Claire Sweeney has declared "the love is mutual" after Julian Clary's viral story on BBC Radio 4's panel show Just A Minute. The comedian had the audience in stitches as he described the day his life changed forever: the moment he met the Brookside and Coronation Street star.
Julian Clary's story
Host Sue Perkins tasked Clary with speaking for 60 seconds on the subject without hesitation, repetition or deviation. He launched into: "The day that changed my life forever was when I met Claire Sweeney. I looked into those beautiful eyes. And I thought, this is the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with."
In an accent very different from Sweeney's distinctive Scouse, he added: "She said to me, 'Oh you're right lovely you are'." Panelist Cariad buzzed in to flag a deviation, saying: "Isn't she from Liverpool?" Clary replied: "Well, she had me fooled." Sue joked: "It's like she is in the room, isn't she Cariad?" and awarded Cariad the point, adding: "I somehow think that wouldn't dent his mission statement. It was real love that, but I'm going to take that as a point of deviation. She is famously not generically northern, with a very sort of bassy accent."
Viral clip and reaction
The clip has been viewed more than 183,000 times since being posted earlier in the day. Sweeney reshared it, writing: "The love is mutual." Fans flooded the comments, with Gullu posting: "Love @claire.sweeney and @julianclarycampcomic." Rachel added: "One of the very best things on radio. Thank you." Annette wrote: "Just A Minute, Brilliant!"
Claire Sweeney's upcoming Annie role
Sweeney, 55, recently spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview about her new role as Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie. The show comes to Liverpool Empire from September 22 to 26. She said: "[Playing Miss Hannigan] has been a box I've wanted to tick for a long time. To get a chance to play her is a dream role, especially coming to the Empire as well. I feel very lucky. There's comedy in it, there's tragedy in it and you get a belter of a song."
She added: "The show in itself is wonderful. It's such a fabulous production. It's like the perfect musical. There's kids. There's a dog. There's belting tunes. The first half is just over an hour. The second half is just over 45 minutes. It's perfect in every way."
Sweeney joined the tour a few weeks ago and has been thrilled by audience responses in Cardiff and Milton Keynes, but looks forward to performing for her home crowd. She said: "Scousers are always very vocal and know how to enjoy themselves. You can't help but enjoy yourself [with Annie]. It's marvellous."
She credited the Scouse identity with giving her tools for success: "There's a real sense of humour to the people in Liverpool. People have the ability to laugh in the face of adversity. They have the ability to be very honest and straight with you. We're very transparent people. Open, honest, funny, warm and welcoming."
