Broadcaster and comedian Iain Lee has said he “held a lot of bitterness and resentment” towards Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen because he thought they’d “stolen” his career.
The 52-year-old, who rose to fame fronting Channel 4’s satirical series The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998 said he was “fortunate and unfortunate” to have had The Office star, 64, and Ali G creator, 53, as his co-stars.
“I compared myself to Sacha and Ricky. Which is a fool’s errand,” Lee admitted. “I’d think, ‘They’ve stolen my career. Well, of course they hadn’t. It was lightning in the bottle twice. They were phenomenons.”
Lee told The Guardian he didn’t get over Gervais and Baron Cohen’s success until he reached his 40s.
He reflected: “If anyone was f***ing up my career, it was me. I was taking loads and loads of drugs and becoming incredibly unreliable and obnoxious to work with… an asshole.”
The presenter, who left The 11 O’Clock Show in 2000, said he took cocaine while working because he secretly felt like he didn’t know what he was doing.
“It gave me this false bravado. It looked like arrogance but it came from absolute terror,” he said.
Lee began a full-time radio career in 2005, hosting talk shows on stations including LBC, Absolute, BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio WM and talkRADIO.
In December 2018, the presenter kept a suicidal caller live on the phone for half an hour until an ambulance arrived to help him. A year later, he came out as bisexual live on air.
Lee said he had a “kind of breakdown on air” in 2019, during which he declared his talkRadio show pointless. His contract with the channel wasn’t renewed in 2020 and he now fronts a podcast on Patreon.
Meanwhile, Gervais became one of the best-known British comedians, finding international fame with sitcoms The Office, Extras and After Life. He’s won seven BAFTA Awards, two Emmys and four Golden Globes for the programmes.
Similarly, Baron Cohen garnered numerous accolades throughout his successful career, including two BAFTAs for Da Ali G Show in 2001 and a Golden Globe for Borat and its sequel in 2007 and 2021.
Gervais, who became known for his outspoken remarks, later said The 11 O’Clock Show, helped him grow a thick skin for criticism of his comedy, which in recent years has included accusations that his material is “transphobic” and ‘ignorant”.
“I started with a backlash, on The 11 O’clock Show,” he said. “And you must remember, in this kind of industry, for everyone who loves you, two don’t.”
Alan Carr vows he won’t be funny on The Celebrity Traitors
Comedian Alan Carr has promised he will not be funny on The Celebrity Traitors because he wants to win the television game show.
The Chatty Man star will appear as part of a cast of 19 famous faces, including Thursday Murder Club star Celia Imrie, retired Olympic diver Tom Daley and actor Sir Stephen Fry, when the show launches on Oct 8.
But asked whether he had a strategy for the game, Carr, 49, said: “There will be a different side to me. I’ll have to adapt; no comedy, it’s one of those shows where you have to shapeshift.
“You have to chat to people you wouldn’t normally chat with just to see if they are hiding anything. I don’t think it’s a case of how good you are at being a traitor or a faithful.
“It’s how you adapt and how you draw on your social skills. I’ve worked in a call centre where I had to deal with one thing after another, so I think my call-centre skills are going to come in handy.”
The show will see the celebrities gather in the Highlands for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
Jonathan Ross, fellow contestant and TV chat show presenter, said his lack of trust in celebrities would help him on the show.
He explained: “I’ve watched all the versions around the world and I love playing games. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be in the castle. It’s one of those experiences that money can’t buy to actually be in The Traitors after you’ve watched it so many times.
“Because, of course, we all watch it at home and love it at home, and I’m really fascinated to find out how it feels to be right in the middle of the action.
“Also, because I don’t trust any celebrities, I think I’m going to immediately assume they’re all traitors.”
Being a traitor is an ‘impossible task’
David Olusoga, a TV historian, said he wants to be a faithful because he will make a “terrible traitor”.
The British-Nigerian star said: “I would like to be faithful for the simple reason, I think I’d be a terrible traitor.
“That’s mainly because of my memory; my mind is always wandering off. I think there’s a terrible risk that I’d forget that I was in deep cover, that’s the reason why I’m not a spy.
“It would be an impossible task remembering that you’re not who you’re saying you are.”
Olusoga, who is known for presenting BBC history documentaries, said it would be an “enormous surprise” if he won, adding: “What I do think I have in my favour is that I’m quite persuasive, I can see logic, and I can build an argument and hopefully exert a strong influence at the round table.”
Also taking part is singer Cat Burns, who said she did not mind being a faithful or a traitor.
The 25-year-old Go singer said: “I think I’m good at reading people, but that comes from just being an observer. And I think being neuro-divergent I have a tendency to have that approach in social situations, watching people more than speaking.”
She continued: “My strategy, if I am a traitor, would be to just try and go under the radar, not draw too much attention to myself, but also give out names of people who I think could be traitors.”
The show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, sees contestants try to detect the traitors in the group while completing a series of challenges to win funds to contribute towards the prize pot.
If a traitor is left among the finalists at the end of the series, the faithfuls, who are those who are not traitors, lose out on the money and the traitor wins the full prize.
