Latest news with #WouldILieToYou?
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Not Going Out star Sally Bretton rushed to hospital while filming for BBC show
The latest series of Not Going Out was filled with laughter, but filming took a dramatic turn when Sally Bretton had to be rushed to hospital. In an era where television is dominated by polished dramas, thrillers and satires, comedian Lee Mack is on a mission to make us chuckle. He's doing it the old-school way, with a studio sitcom, a live audience and a barrage of jokes. As his BBC1 sitcom Not Going Out returns for another series, with yet another one already confirmed for next year, it's clear that the show isn't going anywhere. It has clocked up over 100 episodes and proudly holds the title of the longest-running UK sitcom currently on air. READ MORE: Emmerdale star 'so excited' as they confirm they're pregnant in sweet post READ MORE: Coronation Street Billy's exit storyline 'revealed' after soap axe and it's devastating "We'll never catch up with Last Of The Summer Wine," Lee jests. "Thank God. Our show is seen as very traditional, and some would say old fashioned, so therefore not risky, but it is a risk because it's the minority. The highs and lows are extreme. Love or hate the studio sitcom, there's no denying that they are really trying to go for the laugh. I'm not trying to write a line that makes people smile. "You don't get canned smiling. I used to aim for a joke on every page, but that's only every 30 seconds, it's not enough. We try for a laugh in every line." The 56 year old star, known for his appearances on Would I Lie To You? and as the host of game show The 1% Club, shines in the sitcom as 'Lee' with Sally Bretton playing his long-suffering wife Lucy. Since its inception in 2006, the series has charted their journey from awkward flatmates to a married couple with three kids, through a rollercoaster of 'will-they-won't they' tension. In the latest episodes, which Lee insisted on filming 'as live' to capture the essence of theatre, viewers are treated to a wild mix of scenarios including a robotic sex doll and a shambolic hotel stay, not to mention a rundown campervan, stints as TV extras, and a cheeky nod to the chaos of Oasis concert ticket sales. However, production faced a brief setback due to a health scare. Lee recalls a concerning moment during the Oasis-themed episode: "There was a moment in that Oasis episode when we were filming it, when Sally said to me - she looked a bit in pain, 'Do you know what appendicitis feels like? '"He recounts his initial disbelief: "I said, 'I have no idea but I can tell you now you haven't got appendicitis, otherwise you wouldn't be here filming'. The next day she had her appendix out. "Lee, who pens the show alongside Daniel Peak, affectionately pokes fun at Oasis in an episode where the couple's online ticket-buying turns into a blame game. He shares with a chuckle: "That is based in truth - I'm a massive Oasis fan, I did try to get tickets, I didn't get them and I'm livid. "He also reveals his attempt to involve one of the Gallagher brothers in the episode: "I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could get Liam or Noel to appear in that episode. My friend Rob Brydon had interviewed Noel, so I asked for his number. " The day after the ticket release, I sent a text to Noel saying, 'I know this isn't a good time, but I reckon everyone's asking for tickets and I'm probably the only one that isn't. Will you be in my sitcom?' He never got back to me." Lee shares: "My personal favourite episode is the one where I accidentally bring home a robot sex doll. Let me tell you, robotic sex dolls are very hard to get hold of. We initially had an actor, wearing a mask, but it just didn't work. We could see her breathing. So in the end, they had to create a robot. It was brilliant. It moved its head, its mouth, its eyes, and I found myself in a double act with a sex robot. " The forthcoming series has a time jump of several years, with Lee and Lucy now finding themselves as empty nesters. With plenty of time for each other, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out. The first episode follows their thwarted attempt to move house when they find their dream home, but Lee needs to use the loo, leading to the usual tension, mistaken identities and farce. There's also a touch of nostalgia, with a photo on the mantelpiece in their new home of Bobby Ball, who played Lee's dad and passed away in October 2020. "We all miss him a lot. He was like me, he wasn't from an acting background - so whatever I'm like in a studio, he was 50 times worse. The director would have to tell him not to keep looking at the audience every time he cracked a joke." A plethora of talented stars has made appearances on the show over the years, including Miranda Hart, Tim Vine, Katy Wix, Abigail Cruttenden, and Hugh Dennis. Interestingly, many fans have forgotten that Catherine Tate initially played the role of Lucy in the pilot, which was later taken over by Megan Dodds in the first series, before Sally, of Beyond Paradise fame, assumed the part. "When we look back, Sally and I do get a bit emotional," Lee says, "We've been in the show a long time and there are different eras of it, especially when you look at all the people from the past who have been in the show and come and gone. Sally's aged brilliantly, whereas I've got a big gray beard. It's been forever."
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Not Going Out star in pain as they're rushed to hospital while filming for BBC
Comedian Lee Mack has revealed that his Not Going Out costar Sally Bretton suffered a medical emergency while filming the latest series of their hugely popular sitcom. Plenty of laughs took over the set of Not Going Out's latest season. But panic hijacked production when Sally Bretton was rushed to hospital, derailing filming. In a television age obsessed with slick dramas, thrillers and satire, comedian Lee Mack is doing something radical - he's trying to make us laugh. Out loud. Every few seconds. And he's doing it the old fashioned way, with a studio sitcom, a real live audience and endless gags. As his BBC1 sitcom Not Going Out returns for a brand new series, with another green lit for next year, it is clearly not going anywhere, clocking up over 100 episodes and holding its status as the longest-running UK sitcom on air. 'We'll never catch up with Last Of The Summer Wine,' quips Lee. 'Thank God.' He adds: 'Our show is seen as very traditional, and some would say old fashioned, so therefore not risky, but it is a risk because it's the minority. 'The highs and lows are extreme. Love or hate the studio sitcom, there's no denying that they are really trying to go for the laugh. I'm not trying to write a line that makes people smile. You don't get canned smiling. I used to aim for a joke on every page, but that's only every 30 seconds, it's not enough. We try for a laugh in every line.' The 56-year-old, who also appears in Would I Lie To You? and hosts game show The 1% Club, stars in the sitcom as 'Lee' alongside Sally Bretton as his long-suffering wife Lucy. The show, which started in 2006, has followed them from awkward flatmates via a torturous 'will-they-won't they' plot until finally, they got married and had three kids. The latest episodes, which Lee was determined to film 'as live' like a play, feature everything from a robotic sex doll to a freebie hotel stay, dilapidated campervan, roles as TV extras and a swipe at Oasis concert ticket sales. Although, Lee reveals a medical issue halted production for a couple of weeks. He says: 'There was a moment in that Oasis episode when we were filming it, when Sally said to me - she looked a bit in pain, 'Do you know what appendicitis feels like?' 'I said, 'I have no idea but I can tell you now you haven't got appendicitis, otherwise you wouldn't be here filming'. The next day she had her appendix out.' Lee, who writes the show with Daniel Peak, takes an affectionate swing at Oasis in the episode that sees the couple lose their place in the online queue and start to blame each other. Lee laughs: 'That is based in truth - I'm a massive Oasis fan, I did try to get tickets, I didn't get them and I'm livid.' He adds: 'I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could get Liam or Noel to appear in that episode. My friend Rob Brydon had interviewed Noel, so I asked for his number. It was the day after the ticket release. I texted Noel, 'I know this isn't a good time, but I reckon everyone's asking for tickets and I'm probably the only one that isn't. Will you be in my sitcom?' He never got back to me.' Lee adds: 'My personal favourite episode is the one where I accidentally bring home a robot sex doll. Let me tell you, robotic sex dolls are very hard to get hold of. We had an actor, with a mask on, and it just didn't work. We could see her breathing. So in the end they had to make a robot. It was brilliant. It moved its head, it moved its mouth, its eyes, and I was in a double act with a sex robot.' The upcoming series rolls the story on several years, with Lee and Lucy now empty nesters. With plenty of time for each other, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot it turns out. Episode one follows their attempted house move, thwarted when they find their dream home, but Lee needs to use the loo, causing the usual tension, mistaken identities and farce. There's a nod to nostalgia too, with a photo on the mantelpiece in their new home of Bobby Ball, who played Lee's dad and died in October 2020. Lee says: 'We all miss him a lot. He was like me, he wasn't from an acting background - so whatever I'm like in a studio, he was 50 times worse. The director would have to tell him not to keep looking at the audience every time he cracked a joke.' Over the years a long list of stars have appeared in the show, including Miranda Hart, Tim Vine, Katy Wix, Abigail Cruttenden and Hugh Dennis, with many forgetting that Catherine Tate played Lucy in the pilot, followed by Megan Dodds in series one, before Beyond Paradise star Sally took over. Lee says: 'When we look back, Sally and I do get a bit emotional. We've been in the show a long time and there are different eras of it, especially when you look at all the people from the past who have been in the show and come and gone. 'I think Sally's aged brilliantly, whereas I've got a big gray beard. It's been forever.'
Daily Mirror
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Lee Mack is unrecognisable without trademark beard in unearthed video
Lee Mack is best known for hosting The 1% Club and acting in Not Going Out, but the comedian looks so different in an old video clip, where he's without his now-trademark beard Comedian and actor Lee Mack is hardly recognisable in a resurfaced video where he appears without his now-trademark beard. The host of The 1% Club, ITV's fiendishly-addicted gameshow, is seen looking very young in a viral clip on Facebook and TikTok, titled 'The reason why tickets machines were invented'. The sketch - which sees a frustrated woman trying to buy a train ticket to Halifax from a ticket office vendor, played by an extremely fresh-faced Lee – was clearly filmed way before the comedian shot to fame with The 1% Club and the popular BBC sitcom Not Going Out. Yet it somehow manages to be bang up to date, as the vendor asks the woman: "Would you like a carriage that doesn't allow the use of mobiles – or a carriage that does allow the use of mobiles?" She replies: "Does allow.... I really don't want to miss this," as he retorts in Lee's usual deadpan style: "Oh it's nothing special, just loads of people phoning their friends...." READ MORE: ITV The 1% Club fans stunned as Lee Mack reveals his real name Lee has had quite the career on TV. He joined 8 Out Of 10 Cats in 2005 and Not Going Out started airing on BBC One. the following year. Lee not only writes but also stars in the comedy sitcom, which also stars Sally Bretton, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Hugh Dennis, and Abigail Cruttenden. In 2007, Lee became a team captain on Would I Lie To You?, a role that brought him additional fame. He stars alongside fellow comedian David Mitchell and a host of celebrity guests, with Rob Brydon taking on the hosting duties. Recently, the comedian has branched out into the world of TV presenting. He was the host of The Royal Variety Performance in 2022 and co-presented Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof alongside Holly Willoughby. In the same year, he took on the role of host for ITV's The 1% Club. Lee recently admitted he's terrible at answering the show's tricky questions. Away from his public life, Lee – whose birth name fans, were stunned to discover, is actually Lee Gordon McKillop, is married to Tara McKillop. They tied the knot in 2005 and have a son named Arlo. Little is known about Tara as she prefers to stay out of the spotlight, unlike her husband. During an episode of WILTY, Lee explained a decision he once made to shave off his beard – and it was all thanks to his friend, David. The comic said: "I once shaved a beard I'd been growing for weeks because I didn't want David to think I was copying him." David asked: "What was it that alerted to you to the fact that I had grown a beard?" Lee replied: "I looked at you, and you had a beard. Are you alright? Are you having a breakdown?" Lee explained he'd invited David and Rob to his house for dinner and made a joke to his wife Tara that David might think he had copied his beard. He then decided to shave it off, just in case. David's team guessed the anecdote was true, and they were right. Lee said: "I'm all heart, David. I'm all heart."
Daily Mirror
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Huge BBC sitcom to return to screens a lot sooner than fans may think
Lee Mack's popular BBC sitcom is set to return to screens very soon, just weeks after the comedian and actor revealed plans for the future of Not Going Out to the Mirror A huge BBC sitcom is returning to screens in the very near future. Not Going Out, created by actor and comedian Lee Mack, will return for series 14 soon, two years after the latest series. The show, first released almost two decades ago follows Lee's self-titled character and his best friend's sister, Lucy (played by Sally Bretton), who he also lives with. Over the years, fans of the huge series saw Lee and Lucy grow close, with many glued to their ongoing relationship, which has taken centre stage in recent years. During the finale of series seven, the couple eventually tied the knot just before they welcomed a child together. However, series eight catapulted the family eight years into the future as it documented their rather chaotic life with three children. But the upcoming series will also see a major change as Lucy and Lee have become empty nesters and moved out of their family home. Although the upcoming series is set to return next month, it's also been confirmed that the programme has been recommissioned for a fifteenth series of six episodes, which will air on screens next year. In the first episode of the upcoming series, fans will see Lucy and Lee move house, but one of the vendors at a viewing takes an issue with them using the toilet. In the second instalment, Lee brings a box home from the local tip, but in a rather odd twist, it turns out the box contains a robotic sex doll. But things get even worse in episode four of the upcoming series with Lucy and Lee having a falling out over the dramatic online queue for Oasis tickets earlier this year. When Lee and Lucy lose their place in the long online queue, they start to blame each other. Though some might say that Lee is definitely, maybe to blame for this one… But in true form to their chaos, things take a massive leap in the final episode when they become TV extras on another TV show. Speaking about the new series, Lee said: "I am delighted that the BBC are once again showing such great support for studio sitcoms. "It's a genre I've always loved and to be able to be part of it myself for so many years is both a privilege and an excuse not to have to shop, as I always take the underpants they give me home." The update comes after Lee opened up to the Mirror about his hectic schedule over the next few months. "More 1% Club coming up this year," he revealed. "More Would I Lie To You? and then more Not Going Out – so it's the same as it has been for the last 17 years," Lee laughed before adding: "And now, more Soccer Aid, which is added to the list of things I do every year. But my immediate thing is Soccer Aid, I've just got to stay on the treadmill. "Every year, without this, I wouldn't do any exercise. Every year I go 'Right, I've got to get fit,' so a few years ago, I bought a treadmill and every year it gets later and later. Last year, I think I went on it the night before." This year, Lee is returning to Soccer Aid for UNICEF for the eighth time. Speaking about being called up for the World XI squad again, Lee said: "I assume every year they're not going to ask me back so it's very exciting when I get the call. I am at that age where I do think after each one, even if they ask me I better say no because it takes months and months to feel better again. "But when the call comes and says 'Do you want to do it?' I always go 'Yeah, definitely.'" But he teased that each year he's the "oldest outfield player" so he has to deal with physical ailments each year. Lee joked that his job is essentially a "goal hanger". But he soon realised when he first started playing Soccer Aid that he can't stay in one spot on the pitch, "it's exhausting," he joked.
Wales Online
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
The 1% Club's Lee Mack shocks ITV contestants as he reveals real name
The 1% Club's Lee Mack shocks ITV contestants as he reveals real name The 1% Club presenter Lee Mack left contestants on his ITV show gobsmacked when he revealed his real name. Lee Mack has shocked contestants after revealing his real name (Image: ITV ) The comedian and actor, 56, rose to fame in the 90s, going on to host his own BBC Radio 2 show and starring in the likes of The Sketch Show and sitcom Not Going Out. He began fronting hit gameshow The 1% Club in 2022, which has since gone on to air four seasons and become a firm fan-favourite. However, in an episode which recently aired as a repeat after first being broadcast last year, Lee Mack confessed that Mack isn't his real name. When an audience member told him their surname was McKillop, Lee shocked the contestants by saying his was the same. The Would I Lie To You? and Taskmaster star hails from Blackburn, Lancashire, and was born above the pub where he was also raised. In 2018, he appeared on an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? discovering his genealogy. Article continues below Lee Mack rose to fame in the late 90s and early 00s, but once had a very different career (Image: ITV ) Lee explored his Irish heritage and learnt that comedy was in his roots, stemming from his great-grandfather Billy Mac. But before his career in the spotlight, the dad-of-three had a very different job - mucking out for three-time Grand National-winning racehorse Red Rum. In a 2013 interview on Desert Island Discs, Lee revealed: 'I was thrown out of college at 16 because I'd failed all my O-Levels and then I went back to re-sit my O-Levels and lasted like six weeks until I realised I was still just a kid who was messing about at school, so I left and I went home thinking, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? 'I put the telly on as I was thinking it and horseracing was on. I'd had a mild interest in it because my granddad had liked to bet and I used to watch the Grand National, but that was it.' Explaining he'd never had experience with horses before, he went on: 'But by coincidence in my home town they trained Red Rum and he was still alive. So I thought, I'll do that then. So having turned the telly on to phoning up the stables it was probably about 60 seconds.' Article continues below He added: 'And the first horse I ever rode was Red Rum. He was retired… and my mate said, 'Right, it's about time you sat on a horse,' and so I jumped on a horse. 'And he said, 'You know who that is don't you?' And I hadn't, they all looked the same to me but he said: 'That's Red Rum'.' The 1% Club is available to stream on ITVX.
