THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW TONIGHT: MEET THE FAMOUS GUESTS ON THE SOFA

On The Jonathan Ross Show this week, Jonathan is joined by national treasure Sir Stephen Fry, star of The White Lotus and Toxic Town Aimee Lou Wood, rapper, chef and presenter Big Zuu comedian Joanne McNally. Plus - a musical performance from Yungblud. 

Speaking about the latest series of The White Lotus and reactions to her teeth since the series started, Aimee Lou Wood says: “I can’t believe the impact my teeth are having. The Americans can’t believe it. They’re being lovely [and there’s] videos of orthodontists coming up [online] analysing my teeth. They dissect my teeth and say, ‘What’s wrong with them?’ and at the end go, ‘But I don’t think she should change a thing!’ It’s a real full circle moment after being bullied and now people are clapping.”  

Speaking about whether people have asked her if they’re false teeth, Aimee says: “100%. People are like, ‘They’re real?!’ Fellow guest Sir Stephen notes historically: “It’s considered a sign of sexual heat to have gap teeth." Aimee responds: “I’ve got several gaps, so…” 

And on the standout scene where she was bitten by a snake, Aimee reveals how she had to be fitted for a fake leg so the snake could actually bite her character: “Oh yeah, real snakes… this amazing thing happened, a man came over to my house before I went to Thailand, he had this laser, he scanned my leg, then he created my leg. He matched my skin and everything… the snake actually bit the fake leg. I have no idea what it was made out of.”  

Aimee adds: “The snake bites my character, it’s all very symbolic… there’s a lot of snake symbolism and it’s the year of the snake now. She gets bitten and it’s not great but she’s alright because she’s weirdly robust in that way. But yes the snake bit the fake leg.” 

Asked if she got to keep the fake leg, Aimee explains: “I think they had to throw it away because it had venom in it. The snake properly went for the leg. I was not near the fake leg. I pretended to see the snake and screamed which I found weirdly embarrassing. I’m not [scared of snakes]. Walton [Goggins] it’s his worst fear. It’s not the first time he’s had to interact with them [in a scene]… it’s his biggest phobia.” 

Speaking more about her co-star Aimee says: “He was honestly having panic attacks in between takes, he was having to really gear himself up. One nipped him and he had to go to the hospital. I’m putting my full oomph into running away, I fell, cut all of this side of my body open… I had this mark on my shoulder. Snake day was quite chaotic!”  

Discussing having to keep the secrets of the show under wraps, Aimee admits: “It’s painful, I’ve been sitting on secrets for so long. I have too much information. I have too much power, I don’t like it. I’m going to be so relieved when episode 8 is out. It’s been tough. People really want to know. I say, ‘Then you’ll be angry with me for ruining it. I want to tell you…’” 

Asked if The White Lotus has led to her being recognised more, Aimee says: “It was worse after Sex Education with the recognising. It had a cult following in America but didn’t quite take America. White Lotus feels very American. I’m being noticed there where I wasn’t before. Feels more intense. When I was out there filming, Jason and I were the only non-Americans pretty much. You really have to match them. You have to really get in there with like, ‘Yeah, come on!’ You can’t be blasé.” 

Sir Stephen Fry speaks about his Knighthood, Stephen teases how to address him now saying: “Just Sir is fine…” 

He adds: “I haven’t actually been Knighted yet. It’s quite soon. I can’t deny, it’s very exciting. If you’re going to accept it, you can’t then be all British and pretend and throw it off.”

Stephen continues: “I don’t insist people call me Sir. It’s weird, partly because I still think of myself, as most people do, as round about 15 years old, when I was a destructive, terrible child, expelled from schools, ended up in prison, a nightmare for my parents… so for my mother she is beaming like a lighthouse as you can imagine. Finally feels like I’m not such a screw up as I was.” 

Going on to discuss hosting hit quiz Jeopardy! on ITV1 and ITVX, Stephen admits: “It was all a terrible mistake… a lovely mistake I should say. I was on The Morning Show [in the US]. I had dinner with my American agent, he said, ‘What do you do when you’re not called on set?’ and I said, ‘My husband and I, we don’t go to Hollywood parties much, we have an early supper, watch Jeopardy! go to bed…” 

Continuing Stephen says: “He said, ‘Do you watch it in the UK?’ I said, ‘We don’t have it in the UK.’ The conversation moved on, I thought no more of it. Two weeks later, he phones and says: ‘ITV London is thrilled you’re going to do Jeopardy!’”

Stephen says: “I said, ‘Oh, now you mention it, I’ll have a think.’ It’s been going in America since 1964. It’s on every day and it’s a kind of institution. The format is astounding, it just gives and gives. Each show is exciting, there’s the betting in it towards the end. A champion stays on and stays on and builds up money.”

Discussing acting, his childhood dream, Stephen says: “When I first did it, I was too self-conscious and that’s the bane of any performance. If you’re aware of yourself. You can see it in people. If you see the wheels going round, it’s gone. It took me far longer than a natural actor to get used to it.” He adds: “It’s a phenomenal job. It’s a wonderful thing to be asked to do.” 

Referencing Stephen Graham’s Adolescence, Stephen adds: “Some people are born with this incredible ability to be completely convincing. You don’t see him acting at any point. He’s just being this character. It’s phenomenal.” 

Describing her hardest moment acting, Aimee says: “I did Cabaret…I had a breakdown. It was so difficult. A particular bit I had to drink raw egg mixed with Worcestershire sauce and continue singing. Once you’ve had raw egg, it’s claggy. I would have to drink this mixture… which is really hard to say in the first place… if you got the ratio wrong - too much egg and not enough sauce - you’re claggy. If too much sauce it’s too acidic and then your voice would hurt. I was really drinking this raw egg every night. It really does mess your voice up.”  

Later describing his own acting mishap on a horse, Stephen recalls a Blackadder scene that required him to ride one, explaining: “This enormous horse came out. I was told, ‘This is Thunderbolt’ - that’s a warning already - ‘Docile as anything’. They always say that. I had a step ladder to get on. He was marvellous…we started to shoot, which begins with the band playing. As soon as the band started the horse is vertical and I am clinging on. It’s a high horse and a concrete floor… I start screaming. Hugh Laurie is on his horse doubled up with laughter. I’m screaming, literally thinking I’m going to die. We tried it three times, always the same.” 

Comedian Joanne McNally explains the reasoning behind her and Vogue Williams’s podcast name My Therapist Ghosted Me: “For ages, we were trying to think of a clever format. I was of the philosophy that ‘Who needs another podcast?’ But my therapist had just conveniently ghosted me. 

She jokes: “I got a podcast out of it. He was so lovely, he was so nice, I never sl*g him off, you never know what people are going through… I really liked him.”  

Joanne is on tour around the country with her show Pinotphile, which she explains: “It just means you’re mad about something. I’m mad about wine.”

Discussing other projects she’s done with Vogue, including a trip to Ibiza for a sex and wellness show that resulted in them steaming their intimate areas. She says: “We’re steaming ‘ourselves’… crouched over… to say it was undignified… to what end, I don’t know. It’s not that creased!”

She adds: “I will say, all joking aside, it wasn’t the most horrible experience of my life. It wasn’t an awful experience. It was humiliating.” 

Rapper, chef and presenter Big Zuu joins the show and discusses his recent turn on reality series Celebrity Bear Hunt saying: “As a fat man there wasn’t a lot people who were rooting for me. That’s probably the wrong word. The show proves it’s not all about your physicality. It’s about your mind. I’d say I have a good mind. It wasn’t easy. I had some lows, I had some highs. I grew throughout the programme. You see me become a better man… I genuinely changed as a person. I lost some weight actually.” 

Of his own experience on a Bear Grylls show Stephen adds: “I did enjoy it. He’s a very interesting fellow. His crew were mostly in the SAS with him. He’s not pretend. He’s a likeable soul. We had a long conversation about religion. I’m not a religious person, he is. In the wild, just us two. Just by a stream washing ourselves and chatting. It’s not something I’d do normally.”

Joanne jokes: “How I haven’t been on every celebrity jungle… my palate is so base… I’ll eat anything. I think I could do it, I’ve got badges for tying knots.” 

Talk turns to cooking with Big Zuu saying: “I do believe anybody can cook. I’m not here to be a gatekeeper. If you know how to turn on a cooker, you can cook.”

Joanne states: “I don’t cook. I don’t care for cooking. I see expiry dates as a mere suggestion. I order so much I got an email from Deliveroo saying, ‘Do you want to turn your account into a corporate account?’ That’s embarrassing.”

Big Zuu reveals: “I used to be a delivery driver. I wasn’t the best. If you ever ordered fries or a milkshake, I’d definitely take that. I would always take the fries. Why do you think we run? I took the milkshake. I wasn’t paid enough to care.”

Aimee admits: “Years ago when I was really drunk I tried to order Uber Eats and accidentally signed up to be a driver. I went onto my email the next day and had all this stuff about advancing my career. I can’t even drive.” 

Speaking about his latest food show with his cousin, Big Zuu & AJ Tracey's Seriously Rich Flavours, Big Zuu says: “It’s about me and him eating very expensive food across the world and then doing our own take on it. We went to South Korea, the Highlands of Scotland and New York. We had the world’s most expensive haggis - £4,000 for a piece of haggis! It just tastes like haggis, bro.” 

Big Zuu also reveals they ended up in the house of the would-be king of South Korea: “I made him some Korean fried chicken. Did some karaoke in his house. [He sang] Frank Sinatra. I do love a sing-song.” 

Before his performance Yungblud joins the sofa and discusses the video for his latest 9-minute track saying: “Topless riding a horse in the snow… I learnt to ride a horse for this video. It’s a vibe! For insurance purposes, I had to learn how to ride a horse. I enjoyed it. I got it done in two sessions. I have not ridden a horse since, but I will!” 

He also reveals his nan convinced him growing up that Sir Rod Stewart was his grandad: “She’d put on, ‘Do You Think I'm Sexy’, she’d say, ‘This is your grandad’. I fully believed it because I was a child. In Asda, I was about 10 years old in the bargain section was a Rod Stewart CD… I’m like, ‘Nan, when am I gonna meet Grandad?’ Everyone at the checkout was cracking up. That was the day I found out Rod Stewart wasn’t my grandfather. He sent me a DM on Insta. Then sent me a bottle of his whisky which was pretty good actually. He’s a legend man.”

Of meeting legends, he adds: “Mick Jagger - he invited me to his show in Liverpool, he gave me a guitar as a present. I walk into his room and he’s exactly what he is on a tin… he gave me a Buddy Holly guitar.”

The Jonathan Ross Show airs Saturdays on ITV1.