T4's very own, very lovely Rick Edwards is such a televisual jet-setter these days that he barely has time to unpack his underpants in his new flat for all the pop stars banging on the T4 door begging him for an inimitable interview. So we considered ourselves very lucky, very lucky indeed, to grab him for five minutes for a quick natter...
Hello, Rick, what the devil have you been up to?
Well, on Monday... hang on, what day is it? On Monday I - God, my memory is so bad - Monday was only two days ago, arrgh!
Well, on Monday... hang on, what day is it? On Monday I - God, my memory is so bad - Monday was only two days ago, arrgh!
Crikey, your memory is almost as bad as ours. Has it always been this bad?
It's always been quite poor, I mean my long-term memory is alright but my short-term memory is bad. I quite often forget what I've said at the start of the sentence and just trail off, which is handy when you're interviewing people and they're having a conversation with someone who can't remember what they've been talking about!
Oh dear! And who, if you can remember, have you interviewed recently?
We did the guy from Reverend and the Makers, John, who was very nice and bright. He's a bit like a cult leader in the way he speaks and you kind of feel yourself looking up to him. (He's very tall.) You find yourself nodding and going, "Yes, John. You're right, John." And before you know it you've sold your mum and are wearing robes. But I liked him.
Scary! Who else of your pop interviewees have you liked recently?
We interviewed Duran Duran who were very nice. All of them have aged pretty well actually. Although the set up was such that I was in a chair and they were in four chairs in a line probably a good 20 feet away so it was more like shouting at Duran Duran than interviewing them. It was quite difficult to work with that distance and see who's who so I just kind of went "Simon?" And it seemed to work.
Rock on, Le Bon. Ahem. Is there anything else you've done that will make us jealous?
Well, Channel 4 is 25 this year - happy birthday, Channel 4! - and we went to this party in this strange deserted building and it was just me in my trainers and then loads of old famous people quaffing champagne: Jon Snow, Alexei Sayle, Rory Bremner were all there and a lot of people who you stand around and go "I know who you are but I'm not going to talk to you" and then staring at them and looking away quickly before they noticed you staring at them. I spent most of the evening going, "Shall I talk to Carol Vorderman? Shall I talk to Carol Vorderman? Is Carol Vorderman going to like me talking to her? She likes maths, I like maths. Maybe she'd like me." She is a very pretty lady and seems lovely but I was too shy to go up to her in the end.
We're sure she wouldn't have minded. Finally, what else will you be up to this week, Rick?
I'm looking for a mirror to put up in living room of my new flat. I find it hard to pick a mirror because ultimately, when you look into it, they all look the same: "Here's me!" and "Ooh here's me in a nicer frame!". They are all mirrors and they all basically do their function but I can't decide. I want a massive mirror. It's a good statement to make because then people walk in and go, "Bloody hell! There's a big mirror!" And you go, "Yes it is my big mirror. Isn't it amazing?" But at the moment I'm trying to sort out the entire flat because I've got nowhere to put people when they come over. It's a case of sitting on the floor; I've waxed the floors - I wholly recommend it. You're basically going wax on, wax off, wax on wax off for about five hours, which is great fun and good exercise. But it is taxing and sweaty. And sweat and wax don't go well!
Err, right you are. Thanks, Rick!
It's always been quite poor, I mean my long-term memory is alright but my short-term memory is bad. I quite often forget what I've said at the start of the sentence and just trail off, which is handy when you're interviewing people and they're having a conversation with someone who can't remember what they've been talking about!
Oh dear! And who, if you can remember, have you interviewed recently?
We did the guy from Reverend and the Makers, John, who was very nice and bright. He's a bit like a cult leader in the way he speaks and you kind of feel yourself looking up to him. (He's very tall.) You find yourself nodding and going, "Yes, John. You're right, John." And before you know it you've sold your mum and are wearing robes. But I liked him.
Scary! Who else of your pop interviewees have you liked recently?
We interviewed Duran Duran who were very nice. All of them have aged pretty well actually. Although the set up was such that I was in a chair and they were in four chairs in a line probably a good 20 feet away so it was more like shouting at Duran Duran than interviewing them. It was quite difficult to work with that distance and see who's who so I just kind of went "Simon?" And it seemed to work.
Rock on, Le Bon. Ahem. Is there anything else you've done that will make us jealous?
Well, Channel 4 is 25 this year - happy birthday, Channel 4! - and we went to this party in this strange deserted building and it was just me in my trainers and then loads of old famous people quaffing champagne: Jon Snow, Alexei Sayle, Rory Bremner were all there and a lot of people who you stand around and go "I know who you are but I'm not going to talk to you" and then staring at them and looking away quickly before they noticed you staring at them. I spent most of the evening going, "Shall I talk to Carol Vorderman? Shall I talk to Carol Vorderman? Is Carol Vorderman going to like me talking to her? She likes maths, I like maths. Maybe she'd like me." She is a very pretty lady and seems lovely but I was too shy to go up to her in the end.
We're sure she wouldn't have minded. Finally, what else will you be up to this week, Rick?
I'm looking for a mirror to put up in living room of my new flat. I find it hard to pick a mirror because ultimately, when you look into it, they all look the same: "Here's me!" and "Ooh here's me in a nicer frame!". They are all mirrors and they all basically do their function but I can't decide. I want a massive mirror. It's a good statement to make because then people walk in and go, "Bloody hell! There's a big mirror!" And you go, "Yes it is my big mirror. Isn't it amazing?" But at the moment I'm trying to sort out the entire flat because I've got nowhere to put people when they come over. It's a case of sitting on the floor; I've waxed the floors - I wholly recommend it. You're basically going wax on, wax off, wax on wax off for about five hours, which is great fun and good exercise. But it is taxing and sweaty. And sweat and wax don't go well!
Err, right you are. Thanks, Rick!
