Team Mills on Family Fortunes
Scott had spent Sunday evening watching his family’s appearance on All Star Family Fortunes from beneath a blanket. He faced Janine Duvitski’s family with his father Pete, stepmother, sister-in-law and former flatmate Fraser, who embraced his television role with considerably more confidence than Scott.
The opening round went well when Scott gave “monkeys” as something found in the jungle and secured the top answer. Vernon Kay then persuaded Pete to perform the noise of an elephant. Pete committed fully, allowing the programme to combine his trumpeting with Shakira’s “She Wolf” the following day.
Scott’s own answer was worse. Still thinking about the film Madagascar, he suggested “zebras” as another jungle animal and immediately realised his mistake. Listeners filled his timeline with the word, while Chris compared the collapse with the old Family Fortunes contestant who answered “turkey” three times. The family nevertheless raised money for charity, and Pete’s elephant became the more affectionate memory.
Mama Swift’s backstage tour
Scott had also attended Taylor Swift’s Red tour at the O2. The tightly organised backstage reception included red decorations, food, popcorn and a countdown to Taylor’s arrival. Scott’s default celebrity question was how long she had been in London, which led to a discussion about her British television discoveries: Embarrassing Bodies and Made in Chelsea.
After meeting everybody, Taylor handed the tour over to her mother Andrea, who invited them to call her “Mama Swift”. She knew every detail of the production, including its costume changes, musicians and dancers, and regularly selected fans from the audience to have pizza with Taylor after the concert.
Scott initially thought Andrea was simply a woman employed because she resembled an older Taylor. He verified that she really was her mother, then regretted failing to ask Taylor to follow him on Twitter. Chris suggested abandoning Taylor and concentrating on Mama Swift instead.
Chris becomes Greg James’s agent
Radio 1’s Access All Areas month began with a day devoted to Greg James. Chris decided that Greg needed more publicity and telephoned an events company as “Matt” from the invented Cardle Management.
He offered Greg for anything available. The possibilities included an Oldie of the Year ceremony hosted by Terry Wogan and a competition matching celebrities with dogs that resembled them. Chris proposed borrowing a dog, dressing it like Greg and photographing them DJing together. The organiser became suspicious of an agency she had never heard of, but Chris told her to treat every invitation as accepted.
Access All Areas also introduced interactive images of the presenters on the Radio 1 website. Scanning a symbol made Scott’s stern publicity photograph come to life and allowed listeners to pose for selfies with him in places he could not control.
Greg James plays Real or No Real
Greg opened sealed envelopes containing claims about himself. He really had once left his own birthday party early after peaking before 11pm, despite Mel C and other guests remaining. He had not overturned a Women’s Institute table during a cricket argument, nor demanded that a university alumni magazine be pulped after a photograph was wrongly captioned.
The final story was true. At about 18, Greg fled his bedroom after a bat appeared and was found outside by his mother and sister, shaking and holding a tennis racket. The feature prepared Scott for his own presenter day, when microphones and cameras would remain active throughout the songs.
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