Gogglebox star admits appearing on the beloved show was ‘not enjoyable’

A Goggleboxstar has admitted he ‘never wants to appear on the show again’.

Last month comedian Frank Skinner appeared on the Gogglebox Stand Up to Cancer Special alongside his long-time collaborator, David Baddiel.

The pair first joined forces for BBC series Fantasy Football League in the 90s, going on to host the popular ITV talk show, Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005.

Their appearance on Gogglebox marked their first time on screen together in nearly 20 years, however a few weeks on Frank, 67, has now revealed the experience was ‘not enjoyable’.

One of the comedian’s most disastrous stand-up shows happened on the Isle of Man, with Frank comparing it to his time on Gogglebox.

‘You know when I said I didn’t enjoy doing the gig on the Isle of Man, well it was a glorious pleasure compared to filming Gogglebox,’ he said during a recent episode of Frank Off The Radio: The Frank Skinner Podcast.

‘There’s a place in Wareham in Dorset called Monkey World, and it’s beautiful because they’re often monkeys that have been rescued from unkindness on the continent, and a lot of Spanish, in particular, there’s a thing of having your photo taken with a monkey.

‘The way to make them behave – and you can see this when you get close – is they’ve got cigarette burns on their skin that they use to make them do what they want them to do. And doing Gogglebox was a very similar experience.’

When asked if he was being dramatic with his comments, Frank said he wasn’t and went on to claim the show was heavily produced.

‘We’re sitting watching the telly and we start talking, and a voice says “Say something about his jacket”. Then it would stop, and they’d say “Can you not go into digressions, it’s funny if you keep it close to what’s actually happening”.

‘And pretty soon I’m thinking “just please make this stop”.

‘And when I left – I’d made it pretty clear in a politer way – I said “Sorry, I thought this was going to be like enjoyable”.’

Frank went on to recall a conversation with a producer, in which he told them he had no plans to watch the episode, which he still hasn’t done.

‘It’s such a shame because I think we could have had a laugh and stuff,’ he continued.

‘But to be fair to them, they know how to make it – they’ve been making it for years.’

He went on to call the producer a ‘really nice guy’ and recalled the crew getting him ‘fish and chips’.

However, he went on to take a subtle swipe at the regular Gogglebox couch critics saying they ‘probably need a lot of guidance’ from producers, who he did say had found a ‘winning formula’.

Frank then said he would ‘never do it again’ and said, ‘the Isle of Man was a joyous festival of mirth compared to Gogglebox’.

When their casting on the celebrity special was announced, David said he was a ‘big fan’ of the series and so it ‘wasn’t a difficult yes’ accepting the offer.

Meanwhile Frank added that it ‘seems a better deal than cycling up K2, carrying a fridge to Istanbul or any of that sweaty stuff people do for charity’.

Gogglebox UK has been running on Channel 4 since 2013 and has run for 24 seasons to date.

Metro.co.uk has contacted Channel 4 for comment.