Lee Mack: 'The winning celebrity gets to be electrocuted in a car with me!'

(Image credit: Matt Frost)

Comic Lee Mack hosts Sky1's new fact-filled panel show, Duck Quacks Don't Echo.

Here, Lee talks about being stuck to the ceiling... and dancing custard!

Your new panel show, Duck Quacks Don't Echo, sees three celebrity guests attempt to prove that a series of incredible facts are true...

"That's right! We experiment once and for all to find out what the truth is behind these facts, such as: 'Do cows with names really produce more milk?' To prove this, someone will go to a farm and milk 100 anonymous cows, then milk 100 cows with names to discover whether or not they produce more. It's very scientific."

Each week, your celebrity guests - which this week include Ruth Jones, Dara O'Briain and Mel C - take part in stunts to test these theories, then there's a big stunt at the end...

"Yes - the prize for the winning celebrity at the end is that you get to take part in my final experiment. They get me doing all sorts on this show and the stunt that terrified me the most was being electrocuted in a car to prove that, if there's a thunder and lightening storm, it's the safest place to be. So the prize for the winning celebrity is to be electrocuted in a car with me... not much of a prize, really!"

And, in the first show, aren't you and one of your guests stuck upside down from the ceiling with superglue? What was that like?

"This challenge was quite unnerving as the superglue didn't stay completely stuck to my shoes, so you could hear ripping noises - it was quite surreal just hanging there with a celebrity thinking we could both die together."

Do you mind doing all these stunts?

"Well, I've got a low tolerance for pain and fear, so you just do it and hope someone's got their facts right!"

Do you feel you've learnt a lot filming this show?

"I've learnt that it's not safe to glue yourself upside down from a ceiling... but that custard can dance! I'm not sure how much more educated I am now, but I've certainly got a lot more trivia to talk about at dinner parties."

So, do 'Duck Quacks Echo'?

"The number one rule about our show is that there has to be some truth in what your guests are saying - we can't consider something that's a blatant lie and doesn't make any sense. And yet, bizarrely, the name of the show is completely untrue: duck quacks don't echo is not true. They didn't realise till it was too late!"

What else have you got coming up? Will there be a new series of Not Going Out?

"Yep, series seven of Not Going Out will air later this year and we film more episodes of Would I Lie To You? in February. Then I'll retire when I'm 50 and get an allotment. That's the master plan."

Duck Quacks Don't Echo starts on Friday, February 7 at 10pm on Sky1.

 

Victoria Wilson
Feature Writer for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and WhatToWatch.com

With over 20 years’ experience writing about TV and film, Vicky currently writes features for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week magazines plus news and watching guides for WhatToWatch.com, a job which involves chatting to a whole host of famous faces. Our Vicky LOVES light entertainment, with Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice UK among her fave shows. Basically, if it’s got a shiny floor, she’s all over it! When she’s not watching TV, you might find Vicky in therapy… retail therapy that is!