“I was saying on my first show that I would not say now.”

"You always want a big Hollywood star, that’s the dream booking, that big marquee name. It’s often really useful to have a comic on, and the others are really up for grabs. Personally, I like someone who can do something. If we have a sports person on, the other people are so interested in someone who can kick a ball or run fast. Because I know nothing about sport, I enjoy interviewing sports people because these are proper questions: like how the hell can you be bothered to do that?

Also, someone who has been on the show a few times, you start to know where they like to be placed on the couch, if they prefer to be sandwiched, or who they tend to like to sit next to. You realise you’ll get more out of them that way."

"You have to have a big star like a Tom Hanks, so I’ll pop Tom on. If I’m being greedy, I’ll put Julia Roberts on. Miriam Margolyes has to be on there. Then down the end, maybe a Greg Davies, or Lee Mack, or Sarah Millican. Then music, I'll have Taylor for that!"

"It’s a really thin line, and because it goes on for about four hours and it’s live, the danger of stepping over that line is huge, because there’s no safety net. If I say it, then it’s being broadcast on BBC One on a Saturday night. Some of the stuff I’d see in rehearsals and think, 'Oh, that’s a funny comment to make,' but on the night, if the performer seems nervous or the audience isn’t loving it, I’ll think, 'I have to rein that in, I don’t want to kick someone when they’re down.'

The best years are when the production is really bad, but now the production standard is so high every year, they always have phenomenal lighting, etc. But it is a scary job because it’s a lot of live TV. Also, the world has changed. I started doing it 15 years ago, and there was stuff I was saying on my first show that I would not say now."

"Everyone knows about the multiple endings, and when I watch it I’m like, 'I was there, I know this is fake, I know they don’t know they’ve won,' but as a viewer I totally buy it. I’m like, 'Oh my God, that’s so great.' But they didn’t know they won...

The weird thing for me is that, because there’s such a long gap between filming and watching it, I genuinely watch that show and I barely remember who got through or got sent home. During filming I never see them out of drag, so all of the professionals, all the workroom stuff, I don’t see that. So often contestants I didn’t care too much about or didn’t love that much, I’m watching it and thinking, 'Oh my God, I love them so much, they’re fantastic'."