Why The Last Leg's Paralympics Coverage Only Works In The UK 👀

in London 2012 it was called the last leg with Adam Hills now I'm remembering as you're saying it and then the first episode we were struggling for guest so we got Alex on and then Josh was yes back to the Paralympics that's why you're here For Heaven's Sake so you're going to be on every night apart from the labor from from the day off which is great because I mean you you you know you're up to speed anyway you're match fit you've been together for 12 years you have a certain Rhythm to the way you do your show but never better than night after night after night because you get a different energy going don't you and the show is written literally on the day we have a skeleton script and you go okay this this could be the big story this might be the big story we have no idea I'm not saying it right itself because it writes itself but it sort of meets you in the middle doesn't it that kind of show no it's better than that hsy right I mean believe me we've already been texting each other after our first meeting every day again we've had a result here so so how does okay that's interesting so how does that work okay here's Hy during the par Olympics has a lot more work than us normally I'd say hsy does more cuz he's got to do the auto Cube but we have a lot more but during the par Olympics really it's a lot of interviews isn't it it is a lot of interviews but often I mean often our SC this is what our script people wonder what you know how much is scripted on the last leg so all of the stuff that I read off autoq is written and I write it and then in the script it'll just say discuss and that's where I turn to Josh and Alex and go what have you got yeah and literally I have no idea what they've got what about disgust [Laughter] could go either way disgust disgust the interesting thing is we all trained to be Sports journalists that was our that was I did not know that I did not know that I had no idea I didn't know that really and for a good five years one of them I was one of them I knew me well I real used to it but myself yeah I was but I wasn't really I I was a I sub editor of a I was bad sorry you were saying say so that was that was our background was we all wanted to be Sports journalist so when we we kind of ended up together covering sport that we absolutely love and the great thing is no one else covers the Paralympics so no one can tell whether we're doing a good job who else is making jokes about disability sport no one's going to go well those guys are much funny but other countries must other territories as they say Telly must have seen you doing this thing and why don't we have our own version of that have people tried I will tell you one of my favorite moments in Rio in 2016 uh cuz the next games were in Tokyo so in 2016 our producer Ben Wix at the time I saw him taking a delegation of Japanese TV producers around our studio with a translator so he would say something and then the translator would translate translat I know I'm a DJ but I'm not that stupid I literally translated what a translator is and at one point I I was walking through the studio I just heard him say the sentence I mean it looks like they're making fun of disabled people but they're really not and I thought okay Tokyo are not going to adopt this oh my gosh yeah we're not getting format rights around the world but genuinely other countries like even the Brazilians when they had the games went okay the last league would not work in Brazil there is not the kind of acceptance or the sense of humor around disability that that that Britain has I think the the other thing which I I think has always helped us is it's a massive celebration of the sport isn't it and and of the of the achievement so we've always that's what I loved when I first went in to do it is it was essenti it was a sport show it was it was a funny sport show we'd go and show the highlights and stuff like that and I think because we're championing the people that are the athletes involved so much we kind of it enables us to have some of the laugh at the sillier moments there has to be the love first yeah 100 if we just went straight in and go do you want to see uh a blonde guy missing a triple jump pit I'm not sure it would have I'm not sure it would have flown clear it with the channel four lawyers but yeah I think it's a positivity cuz I remember the first meeting I had about it where it was like do you want to do this job for 10 days and I was like yeah no one's going to watch it it was on e4 at that point this is the Paralympics yeah they were like do you want to do this job it was like 11 p.m. on e4 it was planned I was like free tickets to the par Olympics no one will watch it what a win and now it's basically the first thing in my obituary it'll be it'll be on my blue plaque but it didn't predate the last leg did it the paral Olympics cover last leg coverage yeah yeah that's how it came together I didn't know that that's your Simpsons moment is it yeah yes so the I didn't know this orig in London 2012 it was called uh the last leg with Adam Hills now I'm remembering as you're saying it and then the first episode we were struggling for guests so we got Alex on and then Josh was how yes what via the audition or just as a so I was a I went to the London 2012 par Olympics I was employed by chord to be a journalist so my first uh bit on television for Channel 4 was the opening ceremony interviewing the then Prime Minister David Cameron and I was meant to be covering the FIV side blind football and the Seven aside cable py football and I was just put on last leg on the very first show so people could would know who I was for when I'm out and about later that week reporting for him so on the very first show me and Josh actually swap out don't we it's me I was on the first part I just came in part two and I came out Josh just did the medal table in part two and then the next day the channel sent someone down who went okay it's the three of you together and so i' i' you know I'm fine with the fact that the last the last league with Adam Hills became actually it's all three of you yeah you that's isn't it yeah oh my goodness and it gives it puts food on the Kids Table yeah I mean when I came in the next day and they were like so you I said have I done something wrong I said like you're not you taking a all reporting duties uh I was meant to be doing something they're like you're not going to the doing any of the football now you you're going to be doing this show with with Adam and that's how that's how you get a hit show you know that's like hang on a minute that bit works yeah but only been on for an hour it doesn't matter change it now change it all now that's where the gold is exactly it's like I think that was a huge Advantage for us that it was never meant to be who was in charge then uh so Jay hunt was running Channel 4 and Sali who now runs BBC One she was brought in as like she was kind of parachuted in as like and genuinely when she turned up we thought we' done something wrong but it's cuz they thought we were like oh my God it's so bad that channel 4 had to send someone down but it was actually that they were like there's something hear about this and there is just I I often say we've got like a three-part Harmony of Comedy voices you've got the kind of older like Australian Sunny voice and then you've got the kind of world weary West country Josh voice and then you've got the happy innocent puppy dog it's true gone the other way then I enjoyed that can't argue with that I think that's the thing with these things like a lot of it is chance and happen stance and like the things with these shows is often the ones that work the best it is like a kind of sitcom isn't it it's like all the different characters like even like have I got news for you it's like workingclass Paul Merton and then kind of Ian Hislop who's the Oxbridge guy it was like St merch and Ricky jaas and um pilton car pilton exactly the same and three is the magic number yeah absolutely it is yeah yeah yeah I hosted a TV show in Australia and there were myself and two team captains and I remember when when Channel 4 asked us to make the last League a regular thing and I said to I remember saying to these boys I've had this chemistry once before and we did nearly 300 episodes in Australia so this this kind of thing doesn't happen all the time so let's let's milk it I I was at the start of my career so I thought that' be loads of these coming along me I still am I was just so happy every day I got to be on telly again another Friday you spoken to your three characters in those last three comments and I was just like this is mint radio