Heat Magazine - 10 Jan 2004

Dermot O'Leary

As we reach the final of the most daring (and controversial) Reality TV event so far, Boyd Hilton talks to Shattered host Dermot O'Leary

Weren't you worried about hosting a show that's basically encouraging people to do something as fundamentally unhealthy as going for a week without sleep?

I always thought it was going to be very interesting and something new. And I was looking forward to the unpredictabilitg and the unknown nature of it, because we really didn't know how they were going to react. And the way the actual show works allows for the fact that, now and again, the contestants are allowed to get some sleep in their "sleep banks'. Plus they could all have walked out after a couple of days if theg had wanted to!

Were you sure it was going to be entertaining?

I think you can have a mischievous take on it because there is something quite funny about seeing someone who is really, really tired - and looks like they've been hypnotised - struggling to do the easiest tasks. Like making a cup of tea.

You're in the studio with them all the time. Don't you feel guilty being able to get a good nights sleep while they suffer?

Yeah, actually I was a bit worried about that. But I assumed I'd be staying up with them quite a lot. And I knew that I was going to have to do my staying awake well, because if I end up tired when I'm supposed to be presenting then I'd be a right little irritable bastard. I get really cranky when I'm tired or when I'm hungry.

And how come you agreed to have this Dermot-cam watching you while you're sleeping?

Well, I think if gou do this kind of show you have to enter into the spirit of it 100 per cent. And I knew the camera woulddn't affect my sleep because, ever since I was a kid, as soon as I fall asleep I can sleep anywhere. Cars, trains - absolutely anywhere, as long as I can lie down. But with the camera there I did know I wouldn't be able to sleep in the you-know-what... I don't think angone would particularly want to see that anyway.

What advice are you giving them about staging awake?

Talking is the best thing. Don't spend any time on your own. If you're on your own, or even if you're with just one other person, you can make excuses for being sleepy, but if you stick in groups... it's easier. That's why no one ever gets any sleep on Big Brother, because they all stay up for hours chatting.

Do you have weird recurring dreams?

There's one that is really weird which I used to have all the time when I was little. I didn't know anything about the Second World War or anything, but the dream is that I'm a soldier in Normandy and I get shot at the end of the dream. It's strange, because I hadn't been reading war comics or anything like that, so I have no idea where it came from!

Article taken from heat magazine 10 - 16 January 2004