‘You see the personalities of the guests rather than just a quick chat’
Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer reflect on a decade of Sunday Brunch, writes Keri-ann Roper
They’re one of the small screen’s most beloved presenting pairs, so fans will be pleased to hear Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer have no plans to retire just yet. Chef Rimmer, 58, and TV presenter Lovejoy, 53, are celebrating 10 years of hosting Channel 4’s popular live morning show, Sunday Brunch.
Since its inception in 2012, the show, which delivers a morning mix of chefs, drinks experts, A-list celebrity guests, music and more, has become a weekend staple for households.
For Lovejoy, who was also formerly a co-host on Channel 5 motoring series Fifth Gear, he says it’s “really cool that people still want to watch us after 10 years, that we are still, I hate to use the word, but relevant to the audience and I like the idea that they want to tune in on a Sunday.”
The duo finished presenting their axed BBC2 series Something For The Weekend (SFTW), which ran from 2006 to 2012, and revived their on-screen partnership almost straight away with Sunday Brunch, with Channel 4 signing them up shortly after it emerged that SFTW was not being continued.
Rimmer casts his mind back to the early days of the pilot for SFTW saying he and Lovejoy “hit it off right away”, adding: “We became proper friends very quickly.”
Recounting their favourite moments on Sunday Brunch, they are both not short of answers with Lovejoy saying: “My favourite moments are always genuinely the guests and it’s how relaxed they can be”, adding later: “You really get to see the personalities of the guests rather than just like a quick six-minute chat.”
The show’s popularity means they’ve not had a shortage of celebrity guests and well-known people wanting to join them in the guest slots.
Rimmer says musician Phil Collins was a favourite because he “came on and made himself a cup of tea and was just really understated”, with Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin also another of his celebrity highlights.
Rimmer recalls how Plant told them beforehand that he wanted to “plug” his son’s beer company and as such had stashed two cans of beer in his pockets, which he wanted to take out during the show.
For Lovejoy it was actor and musician Dan Aykroyd because, he says, 1980s film The Blues Brothers was “such an influential part of all our lives”, and he also lists American actress Jada Pinkett Smith as a memorable moment.
“She had a bit of an entourage with her and we’re not used to that. The pandemic stopped all entourages, which is interesting. I don’t know how celebrities are coping without their entourage,” he jokes, adding: “When she came on, she had quite a few people.”
But he explains: “When the Americans arrive, you always get a few pointers about what you’re not allowed to talk to them about. They actually don’t care. But I think it’s their people who are with them probably, sort of say, ‘Don’t discuss this’. We don’t want to create headlines anyway, we just try and have a laugh with some guests.
“I think our idea on Sunday brunch is to see the personality of the person, see them having fun, see them laughing, not to try and get the exclusive.
“So we don’t really want to delve into their past relationships like other TV shows, we want them to have a good time, they’re there for three hours, we don’t want a moody person sitting there for three hours.”
Have they got another 10 years in them? Both are in resolute agreement that they’re not hanging up their apron or presenting shoes any time soon.
“I think we’ll both know when we feel it’s kind of run its course. I can honestly say and I know Tim feels the same that I don’t ever roll up and think ‘This feels a bit lame’, or ‘I don’t really want to do this’,” says Rimmer.
Cheers to another decade of Sunday Brunch and the Rimmer-lovejoy presenting partnership.
● The tenth anniversary edition of Sunday Brunch is on Channel 4 on Sunday, 9:30pm