Mother’s Day, not Valentine’s Day
Scott had taken his mum out for a meal and a cocktail, although he initially described the occasion as Valentine’s Day before correcting himself to Mother’s Day. One drink had been enough to make the evening feel livelier than planned, and the mistake did little to strengthen his account.
The show also discovered a new strain of unlikely celebrity DJ booking. Big Mo from EastEnders was advertised for a set, with White Dee from Benefits Street due at another event. One poster promised that there was “no work Monday”, followed by a benefits joke that made the whole promotion sound less like a club night than a tabloid headline.
Alfred proposes over Skype
Alfred’s accelerated international romance reached its conclusion. After another Skype conversation with the Spanish woman he had called “the one”, he got down on one knee and proposed through the screen.
She said no. The conversation became cold, and Alfred finally decided that perhaps she was not the one after all. It brought an abrupt end to a two-week story that had included translation apps, declarations of love, an existing relationship and an extraordinary willingness to make permanent decisions about somebody he had barely met.
Five Seconds of Summer arrive at Radio 1
Five Seconds of Summer gave their first Radio 1 interview. Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood talked about forming in Sydney, building an audience online and moving from internet clips to international touring. They discussed supporting One Direction, the forthcoming North American dates and the pop-punk influences they shared, including All Time Low and Blink-182.
The band’s fans were already making themselves obvious through an enthusiastic stream of capital-letter messages. Scott described the tone as happy but aggressive and repeatedly stressed that the interview had been recorded earlier, so there was no reason for anybody to rush to Broadcasting House.
Five Seconds of Snogging
The interview ended with a game called Five Seconds of Snogging. Ashton sat in a leather blindfold and had to kiss four mystery objects for at least five seconds before identifying them. The first was the one thing he had specifically said he did not want: a kiwi fruit. Next came a frankfurter, presented sideways and requiring more negotiation than expected.
The third object moved. Ashton guessed an Ewok, then a sausage dog and a Chihuahua before establishing that he was kissing an actual dog named Riley. For the final round, Luke brought Calum forward. Calum kept moving away, so the full five seconds proved difficult, but Ashton recognised him from the smell and narrowed the description down to a half-Scottish, half-New Zealander.
Asked which kiss had been worst, Ashton chose Calum. Riley was then properly introduced, the blindfold came off and the band left with a successful first Radio 1 appearance—and one of them having kissed considerably more wildlife, fruit and bandmates than expected.
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