but he didn’t want to leave home. But then when we got to the baseball challenge, Jamie won, and Freddie was cut up about it. He was genuinely annoyed. Do you ever get annoyed? I get annoyed in the singing and dancing challenges if I don’t win, because I know I don’t stand a chance in the baseball. Or any kind of jogging challenge. Or anything that involves any kind of exercise, basically, so then if it’s synchronised swimming and I lose to Jack, I’m f**king furious.
‘A League Of Their Own is a lot more homoerotic than Top Gear’
Is there anything Jack has ever said “no” to on the show? I don’t think so. Jack is just so brilliant, and a lot of the time I just sit back and think, “You are so funny…” He’s just a consummate performer. I don’t know any other panel show that has the level of ambition of this series. When we started we had Jimmy Carr putting his head into a bowl of water, and now we have Jamie and Freddie hanging from the ceiling, inching across a beam before jumping onto a platform. We just filmed that last night, and they were genuinely terrified. What’s the difference between hosting and ALOTO The Late Late Show? Oh, it’s much more stressful doing the chat show. The talk show is like being in this incredible TV landscape every day, whereas this show is a lovely thing that we film for a few hours each time, and it’s really put together in the editing. I really just sit there and let it all happen. Would you have Donald Trump on your show? I don’t believe anyone who says that they wouldn’t have him on their show. During the election campaign, there was some interest in him coming on our show, and we had this idea for a game involving him called “Stand By It Or Take It Back”, and the idea was I’d read Donald Trump something that he had said on the
campaign trail, and if he takes it back, that is great, and we never mention it again. But if he stands by it he has to explain why. So, very slowly, his people decided to back away from our show… Living in the States, are you surprised by the reality of Trump as President? [Laughs.] Every day. I must admit, I had this warped idea of what Trump would be like, and I didn’t think he’d bother doing anything. I didn’t think he would be that into the day-to-day business of being President. I just thought he’d coast through it and enjoy the fame and adulation of being ex-president afterwards. How wrong I was!
A League Of Their Own returns to Sky 1 & NOW TV on Thursday 14 September, 9pm