Dermot O’Leary on romance, reining in Robbie Williams and why The X Factor rules supreme
SHOOTING and interviewing Dermot O’Leary is never boring, but the fun and games are always offset by a mild panic that we’re going to run out of time.
Charming and charismatic, he chats incessantly, making time for everyone on set and dishing out plenty of the Dermot hugs that make him such a reassuring presence on The X Factor, which he’s now in his 11th year hosting.
But his love of, well, yakking also means being constantly up against the clock, and there’s a worry that we won’t finish the shoot or he’ll be terribly late for his next appointment.
Not that Dermot himself is anxious – remaining calm amid chaos probably stands him in good stead on the madness that is the ITV talent show.
“You do feel like you are the conductor of the campest runaway train in town,” he says. “You don’t want to be the boring one but, you know, someone’s gotta get to the ad break!”
Keeping control of the panel this year might prove even trickier than in previous series with the addition of judge Robbie Williams (yes, the ego has landed) alongside Simon Cowell – “two Alphas”, as Dermot puts it. “It’s brought a brilliant dynamic,” he says.
Nevertheless, this 15th series has been hit by a slump in ratings that have already been in decline for some years now, despite the show still generating plenty of headlines and social media buzz. Dermot insists that he isn’t too concerned about viewing figures.
“I’ll tell you an anecdote about when I realised that we shouldn’t worry too much about ratings. I mean, obviously you’ve got to in terms of wanting the show to pay for itself and be a success, but one of my researchers asked if their dad could come up and meet me after one of the live shows.
“So lovely guy, mid-60s, comes up and I said: ‘So, you watch the show?’ And he goes: ‘Well I do, but mostly on YouTube.’ And, well, if a man in his mid-60s is watching it on YouTube and people can get it bite-sized, we have to evolve the way we make it, to follow how people at home are viewing it.
“The worst thing we can do is wring our hands. We just need to keep to our nerve and not worry too much. I don’t think any other show delivers what we deliver or creates stars the way we do.”
Dermot reckons Robbie’s American actress wife Ayda Field, whose appointment to the judging panel was a giant curveball, has settled in well and fully understands she’s got something to prove.
“She’s been brilliant. She got quite quickly that she’s the underdog and people are going to question why she’s on the panel.
“But my take on that is this is the show-business industry and [across the spectrum] it’s the same kind of traits, rules, graft, talent and luck to get there. Ayda has worked in this industry for 20 years and been part of Team Williams – as he’s been part of Team Field – for the best part of the last decade. I don’t make any decisions without me and my wife sitting down and talking about it, and Robbie would be the first to say Ayda’s the one he confides in the most.
“So when you’re for all intents and purposes co-managing and co-deciding the life of someone who’s one of the biggest stars on the planet, then you’ve got to have your wits about you.
“She knows that she’s got a lot to prove to people over here, but I always find those judges are the ones to watch because they work twice as hard.”
For all he adores his own uber-talented wife, TV producer/director Dee Koppang (they’ve been together for 16 years), Dermot isn’t sure they could work alongside each other like Robbie and Ayda.
“She’s directed me a few times – she’s a brilliant director – but I don’t know if we’d ever do day in, day out. I think it’s healthy to do your own things. It’s nice to come home in the evening and talk about what you’ve done that day rather than: ‘What did you do that for? You should have done this!’”
Dermot, 45, and Dee, 39, who is best known for her directorial work on The Crown, celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary earlier this month but, thanks to work schedules, spent it apart – not for the first time. More often than not, it’s been Dermot’s filming commitments with judges’ houses to blame.
“It’s the annual ‘I’m away when she’s here’ or ‘she’s away when I’m here’,” says Dermot. “It’s terrible, really. I’ve been away for most of our anniversaries. But to be honest, while obviously I want to be with my wife for our anniversary, it’s not the end of the world. We’re both sanguine about it I suppose.
“The secret to any partnership is that you support each other, and we probably drive each other up the wall as well, which is all part and parcel of it. But I think both of our careers benefit from our mindset… and the work-life balance has been good this year.”
Is he romantic? “I’m hugely romantic! Every day should be romantic. I’m not into red roses on Valentine’s Day, but I think it’s the little things that count. Cups of coffee and everyday gestures are more important than the grandiose stuff. That’s what I tell myself anyway!”
Dermot has lots going on besides The X Factor.
He hosts a new BBC iPlayer interview show, Reel Stories, which featured Kylie Minogue as its first guest and is made by his own production company.
Earlier this year, he did a sterling job anchoring the Beeb’s royal wedding coverage (“I had chats with them first and I said: ‘If you want a royal expert who knows exactly who Lady of Fothergill House is, then you’ve come to the wrong guy,’ but what interested me was it felt like such a significant day of national celebration”).
Then there’s his popular Saturday breakfast show on Radio 2.
On top of that, he’s here today to talk about his latest children’s book, Toto The Ninja Cat And The Incredible Cheese Heist, the second in the adventure series aimed at seven to nine year olds and based on the real-life stray cats he and Dee rescued from an Italian olive grove.
It’s all his own work, with no ghostwriter – indeed, he’s aghast at the very suggestion!
“Oh god no, I’d never do that! There’d be no point.
I hope you aren’t surprised because that’s not my scene at all. I don’t think it’s a good thing to do. I actually showed so few people because I wanted to see if I could do it completely on my own and go from there.
“Look, I’m not naive enough to think that my name didn’t get me through the door. But they didn’t give me an easy ride. They said to go away and work on the chapter plan, synopsis, write a chapter and then we’ll see. So I did all that, and loved it, so then they said: ‘OK, we’ll do two books!’ and I was like: ‘Well, that’s fantastic!’”
Sadly, since the first book, Toto’s partner in crime Silver has died, but Dermot says he will continue to appear in the stories. He and Dee recently welcomed a new cat, Socks, who will surely play some part if a third book materialises…
“I thought it might be a bit traumatic for the kids if I killed Silver off in the book! It’s a really nice way for him to live on. I know this sounds odd, but I’m sure people who have pets will understand – these are their real personalities. Toto and Silver are both how they are as cats in the book.”
The second book is a “bit more swashbuckley” than the first and features a baddie who “probably wasn’t cuddled enough as a kitten”.
Dermot says: “I’m over the moon with it, mainly from the enjoyment I got out of actually writing it.
“I didn’t want the tag of celebrity author, you know, who thinks he can just do a book. I’ve never done anything just for the sake of doing it… Writing has always been part of my life, whether it’s scripts or the children’s novels I used to write as a kid. But I’m aware it’s a hard game and there are a lot of great authors out there who aren’t getting published and wouldn’t get the column inches I do because of what I luckily do for a living.”
Away from work, Dermot has always taken a keen interest in politics and often tweets about social issues, though without specifying his allegiances.
“I put my head above the parapet for individual issues, but I always get uncomfortable with people in the public eye telling people which political party they should vote for. I don’t criticise anyone who does that, but it’s probably just not for me. And it wouldn’t do me any favours doing a job for the BBC if I was outwardly political.”
On Brexit, he was open about the fact he voted Remain, and he’s been dismayed by the fallout since.
“We have to leave – the referendum went the way it went. I was really annoyed with both sides leading up to it because we should have had a taxpayer-funded 20-page document – 10 pages for Leave, 10 pages for Remain – going to every house in the UK, all fact-checked.
“I don’t think we had as much debate as we deserved. I understand why people voted the way they did – if I was a fisherman I would have probably voted Brexit, so it’s all circumstantial. But it should have been about discussion and not being shouted down because you have a different opinion to someone else.”
He has eloquent and sensitive views on the #MeToo movement, too.
“There’s a shifting set of rules for young men growing up, and I think that’s been heightened with #MeToo, but I also think it would have evolved anyway.
“If social norms change so that men go about dating in a far more respectful and mature manner, that’s a good thing. Obviously you never want to lose the art of flirtation or chivalry, so there’s definitely a middle ground and society will find it.”
Question Time is looking for a new host, as veteran presenter David Dimbleby steps down after 25 years…
“I don’t think I’d get that gig. I don’t think ‘the host of X Factor presents Question Time’ is a headline people would want to read!”
Would he go on as a guest?
“I’d like to, and I will if they’ll have me. We’re living in interesting times, aren’t we?”
His team urge him to make tracks from our east London location and on to another engagement. Not that Dermot appears to notice, as he stops for a rather long chat with a work experience student.
“Listen, if I’m around in 20 years’ time and still writing books or presenting, I’ll be happy,” he says before leaving. “But TV, I just love it, and if it still wants me, I’ll still be doing it.”
- Toto The Ninja Cat And The Incredible Cheese Heist (£6.99, Hodder Children’s Books) is out now.
Styling: Nana Acheampong