Alan Carr in tears over viewers’ reaction to Changing Ends
What did you miss?
Alan Carr has revealed the success of his sitcom Changing Ends had him in tears because the project is “so personal”.
The comedian’s ITV show is about his early life as the son of a fourth division football manager in Northampton in the 1980s. He plays himself as an adult and Oliver Savell plays him as a child, with the young actor cast after a huge search.
The first series aired last year and a second series is set to drop, and the show has been a huge hit with viewers.
What, how and why?
Opening up on ITV’s Lorraine, Carr said he has been emotional over it doing well, because if people hadn’t liked it, it would have meant they didn’t like him. “The pressure was on because it was so personal,” he told host Lorraine Kelly.
“It’s about me. I wrote it and yeah, you do shows that some people don't take to and that's fine. But this one was so important - if you didn't like it, then it was me you didn’t like.”
“So this seven million streams, I mean, I was yeah, I have been very tearful about it,” he went on. “It's lovely that people have embraced it and taken it to their heart.”
Carr said he was asked if he wanted Changing Ends to be pre-watershed or post-watershed and he chose to have it air earlier.
He explained: “I said pre because I want people to sit at home as a family and if there's a young boy or a young daughter going, ‘Oh, I'm a bit different' or 'I'm getting bullied' or 'I'm misunderstood’, it's all right, you know, it will be all right. And you know, the bullying is awful, but just hang in there. It will be all right.”
“This is for people at home and families,” said the Chatty Man star. “I don't want it to be a bit later. Sit down and everyone can sit down and watch it.”
Will there be more series of Changing Ends?
Kelly asked if there would be more series of the programme, saying there must be more material.
Carr replied: “Well I would love to do more, but what I noticed was, when Ollie came in, he has grown so much. So there was a few boxes, you know!”
The star said he would love to write more but they would probably have to set it when Carr was a bit older to take Savell’s height into account. “We'll have to go a little bit later, maybe 1989,” he said.
Watch Changing Ends on ITVX.