Rylan Clark-Neal: ‘I don’t give a f**k how I look any more’

The old saying “what you see is what you get” could have been coined for Rylan Clark-Neal. While some celebs’ personas seem to be purely for the cameras, Rylan is about as real as they come. Honest, no-nonsense, warm and funny, it’s little wonder he’s currently one of the busiest men on telly.

And Rylan is just as successful in his personal life. The 31-year-old met husband Dan Neal, 41, after the pair locked eyes across a crowded TV studio when Dan appeared on Big Brother back in 2013. They married in a quiet ceremony in 2015, and Rylan has been a proud stepdad to Dan’s son Cameron, 20, ever since.

We’re mainly catching up with Rylan to talk about the new run of Supermarket Sweep, which he’s presented since it was revamped last year, but we’ve also got plenty of other subjects to cover, including his lovely mum Linda (who won our hearts with her appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox), his moneymaking teeth, and why he thinks now is the perfect time to bring back Big Brother. (Yay!)

You often joke about your teeth. Do you mind people taking the mickey out of them?

Oh, f--k no! My teeth have earned me more money than I ever could. Every time someone talks about my teeth a fairy dies, but I earn a tenner.

How many times a week do you fake tan these days?

Do you know what, I’ve hardly been tanning lately. I’d say I pop a little bit on once a week. I’ve really calmed down. I went from David Dickinson to Caspar the Friendly Ghost during lockdown. I think lockdown grounded me a bit. It’s made me realise I don’t really give a f--k how I look any more. It’s nice to get dolled up every now and again, I enjoy that, but it is quite hard when you’re Rylan and you have to draw your face on every day.

Do you ever think “up yours” to the people who bullied you at school? One boy even fractured your skull, which is horrific…

Look, I was the little chubby ginger gay kid, so I might as well have put a target on my back. A few years back, I’d sit there and think, “F--k you, look at me now,” but I don’t any more. I sit and smile and think, “Do you know what? Don’t worry about it.” And all those stories helped make my book a bestseller, so thank you very much!

CHECK OUT the worst celebrity fake tan fails

How is filming on the new series of Supermarket Sweep going?

It’s been so lovely. I was a little bit apprehensive, because we were originally supposed to start filming back in April, but obviously… COVID. When we agreed on August, we said that if the show had to look completely different because of guidelines, we’d rather wait. We’ve worked so bloody hard to make sure we’re COVID secure, and visually, it’s not going to look much different for the viewers. And we’ve moved from ITV2 to ITV, which is its original home, so that’s exciting.

You’re doing Supermarket Sweep VIP later in the year. Who’s going to be appearing?

We’ve had two of my faves, Linda Robson and Leslie Joseph. I watch Birds Of A Feather in bed every night and they were a-mazing. We’ve also got Martine McCutcheon and her husband, Scarlett Moffatt, Joel Dommett, and Harry Redknapp and Paul Merson, who were brilliant. I know most of them, so they completely take the piss because they know I’m going to rip them to shreds.

Who would be your dream VIP guests?

All five Spice Girls. And we’ll throw David in there for Vicky, too.

Davina McCall would be ace as well…

[Excitedly] Oh, Davina would f--king smash the life out of that trolley. She’d be great. I’d love to have a Big Brother special with Davina and Emma Willis on one team.

Did you love hosting the Big Brother special?

It was so lovely, and working with Davina was amazing. She was just so lovely and as we’re both huge fans of the show, it was great to do it with her and look back on all the brilliant things that happened. It brought back so many great memories. It made me think back to when I was at school and I used to cut the list of housemates out of heat.

Do you think it could ever come back?

Well, everyone is trying to be dignified about it and say, “No, it’s done now.” But I’m not f--king dignified – bring it back! It will never be done. It could easily happen right now. We could quarantine the housemates, test them and then put them in the house. It would be a proper biosphere. Let’s do it!

Did you enjoy doing Celebrity Gogglebox with your mum Linda?

It was actually lovely. My mum was shielding for 14 weeks, so we had to miss the first three weeks of the series, but she loved it, because it was a little day out for her each week. And she became a bit of a hit.

She did! Does it feel strange that she’s become a celebrity in her own right?

It does. No one asks me about me anymore, they always ask how my mum is, which is actually quite refreshing. Hopefully, she’ll take over and I can take a back seat! Everyone’s been really lovely. I won’t let her go on social media or anything, though. No way. I know what it can be like and I would only worry.

Would you ever do a show together?

I have to say, I am extremely grateful, because we’ve probably had about 100 ideas thrown at us, and there’s one show in particular they’ve asked my mum and I to bring back... It’s extremely flattering, but my mum hasn’t been well [Linda suffers from Crohn’s disease], and the reason we did Gogglebox is because it’s filmed round at my house and she feels comfortable there, so I think we’re alright for now.

People were shocked when your mum called you by your real name, Ross, on the show…

I know, and it’s no big secret! It must have been a slow corona-news day the day that story broke. Of course my mum is going to call me by my real name. All my family call me Ross. The only time I get called Rylan at home is if I’m having a row with my husband and he wants to piss me off.

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According to Wikipedia, you’re working on 12 different shows at the moment. How do you juggle everything?

Am I? You know more than me. I went through a period where I was juggling every single second of every single day, but I’m at the point now where I think I’ve established myself. I still do my best every single day, but I don’t feel like I need to prove myself or my worth. I really enjoy my work and my year is basically Supermarket Sweep, Ready Steady Cook and Strictly [co-hosting It Takes Two], and all the bits that fall in between are lovely, whether that’s a guest appearance or a film or whatever. I’m very happy with what I’ve got, but if we could chuck Big Brother back into the mix, I’d be over the moon.

Can you believe everything that’s happened since you were on The X Factor? It’s like you’ve crammed ten lifetimes into the last eight years…

I know, I don’t know how it all happened. I try not to think about it too much. Every now and again, I’ll have a little wobble and think, “What the f--k has happened?” But I’m just grateful for it all.

Finally, have you got any plans to do more singing or release an album?

All I’ll say is that if I have, it would never be under my name, it could already be out there. I could have had a No1 already. You’ll just never know…

Supermarket Sweep airs weekdays on ITV at 3pm from 1 September

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