Alan Carr reveals whether we can expect acting career pivot after Changing Ends and Celebrity Traitors success
The comic also revealed key influences on his sitcom – and why writing it was a "challenge".
Alan Carr has firmly ruled out a pivot into acting, despite his recent success on both ITV1 sitcom Changing Ends and BBC One's deception-based game show The Celebrity Traitors.
In both cases, the comic has convincingly played versions of himself, acting as an on-screen commentator of events from his childhood in the former, while accentuating his public persona to evade suspicion in the latter.
Despite these runaway successes, Carr told Radio Times that he has no ambition to pursue an acting career, after Changing Ends was shortlisted in our greatest modern comedy poll (voting is open now, until Tuesday 24th March).
"I don't know how actors do it: You sit in, basically, a portaloo with a mirror in it, and then you're called to set, you do your lines, and then you go back," he shared.
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"I have no desire to be in a sitcom. My thing is stand-up comedy," continued Carr, addressing options beyond Changing Ends. "I love it – wham, bam, thank you, ma'am, tell your jokes and go home!"
Reflecting on the success of Changing Ends, which recently aired its third season and has a fourth on the way, Carr explained that he sought to make a "traditional" sitcom with a more family-friendly approach than his stand-up sets.
"When I wrote it, I deliberately didn't put any swearing in or anything uncomfortable or rude," he explained. "I wanted a bona fide sitcom like I used to enjoy when I was growing up, that I would sit down with my family [to watch].
"I wanted to push myself and not have a swear word as a punch line. I wanted it to be good, old fashioned jokes that resonate with people. It was a challenge to myself, because if you've seen my stand up, you'll know I can be a little bit potty-mouthed!"
Carr added that he wanted his own working-class upbringing to be represented in Changing Ends, citing Only Fools and Horses and Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights as influential earlier shows with a similar kind of authenticity.
"When you look at Changing Ends, it's all caravan parks, it's division four football. It was always these places that are a little bit run down, but that's where you saw life! That's where you saw the characters," he recalled.
Carr may not have plans to star in another sitcom after the semi-autobiographical Changing Ends winds down, but he has a palpable enthusiasm for the genre, citing Golden Girls as a personal favourite.
So much so that Amanda Holden, his close friend and co-host on a popular BBC renovation series, gifted him a set of Golden Girls coasters for Christmas. You can see more from the duo in their episode of Radio Times interview series Two's Company:
Changing Ends is available to stream on ITVX.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
