The One Show has been in the news rather than reporting it this week, after John Cleese’s bumbling appearance on the BBC show.
The Monty Python star managed to ask the show hosts their names and name-check controversial director Roman Polanski within his first few minutes in the studio.
Hosts Lauren Laverne and Roman Kemp were forced to tell Cleese exactly who they are, since he didn’t seem to know.
Cleese then replied: ‘I’ve only known one Roman, Roman Polanski.’ This went down like a lead balloon in the studio and Kemp appeared unsure what to do with his face (fair).
The 86-year-old then asked Kemp what his co-host, sitting right next to him, was called. The radio presenter replied, stating her name was Lauren, which she had to repeat because Cleese didn’t catch it the first time.
The exchange got us thinking about the madness that can sometimes unfold between two sofas in that BBC studio. Here’s a handful of those cringey moments from the archives.
Gary Barlow gets up and walks out
Gary Barlow surprised his Take That chums, as well as guest hosts Richard Osman and Angela Scanlon, when he just upped and left during the programme in 2017.
While chatting about transitioning to a three-piece outfit with Howard Donald and Mark Owen, Barlow suddenly said: ‘Can I leave you guys to it? I don’t feel too well. Excuse me.’
With the cameras still rolling, the presenters tried to ask if he was alright, but Barlow made haste and left the studio.
He later explained all in a tweet, writing: ‘Thank you all for the messages. I’m absolutely fine. We had a very hot dressing room and I thought I was going to faint on live TV!’
Matt Baker savages David Cameron
This was a real blinder. It was only when Matt Baker was wrapping up an interview with David Cameron that he threw a curveball in 2011.
The former One Show staple earnestly asked: ‘Just very quickly – how on earth do you sleep at night?’
Alex Jones next to him gasped (same). It remains unclear whether this was intended as a dig at the former Tory Prime Minister or not.
After the briefest pause, Cameron decided to take the question at face value and said: ‘I’ve always managed to sleep okay.
‘If you work hard during the day and get your stuff done, try and put it behind you. At the end of the day, if you’re exhausted you’ll make rotten decisions.’
Must have been exhausted a fair bit, Dave!
Mary J Blige’s mum isn’t dead
A more niche entry compared to some of these all-timers, but when is it not awkward to assume someone is dead or vice versa?
When Mary J Blige sat down for a chat on the show in 2019, Matt Baker and Alex Jones asked who she had most looked up to, to which Blige cited her mother.
Baker then asked: ‘How much of your success did she get to see?’
‘All of it. She’s here,’ replied a very confused-looking Blige. ‘No, she’s living.’
Cue awkward laughter.
Dan Stevens calls out Boris Johnson
A personal favourite, Dan Stevens decided to pull a fast one on The One Show hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas back in 2022.
While promoting his show Gaslight, a political thriller about the Watergate scandal, he decided to touch on the politics of the time.
When called on to describe Gaslight, he said: ‘What you’ve got is a criminal for a leader who is wrapped in a messy war, embroiled in a stupid scandal and surrounded by ambitious idiots and really should resign…’
Then, after mock bafflement at his own mix-up, he added: ‘No, I’m sorry that’s the intro to Boris Johnson.’
There were audible gasps from the crew, Jenas hid his head behind the sofa and Jones uttered a wry laugh.
The emergency wildfire alerts
And finally, the most recent entry. This one happened a mere week ago when Brits received emergency wildfire alerts, coincidentally sent at the same time as The One Show’s big 20th anniversary celebrations.
Just minutes into a special extended hour-long episode, Jones and Kemp found themselves competing to be heard over the emergency alarm.
‘You couldn’t make that up could you,’ Jones said. ‘Is that a fire alarm?’
Kemp then asked somebody off-camera and the pair pressed on until it eventually stopped.
