BRING DOWN THE HOUSE
Bill Bailey found a whole new audience when he waltzed off with the glitterball trophy, helped by Oti Mabuse, on Strictly. JOSH STEPHENSON finds him branching out once more as one of the regulars on This Is My House, a cross between Would I Lie To You? and Through The Keyhole
Do you think the homeowners had to frantically tidy up before the crew arrived to film?
Yes. They were saying, ‘Quick, the cameras are coming, tidy up. Put those empty pizza boxes behind the sofa. Plump up the cushions. Do the washing up – we haven’t done it for a year. We’ve just been throwing the washing up over a hedge. The neighbours haven’t even noticed – it’s like a medieval midden out there!’
Why is this a timely show? Because we’ve been denied human contact for so long, any little bit of connection with people is important. Also, we’ve spent so many months looking into other people’s houses during Zoom calls. We’re not so interested in what people are saying because we’re gazing behind them at their bookshelves or saying, ‘Ooh, look, we’ve got those curtains.’ It’s a fascinating insight into the way that others live because we are a very curious species by nature – we love to know people’s idiosyncrasies.
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Bill. Bailey was amazed. to have won Strictly.
Have you been impressed by the actors who are playing fake homeowners?
They have been superb. If we get another series, perhaps we’ll see Ian McKellen in heavy make-up as one of the house owners. We’ll be saying, ‘He looks a bit like Ian McKellen. Is this Gandalf’s house?’
Did you ever think you would be a contestant on Strictly?
No. I’ll be honest, I never imagined myself doing the show. I never thought I would dance live on television. If you had told me a year ago that I would be doing that, I’d have said, ‘You’ve lost your mind!’
Did you see yourself as the underdog?
At first, a lot of people wrote me off. They thought: ‘He’s never going to be contender. He’ll be in it for a couple of weeks, then he’ll get fired out of a cannon dressed as a weasel and that will be it.’
Was there one moment where you suddenly realised just what a big deal it was?
I was. I genuinely didn’t think I would win. I thought that perhaps technically I wasn’t up to it, that some of the other dancers were more proficient. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be there in the second week, never mind the final. So when they announced us as winners, I was genuinely shocked and emotional.
Finally, did you know that the final of Strictly drew over a million more viewers than Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah, making you officially more popular than the royal couple?
I didn’t but what a fantastic measure of success that is! I’m delighted. I can retire happy now!
This Is My House continues tonight at 9pm on BBC1