Warwick Davis on Planet's Got Talent, turning down I'm a Celeb and travelling with Karl Pilkington
"It's human nature to want to get up on a stage and show off your talent, even if it isn't really a talent"
What can’t you miss on television?
Gogglebox. I love that. I’m a real latecomer to it, and I think Sandra and Sandy are brilliant. I just wish I’d thought of the idea. It’s so simple; you can sell it all over the world.
What has you reaching for the off switch?
I don’t like Newsnight. I’ve never been into politics, so I don’t understand what’s going on. It’s all a bit of a circus!
You're hosting Planet's Got Talent – what's the weirdest act you've seen?
There's this guy in India who does an act where nobody can pull his shirt out of his trousers. he does it and then someone else has a go. How do you discover that you can do that? It's bizarre but entertaining. It shows that wherever you live in the world, whatever your background, it's human nature for you to want to get up on a stage and show off your talent, even if it isn't really a talent.
What would your talent be?
I can juggle a little bit, but I’m very good at balancing, because in life I’ve had to do a lot of it. If I’m in the kitchen I have to traverse the worktops to get to cereals and stuff like that. Maybe I’d do some sort of balancing act.
Who is the least talented person you know?
Karl Pilkington has popped into my head for some reason. But he is quite a good dancer. It’s quite unorthodox but it’s entertaining and it is a talent. But that’s where it stops.
You did a series of An Idiot Abroad with him (above). Did you genuinely get annoyed with him or was that put on for the cameras?
It was more frustration than anything else. We’d go to these places and I’d keep thinking, “If only you would let yourself enjoy this...” I got frustrated and that sometimes did move into annoyance, but more often than not I just found him amusing. I wish the camera had been rolling the entire time, because the journey was often better than the destination. Wherever we were, whether it was in the hire car, on a plane, at customs, he’d always be talking and moaning about stuff.
You’ve done a documentary about your theatre company for reduced-height actors. What made you do that?
I love theatre and I’ve always wanted to do a straight play. The trouble is, more often than not casting directors and producers can’t see past somebody’s physical appearance. They can’t see the skill and the performance that the actor brings. So it was about levelling the playing field. We reduced the height of the set so that when you see the show, you forget that we’re short performers and you see the play for the performance itself. It worked.
What was the last job you turned down?
I’m a Celebrity... I just didn’t fancy it, not because of the challenge of going into the jungle, but because I only choose to do stuff that I think will help move me forward.
Who’d play you in a biopic of your life?
Someone short. Maybe Ronnie Corbett... or Tom Cruise.
Planet's Got Talent is on ITV tonight (Saturday 31st January) at 7.30pm; Warwick Davis' Big Night Out is on BBC2 on Thursday 5th February at 9.00pm
