Episode 10 The Graham Norton Show

Hello, my name's Anthony Joshua, heavyweight champion of the world,

-and this is The Graham Norton Show.

-Let's start the show!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Oh! Oh!

Hello!

Hello, everybody. Good evening. Good evening.

You're very welcome to the show. The election's over!

CHEERING

No more leaders' debates!

CHEERING

Now we can get on with Brexit.

Oh.

LAUGHTER

Hey, what a result!

LAUGHTER

Didn't see that coming, no.

Look, we're recording this on Thursday night so I don't know

what's happened. I just don't know.

I hope everyone's satisfied with the result.

So, election aside, it has been another very trying week for

the UK with the horrific events last weekend,

just around the corner here on London Bridge.

Obviously our hearts go out to everyone affected

by that awful attack, but as dark as Saturday was,

I don't know about you,

I just thought it was so brilliant to see the way that London reacted

and people just got up and got on with their business

and you're all here tonight and that's fantastic.

London is unstoppable!

CHEERING

And, you know, it was wonderful to see all the support that

London got from around the world.

Well, I say "all around the world" - who needs scumbag terrorists

as enemies when London has friends like this?

Yes.

Donnie Trump found time in his busy schedule to pick a fight on

Twitter with London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response to the attacks.

It's called a "Twitter spat", although I believe,

when Trump's involved, you shorten it to "twat."

LAUGHTER

I mean, you know, like, seriously, is there anybody who wants

Trump to stay up all night tweeting instead of just going to bed?

LAUGHTER

Apart from you.

Duly noted, Melania.

So, only a couple of months

until Trump's planned state trip to London.

Good luck with that!

We'll be waiting for you.

It'll be awful!

Some people are saying that the visit shouldn't happen at all

and that hell will freeze over before Trump comes to this country.

The bad news is, since Trump pulled America out of

the Paris climate agreement, hell could freeze over

sooner that we think.

Listen, we've got a great show for you tonight

and lots of guests to get on.

Later, we'll be meeting Sherlock and Hobbit star

Martin Freeman! He's here!

He'll be talking about his new West End comedy.

And we'll have music from pop sensation Shawn Mendes!

CHEERING

Yes, Shawn Mendes!

Performing his new single There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back.

But first... WHOOPING

Yeah, all right, all right.

Bur first, we know him from The Inbetweeners,

Cuckoo and Man Down.

I think it's fair to say he's the biggest comedian in the UK -

it's the hilarious Greg Davies!

CHEERING

Hello! Hi!

DROWNED OUT BY APPLAUSE

Now, this British boxer is a Olympic gold medallist and MBE

and a true gentleman of the sport.

Please welcome the heavyweight champion of the world,

it's Anthony Joshua!

CHEERING

There you go! Hello!

Happy to see you. Really good to see you. Anthony, Greg.

And this Oscar-winning actress has become one of our finest

leading ladies.

Now playing the femme fatale in new thriller My Cousin Rachel,

welcome back Rachel Weisz!

CHEERING

Hello!

DROWNED OUT BY APPLAUSE

-Lovely to see you again.

-Nice to see you again.

-You just did all that.

-Yeah, we just met out there.

Do you feel like the smallest person on planet Earth?

If I took my heels off... I'd be your height.

LAUGHTER

Let's all sit down.

-Big heels.

-That is early for a burn.

-I know!

I assumed you'd be taller than him but you are even taller than him.

Yes - yet again, I've been brought on the show as eye candy.

LAUGHTER

-But they are impressively large.

-They are.

-Both of them.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

I think Greg might be blushing.

Blood pressure.

Waving his 14s about down here as well.

-You both carry it very well.

-Do you think?

-Yes. I do.

-That's very sweet of you.

-They do. Don't they?

No, because the thing about being tall,

whenever you meet people, like us tonight,

you kind of dwarf people.

Here's a lovely picture of Anthony,

-you were at the Glamour Awards during the week.

-Yes.

LAUGHTER

-Oh, my gosh.

-I mean...

-That was Geri Halliwell from Spice Girls.

-Oh!

-Yes.

It looks like a toddler has strolled up to you...

to ask for an autograph.

-But you have a weird Geri Halliwell connection, don't you?

-Years ago.

I grew up in the Meriden estate and she lives in Hertfordshire.

And we lived in a cul-de-sac and our neighbour a few doors up...

Like, you know how it is, she was massive in the Spice Girls

and I heard she was across the road

and I was a superfan at around ten years old, eight years old.

And I ran over and I've still got my photo album

so I've got the picture of me and her.

And I see her then at the Glamour Awards and...

Either you act like the big, cool guy,

like, "Yeah, yeah, how's it going, Geri, you all right?"

But I was honest with her.

"I met you when I was ten years old,"

and it was nice to bring back that connection

cos she's still friends with my old neighbours.

Were you her height when you were ten?

Still dwarfing her at ten years old.

-Were you really tall at ten?

-Yeah, really skinny and tall.

-Wow.

-Me too.

LAUGHTER

This is devastating for my self-esteem.

But the thing is, boxing does have a really diverse group of fans.

So you're waiting...

I think you were in Wembley Stadium, waiting to go on,

and you got FaceTimed.

Who FaceTimed you?

It was interesting cos I was getting physio,

just getting the final bits and bobs done and I've listened to hip-hop

the majority of my life and Dr Dre...

We worked with Beats by Dre and all that stuff and...

It's not someone you expect to call you.

You only expect to work with the team who kind of help push

a brand and stuff. And they were like, "Come to the kitchen,

"someone's on the phone, they need to speak to you."

So I'm like, "Goodness sake, leave me alone, man.

"I'm trying to do my physio."

And I walk in and I'm eating my sandwich and Dr Dre's on the phone.

I don't know who you look up to or who your music icons are,

but Dr Dre was one of mine and it was unbelievable to have him on

the FaceTime talking to me.

What did he say? Just like, "Good luck"?

He speaks in a very well...

"Hello, it's Dre here."

LAUGHTER

"I want to wish you a lot of luck with the fight."

What did he say? Or is it private?

No, no, just along the lines of... Cos of the type of fight it was,

Klitschko, he reigned for ten years and he's well-known,

and I'm up and coming, I was trying to get his belts,

so he had heard about the fight...

I heard that you've never been knocked down, is that accurate?

Yeah, yeah, in the professional ranks.

And Klitschko, he threw a punch and it whizzed past me

and I slipped, actually.

So I didn't actually go down, I slipped.

LAUGHTER Wow.

-No, he hit me, I didn't even see it coming.

-Do you want to see a clip?

LAUGHTER

I watched Anthony's fight on my own in my flat and when he "slipped"

and went down, I went, "He's hurt!"

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

On my own. Tragic.

Now, listen, Rachel Weisz brings us a Gothic romance, My Cousin Rachel.

It opens tonight and before we talk about,

-here's a taste of the film from the trailer.

-OK.

I've been doing a little asking around.

She's notorious for unbridled extravagance

and a limitless appetite.

You realise you could lose everything.

I'm willing to take that risk.

Rachel! Rachel!

You're completely infatuated with your cousin, are you not?

How long have you been lying to me?

Where is she?!

The only thing that I lacked...

-Oh, my God.

-..was you.

In what might be considered almost lazy casting,

in My Cousin Rachel, you are playing Rachel.

-I am.

-And Rachel, she is an amazing character, I imagine,

for an actress, cos she's either a real piece of work or, just,

a sort of heart-broken lady.

-Exactly.

-So...where do you stand on it? Discuss.

Well, when I first read the script I got to the end of it

and I called the director, who also adapted it from the novel,

and I said, "Did she or didn't she?"

What she's accused of is having murdered her husband and now

slowly poising this young man that Sam Claflin plays.

So I called Roger and I said, "Did she or didn't she?"

And he said, "I don't know.

"That's why I like it. It's a mystery."

I had to make a decision in order to play her,

as to what she was up to, but I didn't ever tell anyone.

-You must have talked about it all the time on set.

-Never.

-No?

-No.

-How weird.

So the idea is she comes back to Britain

and she has the possibility of being very wealthy.

Yes. So her husband's died, apparently from a brain tumour,

and he got very paranoid towards the end of his life and thought

that I was trying to hurt him.

But I've come as a widow to England to see the young man

who was his ward, his cousin, but I...possibly could be coming

to poison him and to get all of his money and all of his jewels.

Cos he has a bank vault full of jewels.

Or I could just be a woman who's looking for a safe harbour,

who's misunderstood - cos she's quite modern,

she's quite sexually liberated and she doesn't believe that

you should be just owned by your husband,

she believes that you might possibly work for a living.

-Very shocking in the 19th century.

-Yeah.

So, yeah, she could be just a misunderstood modern woman or

she could be a manipulative femme fatale poisoner.

And in the thing we saw - the "thing",

-in that thing, you know, the telly.

-..Yeah.

..we saw some horses and things.

Now, you look, in the movie, like a very experienced...

-Are you doing the riding in the film?

-Yeah.

And didn't your horse have history?

Oh. Yes.

I think I know what you mean,

-that it had been trained on Game Of Thrones.

-Yes.

And it had been taught by Camilla, she's a brilliant horsewoman

and she works for a company called Devils Horsemen.

They're fantastic horses,

I don't want to make it sound like it was dangerous

but it was really dangerous.

Apparently this horse had been trained to die,

so if you pulled his left rein very hard,

he would very elegantly collapse his front legs,

his back legs, and lie down.

And these are great, big, giant thoroughbred stallions,

you know, bigger than you both.

LAUGHTER

Oh, now I get it, OK.

Some perspective there.

They were big. It was a big fella.

So I cantered out of the shot and pulled the left rein

and he just died on his left side and I was on the left side,

so he died on me.

It wasn't unpainful, but it was OK.

-Yeah?

-We got up and it was OK but everything went silent.

-You know that silence that comes over things?

-Yeah.

People just going, "Oops. This isn't going to end well."

An entire horse on Rachel Weisz.

But you've had the common problem of frisky horses, haven't you?

There are different kinds of thoroughbred stallions.

There are those that have been, um...

-I don't know the technical term.

-Gelded.

-Gelded, thank you.

I didn't want to say castrated. Gelded.

-They do not have their testicles.

-We've got it!

We're all up to speed.

We got castrated, gelded - we're on it.

If people aren't following the story now...

I'm trying to use the best, sort of, PG words.

Science words.

So if they have not been gelded,

they're extremely sensitive to the smells of other horses.

Actually, male horses or female horses,

they don't care, they smell horse and they get, basically, just...

really enormous erections.

LAUGHTER

Which, in a 19th century film, is just not appropriate!

You feel like someone should mention it.

-Yes.

-People just chatting on.

But actually, Camilla had a couple of ways of making it go away

but the one that's more mentionable would be...

She got Vicks, you know,

you put on your chest when you've got a cold.

She put it inside the horse's nostrils.

For the smell.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

For the scent.

Nowhere painful.

I want to know the method you can't mention!

It was just...

-The science.

-It was just to...

-Get it done.

-..kick it, until...

LAUGHTER

Sounds like a party game - Kick the Cock!

"Come on, kids!"

A professional technique to get rid of a horse's erection

is to kick it in the dick?!

LAUGHTER

Rachel, are you a boxing fan?

I...

That's a no.

Have to speak to the PR team about this.

The truth is I can't watch it because I...I can't handle it

cos it's so real.

It's not... There's nothing pretend about it.

You'd have to come to a show one day.

Even though that's as real as it gets, what's good,

I think - and I'm going to sell it now -

is I just think the entertainment perspective,

really getting involved.

Like, I've met you now and when you meet someone,

I think it makes it a completely different type of fight,

cos you have that connection. "I spoke to that person before."

And then you see them in their job, fighting...

You're not suggesting you have a fight with Rachel, are you?

Celebrity Deathmatch!

-That's a beautiful point, cos I meet you...

-It's different.

-Yeah, you're very...

-But wouldn't that make it worse?

Because then I'd be like,

"It's my mate Anthony, don't hit him!"

I'd be able to see the pure skill.

If you only see someone fight you think that they're...

I don't know, I find it terrifying.

My husband is a huge, enormous fan of yours

and when the big fight was on a few weeks ago,

I was told that the television was his for that night

and I had to leave the house cos he didn't want me coming in

and going, "Oh, no!"

-But he wanted me to say to you that he's...

-Send him my regards as well.

..just a tremendous fan.

-He is.

-And send him mine.

LAUGHTER

I know he's a big Man Down fan(!)

But the thing is, tell us this, Anthony,

how many years were there between you putting on gloves

and starting boxing and winning a gold medal at the Olympics?

Putting on gloves and winning was four years.

That's bonkers!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

He makes it sound easy!

But surely that's a rare story?

-A regular person couldn't do that.

-Anyone can do it, I swear to you.

I'm no different. I was no different.

You were... You do have a natural ability.

Did they know straight away,

when your trainer saw you when you were a kid?

You know how the boxing is, like, let's say,

the old-school boxers, like, cigarette and that,

"He's going to be the heavyweight champion of the world," as soon as

you walk through the door, everyone's going to be champion.

But it's only potential, so it's who sticks with it,

that's what I think is key in boxing.

I think what's interesting is he wasn't a kid.

We hear that story about the ten-year-old

and they're saved from being in gangs and getting into trouble,

but you came to it quite late.

Yeah, that's interesting.

I moved out of Hertfordshire into London and then, yes,

at the time I had more time for myself and I started banging

out the weights, pumping iron.

You know, when you got 30 quid spare from EMA money in college -

I don't know if anyone remembers...?

And you buy one of them Argos bench presses that

has every single kit on it.

And I just started pumping iron and I started training with cousin,

cos he was doing it. We just started training together.

So you were, what, 18 when you turned your life around?

18, yeah, when I started fighting.

Cos I do think it's a properly inspiring story

cos there must be lots of kids out there who found themselves in

a particular situation when they were 17 and 18 and they think

it's too late, "I can't get out of this."

Everyone at different stages, even if you want to start at 27,

it's not about becoming...

I don't see the championship stuff as what's important,

I think how you represent yourself, the stuff you learn,

that's what's important.

So the success isn't just the winning in the ring,

it's what you get out of the sport, I think,

and that's what I like about boxing.

And was there a turning point?

Like, I know you had to spend a couple of weeks on remand

in prison, was that a turning point?

Can you cut that part out?

I'm joking, I'm joking!

I was thinking, "Who told me that?"

I was in the same wing.

LAUGHTER

I don't like to talk about it either.

But was that a proper wake up call for you?

No, no. Cos you still feel invincible.

Everything's about feeling invincible

but I think it was mainly my family name.

As I said, like, the Joshuas, I started realising

that there was that sort of respect -

it wasn't just for me, it branches out into the family,

so through boxing, where I was representing myself properly,

I kind of see the change in how people would treat me.

Instead of treating me with respect out of fear,

they'll treat me with respect out of love.

And that love reflects onto my whole family and that's what I like.

-Do you know...?

-Yeah, absolutely.

That's when I started seeing the change. It's one or the other.

Saturday night in the Opera House,

or running around the streets,

and I chose running and now I can balance the two now.

If there are any young kids out there who have got extra money

from their college grants and they're thinking,

-"Shall I spend this on bench pressing or..."

-Or books!

"..or shall I have an extra burger every night?"

You can see how those two things...

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Choices. Choices.

But I love...

You tell that story and then how incredible to think that that boy,

that kid who did that with his money,

just a couple of months ago, there you were, Wembley Stadium,

90,000 people, broke Sky Box Office records,

shown in 140 countries, world heavyweight champion beating

Wladimir Klitschko, it's an incredible, incredible achievement.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

The thing that fascinates me -

we've got a still of when you "slipped".

LAUGHTER

-You can see the position I'm in, that "Whoom!"

-Yeah.

Some water there, I think.

But when that happens and you find yourself on the canvas,

and that's in the sixth round, you've been boxing for a while,

where do you go to in your head to kind of...?

Cos it must be so hard not to think, "This is over."

You can think that. It's like,

"This is the one thing I didn't train for."

Out of all the stuff I've been training for,

this is the one thing that you don't prepare for,

so you go into that fight-or-flight mode where it's like,

OK, I could either stay on my back and say to myself,

"I've given it my all and I'm happy with coming this far."

Or you go up and fight the extra rounds and you think,

"I want to go that little bit further."

It's just that fight-or-flight mode

cos it's not something you prepare for.

So when you find yourself in that situation,

I think then it becomes about character.

Take away all the stuff you've been taught,

you have to un-teach yourself and go into who are you?

What do you represent? And that's a fight, I'm a fighting man,

so I got up and just carried on scrapping with him.

-And the 11th round, you knocked him down, you get the title.

-Yeah.

In the end, was that stamina?

Was that just you being a much younger man? He's 41.

I don't know.

He'd come in unbelievable shape. He was phenomenal, got experience.

And I just think, as I said, cos he was knocked down,

I was knocked down, we were both tired,

I think it was just about character and I think...

It's that spite. You need that spite, you know what I mean?

You know, it's like them horses,

no-one put that Vicks on my nose that fight, you know what I mean?

No-one put Vicks on my nose.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

That's basically the best way to describe it.

Despite all the success, is it a story

that you still live at home with your mum

or do you actually live at home with your mum?

-No, I live at home with my mum.

-AUDIENCE:

-Aww!

I hope you're paying her some rent. LAUGHTER

-That was on Wednesday.

-Oh, wow.

Thursday was the press conference, Friday, then we fought.

And your mum didn't watch the fight?

Like that. How you feel.

Has she ever been able to watch?

I took her to the Olympics and that was it but, as I said,

I don't think...

Fighting you do for passion, it's not a job career.

So it's not like I'm going to bring my mum to work kind of thing.

-So I do like to keep it separate.

-But she approves of the fighting?

Because of the person, how I am now.

It's funny, my dad said to me when I was at secondary school

and I was being bullied, he took me to a room

away from my mum and he said,

"This is when you need to prove that you're a man.

"This is when you need to show strength of character."

Cos he knew it was happening to me. And I really listened to him.

He said, "You turn around and hit a bully once

"and you'll never get hit again."

So I did. The next day I went in and the kid jumped on my back

and I turned around and hit him

and he beat the shit out of me.

LAUGHTER

It was awful.

Everyone was clapping, gathered around.

But your mum likes a scrap, doesn't she?

Yeah, she's harder than me, for sure.

She had a play fight with my dad once and chased him up the stairs

and punched her way through a toilet door.

"Big man."

I don't want to get into that.

Listen, Greg Davies is back on tour in September.

I think we've got the poster.

LAUGHTER

If you've got it, flaunt it, right?

The training that went into this!

"You Magnificent Beast."

I'm going to tell you, that picture, I paid a great deal of money to have

that picture taken and what you can't see is, in the background,

there was a very aggressive male swan.

I had to run into the water and have a picture and it was coming at me!

They're absolutely petrifying creatures.

Is this the poster that was banned?

-Yeah, on Amazon.

-On Amazon?

-Yeah.

And this is a genuine quote - I breached their nipple policy.

LAUGHTER

Then you got around the nipple policy.

If I'm not allowed nipples, I have to cover them up.

-So you did this poster.

-Yes, please.

LAUGHTER

-And that was acceptable?

-Yep.

Why is it called You Magnificent Beast?

I was just in a taxi in Central London going home

and I was stuck in traffic and my window was open and

a really drunk student just dived through the window,

grabbed hold of me, came really close to my face and went,

"Oh, my God, you magnificent beast."

LAUGHTER

We should also say Man Down returns to Channel 4 this summer.

-Series four. It's a hit.

-Aw!

-Yeah.

-Still going.

And all the previous series are available to catch up on All 4.

What can you tell us? You're filming it now?

Last day filming tomorrow.

It's... What I can tell you about it?

It's the most ridiculous series so far.

And, er...probably the most offensive.

But it's all based on your experiences as a teacher.

-Well, loosely.

-You say that. Every time Greg's here,

you tell us stories and I keep thinking, "Well, that's it now,

"he'll have told us the funny things that happened as a teacher."

But it seems like a bottomless pit.

Like, school trips.

Cos school trips seems like that's when all rules

go out the window, for pupils, everybody.

-And for teachers, I think.

-Yeah.

You've gotta remember, when I first started teaching,

I was 21 years of age

and I was sent to Paris on a school trip, three of us,

all in our early 20s, in charge of a busload of kids.

It's frankly amoral.

LAUGHTER

-What did you get up to?

-Do you know...? I can say it now,

I'm never going to go back to teaching now, right?

I think it's unlikely.

I got really drunk with two friends in a hotel room

when the kids were all in bed.

Like, really drunk.

We'd had a bottle of tequila between the three of us.

And then I heard kids running around...

It's so bad, isn't it?

Heard kids running around and I'm quite good

at pretending to be sober when I'm not, so I said,

"I'll go out and I'll deal with this,"

to my friend..."Tony"...

..who's still a teacher.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

And...

I went out and there was these kids all in their nighties and pyjamas

all giggling and I went out, "What's going on?"

And they're like, "Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry."

"You know you should be in your bed, this is absolutely disgraceful."

And I was doing a beautiful job when "Tony" came out of my room

and I don't know why, he was just in his boxer shorts...

..and a really big pair of boots.

And he started going like this - "You should be in bed!"

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

And I grabbed him by the face - I was so frightened -

I grabbed by him the face and just pushed him back into my room

and I closed my door. One of the kids went, "Is that Mr Stevens?"

And I went, "Yes. He's not feeling very well."

And they accepted it. That was it.

You brought us an exclusive clip from Man Down.

I've seen it. Tell us what we're going to see.

Oh, yes. This is going to upset everyone.

My character's had a baby.

Not with a lady he's with, unfortunately for him.

Or he's about to have a baby in this clip

and the scary lady from his local cafe is explaining

what he can expect when he sees his baby born.

OK, here we go.

My God. It's all about him, isn't it?

-He misses his kids, Dan.

-Why?

He's had them for ages. Mine's going to be new.

And he can talk to them on the phone.

What's the problem having a baby in a flat? You can put it in a shoebox.

Hey, Shakira. Did you know Dan's going to be a dad?

Good luck, they're pricks.

-Have you seen a kid get born?

-No.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS AND APPLAUDS

You need to get a flat quick, Dan.

Emma's going to need somewhere to rest that fanny.

Very good!

Right, time to meet my next guest. He made us laugh in The Office,

thrilled us in Sherlock and wowed us in The Hobbit.

Please welcome Mr Martin Freeman!

CHEERING

DROWNED OUT BY APPLAUSE

Good, good. All good.

-It's good.

-You sound very nervous.

-I know, well, I...

No, I'm not saying a thing. Are you well?

-Yeah. Have I made you nervous?

-No!

-I've been watching this backstage.

You were happy as Larry, now I come out and you're slightly terrified.

I just saw the two of you meeting them and I...

It was very Hobbit-like, that's all.

It was just...

I was going to say it and then I thought,

"That's really rude, don't say it."

And now you've made me say it so I feel bad.

-You've met Rachel before?

-We met briefly.

-Yes.

We met briefly at the...

Well, the last Bond. We said hello.

OK, well done, that's nice. Polite.

-And Greg?

-I've never met Greg.

-No, we've never met.

I used to spar with Anthony but I've never met Greg.

LAUGHTER

Now, Martin, you've got a new play, it's opening in the West End,

not on till 15th of September.

-It's at Noel Coward Theatre and it's Labour Of Love.

-Yes.

And obviously yourself and Sarah Lancashire.

-It is a play about the Labour Party.

-Yeah, it kind of is.

What appealed to me about it was it contained things in it

that were like conversations I was having every day

with people I knew about...

I'm a Labour supporter, but even if you're not,

I think it's been fairly clear in the last few years that Labour

-has been having an interesting time.

-Yeah.

And a play landed in my lap that was really funny and really

touching and also quite...just very pertinent to now.

It was very, very up-to-date.

-Sarah Lancashire, she plays the constituency agent.

-Yes.

I'm an MP and she's my constituency agent and I'm a kind of slightly...

I'm part of that Blairite wing of modernisers, I suppose,

in the party, from the early '90s.

It covers, kind of, 25 years.

So he gets his seat in Nottinghamshire

and he wants to push the party forward

in the way we all saw actually happened,

and she is just from a more, kind of, traditional base.

And will recognisable politicians...?

-Do people play politicians we know in it?

-No, not really.

I guess there are... No.

I was going to say there are maybe types, but not even that, really.

It's not a huge cast. I don't mean size-wise.

I'm the tallest person in it.

And I make a point of that.

Everything I do, I have to be the tallest person.

That's why I work so little.

But, no, anyone who knows anything vaguely about British politics

would know that I'm from that wing of the Labour Party

that we're trying to modernise.

It's the old conversation of do you go and stay left-wing

and true to your principals and run the risk of never being in power?

Or do you come a little bit over to the middle

and possibly win a term or two?

Are you nervous about doing a play like this?

-Because, as you know, people love it when actors have opinions.

-Mm.

-Yeah.

-Because, presumably, you get...

Do you get flack when you stick your head above the parapet?

Yeah, I'm a member of the Labour Party and I'm not ashamed of it.

It happens to be what my team is.

But I love plenty of Tories, you know, in my life.

-And you are allowed to have opinions.

-Of course.

-Have you been asked to do things like Question Time, Newsnight?

-Yes.

And I wouldn't do it.

Because I'd get taken to the cleaners.

I'd be hung out to dry completely. It would be like...

Well, it would be like, "Shall we have a fight?"

These people do it for a living.

They do it 24 hours a day,

and so however right I feel or however much I think,

"I think I'm right about this issue,"

someone could hang me out to dry in 30 seconds

with a, sort of, well-placed statistic.

-Then you're like, "Oh."

-Exactly.

-"I didn't know that."

-"That twat actor..."

Are you a boxing fan?

Yeah, sometimes. I watched the Klitschko fight.

(It was the Joshua fight.)

For me, it'll always be the Klitschko fight.

I was gutted that night.

LAUGHTER

-I did, it was amazing. Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Really good.

I tell you, all of you, Anthony's going to give us some tips,

I would say, on boxing.

We've got a very, very, very hi-tech piece of equipment over here.

So if you'd like to come with me. It's over here.

APPLAUSE

We've been playing with this all afternoon.

I love this thing. I'll just turn it on.

Hang on. It's on. Now... Oh.

OK, there we go. So, I hit that.

OK - oh!

RECORDED MESSAGE ON MACHINE

It didn't talk this afternoon!

What's happened to it? Shut up!

'Just hit it! Just hit it!'

LAUGHTER

Oh, no, you look serious.

He's really going for it. CHEERING

OK.

Do you have any tips?

Cos you're in high heels...

-Shall I take them off?

-No, no, chill.

We're taking this very seriously, ladies and gentlemen.

He's talking to me.

No run-ups.

If you want to take them off... Whatever you feel comfortable with.

I wasn't even thinking about run-ups.

Rachel, go first. Don't take your shoes off.

I'll just hit like a girl in these.

-So competitive.

-I like that.

-Wow.

CHEERING

-She's down! I slipped!

-She slipped.

APPLAUSE

-Do you want to go first, Rachel?

-I don't mind.

-I just feel like I could hit something now.

-You seem keen.

-Go on, then. Any other advice?

-Are you left or right-handed?

-Right.

-So, you know, right leg back so you really get the whole...

Right leg back. And the aim is just to hit it so it goes away?

You go boom, and it goes back up.

-OK.

-Have you had a go, Graham?

-Honestly, mine was so bad.

Let's see what Rachel gets then I'll decide if I'm going to do it.

LAUGHTER

-You get a score!

-Yeah, you get a score.

-So left leg forward.

-Are you in range?

-I don't know. Shall I find out?

-Come forward a bit.

-Cos your aim is to punch through the bag.

-Through.

-So I want to go like that.

-Yes, I like that.

Just hit it in the middle?

Oh!

CHEERING

182!

Who's going next?

-Do you want to go next?

-Yeah.

We have 182. 182 to beat. 182.

Here we go, here we go.

There's a terrible thing where you don't care and then you do.

Can't I just have a stare down with him?

And it's who laughs first loses.

Right. Um. OK.

Oh!

CHEERING Oh! Wow!

Blimey. 594.

It's 594.

I slipped!

594 to beat.

Here we go, here we go, here we go.

Oh!

CHEERING

Oh!

OK.

-Anthony Joshua.

-Are you on?

-No...

CHEERING

OK, OK.

CHEERING

I've gotta do this, here we go, here we go.

I'm still going.

What was yours?

I think it was 3,000?

672, was it?

-672.

-632. So if you don't beat that, you've lost the title.

If you don't beat me...

I mean, look at this.

LAUGHTER

OK, OK, here we go, here we go.

-Same technique as you.

-The world champion.

Oh!

CHEERING

Well done! 848! Excellent.

Very good, everybody. Well done.

Right, it's time for music.

This singer-songwriter went from social media phenomenon

to one of the most successful pop stars in the world.

Here performing his latest hit, There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back,

it is Shawn Mendes!

CHEERING

# I wanna follow where she goes

# I think about her and she knows it

# I wanna let her take control

# Cos every time that she gets close, yeah

# She pulls me in enough to keep me guessing

# Whoa-ho-ho

# And maybe I should stop and start confessing

# Confessing, yeah

# Oh, I've been shaking

# I love it when you go crazy

# You take all my inhibitions

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# You take me places that tear up my reputation

# Manipulate my decisions

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# Oh-oh

# There's nothing holding me back

# She says that she's never afraid

# Just picture everybody naked

# She really doesn't like to wait

# Not really into hesitation

# Pulls me in enough to keep me guessing

# Whoa-ho-ho

# And maybe I should stop and start confessing

# Confessing, yeah

# Oh, I've been shaking

# I love it when you go crazy

# You take all my inhibitions

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# You take me places that tear up my reputation

# Manipulate my decisions

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# Oh-ho

# There's nothing holding me back

# Cos if we lost our minds and we took it way too far

# I know we'd be all right I know we would be all right

# If you were by my side and we stumbled in the dark

# I know we'd be all right I know we would be all right

# Cos if we lost our minds and we took it way too far

# I know we'd be all right We would be all right

# If you were by my side and we stumbled in the dark

# I know we'd be all right We would be all right

# Oh, I've been shaking

# I love it when you go crazy

# You take all my inhibitions

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# You take me places that tear up my reputation

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back

# There's nothing holding me back

# Oh-oh

# Baby, there's nothing holding me back. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you so much.

Shawn Mendes, everybody!

Come on over.

Well done. Thank you so much for doing that.

Very nice to meet you. Come and join us.

That's Greg there. Anthony. Rachel. Martin.

Gang's all here.

-Nice to meet you.

-Pleasure. How are you guys?

Some hardcore Shawn Mendes fans have snuck in.

There's some girls in the front row. They knew all the dance moves.

I see them a lot, they're very familiar faces.

Thank you for coming.

Again.

LAUGHTER

That's from the deluxe - there's now a deluxe edition of your album -

Illuminate. That's out. I'm sure you have it, don't you? Yeah, of course.

So how old are you now?

-I'm 18.

-18.

CHEERING

-How old are you?

-I'm 27.

-OK, yeah.

No, he's really old.

-He's ancient.

-I'm 27.

-"I'm 27."

-I'm 27.

-Right, I thought so!

Stone.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

The odd thing is, in Canada, it's 21 to drink.

-19 in Canada.

-Oh, 19?

-Yeah.

-So you're nearly there.

-So close.

It's so delicious.

I've been in Europe for nine weeks, touring, so it's been great.

We've got a picture of you in Ireland.

Oh, yeah.

CHEERING

The Guinness was good there.

That's going to be such a shock to go back, isn't it?

It's going to suck, yeah, cos I'm not going to be able to go anywhere.

No. I wouldn't bother.

Well, actually, you're on a world tour, so you're fine.

But I go home in a couple of days.

And I can't get a fake ID.

"You look very like Shawn Mendes.

"Who famously is 18."

But you just sold out two nights at the O2. That's thousands of people.

CHEERING

-Amazing.

-Yeah.

So you go home to Canada and just watch TV for a few days.

Pretty much. Actually, no, I'm home for a few days, like,

nine days, and then I'm in America for the American tour.

-OK.

-Which is 21 to get a drink in America.

Yeah, so I'm screwed there.

I'm just trying to come back here.

You'll save your voice.

So that I'm good for when I come back.

So frighteningly English that all we're worried about on this couch

is the fact that he can't drink.

"You've sold millions of records, I'm so sorry you can't get pissed."

I'd cancel that world tour. "21? Don't go there."

Must be rubbish!

You sounded great tonight, thank you very much for doing that for us.

Shawn Mendes, everybody!

CHEERING

That is nearly it for tonight.

Before we go, we do have time for a quick visit to the Big Red Chair.

-Who's there? Hello

-Hi.

-Hi, what's your name?

-Julie.

-Lovely. Where do you live?

-Barnet.

I met Julie the other day!

-Sorry?

-I met her the other day.

-He's just ruined my story!

LAUGHTER

That's the end of that story.

I met her the other day. Sorry. I was thinking, "I know that face."

Did anything happen or she just met you?

At first her friend wanted a picture and was talking for ages.

I was on time for my meeting.

And then she was like, "I don't care about boxing."

And then we just started talking, got a picture,

and it was a lovely story.

We spoke for about 15 minutes at a petrol station and that was it.

-15 minutes?

-A good 15 minutes.

-That'll wear off.

LAUGHTER

-So, yeah, I remember her face.

-You would. OK...

LAUGHTER

If you'd like to join us on the show you can contact us via the website.

Go to this very address. That is it for tonight.

Please say thank you to my guests - Shawn Mendes!

Greg Davies!

Anthony Joshua!

Rachel Weisz!

And Mr Martin Freeman!

CHEERING

Join me next week with pop legend Alison Moyet,

new Spider-Man Tom Holland,

actress Sienna Miller,

Planet Of The Apes' Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson

and the always entertaining Mr Mark Wahlberg.

I'll see you then. Goodnight, everybody, bye-bye!

CHEERING