Tonight the bubbly South Londoner fronts the opening episode of the second series of singing show All Together Now, alongside his Spice Girl co-host Geri Horner. And in an exclusive interview with The Sun, the dad of two reveals he is proud of being about as un-BBC as you can be.
He’s a working-class, Cockney son of a lorry driver and the second youngest of five siblings, a former flower stall holder with instantly recognisable yappy tones. And he is adamant he’ll never change his style — not even for the posh Beeb.
Rob, 33, says: “It’s nice to hear those voices on the telly because it’s not always there. Sometimes because it is the BBC, people go with a preconception of what the BBC want.
“But I made the conscious decision from the start — I’ll be me. I mean, I used to sell bags of compost in the street. If they want it, they want it. If they don’t, they don’t.”
Besides a strong South London accent, Rob has also been blessed with the looks of a “cartoon character” — his words, not mine. Indeed, he has been on the receiving end of so many unflattering comparisons by hecklers over the years that he has made it a big part of his stand-up act.
He says: “I’ve been called Boris Johnson, Pat Butcher, Jeff Brazier, The Milkybar Kid, Princess Diana, Leslie Ash, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Bravo, Craig Bellamy, Natasha Bedingfield, Ian Beale, Jill Dando, Oliver Kahn, The Honey Monster, Billie Piper and a lesbian.
“As soon as I arrived on stage I’d be met with an instant, ‘Oi, you look like . . . ’ I remember once I finished a gig and this old lady came up to me and went, ‘Oh, I’ve got another one for your list’, and normally older people have given me people like Tommy Steele. I went, ‘Oh, who is it?’ And she went, ‘Quasimodo’. I was like, ‘For f***’s sake’.”
I made a conscious decision to be me – a man who once sold compost in the street,
So what is it about those teeth? When I meet him backstage before he does his voiceover gig on hit E4 series Celebs Go Dating — in which he endlessly mocks reality stars looking for love — they look normal.
The dad of two explains: “When I’m reacting or get over-excited they look like they’re running out me head. That’s the difference. But what makes me laugh is that sometimes I get ready to go on telly, I look in the mirror and think, ‘You’re quite good looking’.
“And then I’ll get a message on Twitter, going, ‘You’re the ugliest bastard I’ve ever seen’, and I’m like, ‘Who’s wrong here?’ Because I feel like I look all right today. It must be somewhere in the middle.”
Rob’s rise to the top has been rapid. He started in comedy just ten years ago, after graduating from Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent with a 2:1 in Tourism. He only took the course because of its simplicity, the promise of a free holiday to Malta and the lure of living in dingy student digs, which he says, were “better than the house I grew up in”.
While taking on low-paid odd jobs, he began competing in open mic comedy nights, his first being at Up The Creek in Greenwich, South East London, and eventually he won a stand-up competition which offered a mini-residency at a comedy club in Adelaide, Australia.
He returned to the UK with even more confidence and enthusiasm, making a name for himself on the British circuit and performing at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe festival — where he got a glimpse of the snooty side of comedy.
Rob says: “When you get to Edinburgh you don’t realise how many middle-class people there that have their parents helping them. There were sketch groups that went to Oxford or Cambridge and they’d get standing ovations — sold out every night — and I was listening, going, ‘They’re so s**t’.
“But everyone was going, ‘That was amazing’. And I started hearing them going, ‘Oh your mum said to come and visit’, and it’s all friends of friends. I didn’t know Edinburgh Fringe existed until I started doing comedy. I didn’t know Radio 4 existed until I was asked to go on it. I thought it was a new one, like the Asian Network.”
Rob’s big TV break came in 2012, when he landed a hosting role in I’m A Celebrity spin-off Get Me Out of Here! NOW! on ITV2, alongside presenter Laura Whitmore and ex-EastEnder Joe Swash.
It led to regular panel show appearances, including Eight Out Of Ten Cats, Mock The Week and A League Of Their Own. Rob’s epic chirpiness sets him aside from others on the comedy circuit, namely downbeat, dry comics such as his close pal Romesh Ranganathan.
Together they present Sky One series Rob & Romesh Vs, in which they meet famous names in sport, music and fashion. But Rob’s happy-go-lucky persona is not to everyone’s liking — including his wife, Louise.
He says: “Once we came out of the Tube station and I was just excited to have the day off. Her mum had the kids, and she was like, ‘You’re so f***ing happy, full of beans, positive and confident. It’s sickening’.
“I was like, ‘Cool, good to know!’”
When I'm reacting or excited, my teeth look like they are running out of my head.
He says: “I got one of those super king-sized beds. I can’t even hear her breathe next to me. It’s incredible.”
At least Louise will be shot of him when he embarks on his nationwide comedy tour, Wallop! in October. And by the sound of it, Rob — who will also be a presenter on Comic Relief night on March 15 — is a touch grateful for the time away from the wife and kids too.
He adds: “It’s quite nice to have a night away, ringing your missus up in the morning, saying you miss home when you’re actually loving tucking into a big hotel breakfast.”
And once that’s wrapped, he has another burning ambition to fulfil. He says: “I’d love to do an animated film for the kids because they love all those Disney films.”
Just not Quasimodo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame II.
- Rob’s Wallop! UK tour starts on October 1. For dates and tickets visit robbeckettcomedy.com.
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