Nick Grimshaw interview
Sweat The Small Stuff host Nick Grimshaw also moonlights as the star of Radio 1's Breakfast Show. Here he talks about his TV show...
Can you tell us a bit about Sweat The Small Stuff?
Yeah, it's a panel show where we discuss little worries that take over your life and become big worries. Those stupid little worries, like whether or not it's alright to accept your mother on Facebook, or can I be drunk at a family function, or can I go to a Justin Bieber concert as an adult male and legitimately enjoy it?
We're not going to be talking about what you should do if you're getting divorced or if you've lost your job, but the little things that you fret over that sort of clamour inside your brain and sort of make you feel like a crazy person.
Are you a worrier yourself?
Yeah, I am. I'll fret over silly little things. I always think big things have got a solution, whereas the small things are the ones you sweat over because they don't have an easy solution.
So, that's why I think it's good grounds for a panel show, because it'll encourage debate and get everyone talking about their opinion on things.
If we were asking, "How do I pay my mortgage?" it's a fairly simple solution: "If you can't afford it, get a new job or move to a smaller house". But with stupid little worries, they don't really have an answer, so that's why we're going to do a show about it.
Who is heading up the panel?
So I'm the host, Rickie & Melvin from Kiss 100 FM are going to be team captains - which I think is really good because they're quite competitive with each other, there's good rivalry going on there. So they're going to be against each other and then three different guests each week. Rochelle Humes [from pop band The Saturdays] is always going to be a guest on Rickie's team.
Is she not due to give birth any minute?
She is! She's about to have a baby any day. I don't know if we're going to have a standby Saturday or what!
Will the guests be comedians, or from all walks of life?
We're going to have comedians, pop stars, just funny people, crazy people. I think we'll just get people we like. I don't want to get anyone on that I don't particularly like! I've done a big list of everyone that makes me laugh on the radio, so hopefully we'll get loads of people coming on that I think are really funny and good value.
Who would be top of your list?
I'd like Lily Allen to come on it; I think she'd be really good. I really like Example. Who else do I like?
I'd really like Katy Perry as a guest; I think she's a really good guest. She's a bit too famous for a panel show, though. I wouldn't go on a panel show if I was Katy Perry.
Presumably with your excellent book of contacts, you've been calling friends and saying, 'Come on my show'...
No. I never do that. I don't like it. I get asked to go on things or do things that I don't want to do, and I end up being bullied into it! So I don't want to put that pressure on anybody else.
There are very good people here whose job it is to get guests in so I just tell them who I think would be good.
Will you be offering solutions yourself?
I'm going to give my opinion, but I'm not going to be in charge of giving the ultimate solution. I'm going to award points to who I think has been the best agony uncle or aunt - and that could be me.
Are you a good agony uncle in real life?
No. I'm really awful at advice! I never know really what to say. You know when someone's like, "I've split up with my boyfriend, what shall I do?" I'm like, "Oh I don't know."
I'm not really good at practicalities. I am good at rubbish little worries though, so I should be good for this show. Don't call me if you've got a real crisis, though. If anyone's got a real issue, like "My mum hates me", I'll change the subject and go, "Er, do you want to watch The Kardashians?"
What appealed to you about the show?
I thought it was a really interesting format, because I love a panel show when it's not really about anything much. Never Mind The Buzzcocks is really good in the fact that it's a music quiz, but the humour is in the nonsense and the banter, not really the questions.
What differences are there between making a radio show and a TV show?
They're really, really different. With radio it's kind of up to you. There are producers to assist you and direct you, and do the technical stuff, but it's really down to you to talk for three and a half hours. But TV involves so many people and it's so structured. You know exactly what you're doing and where you're going, whereas radio could go any way. I like them both for different reasons. Telly feels quite proper, and there's someone to do every job, whereas radio is sometimes a bit more like, "Let's see what happens". You can't always prepare for radio, so that can be scary.