Happy as Larry

Liz Nicholls chats to actor, radio presenter, dad and star of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Larry Lamb

Q. How do your children feel about you being an older sex symbol?
“A what? [Laughs] Oh – a half-dead sex symbol? Yeah they find that idea of their old Dad amusing. It also verges on ‘too much information’, when it comes to parents and ‘sex’, if you know what I mean. So there’s a bit of embarrassment, too. But they’re very supportive – they’re good kids.”

Q. What’s the weirdest fanmail you’ve received?
“Funny you should ask that. Fanmail only tends to arrive in large amounts when you’re somewhere fixed. When I was on EastEnders I got loads. But – must be a mark of getting older – it was generally very tame, respectful stuff, asking how to get into acting and so on. Other actors have told me about all sorts of out-there ‘requests’ and whatever… but I never got that. Disappointing, really!”

Q. You’re descended from a lion tamer aren’t you?
“Yes I am but I wouldn’t fancy that job much! The BBC took me to Woburn to get up close to a lion there. And, I tell you what, those huge creatures are beautiful… on the other side of the wire mesh. I wouldn’t want to get in a cage with one, that’s for sure. I have a lot of respect for animals – I just can’t imagine doing that.”

Q. But you didn’t seem scared of anything in the jungle! Does anything frighten you?
“Once you face mortality, not so much. When I was young I was convinced I was going to live forever, which is how all young people are. It’s only maybe over the last ten years I’ve started to grow up. I think once you hit 60 you’re not immortal any more and that helps you look at things with a more sensible eye. I stopped drinking, partying, calmed it down and that is very levelling. I want to be around as long as I can for my kids and not much else matters.”

Q. Was it a laugh, working on Gavin and Stacey?
“Comedy is unbelievably exacting. You’ll have a bit of a laugh now and again but laughter is what you’re trying to produce, not do, if that makes sense. When you’re working on a scene that’s got to be funny and you have ten people in a room and have to get that perfect take, it’s pressure I can tell you. You love your team but at the end of that day most people in that room want to run out tearing their hair out. Sorry to sound so serious about it but if you’re doing it right, the finished article crafted for the public should be much funnier than the making of it.”

Q. Is there anything on your ‘bucket list’?
“There are places I’d still like to go and see, places I will be happy to go back to. I’d like to spend a bit of time in India as well as China. So much more of the world to discover.”

Q. You’re returning to EastEnders aren’t you?
“Yes – I’ll grab it by the reins and go for it. EastEnders is a big machine, a massive show. The production, the cameras, the viewers… it’s big machine, EastEnders, and a huge responsibility. I imagine it could be daunting to go into for the first time but I’ve been there before and worked in so many media that I treat it as a job – an important one at that. Exciting, though!”

Q. Any advice you’d give to your younger self?
“Be nice to people. There’s a good chance people will be nice back.”

Mummy’s Boy, Larry Lamb’s autobiography, is published by Hodder & Stoughton.