Alan Carr breaks silence on Britain’s Got Talent judging panel snub – and his awkward first meeting with Simon Cowell
WHEN Alan Carr was asked to be a judge on new ITV1 series Mamma Mia!, he had more than one reason to reply: “Here we go again.”
After all, he was a virtual shoo-in to replace David Walliams on the panel of Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year, only to be pipped to the post by former Strictly star Bruno Tonioli.
Alan, 47, was oblivious to what was going on, and only found out after friends messaged him after reading about it — mostly through exclusive stories in The Sun.
He said: “I was driving along the M25 and then it’s, ‘ping, ping, ping’ on my phone. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, someone’s died — or my sex tape has come out!’
“So I pulled over and it was messages saying I’d got the job and it was all in the papers. Then I had a meeting with them and they said, ‘Oh yeah . . .’ and they said I’d find out.”
Except he didn’t find out from ITV bosses, or from BGT supremo Simon Cowell.
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Once again he discovered his BGT fate by reading about it in print.
Alan said: “I don’t really know what went on. It was that awful thing of people saying I was devastated. I was on the set of my sitcom, which I wrote and I’m producing, so I was not devastated about not being on BGT.
‘This is so easy going it’s like a spa break’
“I was with my friends saying: ‘You never told us!’ . . . I was never told!”
Unfortunately for Alan, his best pal Amanda Holden, who is also a BGT judge, threw a party just after the decision was made and forgot to tell him that a certain someone was attending.
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He said: “I go through the door and, oh great, Simon’s in there.
“So, as I always do, with my best humour I went over there and said, ‘My wrist has been hurting all weekend practising that bloody buzzer and you went for Bruno.’
“He just said, [mimicking Cowell] ‘Alan, that’s showbusiness’.
“It was just the worst time to meet someone. Of all the people, I was like, ‘Oh s**t!’ “But it is showbiz, isn’t it? And I like Bruno. My only regret is I love working with Amanda — it would have been lovely.”
But Alan, who’s already recorded two series of his “Italian Job” BBC One travelogue with Amanda, has a think and has a quick change of heart.
He said: “Scrap that answer, I don’t want Amanda on holiday with me because she’s too bossy.
“She bosses me about on Italian Job, she’s not bossing me about on this, this is my holiday.
“This is so easy going and so lovely. This is like a spa break.
“This is like going on the tea cups and then moving on to the waltzers when I work with Amanda.”
Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream is filmed in the stunning mountains of Corfu and is unlike anything Alan has done before.
He’s been a guest judge on BBC Three’s RuPaul’s Drag Race and isn’t afraid to chip in as presenter on another Beeb show, Interior Design Masters.
But the new Mamma Mia! ITV eight-parter, which starts next Sunday, is another level.
It sees a group of youngsters battle it out against one another, belting out ABBA tunes, to land the lead roles of Sophie and Sky in a new West End production of the musical.
Like the stage show, and the hit 2008 film starring Meryl Streep, the TV show simply had to take place on a beautiful Greek Island.
The competition follows a similar formula to other singing contests, such as BBC One’s I’d Do Anything in 2008, which gave the world stage star Samantha Barks, who’s now a judge on this show.
Along with singers Jessie Ware and Amber Riley, they form the Mamma Mia! TV contest panel.
Alan said: “This is just something else — this is amazing. It’s fresh and you never know if you join the panel and the ratings go up or down, if you’re going to be blamed for it.
“Listen, it’s not as if I’m not busy. So listen, BGT never worked out, but hey, I’m in Corfu with these gorgeous girls having the best laugh, I’m being entertained.
“I mean, I love Greece, I love ABBA and (gesturing to his fellow judges) I love these three.” But despite being the only non-singer on the panel, Alan insists he won’t resort to simply being the “nasty judge” like Simon.
He said: “With talent shows I think there is a bit of cynicism but we just wanted this to be very organic, very nice. I mean, we’ve got to send someone home. We’re not going to lie or sugar-coat it.
‘It’s a new era of talent shows’
"But I think we’re being firm but fair. I think those days of me being a nasty judge going (mimics Simon again) ‘I didn’t like it, I loved it’ — if I started doing that I think it would be weird. “It’s a new era of talent shows.”
Although he is embracing his new role, Alan is slightly concerned that when the panel is unveiled with the launch of the series, they’ll look a bit like a bizarre girl band.
He said: “I’m the one at the end that mimes. I was worried about this because you know that bit at the beginning of The Voice where they all come on and sing a bit?
“When I got the job I spoke to the producers and went, ‘I ain’t singing! You’re not getting a solo out of me!’
“But the thing is, these women are fantastic singers and performers and I am like the people at home watching. I love musicals, I love ABBA, so I can appreciate a good performance.”
As a stand-up comic with a career dating back two decades, Alan also knows what it takes to get up on stage and try to win over an audience.
He also knows what it’s like to get a hostile response from a crowd — because he’s been mercilessly heckled, and more.
Alan recalls: “It’s usually just, ‘You’re st, get off’.
“I mean, I’ve had things thrown at me, especially in the early days.
“One funny thing that happened . . . they threw something at me. It’s a horrible story.
“I had something homophobic abuse shouted at me and then he threw a corkscrew wrapped with a load of newspaper round it. It was quite hard.
“I went, ‘Right!’ and I picked it up, threw it at him, it hit the lampshade and it plopped on the floor. Then the whole crowd shouted, ‘You throw like a girl’.”
Becoming a judge on Mamma Mia! has no doubt been a welcome distraction for Alan too because in January 2022 he split from husband Paul Drayton after 13 years together.
Since then it’s fair to say he has thrown himself into his work.
As well as the new ITV show, he’s already hosting BBC One’s Picture Slam and earlier this year debuted his autobiographical sitcom, Changing Ends, for ITVX.
Plus he’s just filmed the second series of his Italian Job with Amanda for the Beeb.
He said: “As always, my work and life balance is completely dying, but, you know, when things get recommissioned and you get asked to do shows like this, you’ve got to say yes.
You’d be stupid not to.” It wasn’t just Alan’s skill as a performer or his work ethic that attracted him to the job either — it’s also his love of ABBA.
He even went to the ABBA Voyage concert featuring the Swedish legends in hologram form . . . and it turned out he wasn’t the only VIP in attendance.
Alan said: “I went to see ABBA Voyage and there were two empty seats next to me. I took my mum on Mother’s Day because I’m a very good son. We’re sitting there and the holograms are so amazing, it’s like they’re there.
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“Anyway, I looked round and Tom Hanks is next to me with his wife. I was like: ‘Are they holograms?’ How immersive is this experience?!”
- Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream is on ITV1 and ITVX from Sunday, October 22
