I’m having a platonic love affair with Rylan
The TV presenter and barrister, 45, reveals his proudest TV moment and why he and his new best friend Rylan Clark are following in the footsteps of Lord Byron
Hi, Rob! What have you been watching on television recently?
the Morning show on Apple tv+. it stars Jennifer Aniston, reese Witherspoon and steve Carell and examines the culture behind an American breakfast news show. i can’t say it chimes with my own experiences as a presenter on Good Morning Britain but it certainly captures the pressures of live tv. regular breakfast presenters exist in this weird, emotional circadian rhythm where they feel jet lagged every single day.
What else have you been enjoying?
i love “bootleg” history documentaries on Youtube. My recent favourite was dan Jones’s series about the Wars of the roses, Britain’s Bloody Crown. there, he reveals it was Margaret Beaufort’s Machiavellian and political machinations that ultimately enabled her son, Henry vii, to come to the english throne.
What is your proudest TV moment?
Presenting the BBC series, My Family, the Holocaust And Me. it followed on from Who do You think You Are? where i made new discoveries about my Jewish grandfather, a survivor of two nazi concentration camps. For this series, i went with my mum back to treblinka in Poland, where my grandfather’s sisters, brothers and parents were murdered. i also helped four other Jewish families find out what happened to their relatives. i’m enormously proud because the UCL Centre for Holocaust education has created a national schools project based around the series.
What’s your latest TV project?
i’m co-presenting rob And rylan’s Grand tour [on sundays at 9pm on BBC two]. rylan Clark and i are exploring artistic treasures in venice, Florence and rome to discover why people like lord Byron went on the Grand tour. the first episode culminated in us wearing drag and going to st Mark’s square disguised in masks. We were mates before filming. now it’s a platonic love affair.
What brings you joy away from the telly?
i love tending the little oriental garden on my balcony. that’s why i’m fronting Miracle Gro’s Have Yourself A Gro-ment campaign, which encourages gardeners to celebrate the benefits of growing their own flowers, plants and vegetables. i love encouraging people to be outside.
Breakfast presenters feel jet lagged every day