A long-time variety show host/comedian has revitalised his interview podcast.
Ardal Morgan has interviewed countless celebrities over 30 years on his various TV shows and his Ardal Makes Friends podcast. But he’s finally had enough.
The breaking point came when he interviewed veteran English theatre actor Sir Paul Lloyd Fourvel on the latest episode of his podcast.
“The old goat was droning on with the same handful of stories he’s told a million times. I was sitting there pretending to listen and thinking, I’m so bored! I don’t know if I can do this anymore!
“I took a week off from the pod and seriously considering chucking the whole thing in! We’ve been doing this since 2019, that’s a good run for a podcast, and the fans would move on eventually. I don’t want to interview celebrities anymore, but the production company insists the celebrity interviews keep going so they can plug whatever nonsense they’re doing now. Maybe it was a good time to wind it up?”
But one night browsing his old YouTube videos gave him the idea he needed to revitalise the podcast: a sketch where a nervous intern interviews an actor.
“I forgot how funny it was. The actor was in on the joke and was a good sport. And I remember coaching the intern to be as awkward and nervous as possible as it’d be funnier.”
After some planning with his long-term assistant Sarah and producer Michael, Ardal quickly put the new idea in place.
“The celebrities come in as normal, but this time one of my staff members interviews them. I’m still there, but only as an observer. The staff member asks all the questions and drives the conversation. I’ll only step if they need help,” said Ardal. “It’ll be a different staff member every week, and we’ll make sure everyone gets a turn.”
While the production company were reluctant to change the format, Ardal insisted that he would walk away if the new format (retitled Ardal’s Assistants Makes Friends) wasn’t approved.
“I agreed to keep the pre- and post-interview chats with Sarah and Michael, so if fans don’t like the new interviews, they can listen to the silly chats and save themselves 40 minutes. I’m looking forward to the chance of pace: now if the guests bore me, I don’t have to pretend to be interested. I can focus on the assistant interviewer instead.”
