Jason Manford reveals drunken lockdown purchase
Jason Manford has revealed he bought the car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang during a night of drinking in lockdown.
The comedian, TV presenter and musical theatre star confessed he had a surprise when the theatre prop arrived on his doorstep, as he had forgotten he had ordered it. But the father-of-six revealed the impulse purchase proved worth every penny as his children loved playing in it.
Manford appeared on The One Show on Tuesday, 18 March, to chat to hosts Lauren Laverne and Vernon Kay about hosting the Big Night of Musicals on BBC One.
The stand-up and actor starred as Caractacus Potts in the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2016, and revealed he now owns one of the props from the show.
Manford explained: "I was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You have to be careful how you say that at 7 o'clock! I bought the prop, it was a lockdown purchase. You know when we were doing home measures, yeah, and I sort of forgot I'm, I'm not a big drinker at all. I totally forgot about it and then there was one morning, middle of lockdown, and there was a knock at the door and a fella's there with his mask and all that. He said, 'You bought a car?' I said, 'I've just sold one 'cause we we're we're in lockdown because we can't go anywhere. And he just pulled up and I thought, 'Oh yeah, now I remember.'
"It was a lockdown purchase!"@JasonManford tells us one musical is so special to him, he has a tribute to it in his front garden 😂Watch #TheOneShow live now 👉 https://t.co/bXJHOzbSNN pic.twitter.com/lhZjCFV3jG
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) March 18, 2025
"They were selling all the old props from from the show that I'd gone and I bought it. Anyway, the kids were still young at the time, so they just played with it all the time. Beep beep and singing 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', which was great. And now it's been there and the kids have gotten older and now it's just, I would call it a bug hotel that's nice that all sorts of animals living in there."
Manford has four children from his first marriages, teenage twin daughters born in 2009, a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in 2012. He married his second wife, Lucy Dyke in 2017 and they have two children together.
Read more: Jason Manford
Jason Manford at the Palladium review: observational wit that is harder than it looks (The Standard, 2 min read)
Jason Manford on joining Waterloo Road: 'It's like being England manager!'(What to Watch, 5 min read)
Jason Manford admits kids embarrassed by his comedy career (Yahoo UK, 3 min read)
Manford - who briefly hosted The One Show himself in 2010 - appeared to take over presenting duties from hosts Laverne and Kay as they interviewed The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki.
Debicki was on the show to talk about starring alongside Ewan McGregor in new West End play My Master Builder. At the end of the interview, Manford interjected, telling Debicki: "My tip in rehearsals while you're in them at the moment, is every so often just say to the director, 'I think my character would be sat down here.' Just because you've gotta do it for six months, haven't you, then you just get to sit down a bit, so just, you know, try it tomorrow."
The show's theme tune began playing in the background as Laverne and Kay began trying to close the show, but struggled to interrupt Manford and Debicki's conversation. Kay said: "You two carry on chatting, we've got to end the show." And the credits began rolling and Manford's mic was cut as he continues chatting, ignoring Kay and Laverne.
The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.
The Big Night of Musicals airs on BBC One at 6.50pm on Saturday, 22 March.
Elizabeth Debicki stars in My Master Builder at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End from 29 April.
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