As I mentioned
right here, Nicky Greenwall's new series
The Close Up premieres on e.tv this Saturday (20 August) at 19h30. It takes over from
The Showbiz Report while Nicky's on leave to have her baby, who's due in September.
I've seldom seen interviews with her (if ever) so I thought the show's debut makes it the perfect time for us to get Close Up to her:
Tashi: Is it a boy or girl?
Nicky: We haven't ...
Tashi: You haven't done the thang? You don't know?
Nicky: Ja, we don't want to know.
Tashi: When I heard that you were having a baby I realised that I'd never thought about you not having time to have a baby - you don't seem to have a life.
Nicky: Yes I've been doing this non-stop for so long now so its going to be a big break for me. I run my own business so I can't just disappear - these programmes (The Close Up and The 10) were necessitated by me needing to take maternity leave.
Tashi: When will you be off until?
Nicky: The plan is definitely until December and to come back in January part-time. We'll see, I've got a great team who work for me now so we'll figure it out.
Tashi: You'll return to do The Showbiz Report?
Nicky: Yes, we want to do another series of The Close Up as well.
Tashi: Do you have any people you must-have for the second season?
Nicky: Ja we've got a list but they don't know yet *
laughs*. It's organic - like when a sculptor says: "It was already there but I just revealed it," that's exactly what it's like.
Whatever happens, it feels like it was obvious, like there wasn't much thought that went into it. We never have long discussions - we just phone them, they're available, let's go.
Tashi: Once The Close Up ends, there's going to be a series of Showbiz Report Top 10's?
Nicky: Yes, what we thought would be nice is to contextualise for people what happened in the year. We'll do a Top 25 Entertainers of the Year at the end of the year, so we thought there's an opportunity to do the Top 10 comedians, Top 10 Most Stylish Men, Most Stylish Women.
I'm always saying: "It's nothing original, it's all been done." I don't profess to be this like: "I'm
so original." It's all been done but it's about executing it well and making it applicable to local audiences and that kind of thing so I hope we can achieve that.
It's called The 10, the series, and we want to do more of it as well. It's not a rehash of what we've already done - it's just contextualising for people who really made Bank this year, you know like: who were the key people? Where did they come from?
If you browse through a magazine you might think: "I'm always hearing about Bradley Cooper - what did he do actually?" In the show we go: "He actually made this amount of money, this is what he did - two years ago no-one knew who he was and now he's done this." It's semi-inspirational in a way, to see how the machine of celebrity plays out.
Tashi: You keep a very low profile,
Nicky: Yes,
Tashi: Is that deliberate?
Nicky: Yes,
Tashi: Why?
Nicky: I'm the chef and not the ingredients. The honest truth of it is that when I started this a long time ago I felt I was the only person who could it properly, the way I wanted to do it. It just became a necessity for me.
When I first started, I'm sure you saw, I was a terrible presenter - even now, I don't profess to be like - people will say to me: "You're a TV presenter," and I'm like: "That's not what I .. that's not really my career."
Tashi: You're very seldom at events.
Nicky: It's not my vibe, I'm not comfortable with it. I like the business of entertainment and showbiz. I'm fascinated by the machine and how it works.
Travelling overseas, I'm so lucky to have been to, you know, you go to the Oscars and these events - I'm not fascinated like "Wow, it's amazing," I'm fascinated by: "It's actually quite crap *
laughs*" you know what I mean?
You see it from behind-the-scenes and you realise that the whole world is under this spell. Especially when I travelled to LA this last time, it's this fascinating illusion. I'm more of the magician - I like to make the celebrities and make them classy - I don't want to
be a celebrity myself.
Tashi: When's somebody gonna do
The Close Up on you?
Nicky: Yes, my staff said: "Let's do one on you," and I was Like: "No, I don't think so." I don't know how to do it in a sincere way, it's like interviewing myself. Maybe there'll be a scope for it in the future.
Tashi: You have a mystery around you.
Nicky: I'm not trying to be mysterious - I just know, the first couple of years, I got so hurt by what people say and you take it on board and I think I was hurt in the beginning. You know you google yourself and people are like: "I hate her," and I was like: *
sniffing sounds*. That's also part of it. It does make you ...
Tashi: Withdraw almost?
Nicky: Yes.
Tashi: Are you gonna sell your baby pics to People? Hehe.
Nicky: I'm not saying I'm above it at all, it's just something I wouldn't want to do. I seperate who I am as a person and who my friends are and my life from my role as a celebrity commentator. I'd rather be the commentator than the commentated on. You can't always win, people will still go: "I don't like her hair!" but I'm over that now *
laughs*.
Nicky on planning The Showbiz Report: "When I go to work on a Monday, I have no idea what's going to be on the show on a Saturday. I sit and I look and go "what's happening?" We don't plan in advance, that's hopefully why it works because we keep it fresh.
We sometimes change the show on a Thursday, "Let's rather do this.," I don't think of think of things like "Wow, there's an amazing story," I'm rather like: "What's happening this week?" There's always something happening.
Tashi: Yes, there's always gonna be something - or someone's denied some rumour.
Nicky: Yes, exactly: "So-and-so is
not pregnant." as the headline.