Dave Berry 'The Beat Goes On' interview: 'Sugababe Heidi will never sing for me'
Wednesday, August 24 2011, 10:28 BST
By Alex Fletcher, TV Editor
© Channel 5
We caught up with Dave to chat karaoke, his girlfriend Heidi Range and what Ant & Dec look like in their jeans.
Did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams you'd one day host a show with your own house band?
"Oh no!! Oh Alex, you must know how I feel. You phrased that question so brilliantly. No, not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have my own dance troupe. Nor did I think the Saturday night TV gods Ant & Dec would allow me to call them the Boogie Berries.
"Ant & Dec are execs and when they said I would have my own house band, I was impressed. When they dropped the dance troupe bomb, I was automatically signing on the dotted line."
Were Ant & Dec very hands-on with the show?
"What a terrible thing to do to a presenter, be hands-on if you're Ant & Dec. But yes, they came down to a couple of recordings and they basically let us get on with it. They hung around... in their causal clothes. You haven't lived until you've seen Ant & Dec in their casual clothes.
"After the series wrapped, we went back to their house and had some champagne. They were really complimentary about the show and that was quite a moment in my career. I'm glad the boys were happy."
Do Ant & Dec ever not wear suits?
"That's exactly right, Alex, I was shocked! I was like, 'oh look at little Ant in his little jeans!' No, they're great bosses to work for. The first thing I want with a show is for people, viewers to enjoy it and celebrate it, but after that it's about having fun with the team and I try to make life for everyone as easy as possible.
"But when your execs are the Godfathers of Saturday night entertainment, it can add a little bit extra pressure... to say the least. But they're happy, that's the main thing."
Are you going to out them both as karaoke addicts?
"I think at Ant's house, he has a secret room and I'm sure in that secret room, it's like Lucky Voice in Soho and it's a karaoke den. The boys did get involved. They had a go on the Hotstepper, which is the only three-person dance machine in the world. That was a bit of fun when the cameras were not running. There was some fun to be had on set."
Why didn't you secretly leave the cameras running and film that?
"That's the problem with Ant & Dec, they are so powerful, I daren't go against them. If they knew I had that material, I would probably be dead right now."
What are you like on the karaoke?
"There is a reason I get paid to talk about music on the TV and radio and not make it. I know I can't sing. Some of the contestants on our show... nobody has clearly broken that news to them yet. But when I do get my arm twisted or have one too many Stella Artois, I tend to go down the 'Sympathy For The Devil' Rolling Stones route. Even with my tone deafness, I can't f**k up with a 'wooh! wooh!'"
"You'd think she'd pass on some tips. But the only thing I've learnt from her is how to change my bandmates and get away with it."
Does she ever stop you doing karaoke?
"I'm a free spirit, Alex. If I want to sing, not Heidi, not any other member of the Sugababes, past, present or future are going to stop me. What is quite frustrating [is that] Heidi has an amazing voice and is a talented singer. That's half of what Sugababes are about, they are great singers, not auto-tuned Saturdays.
"But Heidi will never sing for me. She won't ever entertain me and my friends, she won't ever do karaoke. Me and my mates are like, 'go on play 'Push The Button' you b*tch'. But she never plays along unfortunately."
That's massively disappointing!
"Well said, Alex! I can see we're going to get along well. What's the point in having a popstar girlfriend if you can't get her to sing for your mates?"
If you can't sing, can you dance?
"The problem with dancing is... I know I can't sing, but when I dance, I think I'm like Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. I like to think that I have some deep-rooted soul that gives me a natural timing and finesse on the dancefloor that is yet to be rivalled. However, I have seen myself on wedding videos and in national magazines dancing and I look like a total idiot.
"There's a great pic of me at Ashley and Cheryl's wedding and I thought I was in the zone and looking pretty damn hot, but the picture that was used in a national magazine.... well... I thought I was looking smooth doing a finger click. In reality, I'm in an awkward position looking really camp and there's Sol Campbell just stood looking at me with a quizzical look thinking, 'what the f**k does that guy think he's doing'. I know how bad a dancer I am, I've seen it in Sol Campbell's eyes."
What other projects are you working on?
"I've just finished the iTunes festival with Alexa Chung. This is what I learnt from Heidi about replacing the bandmates. The first series of that I did with Peaches Geldof. Then I did two with Fearne Cotton. Now I've moved on to Alexa Chung. It's just a revolving door. I've also just done some Beer And Pizza Club for ITV and my tailors that I own, October House, we open our first store in London next month. "
You look like a chap who enjoys his fashion...
"Yes I am. Not that I would ever consider myself a celebrity, but it's not me being paid to wear suits. It's a proper business that I'm running day-to-day. We're very lucky because without doing any PR, GQ and Esquire have done complimentary pieces and it's all gone really well.
"I love clothes and I love tailoring. I've never seen Mad Men, I should make that clear. I actually wrote an article for a website called 'Mad at Mad Men'. Do you ever wear a suit, Alex?"
Very rarely. I'm quite a scruff...
"I'm sure that's not true. I'm sure you look effortlessly cool. No, the thing is you can't wear a good suit these days without someone saying, 'oh, hey, Don Draper'. I'm like 'f**k off'!' The suit thing is really cool and I'm my own stylist for The Beat Goes On and all I need to do is get Ant & Dec wearing them and I'll be away and running."
The Beat Goes On starts tonight at 11pm on Channel 5
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