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00:11Do you wanna practice his name?
00:13Whose name?
00:15Oh, Stephen Henry.
00:17Stephen Lenny Henry.
00:20Hi!
00:24How are you?
00:25How are you?
00:27You look the same, same person.
00:29Do you know what? I am the same person.
00:31You never get older.
00:33I'll shake your hand.
00:34I love hanging away. I'm Caroline.
00:36Nice to see you, Caroline.
00:37So, I heard you divorced.
00:40Pardon?
00:41You got married in 1984 and you got divorced in 2010.
00:46This is great.
00:48I was watching YouTube and I saw you on there and you were doing something.
00:52Was I?
00:52Yeah.
00:54How do you get here?
00:56Are you just gonna ask me all this quick?
01:00Lovely to meet you.
01:01Nice to meet you too.
01:02Hi. Nice to meet you.
01:03Nice to meet you too.
01:04How's things?
01:06Great.
01:17Sean, would you like to introduce us?
01:22Welcome to the Assembly.
01:25Our collective of autistic, you are divergent and learning disabled.
01:36Interviewers, our rules are no subject is out of bounds.
01:44No question is off the table.
01:48And all might happen.
01:51Please tell us who you are.
01:55My name is Lenny Henry.
01:57I'm an actor and a writer and a comedian.
02:00And I haven't done anything wrong and can I go soon?
02:06And you're a sir.
02:07And I'm a sir. I'm a sir.
02:09Not sure how popular that is at the moment.
02:11And we're gonna start with a question from Thomas Love.
02:18Hello, Sir Lenny Henry, Knight of the Realm.
02:20Hello, how are you?
02:21I'm fine, thank you.
02:22My name is Thomas Love.
02:24I'm neurodivergent, autistic, morbidly obese and bipolar.
02:28In December, 2026, Christmas, I went to Man to Swords.
02:34I took a photo with ET, the Steven Spielberg character.
02:38I didn't take a photograph of your animatronic wax figure.
02:43It's not there anymore.
02:45What have they done with it?
02:47I think they might have melted it down
02:51so they can have two copies of Will Smith.
02:54Oh.
02:55From the French mission.
02:56They used to be one of me in a pink suit.
02:58Is that gone as well?
02:59Do you think there could be one of me one day?
03:01Probably, yeah.
03:02You should talk some about that.
03:04Yeah.
03:04Yeah.
03:10Thank you, Thomas Love.
03:12Now, we're gonna come to Julius.
03:16Hello.
03:18In the past, you've said that some of your idols
03:20have been Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby.
03:24Who's your current idol, and should we place them on a watch list?
03:31You can't help who you liked when you grew up, you know.
03:34You know, when Michael Jackson sang on the Diana Ross special,
03:37and he was like six or seven, the whole world fell in love with him.
03:40And Bill Cosby, arguably, was one of the funniest men in the world.
03:45So, maybe it's best not to have idols.
03:48Maybe it's best to believe in yourself and not be on no watch list.
03:52Yeah.
03:53I think that's some good advice.
03:54Well, thank you.
03:56Michael Jackson was born on exactly the same day as you.
03:59Yeah, he was, yeah.
04:01And now a question from Chardonnay.
04:05Chardonnay?
04:05Nice to meet you, sir, Lenny.
04:07I like that.
04:08My grandparents are born in the Caribbean.
04:10My parents are from Jamaica.
04:12High respect to Jamaica.
04:13They will rise.
04:15Now, my question is, was Britain worse when you were younger or now?
04:23Um, I come from a place that was between Smedic,
04:27which is where they had one of the worst elections in the world,
04:30where the slogan was, if you want an N-word for a neighbour, vote Labour.
04:34And Wolverhampton, where Enoch Powell made the rivers of blood speech.
04:38So, I grew up in the middle of that.
04:41Personally, I was bullied a lot at school.
04:44What?
04:45But, um, I think the day I discovered that I could be funny,
04:51the people around me who became my friends at school
04:53started to laugh and go,
04:55well, this is Lenny, Lenny's funny, leave him alone.
04:57So, they came to my defence.
04:58And they helped me get through that period of my life
05:01where I was being pushed around a lot.
05:03And now, I think there aren't elements that would like it
05:08to go back to the way it used to be,
05:09but I think we all have to be allies
05:11and we have to work so that that doesn't happen.
05:15Thank you, Shadenae.
05:16Thank you, Shadenae.
05:17OK, we're going to hear from Nicola now.
05:20Hi, Nicola.
05:26What order do you wash your body parts?
05:30That's a bit personal.
05:31Yeah.
05:32If I said something really rude, what would you say then?
05:35I'm just asking that question.
05:40I always do this.
05:42I do this first, then I do this, and then I do everything else.
05:45But don't use, um, shower gel or shampoo.
05:49You know what?
05:50I like shower gel, but I do like the hard soap.
05:52Soap.
05:53Soap.
05:53Because you can get it in there.
05:56Get it anywhere?
05:58Wherever.
05:59It doesn't go.
06:01Um.
06:02And then other times I just get the shower head and, you know.
06:05It's the shower head.
06:07Yeah.
06:07To go down.
06:08Yeah.
06:12You're watching the Premier Inn on TV.
06:15Do you want to go and stay in the Premier Inn?
06:16Yeah.
06:17I know a guy.
06:18You just come to me and I'll sit together.
06:19All right, then.
06:19When is it?
06:25Huey, you're up.
06:27Hiya.
06:28Wagwan.
06:29Wagwan.
06:30Oh, nice one.
06:31Easy.
06:34How much do you feel like the weight of comic relief lies on your shoulders?
06:40Um.
06:43I never really saw it as a weight.
06:46I wanted to do something.
06:48I got to a place where people looked like me and they were struggling.
06:51Mm-hm.
06:51And, um, from the minute I saw that I just wanted to do something.
06:57It's not a weight.
06:58It wasn't ever a weight.
07:01Do you regret the white saviour celebrity era?
07:04Um, speaking as somebody who was in that, I don't see myself as a weight.
07:08I don't see myself as a white saviour.
07:09Mm-hm.
07:09But I do think we had to think really hard about who's making this program?
07:15Who's making the films of the people who need help?
07:19You know, we went to Burkina Faso, one of the film capitals of the third world.
07:23And there was nobody on our camera crew.
07:25Now, I've worked mainly with a white camera crew my whole career.
07:29But I did start to realise that, actually, it should be more mixed.
07:33It should be more inclusive.
07:35Um, so I did say that stuff.
07:37And it has changed.
07:38Thank you so much.
07:40Right on.
07:41OK, thank you, Kiwi.
07:43Comic Relief has been the third Friday in March,
07:45and Children Need has been the third Friday in November.
07:50Is that true?
07:51Yeah, it is true, yeah.
07:53Anand, are you ready?
07:56What's your name?
08:01My question, Danny?
08:03Yes?
08:17You saw a seagull eating a duckling?
08:19In his mouth.
08:21The duckling was in his mouth?
08:24What did you do?
08:25Don't know what I did.
08:30I saw a dog licking his bum, and I don't know what I did.
08:33I think I walked away.
08:35But, um, that's great.
08:38Thank you very much.
08:44Wow.
08:46Now we're coming to Nike.
08:49I don't know whether to bow or not.
08:51Shall I bow?
08:52No.
08:52Please don't bow.
08:53Right.
08:54Anyway.
08:56So, did your partner strong arm you into doing this program?
09:00Oh, well, we watched several of the programs,
09:03and I said, phew, it would be a bit nerve-wracking to be on that show.
09:07And she said, no, you should do it.
09:08And I was like...
09:10And then I got asked to be on the show.
09:12And I said, what do you think?
09:14And Lisa said, you should do that.
09:15So, that's why I'm here.
09:18Thanks, Lisa.
09:19All right.
09:19I'm on it now.
09:21It's like being at speeding court.
09:25I've never been asked so many questions in my entire life.
09:28I'm done.
09:29I'm going to go back to this now.
09:31All right.
09:32My next question is, I heard your partner is a casting director.
09:37Casting director, yes.
09:37Yes.
09:38Did you meet her in the audition room?
09:40Are you saying, did she use the casting couch?
09:42Yeah.
09:45No, no, she was actually a producer on a show that I did.
09:47I was in Shakespeare's Othello.
09:51And so I met her then.
09:53We had lots of cups of tea.
09:55And I just started to like her more and more.
09:59Why haven't you put a ring on it then?
10:05Have you been talking to her?
10:09Thank you, Mikey.
10:10Do they just ask you anything here?
10:13Yeah.
10:24Just like candy.
10:26I can, oh.
10:27Are you good at dancing?
10:29I can move.
10:30Can you dance?
10:31Maybe at the end.
10:33Hello.
10:34Greetings for Lenny Henry.
10:35Greetings.
10:35Throughout your life, what is the hardest decision that you have to forgive yourself for?
10:41Oh.
10:44That's a very good question.
10:47I was in a minstrel show.
10:51Although the guy who ran it kept saying, it's not about race, it's about the music and the costumes.
10:57Every time I saw these white guys blacked up, I just thought, this does feel like a race thing.
11:04It feels kind of racist.
11:09It did make me have issues.
11:13Like you're betraying who you are.
11:15You know, my family didn't come to see me ever when I was in that show.
11:20And it really weighed on me.
11:23I did feel like I was stuck.
11:25And so it made me very down for quite a long time.
11:28Thank you so much.
11:32And now we're going to come to Jodie.
11:35How are you?
11:36I'm fine, how are you?
11:37I'm okay.
11:38We've been talking.
11:39I wasn't doing, I was quiet.
11:41That was the quiet bit.
11:43Do you like EastEnders?
11:44I watched EastEnders.
11:45My mum was a big fan of EastEnders and Coronation Street and Crossroads.
11:48I don't watch it all the time now though.
11:49Who's your favourite character when you used to watch it?
11:52Get out of my pub!
11:53Oh, Peggy Mitchell.
11:55That one.
11:56Yeah, my favourite is Sorry because Zoe's back.
12:00Zoe's back?
12:01She thought she'd kill someone, but it wasn't.
12:03It was her daughter who killed someone.
12:04Are you obsessed with EastEnders?
12:06Yes.
12:06Wow.
12:07The actress Barbara Windsor has been dead since 2020.
12:11Yeah.
12:12Wow.
12:14What's your favourite food?
12:16I've got to read, I'm just celebrating Google guy over here.
12:19Were you literally injected with Google?
12:21It's fantastic that you know all this stuff.
12:24Have you got a dog?
12:25No.
12:26Oh, my sister has.
12:27Really?
12:27What kind of dog?
12:28Rottweiler.
12:30Ah, right.
12:32Not come round your gas.
12:33Now we're going to hear from Lydia.
12:36Hello.
12:37Hi, Lydia.
12:38My mum has diabetes.
12:40What type of diabetes do you have?
12:43I have the good one.
12:45I have type 2.
12:46It's a good medication for that.
12:48I had to change my diet.
12:50OK.
12:50And then...
12:51That's how you're slim.
12:52Yeah.
12:53Before you put a lot of weight on TV.
12:55Saying I was fat.
12:58Thanks a lot.
13:00No!
13:03Why are you looking at me so interested?
13:07Gary, you're up.
13:09Now, I'm a bummer in my friend's pub.
13:12Great.
13:13What's your favourite drink of choice?
13:15I like, erm, rum.
13:17Because I don't like the Captain Margans.
13:20Yeah.
13:20I like the rear nephew.
13:22Because you only need one of them, and then you sleep good.
13:25So I like a rear nephew with a Coke.
13:28But generally, squash is good.
13:30Orange squash or summer fruits.
13:32Thank you so much.
13:33Orange squash is good.
13:34I agree with you on that.
13:36I wouldn't drink alcohol.
13:37I don't drink alcohol.
13:38Why not?
13:38Neither do I.
13:39It's sometimes sensible not to, but anyone can drink alcohol if they want.
13:43It's probably good that you don't drink.
13:44Like, you wouldn't remember the dates, maybe.
13:47Well, yeah.
13:49Now, Elijah.
13:51Hello.
13:55Would you mind sharing the whole father-uncle situation?
14:02It's a lot.
14:03When I was about 11, my mum said that she wants me to go to Uncle Bertie's house to do
14:10chores on a Friday night and I might get pocket money.
14:14And I found out that, eventually, that he was my birth father.
14:19What?
14:22When my mum first came to this country in 1957, I think, she left behind in Jamaica, four kids, and
14:30my dad, Winston.
14:32Her mission was to earn money, get somewhere to live, and then send for the rest of the family.
14:40But she met my birth father, who was called Bertie.
14:45She was sick, and he made her soup and looked after her.
14:48And then when she was better, he kind of showed her around Dudley and I think they fell in love,
14:53basically.
14:55She really relied on him in those early days.
14:58She wrote to my dad and said, there's a whole thing going on here, I'm pregnant, but if you can't
15:06forgive me, then we'll just go our separate ways.
15:10But he said, I forgive you. And so Winston came to Britain with my sister Kay, and they became a
15:16family again.
15:18You know, we make our family and our relationships where we find them.
15:23If we're in trouble, we lean on each other.
15:26They went through a whole thing there, and it's something to survive, and they did survive it.
15:31That's amazing, I like that.
15:37Sean!
15:38Sean!
15:40Here's my man who read the thing at the beginning.
15:43Go on, Sean.
15:44Dude!
15:46Hello, Lenny Henry.
15:47It's just Lenny, you can just call me Lenny.
15:49Okay, Lenny, Lenny.
15:52The question is, what is your favourite memory of your late mother?
16:03Lots of memories, lots of them about food.
16:05She used to give you this soup bowl that was this big, and we had to finish it.
16:11You must finish it, you know.
16:12Finish the soup.
16:13And we had to be like this.
16:15We'd sleep all the way through the wrestling.
16:17Yeah, I got lots of memories of my mother as well.
16:22She passed away...
16:262009.
16:28But you still remember her?
16:30Yeah, I really miss her, and I'm pretty sure you miss your mum as well.
16:34Yeah, my mum was sick for seven years.
16:37Yeah.
16:40And when she was really sick, I was supposed to go on tour to Australia, and I said to the
16:47doctor, I should not go to Australia.
16:50And he went, no, no, no.
16:51He said, we've got this, Len.
16:53Your mum will be fine.
16:55I was there for four days.
16:57I did a show.
16:59And interestingly, in the interval, I went to the dressing room, and I just sat in the dressing room, and
17:04I closed my eyes.
17:05And I heard voices talking to me, and one of them was my mum's, saying, you're going to be all
17:10right, you're going to have a good time tonight.
17:12And I did the second half, and it was a fantastic show.
17:15And then at the end, the promoter came in and said, I've got some bad news for you, your mum's
17:20passed away.
17:21Yeah.
17:22And it was a whirlwind.
17:25I had to stop the tour for like 15 days, because I had to bury my mum.
17:29And every show from that moment on, I was shaking.
17:34But the audiences were so lovely, they held me up.
17:37And I hope your friends held you up too.
17:40Yeah, I agree, I agree.
17:49Right, we're going to move on to setting up for something for you.
17:52Are you with me drinking alcohol?
17:54I mean, I remember all the dates when I, and I've tried alcohol, I haven't liked it.
17:58Do you remember the dates when you drank alcohol?
18:00I definitely do, yeah.
18:01But the viewers would, we won't have time, it's a, it's a half an hour show.
18:06It's a half an hour show.
18:06And with the ad breaks, it's good.
18:10The viewers might not get the information they want.
18:12It would make the show longer.
18:13Because we won't, I won't be able to say all the information.
18:16No, I can't.
18:17So, there was a slimy song.
18:19Yeah, we were coming up a lot.
18:19Yeah.
18:24I couldn't say it was a little bit.
18:28I couldn't say it was a little bit.
18:30I won't say it was a little bit.
18:38We said it wasn't a little bit.
18:38So, I still had to say the most.
18:40So, the girls are really worried about me.
18:49sometimes in our lives we all have pain we all have sorrow but if we are wise we
19:00know that there's always tomorrow
19:15and for it won't be long so I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
19:28please swallow your pride if I have things you need to borrow
19:37oh no one can feel those of your needs and you can let it show
19:47we just call on me brother when you need a hand we all need somebody to lean on
19:58I just might have a problem that you don't understand
20:03we all need somebody to lean on
20:09if there's a load you have to bear that you can't carry
20:21I'm right up the road I share your load if you just call me
20:27if you just call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, lean on me
20:42when you're not strong I'll be your friend
20:47I'll help you carry on for it won't be long so I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
21:03lean on on me
21:12it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, I'm gonna
21:33need somebody to lean on me
21:35you did great again jules well done jules done good man it was the right thing you came on this
21:44show do you think so yeah i felt like it was an honor to be with you today
21:51it was an authentic experience and i've loved being with you it's been weird
21:59you get asked things that you never get asked on the one show and you're expected to answer the
22:03questions properly i hope i've done that have i done that yes you guys are fantastic
22:17oh my days but i'm not gonna dance on my own
22:29this is great
22:47it's the same feeling i always seem to get around you
22:54there's no mistaking i'm clearly taken by the simple gift
23:00the stuff is starting now
23:14the stuff is starting now