Jack Whitehall’s Father’s Day
Michael and Jack Whitehall on celebrating Father’s Day lockdown-style…
FRIDAY / BBC1 I can’t wait for this special that sees comic Jack Whitehall and dad Michael celebrate Father’s Day – lockdown style! Jack and Michael tell us more…
JACK WHITEHALL’S FATHER’S DAY
NEW FRIDAY / BBC1 / 8.30PM / ENTERTAINMENT
Behind the intergenerational bickering and playful one-upmanship of their TV travelogues and chat show Backchat, it’s clear that comedian Jack Whitehall and his father, Michael, have an incredible bond.
But because of lockdown restrictions, like many of us, Jack is going to miss spending some quality time with his dad on Father’s Day on Sunday 21 June.
However, he has a plan! For one-off 30-minute BBC1 special Jack Whitehall’s Father’s Day, he’s setting up camp on the pavement outside his dad’s front door, so they can reminisce over family photos and hilarious home videos, and tell favourite Whitehall stories.
Along the way, they’ll also be surprising key workers who can’t be with their loved ones on the big day – plus they’ve accepted a special lockdown Masterchef challenge from judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace!
Here, Jack, 31, and former theatre agent Michael, 80, tell us why they hope the show makes the nation smile…
Why did you want to make this Father’s Day special?
JACK: It came about from us twiddling our thumbs, sitting at home and thinking about what we could do to give people a bit of light-hearted distraction from their lockdown. A lot of people won’t be able to spend Father’s Day with their dads, and hopefully this will be fun and show that it’s possible to have a close relationship with your dad even when you can’t be in the same room. It’s our attempt at trying to have some Father’s Day fun! MICHAEL: I just love hanging out with Jack. I think because I didn’t have children until my 40s and my career was well organised by then, I was able to spend a lot more time with Jack, Molly and Barney than most fathers. My wife, Hilary, was the one who ran the whole family brilliantly, and still does, but I think that’s one of the reasons I am so close to Jack and his two brothers.
Sorry, his brother and sister!
JACK: Yes, my secret brother! It doesn’t feel like work, to be honest. It’s just very natural and there’s a surprising lack of stress to any of the stuff we do together because it’s so enjoyable for us.
So, what have you got planned for the occasion?
JACK: I’ve arranged some Father’s Day surprises for Dad. Some of them he’ll like, some less so… And some of them his neighbours will like even less! We’ll be having guests and some of our usual chat. A few things we’re filming in advance like our lockdown version of Masterchef ! There’s a deep dive into the family archives, too. Mother’s dredged up some very embarrassing family videos… MICHAEL: Quite a lot has been redacted because Jack had a habit as a child of taking all his clothes off. I didn’t think that would be very appropriate for an 8.30pm audience on BBC1!
Have you missed each other during lockdown?
JACK: Yes, I’ve missed seeing my dad. We’re a close family, so it’s been weird, but we’ve done lots of Zoom calls and have a family Whatsapp group. I’ve jogged past my parents’ house a couple of times, but, in terms of seeing each other from a two-metre distance, this will be the closest we have been in quite a while.
MICHAEL: All this technology is amazing. Obviously, I don’t understand it, but when I talk to Jack I think that I’ve seen him. I haven’t seen him physically but it’s a jolly good back-up. In the old days, if someone went abroad for a month, you lost them and wouldn’t hear from them. They may write you a letter but it wouldn’t arrive for weeks. I’m going back a few years, obviously! Now, though, you can keep in touch with anyone, anywhere, at any time, which is just extraordinary. It’s a lot better than just not seeing them at all.
What was your dad like, Michael? MICHAEL: My father sadly died when I was in my late 20s and I never really got to truly know him. He wasn’t very well as he had emphysema and he died in his late 50s. I was close to him and loved him, and he loved me. He had a good sense of humour, he was very funny and he was called Jack. So Jack Whitehall a very funny man. But I wish he had lived longer, and today emphysema is something that can be managed, but in those days they didn’t have any cures.
Has Father’s Day always been a special occasion for you both? JACK: I’ve really fond memories of Father’s Day because when I was at boarding school, it was one of the weekends that you always came home for and got to spend time with Mum and Dad. They had no excuse not to come and collect us – there was no getting out of it! We would have a Sunday roast… That’s the sad thing about this year, not having one of my mum’s Sunday roasts. It just isn’t the same when you make it at home yourself. MICHAEL: Can I nail something down about Jack and boarding school?
JACK: Here we go!
MICHAEL: The truth is we wanted our children to go to London day schools, so we could see them every day, but the problem is those schools are quite difficult to get into unless you’re academically gifted. I say no more!
JACK: I did come home most weekends because, when I was 13, I told Daddy that every weekend you came home they would take a percentage off the school fees!
WE’RE GOING TO COOK MEALS AND BIKE THEM OVER TO GREGG AND JOHN
JACK WHITEHALL
This Masterchef challenge
– how exactly does it work? JACK: Me and Daddy are obsessed with Gregg Wallace. On our family Whatsapp group, we always send Gregg Wallace memes and quotes. So we’re doing a very special edition of lockdown Masterchef with Gregg and
John. They’ve been very up for it! Food packages are going to be dropped on our doorstep, we’re going to cook a meal, and bike them over to Gregg and John, and they’ll decide who wins! MICHAEL: The problem is,
I can’t cook anything except for scrambled eggs and boiled chicken. Give me a steak and it will become black, completely tasteless and be pale-grey inside… JACK: Which is why you should all definitely watch Dad doing Masterchef !