Steph McGovern on hosting her upbeat, new C4 studio chat show Steph’s Packed Lunch…
Steph McGovern returns with a new Channel 4 talk show Steph’s Packed Lunch live from a shiny new studio in Leeds. And "packed" is the word! Celebrity guests, studio audience, chefs and much more is on the menu...
Here Steph McGovern tells us what to expect on C4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch…
Is your new lunchtime show different to your recent C4 lockdown series?
Steph McGovern: "Yes, it’s very different to the lockdown show. It’s from a new studio and the audience is going to be at the heart of it – at a safe distance, obviously! The Lockdown show... I don’t think it’s hit me yet what we managed to achieve during lockdown with The Steph Show. It was never meant to come from my house!"
What’s planned for Packed Lunch?
Steph: "It’s going to be a mix of topics, including health, well-being and finance, and we’ll have celebrity guests, with some presenting items. I’m excited that Oti Mabuse and Gemma Atkinson will be taking part. Given that it’s a lunchtime show, we’re going to have a chef on each day, including Dr Rupy Aujla, John Whaite and Jack Stein."
MORE: C4 has confirmed the start date of The Great British Bake Off
Will the audience influence the show?
Steph: "Yes! If someone wants to learn how to make a particular meal, our chef can show them how. With my background in consumer journalism and shows like Watchdog and Shop Well for Less?, helping people with scams or bad customer service is going to feature. Or if people have questions on medical issues, we’ll have doctors on the show."
How else will it stand out from other chat shows?
Steph: "Well it's going to be topical but we’re not going to repeat what’s been done on the news already that day. If we got the Chancellor on, then definitely we’ll cover politics. If there’s really big live stuff happening, then of course we’ll change tack and I’ll go into serious journalist mode. But it’s not going to be us grilling people every day. We’re going to look at things in a more quirky way."
Is it daunting hosting your own show?
Steph: "Oh, totally! It’s my name in the title, so if it’s rubbish, I’m carrying it! But that’s really exciting in itself. I’ll try my best. C4 have been amazing. I’ve got licence to be a bit more experimental and edgier. I want it to be a melting pot of real-life things we’re all dealing with and that we can all help each other with."
What are you most looking forward to?
Steph: "Having lots of people around me to chat to and bounce off, rather than just me in my house randomly talking to a screen! I can’t wait to be part of a team again. Plus there’s no greater thrill than doing live telly… and things potentially going wrong!"
Steph’s Packed Lunch is on C4, weekdays at 12:30pm, from September 14th 2020 (see our TV Guide for more shows to enjoy).
