THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW: FULL RUNDOWN FOR THIS WEEK'S EPISODE, GUESTS AND PERFORMER REVEALED

On this week’s episode of The Jonathan Ross Show Jonathan is joined by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, ex-England rugby union player and Celebrity Traitors star Joe Marler plus actresses and stand-up comedians Aisling Bea and Roisin Conaty. American soul musician Jalen Ngonda performs. 

Reuniting with his fellow Celebrity Traitors star Joe Marler, Jonathan and he discuss what it was like filming the series. Joe says: “I had so much fun, mate. I’ve sort of realised that out of all of the cast that was part of it, I probably have milked it hard, haven’t I? It has changed my life, to be fair. I’m just trying to ride that wave for as long as I can, until what my wife says will happen: ‘Make hay while the sun shines, you’ll soon become irrelevant and/or cancelled.’ She’s a real grounder for me.” 

Joe reveals he chose doing Celebrity Traitors over finishing his rugby contract: “The Traitors came up as an opportunity to do. It was during my last year of contract, so I had to make a decision.” He adds: “It worked out.” 

Joe also discusses more about his time as a pro rugby player saying: “I wasn’t very good at the actual sport. I was half decent. I was world class at making other people s**t at it. Just taking them down. They are concentrating on being good, I’m there winding them up, undoing laces, singing, trash talk…”

Touching on injuries he says: “It wasn’t until the last couple of years in my career [I’d think] ‘I'd quite like to be around, be fit and well to have a kick about outdoors [with my kids], jump on the trampoline without prolapsing.’ It was dangerous. The moment you start thinking about it - I started thinking about it towards the end - is the moment you start getting injured more.”

He continues: “The concussions were bad for me. I remember tackling this big unit… I woke up in the physio room.”

Joe explains the kit man walked in and asked if Joe’s kids were at the game and Joe explains: “I said, ‘What kids?’ I went, ‘What? I’ve got kids?’ I just started bawling my eyes out. I’d completely forgotten that I had kids.” 

He adds: “It’s far safer than it was before and they do a lot to stay on top of it.”

Returning to discuss Traitors, Aisling is asked if she’s been approached for the series to which she says: “No, I’ve not been asked. I would love to do it. I just don’t know if I’d fall apart or crumble. If I got accused early based on my personality traits, I’d find that devastating.”

Romesh also says: “I don’t think I’d be very good at it. I’ve not been asked. No, no… if I get asked, I’ll say no. I don’t know what the toilet situation is there, it looks like long days, I don’t like the breakfast situation…”

Questioning whether he’s telling the truth, Joe interjects: “Your body language has changed dramatically…” 

To which Romesh responds: “Joe, we’re not playing the game now.” 

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan talks about starring in West End play Woman In Mind. 

He says: “I was playing a doctor. It was quite nervewracking. Sheridan [Smith] is one of the reasons I wanted to do the play; getting to act opposite someone who is one of our greats. It’s quite intimidating. I’ve done a bit of TV acting, but stage acting is such a different discipline… you’ve got to have the audience in the conversation, play out to the theatre… all things I’d never done before.” 

He adds: “People don’t understand why I was doing a play; they thought it was crazy that I was doing a play. My mum said, ‘What’s your character?’ I said I was playing a doctor. She said: ‘But you don’t have any training?’ I said: ‘It’s scripted.’ She said: ‘What happens if you go to treat somebody?’ I was saying: ‘It’s a play!’”

Romesh admits even the audience in the room didn’t always understand, saying: “The opening bit of the play, I’m struggling to open my briefcase, Sheridan’s on the floor… one of the nights, I’m struggling to open it - as part of the play - and someone goes, ‘Go on Romesh, you can do it.’” 

Speaking about his mum Shanthi’s review, he says: “She was impressed enough by the acting. She had two bits of negative feedback: ‘First of all,’ she said, ‘I thought your acting was good, I thought you looked horrible.’ 

He continues: “There’s a bit in the play where my character declares his love for Sheridan’s character and my mum said, ‘I thought, to be honest, it was a little bit creepy.’ So she wasn’t that happy with that. I had to explain to her that that was scripted [too].” 

Romesh and fellow guest Aisling Bea discuss acting together, including filming a kissing scene. Romesh says: “Aisling’s been very public… [she] played my love interest in Avoidance. She was great in the role. I’ve seen a number of interviews, where she said about how awkward it was…”

Aisling replies: “Did you not find it weird that we had to kiss each other after knowing each other [for so many years]?” 

Romesh jokingly adds: “But no, it is awkward. We’re really good friends… that helped with the chemistry, getting on, but you get to the point where you have to do something like that… it’s horrible.”

Aisling continues: “If you look at each other at the wrong time… and there’s a camera crew looking at you… it’s just very silly!” 

She adds: “I felt like I was doing bad kissing. [I was thinking] ‘He’s going to tell James Acaster and all the boys I kiss badly…’” 

Romesh goes on to discuss his upcoming Romesh Ranganathan Will Change Your Life tour. 

He says: “Whenever you start to write a stand up show it’s wherever your mentality is. This time I’ve started to really get into thinking about contentment and happiness. I read The Courage To Be Disliked and I found that inspiring, and thought maybe I could start writing stand up that has a bit of an outlook on life.” 

He adds: “I’ve literally just started writing it. I come up with a routine, I never write any of it down, I find it on stage, take what works, keep that in… it gradually builds and builds… [then you] have a time when you panic and phone your agent, [you’re saying] ‘I need to pull the tour’, then suddenly it comes together.”

Aisling, who has her own new tour, Older than Jesus, adds about work in progress tours: “You have to do it in front of people wrongly for a while to get it right, it can be cringey.”

Romesh agrees: “It’s like learning guitar, but every time you practise, you do it in front of an audience.”

Romesh then tries to convince Jonathan to be his opening act. 

Discussing what his set would be, Romesh says: “We’ll meet up, we’ll draw out some inspiration.”

Jonathan tentatively says: “I’ll do one…”

Romesh decides the best location will be: “The 02!” 

Later Roisin Conaty says: “They haven’t asked me. I’m a good liar for short periods of time. So if I can lie and walk off, I’m golden. If people want to hold eye contact with me, that’s a problem.”

Aisling adds: “Roisin gives really good advice. You’d be able to corral people together.”

Romesh discusses taking part in Last One Laughing, on which Roisin appears as host Jimmy Carr’s ‘Deputy’, where comedians compete to make each other laugh. Romesh says of his biggest competition: “Alan Carr’s a tricky guy because he’s sort of, easily ‘takedownable’, but he’s also a dangerous weapon. Early on I thought, ‘I’m going to try and take him out.’ The problem is, everything he does is funny. He’s lab designed to be funny that guy. Did not want to see Bob Mortimer back. I like Bob Mortimer, but not in that house. Comedy is the most narcissistic form of entertainment ever. We require the audience to laugh at us to boost our self-esteem… it’s a blow torch to your self-esteem.” 

Roisin speaks about her own return to stand-up saying: “I [had been] writing TV and doing bits and bobs, got a bit of anxiety, I sort of moved away from it. One night after a massive tray of meatballs, 15 meatballs, I went, ‘It’s now.’ I just ran down [to the local comedy club], I said, ‘Let me on now’ and that’s how I got back on stage.”

Elsewhere, speaking about a near-death experience, Romesh explains how late at night after performing in the play he swallowed a tablespoon of hot chilli oil. It went down the wrong way and he spat it across the kitchen. He says: “I started choking and I thought, ‘S**t, I’m going to die. I tried to walk it off. I asked ChatGPT ‘Am I dying?’ Then I started panicking about what an ick it would be for [my wife] Lisa to come into the kitchen and see her dead husband and chilli oil just all over the cupboards. I spent about 45 minutes cleaning. [I thought] there’s no point surviving this and going upstairs as she’ll see the kitchen and kill me anyway. I’ve been told I’m not allowed to eat that chilli oil unsupervised.”

At the end of the show American soul musician Jalen Ngonda performs. 

The Jonathan Ross Show airs Saturday nights on ITV1 and ITVX.