Observer interview (5th November 2000)

Life support

Presenters Margherita Taylor and Dermot O'Leary had no idea that the chemistry between them would spark off cult Sunday-morning viewing with T4. But, the singletons insist, they're just good friends.

Margherita Taylor: It was a memorable first meeting. Dermot and I had been paired up on a pilot for a sports show, No Balls Allowed . It was a long day because it really wasn't working between us. He's a perfectionist, so we kept having to do things over and over again. And when he couldn't remember a line, he'd hit his head really hard with his shoe. It scared me - I didn't know him. After that, I didn't think we'd ever see each other again.

No Balls was low budget. We had to really rough it and that brought us closer together. By the time T4 started, we knew each other inside out. We both really wanted it to work. We're both passionate about what we do, so we'd put in the extra hours, make sure we knew the script backwards, and work on making it funnier and more creative. The banter was the way we were in real life, and we became these two exaggerated characters on screen. Dermot would muck things up and I'd tell him off. I was quite motherly. I was the one who would say, 'Let's rehearse this again. Have you done your homework?' Now I think we are much more equal: what you see on screen is 100 per cent what you get off screen.

We rely on each other a lot. When you're live in front of a couple of million people, you need to make sure the person sitting next to you is going to cover your back if you get it wrong. Dermot knows how I'm going to finish a sentence or how I'm going to start it. I trust him 100 per cent.

Dermot's a real pro. I rate him among the top five presenters in the country, along with Johnny Vaughan and Chris Evans. Now, after he's done The Big Breakfast, people are finally seeing how talented he is.

In a recent interview, he described me as 'his mum, his girlfriend and his sister rolled into one'. It's true. I was very nervous when I had to present the Dancestar 2000 Awards and I needed a hug from Dermot, in the same way a girlfriend would want a hug from her boyfriend. But even though we're both single, it's best to keep our relationship as it is. We work well like that. I wouldn't want to find out that Dermot doesn't wash his socks or picks his nose.

Dermot O'Leary: I'd seen Margherita on Videotec and heard her on Capital Radio. So when we both turned up for the No Balls pilot, people knew who she was. I've never felt star-struck with anyone, but there was this certain pressure, especially when you're trying to get a job. My Achilles heel has always been learning lines. I used to have a tendency to hit myself when I couldn't remember them. It was essentially a day of self-flagellation. I went away thinking: a) I haven't got the job, and b) I'm never going to work ever again, because that girl thinks I'm a lunatic.
Although we had a really good time doing No Balls Allowed, the first T4 was what really broke the ice. It was our first live show. We'd meet up night after night, just panicking. It was mutual fear that brought us together.

We have a very natural friendship. There's no sexual tension. I look at her and I think she looks fabulous, but I never once think, I'll ask her out. It would be like sleeping with your sister. She's one of the most attractive girls anyone could know, but I genuinely recoil at the thought of even kissing her. I'm not particularly laddish, but when I'm around her, you always sense there's a school mam in the room - in the nicest possible way. She's always telling me off. She tells me off for swearing. She's like Mary Poppins. MT is the black Mary Poppins. If I start flirting with girl guests, she'll warn them off. She's totally like my mum.

MT is my safety net. When we go out live, we both back each other up. She'll always pick up where I left off. I act like a football manager to her and she to me; we're always giving each other little hugs. We bring out the best in each other: she's taught me a lot about professionalism and I hope I've taught her to enjoy it a bit more.
We relate to our audience. We're the sort of people that would watch T4 anyway. There's a good chemistry between us, and I think we do a good job. I'd like to work with her on other things, but at the end of the day, even if we're not working together, we're always on the other end of the phone.

Interview by Yvonne Singh. Taken from the Guardian Unlimited (original article)