‘My role? I’m just a tiny orange…’

Claudia Winkleman, 51, hosts a new C4 competition giving amateur pianists the chance to perform at a top venue…

How did the show come about?

I think everything Love Productions makes is brilliant [such as Great British Bake Off and Sewing Bee]. Richard [McKerrow, co-founder] said, “Do you like the idea of people playing – but they’re not on a pedestal and there’s no, ‘Ta-dah!’ moment? It’s just very authentic and small, and we’ll see how it goes…” And then when they said Mika and Lang Lang were on board, I was like, “I’m on a train to wherever they need me!” Tell us about the performers…

I think our youngest was nine and our eldest was 94 – and the vast majority don’t have pianos at home. These are people who have played on street pianos, and some had learned during lockdown. They are all amateurs, and we met so many different people. What is your main role? I don’t do anything, I’m just a tiny orange… Can you play any musical instruments?

No. I’m 51 and incapable of most things. Nobody wants to hear that. I did once have a trumpet lesson and I couldn’t get a note out of it. I’m not musical at all.

I’m not even allowed to sing Happy Birthday to my tortoise – he retreats into his shell going, “No more!”

Was making this emotional?

I loved being in the train stations, as opposed to a television studio. There were moments like a school trip passing by and the kids stopping to listen to the piano – their eyes full of wonder. People were in a rush or trying to wrangle a two-year-old into a pushchair – while in the middle of it all, somebody was just playing this very beautiful instrument. And the final performance at the Royal Festival Hall?

What I will say is, I can’t watch myself, so don’t know what the final show will look like... but the performers treated it with aplomb. They were ready, and the whole thing isn’t jazzed up – it’s authentic. There was that sense of camaraderie, the final four looking after each other beautifully, with their friends and family in the audience.

Why should we be tuning in?

I think we always want to watch real people, don’t we? Whether it’s on Love Island or I’m A Celebrity! – or playing the piano at St Pancras station… I had to include Love Island in that answer, otherwise my 16-year-old daughter would be angry with me [laughs]. When I listened to some of those performances, my head exploded. They were all brilliant.