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Last One Laughing UK star Amy Gledhill has detailed one of the moments that was left on the cutting room floor – because it was too “filthy” for television.
The hit Prime series returned for a second outing last month, with 10 comedians – including last year’s champion, Bob Mortimer – entering the studio and attempting to make it through the day without laughing.
Gledhill was one of the newer faces among them, and in an appearance on co-star Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach podcast, she admitted that a scene which she considered to be one of her funniest moments didn’t make the final edit.
The 38-year-old explained: “The thing that I did that I thought might have been funny hasn’t made it into the show because it was too mucky. Me and Sam [Campbell] did an improv in the bed.”
“It was just wrong,” Alan interjected. “You were… it was filth.”
Amy Gledhill found herself in a surreal scene (Amazon MGM Studios)
“I was trying to get it away from filth and then Sam, who I didn’t expect to take it into filthy areas… It got to a point where I really thought, for this improv to end, I’m going to have to spit into Sam Campbell’s mouth.”
Thankfully, it didn’t quite come to that – as host Jimmy Carr stepped in.
“I remember there being a moment where me and Sam were looking at each other and I think Sam was like, ‘do it’. And then I heard Jimmy Carr. It was too much for Jimmy Carr. I heard him behind the wall going, ‘cut!’”
Carr and Gledhill also admitted fearing the show was a “turkey”, with Gledhill adding: “When you’re in it and you think nobody has laughed for six hours, you think, ‘this is the worst programme ever made.’”
Thankfully, the second series was a huge hit with critics, many of whom gave it five stars, with The Independent’s deputy culture editor Ellie Harrison hailing it “the funniest show on TV”.
The ‘LOL’ series two cast with hosts Jimmy Carr and Roisin Conaty (Prime Video)
For the most part, this year’s competitors managed to avoid laughing for longer than series one’s comedians, with the first red cards coming in during episode four (last time, three stars failed to make it past episode two).
Many of the gang survived thanks to Mortimer’s advice – which was to figure out a go-to “safety face” in order to stop the giggles.
Mel Giedroyc was perhaps a little too committed to this though, as she ended up needing medical advice after damaging her jaw with her unusual facial expression.
She explained at the series’ launch: “I’ve done something to the right jowl because I was so into that move.
“Tim Cascarini [a leading specialist] is gonna sort it out. You give the area Botox, that’s what he’s suggesting… up there, just in the right side.”