CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Hello.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES
Thank you, that's very kind. Thank you very much.
Good evening, everyone.
Good evening, and welcome to The Jonathan Ross Show.
We have got a great show lined up for you tonight,
so let's have a look at who's in my green room.
First up, a fantastic actor
who's been entertaining audiences for over 30 years.
He's Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
and you'll know him from The 40-Year-Old Virgin,
Friends, Anchorman - so many great things,
AND the brand-new Ghostbusters.
I'm very excited to have him here tonight,
it's the brilliant Paul Rudd, ladies and gentlemen!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Paul Rudd in the flesh.
WHISTLING Hello, Paul.
My next guest is an amazing talent.
She's an award-winning actor, a number-one-selling singer
as well as a brilliant writer, producer and director.
It's the phenomenal Billie Piper! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Billie! WHISTLING
Alongside them, we have a true icon.
She had sold over 100 million records
as part of the biggest girl group of all time.
It's the super spicy and not-at-all-scary Mel B!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Mel B, we're pleased to have you back.
And as if that weren't enough, we're also joined
by one of my favourite new comedians on the stand-up circuit.
He's only 25, but he's already wowed us all
with a critically-acclaimed comedy special.
The very, very funny Mr Leo Reich!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Young Leo.
Plus, we have an incredible performance
from the next big thing in British music.
She's had over 500 million streams, a top-three single
and is preparing to release her debut studio album,
it's the wonderful Cat Burns! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I'm thrilled you're here, Cat. Thank you for joining us.
Here's another thing I think you'll enjoy.
One young couple's wedding video went viral this week
when they got to the bit in the ceremony
which everyone dreads.
They have to do that bit, but everyone dreads
when the vicar or the master of ceremonies, whoever it is, says,
"Does anyone have any reason these two should not be joined together?"
And you always worry there's gonna be someone
who's a bit of a character
who'll try and make it all about themselves.
Look at this.
OFFICIANT: Memories are fresher and commitment is stronger.
LAUGHTER
In order to proceed, I must now ask if any person here present...
COW MOOS, LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
I knew that was gonna happen.
Duly noted!
Called it.
Honestly, that's the first time that's ever happened.
If any person here present knows of any lawful impediment...
COW MOOS, LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
Shall we get on with the show? AUDIENCE: Yeah!
OK. Let's get my first guest out here.
Will you please welcome with me, Billie Piper and Paul Rudd!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Looking fabulous, Paul. Likewise.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Billie, looking amazing. Great to have you here.
Come and sit down.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES
Great to have you both here. Thank you for joining me on the show.
Thank you for having us. Thanks for having us.
I was talking to Billie a little bit before the show,
and you told me what a huge fan you were of Paul. Oh, yeah.
When I was younger. Josh, Clueless.
LAUGHTER Oh.
I'm... Yeah, I'm sorry, I... Not at all. No, thank you.
Well, I'm a fan of yours, it's lovely to meet you.
It's LOVELY to meet you. SHE EXCLAIMS
LAUGHTER And you mentioned to me, Billie,
you mentioned me his eyes... you asked me about his eyes.
Oh, I didn't realise you were gonna raise that.
Well, no, I just thought this should be shared.
What did you say about his eyes?
Well, there's something quite catty about your eyes.
Actually, now I'm seeing them live...
they're a lot warmer in the flesh.
I mean, you're very warm. Yeah.
But sometimes, it seems like the light reflects on your eyes
in a way that, erm... feels quite primal.
LAUGHTER I get "cold and dead" a lot.
Cold, dead eyes. They're gorgeous eyes.
Thanks, guys.
Paul, so, am I right in thinking you were born in the US?
I think New Jersey, is that right? Yeah.
OK, but your parents are both from here, aren't they? That's right.
Both from London. Yeah. Both from the UK.
Do you have a fondness for the UK because of that?
Do you get to visit often? Absolutely.
I've been coming here my whole life. I have dual citizenship. Wow.
And I just, you know, it was tough to get
any real good chocolate and candy and all of the, you know,
good stuff here in the Midwest,
so we would always have relatives send it over,
and so I have such a warm... you know, warm feeling for England.
So relatives would send food parcels of chocolates over to you...
Yeah. Yeah. ..as a child.
Crunchie bars - you couldn't get 'em where I lived.
You couldn't get Rowntree Fruit Gums, which were my dad's favourite.
He loved the Fruit Gums that would take your teeth out.
Someone hissed when you said Rowntree Fruit Gums...
LAUGHTER
I didn't realise, everyone's like, "Oh, the pastilles?" Yes.
The pastilles, which are great, everyone loves,
but my dad loved the gums. Gums.
Yeah. AUDIENCE GROANS
The ones that take your teeth out.
Yeah, and nobody seems to like them, just based on that reaction.
You're part of the big new Ghostbusters movie.
Mm-hm. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
But before we get to that, this is not the only franchise,
cos of course, you were Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Which was amazing.
I love those movies. Oh, great, thank you.
You know I love those movies, I really do.
What's it like filming one? Because they're huge in scale. Yeah.
And you filmed that one here, I think?
That's right, yeah. The last one, we filmed here.
The first two, we filmed in Georgia.
Right. All set in San Francisco.
LAUGHTER
But this one, yeah, this one we filmed out here.
And a huge scope of sets, I imagine? Great scale? Enormous.
And, I mean, to be involved in one of those productions is...
is really astounding, and this one was really unique,
because they built this thing called The Volume,
which is like a screen, an LED screen
that wraps around an entire soundstage.
They brought out dirt on the floor
to make it look and feel more realistic.
So you're in a huge soundstage with dirt everywhere...
BILLIE LAUGHS
Pretty much, although, it wasn't actually... wasn't dirt.
I think they got a deal on the dirt, because...
it turned out to be manure. Wow.
LAUGHTER, AUDIENCE GROANS
And we filmed in the summer.
GROANS CONTINUE
You know what strikes me as being weird about that,
I would imagine that dirt would probably be cheaper...
than manure. Than manure.
You would think. LAUGHTER
Can you imagine the tomatoes they grew when you were gone? Yeah.
LAUGHTER It's true.
What do the fan base say?
Cos Marvel fans, and I am one of them, they're quite...
"Obsessive" is the wrong word,
but they're big on the details, they love looking at the characters,
the changes made from the film from the comic books.
You had much interactions?
You ever been to conventions to meet the fans of those films?
I went to one of those Comic-Cons,
and the very first time Ant-Man was announced,
I went to the big Comic-Con. I'd never been to one before.
In San Diego? Yeah.
And it was interesting because they...
I was part of the Marvel panel, and I went out with The Avengers.
Which is a really interesting way to go to a Comic-Con.
I've described it as going...
It's like going to a music convention with The Beatles.
Yeah, it's the only way to go to a Comic-Con.
It's like, "Oh, this has kind of ruined it for me now,"
there's thousands of people screaming, going crazy.
It was pretty wild, yeah.
Of course, I'm sure you know this,
but Billie was so good in Doctor Who many years ago.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE As Rose Tyler... which was amazing.
When they brought that show back, and we didn't know what to expect,
but it was so good.
You with Christopher Eccleston originally. It was amazing.
And you've been to a few of the Doctor Who conventions. Oh, yeah.
Cos they're equally passionate, those fans. Yeah.
I've been to loads. I've been to... maybe 50.
Yeah, they're amazing, they're amazing.
It's unlike anything you'll ever do professionally, I would say.
You have to...
I'm often signing autographs with two-week-old babies
who have been named Billie Rose or Piper Rose or...
My signature's kind of scrawled over someone's arm,
and then they have it tattooed on their beautiful skin.
My shitty signing... LAUGHTER
..all over their beautiful skin.
Had you been a fan of Doctor Who before?
No. LAUGHTER
I really... I'm not sci-fi, I'm not Marvel. Sorry.
I-I'd love to be in it, but I am not, erm...
LAUGHTER
Let's just make that clear.
I... I don't necessarily follow it, but I will.
Yeah. Moving forwards.
It's an awkward situ... It's fine. It's really OK.
David Tennant, of course, returned, and it was...
David Tennant was probably my favourite Doctor of all time.
Cos I loved so many growing up, but he was so amazing,
and he returned for the 60th anniversary. I know.
Were they after you? Have they asked you to do that?
Have they asked you to go back again? Would you go back?
They haven't asked me. Wow.
But I'd love to go back, because now they're, like...
Now there's, like, musical features... Yeah.
..and musical elements,
which I think that is the next obvious progression of that show.
Of course there should be music.
With Doogie Howser doing a Spice Girls number!
Yes. Did you see that?
Perfect. Yes, it was amazing. So I'd like some of that.
So you would definitely go back if they gave you more to do, basically?
Yeah, more dancing. More dancing.
I wanna talk about your dancing earlier on,
cos I know you suffered a minor injury dancing,
let's not get into that yet. I wanna talk about Ghostbusters.
Frozen Empire, the new Ghostbusters movie, out now,
and it's a great, fun family film.
And what's amazing, though - for me, as a fan, it was great -
to see you on screen with the original,
those who are still with us, the original Ghostbusters. Yeah.
How was that? Surreal.
It didn't make any sense whatsoever. It's very hard when you...
It was super cool to put on the flight suit and the proton pack
and shoot ghosts.
I felt like I was ten years old.
But then to kind of look over
and see Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd doing the same thing... Yeah.
I immediately forgot I was actually filming a scene,
I'm just looking at them, going,
"Whoa! There they are! There they are!"
It was very exciting and a real honour, yeah.
Did you, being a fan of it and having that incredible moment,
did you take anything home from the set?
Were you allowed to keep your suit, a proton blaster, the car?
LAUGHTER I, uh... I kept my suit.
Yeah. Yeah, which was pretty great. Yeah.
And I took a couple of things.
I just took them, I didn't tell anyone.
I don't think I was supposed to.
I take things from set as well. You do?
It's the... Why work on anything if you can't steal from the set? Steal.
LAUGHTER You know?
What have you lifted from sets?
Oh, God, loads of things, erm... LAUGHTER
Rings, like, play rings, costume jewellery.
I took a whip from Secret Diary. Wow, OK.
Erm... Underwear from Secret Diary, because...
I'm never gonna buy that. Goes with the whip!
Yeah. LAUGHTER
It makes sense. Loads of stuff from the TARDIS, like the cent...
the console, the main central console.
Hold it, the main console...? Yeah. How did you smuggle that out?
Well, it's... No, I didn't take the main console,
I just took stuff, like...
you know, scraping it in, cos it's just, like, bric-a-brac. So...
Yeah, but it's gonna get lost in space and time now.
LAUGHTER Not my concern.
Let's have a look at a clip.
This is the amazing new Ghostbusters film starring Paul Rudd...
I can't wait. ..as well as a cast of other brilliant stars...
Frozen Empire. It's out now. Look at this.
DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS
RAY STANTZ: We might be looking at a second ice age.
TREVOR: 'We're gonna need all the help we can get.'
Let's get to work.
Can I be of any help?
Melnitz in uniform! Yeah!
MR GROOBERSON: If there's something strange...
..if there's something weird... PHONE RINGS
..who are people gonna call? Ghostbusters, what do you want?
We're the Ghostbusters.
Can I tell you something else? What?
Bustin' makes me feel good. No. It makes me feel good.
LAUGHTER That's a great line.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Come on, Frozen Empire out now. A great family film.
You have... You've got some children,
but you've got three kids, is that right, Billie? I do, yeah.
And what do they think of you?
I was thinking that cos it's a family film.
What do they think of you...?
What do they think of your work, your career?
Do they tell you what they think? Do you ask them?
I would say my older ones couldn't give a shit.
LAUGHTER
Which I actually like. I think that's a healthier response.
I think I've got a fan in my youngest child.
She seems to be, erm...
Well, she'll watch my music videos and things like that
and ask to put the songs on in the car, and I'll oblige.
And, Paul, you've got an 18-year-old and a 14-year-old, I think?
Are they fans of your work? Do the kids like seeing their dad?
No, they couldn't... they could care less.
Yeah, that's great! It's great.
But at the end of the day, they're just...
I'm their dad, I'm not cool. Yeah.
And if they ever think that...
If they ever think that I'm getting too big for my britches,
they'll just say, "Hey, you know, you're not Black Panther."
LAUGHTER
Which is actually something my son DID say to me.
He actually did say it.
Paul, I hope you don't mind my asking, I wanna ask you
about one of my favourite scenes in recent comedy cinema history,
which you were there for the filming of,
you're on screen in it, the scene in 40-Year-Old Virgin...
Oh, amazing. ..where they wax Steve Carell's chest.
Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah.
That must have been quite a day at the office.
LAUGHTER Yeah, that was, uh... That was...
They had about five cameras set up, because once he got waxed,
you couldn't... you couldn't do it again.
Because he really got... He really got waxed.
You can't un-wax a man. You can't... You can't go back.
"Once you're waxed..."
Despite what The Karate Kid told us. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's wax... wax on, wax off, stays off. Yeah.
LAUGHTER And...
And that girl, the woman who was the... the waxer...
The waxer. The waxer.
..I remember when she came in and was talking about it.
She said her family owned a salon, this was what she did.
But I think it's like...
Sometimes, you know, when you're looking for a job, and,
"Can you ride a motorcycle?" "Sure!"
Yeah. LAUGHTER
Yeah. She went to do it, she put glue on, and actually,
one of the crew guys said, "No, no, no, no,
"you have to put oil or something on his nipple,
"otherwise, you're gonna rip the whole thing off."
AUDIENCE GASP Yeah. It did bleed, I think.
Yeah, he really did bleed. He did bleed.
Oh, yeah, yeah, no, he... he bled. Um...
LAUGHTER I mean...
But it was something else. It was really... To be in the room.
Previously, I thought he was a great actor.
Now I'm thinking he just had to suffer.
Very little acting required... Wow.
..from Steve in that scene. Yeah. Wow.
Have you ever been waxed? I've never been waxed.
Well, this evening, we've decided, ladies and gentlemen... Oh!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
No. No. No.
We're gonna take a break, but don't go away,
because up next, we'll be joined by the fabulous Mel B!
See you in a couple of minutes. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Welcome back to the show.
Let's get my next guest out, ladies and gentlemen.
She is one fifth of the bestselling girl group of all time,
the amazing force of nature that is Mel B!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Wow. You look amazing, as always.
Come and sit down here.
THEY CHAT INDISTINCTLY
Oh! CHEERING CONTINUES
Lovely to have you here, Mel. Great to have you back on the show.
I know. I love you. I love your show.
Well, I love you, too. Thank you for coming on.
Always had fun. I've gotta say, Paul, were you...?
I mean, obviously, Spice Girls were famous,
were huge in America, as well.
Yeah. Were you a fan? Yeah.
You don't have to answer that, you know. Oh, yeah...
I've seen the film more than once. Wow.
LAUGHTER Yeah.
Are you taking the mickey? No.
Spice World? Yeah.
I mean, I love it, but I don't expect you to love it.
You do proper films. It's great.
Spice World was a masterpiece. By the way, that's...
You must've been a fan... BILLE: I watch it every year.
Stop! Once a year...
Oh, my God, and do you just sit there and cringe?
I sit there and laugh, and I force my kids to watch it.
Oh, I love it. LAUGHTER
Hey, but, you know, er, the Spice Girls... Come on.
Yeah. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
What a thing the Spice Girls were, are, continue to be,
and I believe it's their 30th anniversary this year.
Oh, God, when you say that, I feel so old.
But, yeah, it is. So you...
It doesn't feel like that long, it feels like only yesterday.
You must have something special planned, I would hope... Yeah.
..for all of us Spice fans, for your 30th anniversary. Yeah.
We are wanting to do something, and we are...
But what are you doing? Can you tell us? I can't really tell you
because I'll get kicked out of the WhatsApp group again,
so I have to be really careful. Hold on, so...
Cos there is a Spice Girls WhatsApp group? Oh, yeah, duh!
OK, so... LAUGHTER
And it's just you and the other four band members, or ex-band members.
Yeah. We're not ex. We're still Spice Girls.
WHOOPING
I'm always gonna be a Spice Girl till the day I die.
I apologise. LAUGHTER
Accepted. But you get kicked out of the group?
Well, I don't get kicked out of the group, I just get, like...
Yeah, I get kicked out of the group. Yeah.
LAUGHTER Cos, you know, I...
I get so excited whenever I talk about Spice Girls. Yes.
And I do feel like the more I say something's gonna happen,
I will it that much... Yeah. ..it does happen.
Like the Olympics, like the 2019 tour.
You manifest it. You manifest... I literally do.
So, but we... we are all in talks, so something is gonna be announced.
Cos I heard... WHOOPING
APPLAUSE
Cos I heard a very exciting rumour. Go on.
I heard the Spice Girls might be...
doing a special appearance at Glastonbury.
No, that's old news. Oh, I heard that, as well.
I said that last year! Is that not true?
That's where I heard the rumour.
I think you're a pretty reliable source.
LAUGHTER I mean...
I mean, I think it would be pretty cool to do Glastonbury. Yes.
Come on. Amazing. No, we're not doing that.
Oh... But we're doing something else. OK.
And I think the fans are gonna really...
Well, hopefully, fingers crossed, I hope they're gonna love it. Yeah.
Yeah. You know we will.
Hope so. They will love it, whatever it is.
Yeah. OK. And what is it? Can't tell you.
LAUGHTER Paul, you were in a band ever?
I know you've played people on screen in bands, but you never...
No, I never was. I was never good enough, and I was...
would be way too nervous to be in a band.
Now when I look in your eyes, what's the problem with his eyes?
Nothing! Nothing! LAUGHTER
It's nothing. And in the flesh, it's a very different experience.
They're kind of green... But you said... ..hazel-ish.
..his pupils were a bit... Dead inside.
Well, they always seem larger. LAUGHTER
Disproportionate. But not in real life. They're great.
Well, they're quite small now. So sorry!
Look at the light. Let's not, let's not.
All right. See... See if they can change.
I am on about 50mg of edibles.
LAUGHTER
I don't why that's having an... an effect.
That makes sense. OK. Yeah.
Well, I'm gonna change the subject. Go on.
Because you know what's remarkable, I just realised...
I can't see you at all right now. LAUGHTER
Sorry! Like it's the sun.
When you were dominating the charts with the Spice Girls, of course,
another new talent emerged, cos it was about the same time,
you were contemporaries in the charts, weren't you?
Well, I was kind of... behind you.
I was just... following on your coat-tails.
No... No way similar.
You were a force to be reckoned with. No, no.
You were great. Your...
Cos your first number one was in '98, I think. Yeah.
I think I was... I was 15. 15. Yeah.
Wow. And did you ever meet...
Did you ever on, like, the pop shows? Yeah.
What I loved about the Spice Girls, well, obviously,
I was SUCH a huge fan,
so imagine being 14, 15...
in a dressing room with the Spice Girls.
I used to smoke cigarettes with you guys.
That would have been me and Emma.
Yeah, it was you and Emma, and I would...
we would sit on the floor in Top Of The Pops,
in your dressing room, smoking cigarettes,
ashing in a plastic cup. It was heaven. Amazing.
Very classy. Nothing's changed, really. Nothing's changed.
Come back to my dressing room. The glamour.
Congratulations are in order, I think, Mel,
cos I think since last you were on the show,
you've got engaged, haven't you? Yeah! Can you believe it?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE I can believe it.
I can't believe it. Well, congratulations. Thank you.
I met your new man downstairs before the show, Rory.
He seems like a very lovely man. He's so lovely.
And he's made me believe that there are good people out there.
He's made me believe in love again.
And I just feel so safe with him, and he's adorable.
You know, I'd gone through a really ten-year abusive marriage,
and I wrote a book about it and everything, and coming from that,
that is the last thing on your mind is any kind of relationships,
any kind of intimacy. Absolutely not.
I've read the book. I've got the book here.
The book's called Brutally Honest, and it's a really powerful read.
And obviously, as the title says, brutally honest.
Yeah. Was it tough to write?
Was it hard to revisit? SHE EXHALES HEAVILY
Really tough to write, but, you know,
I got strength from my father, who passed away,
and I promised him that I was gonna leave that abusive relationship,
and I was in that relationship for ten years.
You know, filming America's Got Talent, filming X Factor,
and yet hiding this dark, dirty secret,
which, you know, was kind of taboo.
Nobody really talks about abuse, and so when I...
when I got my dear friend Louise Gannon
to help me write the book and piece my life back together,
erm, nobody would want to... nobody wanted to publish it.
It was like, "No, we don't talk about that."
So I had to beg a publisher to publish it.
Finally, it did get published, but the day before, I was thinking,
"This is probably gonna end my career,
"cos I don't know anybody that's talking about this kind of stuff."
Yeah. And, you know, if anything,
it actually made my career a lot better and more, erm...
just more honest and more open,
hence I got my MBE for all the work that I do with Women's Aid,
you know, spreading awareness about abuse.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
It is weird, cos when someone's going through that...
I remember meeting you when you were with him. Oh...
You came over to my house one time. You remember? Yeah.
And I remember at the time thinking...
And you were saying, you know, it was all OK, but... I had to.
..you could see it wasn't... Yeah. ..you know?
And I could see how it was affecting you and your kids... Yeah.
..and it's hard to know what to do to help, but...
Well, there's nothing you can do, really,
apart from what I advocate is, you know,
there's so many women dying every week.
If you don't get out...
You NEED to get out. Yeah. There's no other option.
Because even though they say they're gonna change...
And I tried to leave about six or seven times. Yeah.
And I'm there screaming "girl power",
yet, for ten years, I was completely girl powerless.
Now I've got my mojo back bit by bit by bit,
but I'm gonna live with that trauma right there for the rest of my life.
Well, it's an amazing book,
and as you said, you've got an MBE now.
Yeah. For your work in that field. Yeah.
And, erm, one of the things
about when someone has an MBE or an OBE or a CBE, I think, you...
you're allowed to get married, if you wish, in St Paul's Cathedral.
Yeah, that's a big deal. Is that right? Yeah.
I didn't know that till I googled it after I got it.
I was like, "Whoa! That's really posh."
"What does this mean in real terms?" Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
So, now being engaged, is that the plan?
Will you get married in St Paul's? Yeah.
I mean, it's a whole process that have to go to...
go through, because I've been married and divorced twice before.
So you have to kind of get assessed,
and you have to explain why you want to get married in that church,
you know, under God's name...
and I'm really glad for that, because it makes you question,
"Well, actually, do I want to get married again?"
And I've always said to Rory, "I'm never getting married again!"
Well, I did a complete U-turn on that,
because I'm now getting married.
And it's a beautiful thing.
Hold it, not because you can go to St Paul's Cathedral. No, of course!
LAUGHTER Because I love Rory!
Because Rory's in your life. And will anyone...
You know, this wonderful network of women you have around you,
the Spice Girls in particular... Yeah.
..will they be involved in helping you organise the day?
Well, I haven't got a date yet.
As soon as I get the date, then I'll be rushing around, you know,
thinking about what I want the wedding to look like.
But I have got a few hidden surprises from my girls
that's gonna happen on the day. Wow.
So yeah, they are bloody involved. I imagine... Yes.
I imagine if you wanted to get a spectacular wedding dress,
one of those women in particular could help you out.
LAUGHTER Well, yeah!
Hopefully, I won't have to pay, Victoria. Yeah.
LAUGHTER Cos she's expensive.
Yeah, it's not cheap.
You mentioned in the book, you know,
the Spice Girls had such an incredible journey,
you mention one of the highlights was meeting Prince Charles... Yeah.
..back in the day. Yeah.
Well, there was lots of times, and then he came to the movie...
Well, I don't know if they forced him to,
but he came to the movie, Spice World,
and I was sitting beside him, and he was laughing his head off,
and I'm sitting there thinking, "Oh, my God, this movie's amazing.
"Everyone's, like, really enjoying it."
And I said to Prince Charles,
"You're really enjoying it, aren't you?"
And he went, "I'm a good actor."
LAUGHTER And I went... "Rude!"
The King of England now, of course.
But speaking of royals,
Billie's new project, which is out April 5
on Netflix, is called Scoop.
Why don't you tell us what it's about?
Well, it's about the...
It's not strictly about the infamous...
Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew.
I don't know if you saw it.
It's actually about the unsung heroes who...
who got that interview onto our screens.
So, the woman I play is Sam McAlister,
and she was the booker on Newsnight.
An amazing cast with you, Gillian Anderson...
Yeah, she plays Emily Maitlis.
..who played Margaret Thatcher so brilliantly in The Crown,
and now she's great as Emily Maitlis in this.
And Rufus Sewell playing Prince Andrew.
Now, you wouldn't think Rufus Sewell,
who's a very handsome, lithe man,
you wouldn't think he could convincingly play...
No. When they cast him,
I was actually gonna walk because I thought,
there is no way...
That's not gonna make sense, and it's gonna be...
It's just gonna be so distracting
if it's bad prosthetics and just everything.
Look how good it is. I know!
Like they took James Bond and turned him into a frog.
It's an amazing... LAUGHTER
..transformation. Incredible.
Let's have a look at a clip. This is Scoop.
It's out on Netflix on April 5. Look at this.
'My job is booking the people we can't just call up.'
Hello, everyone.
You have a problem that won't go away.
We're looking at options. But there is a red line.
I've never been smuggled into a palace before.
If I do an interview, the question is, why you?
With respect, you know how people see you. Spell it out.
Randy Andy.
With respect?
Everything's changed. The FBI are raiding Epstein's home.
You can't stay silent.
South drawing room, two chairs, six feet apart.
It's like a Western.
Make no mistake - if we don't get the tone right...
the story won't be him.
It'll be us.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
A great drama, Scoop, starring Billie Piper,
along with Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell. But a great...
You really bring it to life.
You look quite a lot like the woman you play in real life, don't you?
Yeah. Well, it's so funny,
and I don't think she'll mind me saying - I hope not.
Erm... She wears this outfit, the outfit you see me in,
pretty much every day, like a uniform, like an armour.
So... There she is.
And she would come to set quite a lot
dressed as me, or rather...
I'd come to set dressed as her.
Whatever. We looked identical. And she was there one day...
Everyone could never really tell us apart.
And she was there,
and I think the Daily Mail were there, taking pictures.
Well, I know there were because the story that followed
was her snogging her boyfriend,
but the story was me snogging some random guy.
On set! As if I'd do that!
We've got the paparazzi photographs they took of her
which they thought was you.
Here it is. LAUGHTER
That's not me. No.
Very problematic.
I know. Really could get you in trouble. Real trouble.
I'm not asking if you've ever been in the same situation,
Paul, but have you been mistaken for someone else?
Uh...
Not in a while, but early on, several times,
people sometimes thought I was Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck?
Really?! I'm not getting that. I didn't, either.
No, no, of course, I didn't, either. But...
He's got lovely, WARM eyes.
LAUGHTER Yeah.
No, sorry, I was thinking Ben Stiller.
Sorry, no. Wow!
Ben Affleck makes more sense. Oh, I can see that.
Yeah, maybe when we were, I think,
both starting out, and we had short hair.
But I never got it, either.
Sometimes, I would tell people, no, I wasn't.
One time, somebody said, "Oh, OK, OK."
I said, "Really, I'm not." He goes, "Mm-hm, all right.
"What's Matt Damon like?"
LAUGHTER
I say, "I don't know. I never met him.
"He seems really cool, but I don't know him."
People didn't believe me sometimes. Mel, what about you?
Ever been mistaken for somebody else?
You're so distinctly yourself. No, no.
But I do get told, "Oh, you look like that,
"you know, that Spice Girl, Scary Spice."
And I go, "Oh, God, not her!" And they go,
"I know! I know, she looks a bit scary."
I go, "Yeah, she's a bitch."
LAUGHTER
I had a horrible one happen to me. Who? Go on.
I was in Northern Ireland. Some nice, quite elderly ladies...
My fan base. LAUGHTER
..gathered around me for a photograph.
It was halfway through, when they were asking me about my farm,
I realised they thought I was Jeremy Clarkson.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Oh, I wouldn't like that.
A really horrible moment. Yeah.
We're gonna take a break so I can recover.
Don't go away, though, because up next,
we'll be joined by the very, very funny Mr Leo Reich.
I'll see you in a couple of minutes. APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Welcome back to the show. Let's get my next guest out.
I'm a big fan of this young man.
He's only 25, and he's already set to be a stand-up superstar.
He's taking both the UK and US comedy scenes by storm.
Will you please welcome Leo Reich.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Your hair's still a lot. I know.
Say hello to everybody.
Lovely to have you here, Leo. Oh, a pleasure.
Leo, I was a bit startled when I saw you earlier
cos I've met you in the past, and I've seen you on TV,
and your hair is very different right now.
I know. I feel like an illegitimate Johnson child.
And I sound like this. Yeah.
This is for a part you're filming, I believe? It is. Yeah.
I've never acted before, but I'm doing a tiny bit of acting
in Lena Dunham's new show for Netflix. Wow.
So, tell people about... Shall we show a clip of your live act?
We should explain cos you're sort of...
You are you on stage, but you're kind of
playing a character, as well, aren't you?
How would you describe your stand-up persona?
Yeah, so, on stage, I'm quite a self-involved, narcissistic,
Gen Z kind of gay dickhead.
LAUGHTER
Whereas in real life, of course, I'm straight.
No, I'm a very lovely, shy boy. Erm...
But, yeah, I'm sort of playing up some of the stereotypes
and some of the worst elements of myself,
so please keep that in mind.
You look very glam on stage.
Is that a kind of regular stage uniform?
In your special... You're wearing a kind of gym top and gym shorts.
No, I was very inspired by a group of people very close to my heart,
which are sort of horny gay influencers,
for the outfit.
Why did you look at him when you said that?
LAUGHTER Oh, shit.
I'm so sorry. Have you ever performed in shorts?
LAUGHTER
I'm just trying to find a link here. I have, I have, I actually have.
Yeah, I actually did a...
I was doing a play, and there was a scene in the play
where I had to wear boxer shorts, you know, underwear that was shorts.
And, um... In fact, one night, in the middle of the scene,
the audience really started laughing, and I realised...
I thought the scene was going well, but I didn't realise I had...
I was lying back on a bed, and I had put my leg up.
No! And I had...
These were big, loose-fitting boxer shorts.
And you could just see...
The whole audience could see everything.
Oh, no! And, uh... Wow.
And then that was the last time I wore those shorts.
LAUGHTER
You must let us know when you're performing live again.
LAUGHTER
Your thing is... How old were you, then? Was this recently, or...?
This was a play called The Shape Of Things, and I was...
LAUGHTER
Form-fitting. Unlike the shorts.
APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER
Your show's quite physical, as well, though? Uh-huh.
You do quite a lot... There's singing in it.
The show, by the way, is called Literally Who Cares?!
It's available on Sky Comedy and Now, so you should watch it.
It's great fun. You do singing and dancing, as well?
Mm-hm. Did you train for that?
I did not.
I did not cos then it's more raw, it's more real. You know? Um...
I did not, to the point where I...
sweated so much during each show -
and I wear, like, big eyeliner and mascara -
that by the end of every show,
all of it had, like, run off into my eyes.
And then there'd be, like, tears,
like, black tears running down my face.
And people would leave and be like, "Oh, my God, that last song...
"It felt like it really moved you."
And I'd say, "Thank you so much. I can't see."
So, bearing in mind it's quite a physical show,
do you have a pre-show warm-up?
Do you have to limber up before the show?
Yes. That I did train for.
I... So, my pre-show warm-up is...
It's one stage, but it's complicated.
What I do before the show is I have one beer,
and then after the show...
LAUGHTER
..I have a post-show sort of cool-down,
where I have, erm, nine beers.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
That sounds nice.
Sounds like you're looking after yourself.
Yeah. That's important. Let me show you a clip.
I love Leo's work, and I think you'll love the show, as well.
It's called Literally Who Cares?!
It's on Sky Comedy and Now. Look at this.
This is always fun. Quick show of hands, quick show of hands up top.
Does anyone here hate queer people?
AUDIENCE LAUGHS
No-one. No-one.
OK, unfortunately, guys,
that does mean we are currently in an echo chamber.
Guys...
Guys, we've got to start speaking to people we disagree with.
So, what are we gonna do next time we come to a comedy show?
Yes, bring a registered Nazi, yes.
Literally Who Cares?! You should watch the show, it's great fun.
So, you're established in the US, somewhat, now, as well.
I know you filmed a special...
Did you film the special over there or over here? I filmed it here.
It went out on HBO in America. And I did the show over there for a month.
So, performing for Americans, is it different?
Do they react to different jokes,
to your act, in a different way to the people over here? Yes.
LAUGHTER
They do. And I say this with so much love.
They have so much joy for being alive...
LAUGHTER
..that when the point of the show
is a sort of horrible, cynical boy on stage
being quite mean, they don't love that.
And so I would do jokes like...
I have a joke in the show about Love Island,
which they do have over there, so they know what Love Island is.
I have a joke in the show which is like,
"I really think we need to get some more queer people,
"some plus-size people, some more people of colour on Love Island.
"Because I really think that, as a nation,
"we haven't seen those communities suffer enough."
LAUGHTER
So...
APPLAUSE
So let's send them to Casa Amor.
LAUGHTER
And you did really well, you laughed at the end of the joke,
which is perfect.
But in America, what would happen is, I'd say,
"We really need to get some more plus-size people,
"some more queer people, some more people of colour on Love Island."
Full applause break.
Full applause break. People crying.
People going, "That is so important to do!"
"Finally!" And I'd have to wait for it to die down and be like...
FEEBLY: "Because they haven't suffered enough."
LAUGHTER
I mentioned earlier on, we were talking about your dancing on stage,
and I hinted that... I know you've done some dancing. Didn't you...
You gave yourself a dance injury while filming I Hate Suzie?
Yeah, a pretty fucking significant one.
OK. Erm...
I had a slipped disc during the...
Actually, it was the press shoot for I Hate Suzie.
When I... I did a leap in the air
and landed, and my leg completely gave way.
Wow. And I was out of it. I had to be chair-lifted...
I had to be chair-lifted onto a flight
cos I wouldn't not go on our family holiday.
The holiday was a disaster, but anyway, it's fine now.
I can walk and run.
I feel really bad about complaining about make-up going in my eye.
LAUGHTER
Now, I get the feeling you're in relatively good shape, Paul?
I mean, you don't strike me as being super fit,
but you're not out of shape.
AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING
Oh, stop it! Oh, my God.
You look like you look after yourself enough... No, no!
Paul, you're the most beautiful man there is. I know, I know.
No, but you're right. I mean, you know...
Just in good enough shape to get back in the Ant-Man uniform,
but not... On a beach, nothing special.
Am I right?
I think that's a pretty fair assessment.
Oh, stop! Don't know about getting back in the suit, but...
So, my question is...
OK. Have you ever injured yourself?
LAUGHTER
Have I ever injured myself?
LAUGHTER Yeah, I have.
But can it be told in a light-hearted way...?
When you said "slipped disc", I thought you said something else.
I said, "That's what happened to me in the play. I just..."
LAUGHTER
"Oh, DISC! Um..."
I have... I've...
I injured myself on most things I've worked on, honestly.
In Ant-Man, I once had to get in the suit,
and there was some kind of...
..spider, or something, that bit me, and my whole arm blew up,
and I had to go to the hospital and get...
And I'm like, "That's another Marvel movie, isn't it?"
LAUGHTER
But, yeah, it, uh...
It was really painful. So, hold on.
So a spider had got into the ant suit?
I assume it was a spider. It was something.
Maybe it was a really pissed-off ant
that felt we weren't representing him properly.
I don't know what it was.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE It was... It was something.
Justice for the ants!
I think we're gonna go to a break so I can apologise to Paul.
But don't go away, because I've got more from my guests,
and Cat Burns will be performing live at the end of the show.
See you in a couple of minutes. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Welcome back to the show.
I've still got all my fabulous guests with me,
and we've got music from Cat Burns to come.
Before we get to that, Leo, let me ask you.
We were talking about the Royal Family earlier on.
Have you ever met any of the royals? I have met a royal. Which one?
Prince Harry. Oh.
No, he came to my school to teach us a PE lesson. Wow.
LAUGHTER
So, was this after he stopped being a royal,
when he was looking around for other... No, he...
He was still a royal.
I just think he thought that...
I don't know, he might have passed a group of us in the street
and thought, "They need help!"
It's probably part of, I would have thought,
to incentivise young people to get into physical fitness.
Yes. It did not do that for me.
Because, er, we all did press ups,
and - this will shock everyone - I wasn't...
amazing.
LAUGHTER
And he said, in front of the whole class, he was like,
"That is a terrible press-up." Wow. No!
And so I became a Republican.
LAUGHTER
Not the American kind.
And you mentioned you're working with Lena Dunham.
What can you tell us about this, if anything?
I think not that much, apart from that it's really good and funny.
And it's very exciting.
But she was a hero of yours, growing up, wasn't she? She was.
She was such a hero. I was such a big Girls fan as a teenager.
Again, no-one knew I was gay. Um...
I was just obsessed with it. So it's, like, such a thrill.
Paul, we've talked about you working with the Ghostbusters guys,
but you recently worked with two of the greatest in American comedy.
You've been doing Only Murders In The Building. Yeah.
With Martin Short and Steve Martin. Wow!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
That's quite something.
Yeah. And Meryl Streep too. And Meryl Streep!
And Selena Gomez.
And Selena Gomez, yeah. That was really, uh...
Steve Martin, growing up,
that was probably the biggest influence of my life.
I couldn't... I bought all of his comedy records when I was a kid.
To get to work with him was... beyond.
And obviously, Martin Short as well.
I mean, a massive, massive fan.
And Meryl Streep. I wasn't familiar with her work...
LAUGHTER But she's...
You know what? She's really good! LAUGHTER
Yeah, she is going places. I think so. Keep your eye on her.
LAUGHTER
Mel, I mean, obviously, you've met everyone,
but I'm particularly jealous
of one person you actually got to interview. Oh, yeah?
I met him a few times, never got to interview him.
You interviewed Prince, didn't you?
Yeah. Oh, wow.
Yeah, I didn't understand why I was interviewing him.
He called me up and said, "I want you to interview me."
And I was actually pregnant right there with my now 25-year-old,
who's somewhere in the audience. You've got three kids, I believe.
Yeah. Do they... Are they influenced by you?
Did they follow in your footsteps?
Did they want to have careers in music or showbiz?
I don't know if they're gonna go into that kind of line of work
because they can't...
I mean, Phoenix can sing. LAUGHTER
The other two can't really sing. Yeah, but you know what?
Didn't hold back the Spice Girls.
Fuck off! LAUGHTER
Where's my water? I'll throw it on you!
APPLAUSE
Meant with love, you know that.
I wanna ask Paul one thing which I read about him.
It sounded like the sweetest story,
and "sweet" being an apposite word here.
Because you recently got involved in a small business
near where you live, didn't you?
MEL GASPS Is it the sweets?!
Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God!
I'm so excited about this. Go on, say it.
LAUGHTER
You say you're so excited about it.
You obviously know what it is already.
I do. I want him to say it cos it's his shop!
I'm surprised you know... Yeah, in a small town in...
I'm going to New York on Sunday. Hold on. I'm going there.
I want you to lower your expectations
cos it's a great story,
but Mel B's reaction is off the scale.
Have you ever had a reaction like that?
Get ready for a let-down!
LAUGHTER Uh...
In a town, Rhinebeck, New York,
there's a little candy store called Samuel's Sweet Shop...
I know! That... LAUGHTER
I know. I'm gonna send you some candy.
I thought you would bring some on the show. So disappointed.
I didn't know you'd bring it up. Um...
So, you know Jeffrey Dean Morgan - he plays Negan on The Walking Dead.
Yeah, he's amazing. He's also...
As a co-owner, we bought this candy store.
The guy who owned it passed away, sadly. He was a very young guy.
And it was his candy store.
It's a pretty small town, and this candy store is like,
all the kids worked there.
Every town should have a little sweet shop. Yeah!
Exactly!
So it was... We didn't want it to...
We didn't want it to go away, so we bought it.
And now we run the candy store.
So you have a sweet store? I have a sweet shop, yeah.
And there was a guy named John Traver,
who was a teenager that worked...
Ira was the original owner, and he's the guy who -
and Samuel was his uncle.
He hired him out of high school.
He was a teenager, and when Ira died,
John was in his early 30s.
We made him the manager.
Oh, I love you even more now!
And, um, it's still going strong.
And it's really...
It's really great. I love sweets, as...
I don't know if you've ever tried Rowntree's Fruit Gums?
LAUGHTER
You think my eyes look bad, wait till you see my teeth.
Will you join me in saying thank you to all my guests?
The fabulous Billie Piper, ladies and gentlemen.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The brilliant Paul Rudd! Thank you, Paul.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The one and only Mel B!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And your new favourite comedian, Leo Reich.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you to all my guests.
I hope you can join me here next week,
when we have got Kirsten Dunst on the show,
Mary Earps will be here, Yung Filly, David Walliams,
and we have the director and star of the new Amy Winehouse film,
Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Marisa Abela.
And also, we have music from Madness.
That'll be a great show. Wow.
But now, with Alone, from her debut album,
it's Cat Burns.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
CHOIR VOCALISING
# Coffee trips alone
# Dinner booked for one
# I've never even been on a date
# I find it hard to open up
# Don't wanna be a pessimist
# But I'm getting kind of pissed At this
# All my friends are saying My time will come
# But the years are going by I'm not long off 25
# My fear is growing stronger Now I'm getting older
# Don't wanna be alone... #
CHOIR VOCALISING
# Forever
# Don't wanna be alone
# Alone forever
# Working on myself
# Wouldn't it be good If I had someone to tell?
# I wanna need you cos I love you Not love you cos I need you
# And I don't want just anybody Off of the shelf
# So I'll be here waiting Just patiently waiting
# But something in The back of my mind keeps saying
# Don't wanna be alone... #
CHOIR VOCALISING
# Forever
# Don't wanna be alone
# Alone forever
# Don't wanna be alone... #
CHOIR VOCALISING
# Forever
# Don't wanna be alone
# Alone forever
# I know that I'll be fine
# But is there more to life
# If I'm sharing it with someone?
# It gets kinda lonely at times
# Is there more to life If I'm sharing it with someone?
# I know that I'll be fine
# But is there more to life
# If I'm sharing it with someone?
# It gets kinda lonely at times
# Is there more to life If I'm sharing it?
# Don't wanna be alone
# Forever
# Don't wanna be alone
# Alone forever
# Don't wanna be alone
# Don't wanna be, don't wanna be
# Don't wanna be alone
# Don't wanna be, don't wanna be
# Don't wanna be alone Don't wanna be alone. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Subtitles by accessibility@itv.com