Scott did not have the Eurovision blues for once
Normally the end of Eurovision left Scott exhausted and emotional.
He would replay the songs, think about the week that had just happened and disappear into what Chris knew as the Eurovision blues.
2022 was different.
The UK had just finished second, Sam Ryder had topped the jury vote and suddenly years of British Eurovision disappointment had been replaced by genuine excitement.
Then Sam walked back into the Radio 1 studio where so much of the campaign had begun.
Sam had to watch the final again to believe it
Sam said the weekend still felt unreal.
On the flight home he listened through the songs from the final in running order and became emotional all over again.
Scott remembered crying when the first 12 points arrived.
At the venue, he and Rylan had eventually ignored instructions and pushed through to reach Sam after the result, despite security trying to keep them behind the barriers.
Scott described watching Sam’s final performance as one of those rare moments when somebody appeared completely inside the thing they were built to do.
The staging, confidence and vocal all came together at exactly the right moment.
A two-hour phone call had mattered more than Scott realised
Sam then gave Scott a piece of credit he had not expected.
Before accepting Eurovision, he had spoken to Scott on the phone for two hours and 14 minutes.
Scott had not tried to force him into doing it.
Instead, he explained what the contest was really like, what the pressure involved and why the opportunity could still be extraordinary if approached properly.
Sam said that conversation helped make the whole thing feel safe enough to attempt.
Without it, he thought he might have stayed at home watching somebody else do the job he wished he had taken.
Peter Crouch had helped with the mindset
Another unlikely part of the story involved Peter Crouch.
Sam had previously spoken with him about performing under pressure at the highest level.
Crouch’s football experience had translated surprisingly well to Eurovision: prepare properly, then trust the work and muscle memory when the huge moment arrives.
Sam said he used a similar approach before the final.
Rather than thinking about 200 million viewers or demanding perfection from every note, he tried to trust the years he had spent singing.
Sam brought an appropriately space-themed thank-you
The reunion finished with a gift.
Sam had arranged for Scott and Chris to symbolically own a tiny piece of Mars, keeping the “Spaceman” theme going even after the contest was over.
For a show which had spent months joking, campaigning and worrying about Eurovision, second place did not feel like a consolation prize.
It felt like the end of one of the biggest stories the programme had ever helped build.
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