‘I’m trying to raise the spirits of viewers’ says primetime star, Michael McIntyre

The BBC One variety series, which started out as a one-off special in 2015 and will soon boast six seasons to date, is the tour de force of primetime Saturday night entertainment – and its latest run is set to be no different.

“Three long years of me not getting my hands on a single celebrity’s mobile phone, of people sleeping soundly without fear of me sneaking into their bedrooms… well the wait is over!” teased BAFTA-winning comic McIntyre, 46, when news of his show’s return was announced.

Back for the first time since 2019, the stand-up hit is back to being filmed in front of a live audience at London’s prestigious Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

As well as new skits, fans can expect to be reunited with regular features such as Send To All (where a celebrities’ phone is apprehended and an awkward text message is sent to all contacts); Celebrity Midnight Gameshow (McIntyre sneaks into celebrities’ homes at midnight to play a gameshow without their knowledge); and, of course, Unexpected Star Of The Show (in which an unsuspecting member of the public finds themselves on stage giving a performance of a lifetime).

“We all know that (the past few years) has been a perma crisis, so I’m trying to raise the spirits of viewers,” McIntyre says, proudly labelling the series “an antidote”.

“I do make a little spiel at the top of the show, a very quickfire thing, about everything that’s happened,” he says.

“I basically list all the slogans, like Get Brexit Done, Hands Face Space, Eat Out to Help Out – then we end up with a rendition of God Save the King… and then we have some fun!”

The first instalment of “fun” comes in the form of episode one, which stars TV legend Rylan Clark as he bravely hands over his phone; Joel Corry and Tom Grennan who perform their single Lionheart (Fearless); an unsuspecting Antiques Roadshow fan who receives the biggest surprise of his life; and a heart-warming closing performance from an Unexpected Star.

“Amazingly, people do keep giving me their phone,” quips McIntyre.

“Although it’s now on WhatsApp as apparently people don’t text anymore, which is actually a lot easier because we can group everybody in whereas before we had to frantically text everyone!”

This series, he recounts his Send To All “victims” as Stacey Dooley, who he says had a “flippy phone thing” on which he struggled to get a signal until he was “practically hanging off the stage”; Alison Hammond, who he remarks is “completely hilarious and delightful”; Lewis Capaldi, who let the comedian dig into his dating app; and Jonathan Ross, who “knows every famous person in the world”.

“Jonathon has got everyone’s number – he’s still texting me saying people are still texting him back, so that was probably the funniest in terms of replies because everyone under the sun got back,” McIntyre recalls.

“But with regards to the fear of handing phones over, we’re more attached to our phones than we were when this show started,” he muses.

“I mean, I don’t know about you, but the only time I’m not looking at my phone is when I get my screen time report from my phone telling me I have to get off my phone.

“If only you could see how frantic it is in the interval of the show, when we’re just desperately waiting for people to text back,” he adds chuckling.

“Because you know what it’s like if somebody sends you an embarrassing text, sometimes you just sit on it. You take your time to get back to them.

“There’s nothing more annoying than funny replies coming in after the show – or later.”

As for Celebrity Midnight Gameshow, London-born McIntyre used to (visit) members of the public before switching to celebrities, who he states have been really up for it – so far.

“Celebrities are different because something kicks in where they go, ‘Oh I’m on TV on Saturday night’ and they suddenly start to show off,” reasons the dad-of-two.

“Whereas, members of the public, not always. I mean, there was a man who threw us all out once.

"And we had another one where he obviously knew that we were coming because he was so prepared. It was hilarious.”

He adds: “I just did one a couple of weeks ago with Alexander Armstrong and he spent the whole time going, ‘I can’t believe you do this for real’. I mean, people can’t actually believe that I’m in their house at one o’clock in the morning.”

His best Unexpected Star moment, he says, comes this series in the form of 78-year-old Anne, who is blind and had sung to her street during lockdown.

“She was nominated by one of her neighbours,” McIntyre says .

"And it’s just the most incredible surprise on her.

"She was just so, so happy, and she duetted with her singing hero, so it’s incredible.

“I always think it’s going to go wrong, that something’s gonna twig, but it’s actually quite amazing how when you’re pranking someone, they just go with it.

"I think their mind is like ‘something’s going on but it’s probably good, so let’s just carry on’,” he says, putting it down to polite Britishness.

“But people watch telly to live through the reactions of the people we’re surprising – or the people winning loads of money. That’s why it’s so fun.”

Other than plenty of much-needed fun, what else does he hope his Big Show will offer viewers?

“Distraction…” he says, pondering over his answer.

“It’s such a minor thing that we can do, making television shows, but when it’s TV at its best, it’s just a really nice distraction from everything else.

“But also, I wanted to try – and we have done a little bit like with Anne that I referenced – to celebrate good people. That’s just so important.

"You like to see the good in someone, and us giving a very deserved person a wonderful surprise.

"And of course, to litter that with comedy and silliness.

“It’s exciting making stuff that can make people feel positive, because so much is driven in the opposite direction now,” he finishes.

“So yeah, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Born in London to Thomas Cameron McIntyre, known as Ray Cameron, a Canadian comedian and comedy writer in British television, and his wife Kati, Michael McIntyre grew up in the industry.

McIntyre is a dual British-Canadian citizen, by virtue of his late father who took his own life while in Hollywood.

His mother, Kati, is of Hungarian Jewish ancestry.

Michael McIntyre said he was writing a romantic comedy film when he met his now wife Kitty.

The 46-year-old comedian and presenter said he was “pretending to be a screenwriter” when his sister said she met “the girl” from his movie.

He told The Jonathan Ross Show that his wife “didn’t like” him for a while when they first met through a friend as he wrote the romcom.

McIntyre said: “I had this main character and he was called Marty instead of Michael – he basically gets the girl in the end and it’s a sweet story.

“In parallel to this my wife was doing a similar thing and was getting into acting. I was sort of pretending to be a screenwriter and she was pretending to be an actress.

“My sister met her through a friend and she said ‘I’ve met the girl from your movie’.

“We had this hilarious meeting where I was pretending to be a really cool writer and she was pretending to be an actress, and we’ve been married for 20 years.”

*Michael McIntyre’s Big Show returns to BBC One tomorrow night.