Tom Allen has revealed that strangers are often taken aback by his friendly nature, despite expecting him to be aloof. Speaking ahead of the return of his ITV series Cooking With The Stars, the comedian said people are frequently surprised by how much he will talk to them.
“People think I’m going to be aloof or snooty, but if people ever say hello to me at a petrol station or something, they’re often quite surprised, quite horrified even at how much I will stand there talking to you,” he said.
Brunch and Comedy Origins
Allen also shared his strong views on brunch, calling it “a lie.” He explained: “They don’t want you to know this but brunch is just an early lunch with an egg on it.” He argued that meeting friends at 11 often leads to eating at around 12, which is lunchtime, and urged people to “wise up and realise brunch is just lunch – get over it.”
His journey to television began in 2005 when he won the UK comedy award So You Think You’re Funny. After training as an actor at the National Youth Theatre, he fell into comedy when friends encouraged him to try stand-up. Supporting acts like Sarah Millican, Michael McIntyre and Romesh Ranganathan brought him into the mainstream, leading to appearances on shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Live At The Apollo.
Cooking With The Stars Returns
Allen co-hosts Cooking With The Stars with Emma Willis, who recently made her Strictly debut as host. Allen said he was not approached to join the show, but expressed pride in Willis: “I was so proud of Emma, it was like she was born to do it. I thought she was just so comfortable there, she’s so brilliant with people.”
The sixth series of Cooking With The Stars returns tomorrow night with a bigger line-up and episodes cut to 30 minutes. Allen noted that celebrities are being put through their paces more quickly. The line-up includes Caroline Quentin, Joey Essex and Bez of Happy Mondays.
In the opening episode, Caroline Quentin is reduced to tears. Allen said: “Caroline is used to working under pressure but it just got the better of her.” He added that everyone was taken aback by how emotional she was, attributing it to her caring nature.
Regarding Bez, Allen described him as “a little chaotic, but no more chaotic than anybody else,” and said he surprised everybody by connecting with the show despite his music scene background.
Embracing Eccentricity
In his autobiography No Shame, Allen opens with the line: “My name is Tom Allen and I have always been 46 years old.” He discussed his childhood feeling like a middle-aged man and his tactic of wearing Victorian clothing to distract from his sexuality, which he called misguided.
“The more I talk about my eccentricities and my weirdness, you find other weird people to connect with, and then you realise actually there’s more of us than not,” he said. Now, he says he feels like “an 87-year-old little old lady that wants everyone to calm down and be quiet,” but has learned to embrace it.
Cooking With The Stars returns Monday at 7.30pm on ITV.
