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00:03Oh
00:04Do you want to practice his name?
00:05Whose name?
00:06Who do you think?
00:07Oh, Stephen Henry
00:08Stephen Henry Henry
00:10He's in trouble, that's the Lenny Henry
00:12Oh
00:15Hi
00:15You alright, nice to see you
00:17You're a lot of Saturday
00:17Nice to be here
00:18How are you?
00:19You look like I'm the same, same person
00:20Do you know what? I am the same person
00:22You never get older
00:23That's very good
00:24I'll shake your hand
00:25I love you hanging on me, I'm on Scarlett
00:27Nice to see you, Caroline
00:28So I heard you, you're divorced
00:32Pardon?
00:33You got married in 1984
00:34That's right
00:35And you got divorced in 2010
00:37This is great
00:39I was watching YouTube
00:40I saw you on there and you were doing something
00:43Was I?
00:44Yeah
00:46How do you get here?
00:48Are you just going to ask me all this?
00:51Lovely to meet you
00:52Nice to meet you too
00:53Hi
00:53Nice to meet you
00:55Nice to meet you too
00:55How's things?
00:57Great
00:58Thank you
01:08Sean, would you like to introduce us?
01:13Welcome to the assembly
01:17Our collective of autistic
01:23You are divergent
01:25You are divergent
01:26And learning disabled
01:27Interviewers
01:29Our walls are
01:31No subject
01:33Is out of bounds
01:35No question
01:37Is off the table
01:39And all might happen
01:42Please tell us who you are
01:47My name is Lenny Henry
01:48I'm an actor
01:49And a writer
01:50And a comedian
01:51And I haven't done anything wrong
01:53And can I go soon?
01:57And you're a sir
01:58And I'm a sir
01:59I'm a sir
02:00Not sure how popular that is at the moment
02:02Yeah
02:02And we're going to start with a question from Thomas Love
02:09Hello, Sir Lenny Henry
02:11Night of the Realm
02:12Hello
02:12How are you?
02:13I'm fine thank you
02:14My name is Thomas Love
02:15I'm neurodivergent
02:16Autistic
02:17Morbidly obese
02:18And bipolar
02:19In December 2026
02:23Christmas
02:23I went to Man to Swords
02:25I took a photo with E.T.
02:27The Steven Spielberg character
02:29I didn't take a photograph of your animatronic wax figure
02:35It's not there anymore
02:36What have they done with it?
02:38Question mark
02:40I think they might have melted it down
02:42So they can have two copies of Will Smith
02:45Oh
02:47From the French mission
02:48There used to be one of me in a pink suit
02:49Has that gone as well?
02:50Do you think there could be one of me one day?
02:52Probably, yeah
02:53You should talk some about that
02:55Yeah
02:56Yeah
03:01Thank you Thomas Love
03:03Now we're going to come to Julius
03:08Hello
03:09In the past you've said that some of your idols have been Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby
03:15Who's your current idol and should we place them on a watch list?
03:23You can't help who you liked when you grew up you know
03:25You know when Michael Jackson sang the Diana Ross special and he was like six or seven
03:30The whole world fell in love with him
03:32And Bill Cosby
03:34Arguably was one of the funniest men in the world
03:36So
03:37Maybe it's best not to have idols
03:40Maybe it's best to believe in yourself
03:42And not be on no watch list
03:43Yeah
03:44I think that's some good advice
03:46Thank you
03:47It makes sense
03:47Michael Jackson was born on exactly the same day as you
03:50Yeah he was
03:51Yeah
03:5129th of August 1958
03:53Yeah he was yeah
03:54And now a question from Chardonnay
03:56Chardonnay?
03:57Nice to meet you sir Lenny
03:59My grandparents were born in the Caribbean
04:01My parents from Jamaica
04:03High respect to Jamaica they will rise
04:06Thank you
04:06Now my question is
04:09Was Britain worse when you were younger or now?
04:14Um
04:15I come from a place that was between
04:18Smedic
04:18Which is where they had one of the worst elections in the world
04:22Where the slogan was if you want an n-word for a neighbour vote Labour
04:26And Wolverhampton where Enoch Powell made the rivers of blood speech
04:29So I grew up in the middle of that
04:32Personally
04:33Um
04:34I was bullied a lot at school
04:36What?
04:37But um
04:38I think the day I discovered that I could be funny
04:42The people around me who became my friends at school
04:45Started to laugh and go
04:46Well this is Lenny, Lenny's funny, leave him alone
04:48So they came to my defence
04:50And they helped me get through that period of my life where I was being pushed around a lot
04:54And now
04:56I think there aren't elements that would like it to go back to the way it used to be
05:01But I think we all have to be allies
05:03And we have to work so that that doesn't happen
05:06Thank you, Sir Lenny
05:07Thank you, Chardonnay
05:09Okay, we're going to hear from Nicola now
05:11Hi, Nicola
05:17What order do you wash your body parts?
05:21That's a bit personal
05:23Yeah
05:23If I said something really rude, what would you say then?
05:27I'm just asking that question
05:32I always do this
05:33I do this first, then I do this, and then I do everything else
05:36But don't use, um, shower gel or shampoo
05:41Do I what?
05:41I like shower gel, but I do like the hard soap
05:44So?
05:45Because you can get it in there
05:47Get it anywhere?
05:48Where?
05:49Wherever
05:51Let's go
05:53Um
05:53And then other times I just get the shower head and you know
05:57Is the shower head
05:58Yeah
05:58To go down
05:59Yeah
06:04You know what's in Premier Inn on TV?
06:06Do you want to go and stay in a Premier Inn?
06:08Yeah
06:08I know a guy, you just come to me and I'll sit down
06:11Then, when is it?
06:16Kiwi, you're up
06:19Hiya
06:20Wagwan
06:20Wagwan
06:21Aw, nice one
06:23Easy
06:26How much do you feel like the weight of comic relief lies on your shoulders?
06:32Um
06:35I never really saw it as a weight
06:38I wanted to do something
06:39I got to a place where people looked like me and they were struggling
06:43And, um
06:45From the minute I saw that I just wanted to do something
06:49It's not a weight
06:49It wasn't ever a weight
06:52Do you regret the white saviour celebrity era?
06:56Um
06:57Speaking as somebody who is in that
06:59I don't see myself as a white saviour
07:00But I do think we had to think really hard about
07:03Who's making this
07:05Program
07:06Who's making the films of the people who need help?
07:10You know, we went to Burkina Faso
07:12One of the film capitals of the third world
07:14And there was nobody on our camera crew
07:16Now, I worked mainly with a white camera crew
07:19My whole career
07:20But I did start to realise that actually
07:24It should be more mixed
07:25It should be more inclusive
07:27Um
07:27So I did say that stuff
07:29And it has changed
07:30Thank you so much
07:31Right on
07:32Okay, thank you, Hughie
07:34Comic relief has been the third Friday in March
07:37And children need has been the third Friday in November
07:41Is that true?
07:42Yeah
07:43It is true
07:44Yeah
07:45Anand, are you ready?
07:47What's your name?
08:10Anand
08:11In his mouth
08:12The duckling was in his mouth?
08:14Yeah
08:16What did you do?
08:17Don't know what I did
08:21I saw a dog licking his bum and I don't know what I did
08:24I think I walked away
08:25But that's great
08:28Thank you very much
08:31Thank you
08:31Thank you
08:55And I said
08:56Phew
08:57Be a bit nerve-wracking to be on that show
08:59She said, no, you should do it
09:00And I was like
09:01And then I got asked to be on the show
09:03And I said, what do you think?
09:05And Lisa said, you should do that
09:07So that's why I'm here
09:09Thanks, Lisa
09:10All right
09:11I'm on it now
09:13It's like being at speeding court
09:17I've never been asked so many questions in my entire life
09:21I'm going to go back to this now
09:23All right
09:23My next question is
09:25I heard your partner is a casting director
09:28Casting director, yes
09:29Yes
09:29Did you meet her in the audition room?
09:32Are you saying, did she use the casting couch?
09:34Yeah
09:36No, no, she was actually a producer on a show that I did
09:39I was in Shakespeare's Othello
09:42And so I met her then
09:44Aw
09:45We had lots of cups of tea
09:47And I just started to like her more and more
09:49Aw
09:51Why haven't you put a ring on it then?
09:53Oh
09:53Hey
09:53What are you doing?
09:54What are you doing?
09:57What are you doing?
09:57Have you been talking to her?
10:00Thank you, Mikey
10:02Do they just ask you anything here?
10:05Yeah
10:15Just like candy
10:17I can
10:18Oh
10:19Are you good at dancing?
10:21I can move
10:21Can you dance?
10:22Maybe at the end
10:25Hello
10:25Greetings for Lenny Henry
10:26Greetings
10:27Throughout your life
10:29What is the hardest decision that you have to forgive yourself for?
10:33Oh
10:35That's a very good question
10:39I was in a minstrel show
10:42Although the guy who ran it kept saying
10:45It's not about race, it's about the music and the costumes
10:49Every time I saw these white guys blacked up
10:52I just thought
10:54This does feel like a race thing
10:55It feels kind of racist
10:57Yeah
11:01It did make me have issues
11:05Like you're betraying who you are
11:07You know, my family didn't come to see me ever when I was in that show
11:11And
11:12It really weighed on me
11:14I did feel like I was stuck
11:16And so it made me very down for quite a long time
11:20Thank you so much
11:21Thank you
11:24And now we're going to come to Jodie
11:27How are you?
11:28I'm fine, how are you?
11:29I'm okay
11:29We've been talking
11:31I wasn't doing, I was quiet
11:33That was the quiet bit
11:34Do you like EastEnders?
11:36I watch EastEnders
11:36My mum was a big fan of EastEnders and Coronation Street and Crossroads
11:39I don't watch it all the time now though
11:41Who's your favourite character when you used to watch it?
11:43Get out of my pub!
11:45Oh Peggy Mitchell
11:47That one
11:47Yeah, my favourite is sorry because Zoe's back
11:51Zoe's back
11:53She thought she'd kill someone but it wasn't
11:55It was her daughter killed someone
11:56Are you obsessed with EastEnders?
11:57Yes
11:57Wow
11:59Wow
11:59Hey, the actress Barbara Windsor has been dead since 2020
12:02Dead?
12:03Yeah
12:04Wow
12:05What's your favourite food?
12:07Hang on, I'm just celebrating Google guy over here
12:09Were you literally injected with Google?
12:13It's fantastic that you know all this stuff
12:15Have you got a dog?
12:17No
12:17Oh my sister has
12:18Really?
12:19What kind of dog?
12:20Rottweiler
12:21Ah right
12:22Rottweiler
12:23Not come round your gas
12:25Now we're going to hear from Lydia
12:28Hello
12:28Hi Lydia
12:30My mum has diabetes
12:32What type of diabetes do you have?
12:35I have the good one
12:36I have type 2
12:38It's a good one occasion for that?
12:39I had to change my diet
12:41Okay
12:42And then
12:42That's why you're slim
12:43Yeah
12:44Before you put a lot of weight on TV
12:47Saying I was fat
12:49Thanks a lot
12:51No
12:55Why are you looking at me so interested?
12:59Gary, you're up
13:01Now, I'm a bummer in my friend's pub
13:04Great
13:04What's your favourite drink of choice?
13:07I like rum
13:09But I don't like the Captain Margans
13:11Yeah
13:11I like the Rea Nephew
13:13Oh
13:13Because you only need one of them
13:15And then you sleep good
13:17So I like a Rea Nephew with a Coke
13:19But generally squash is good
13:21Orang squash or summer fruits
13:23Thank you so much
13:25Orang squash is good
13:26I agree with you on that
13:27I wouldn't drink alcohol
13:28I don't drink alcohol
13:30Why not?
13:30Neither do I
13:31It's sometimes sensible not to
13:32But you
13:32But anyone can drink alcohol if they want
13:34It's probably good that you don't drink
13:36Light
13:36You wouldn't remember the dates maybe
13:38Well, yeah
13:41Now, Elijah
13:42Hello
13:43Thank you
13:46Would you mind sharing the whole
13:48Father-uncle situation?
13:53It's a lot
13:54When I was about 11
13:58My mum said that she wants me to go to Uncle Bertie's house to do chores on a Friday night
14:04and I might get pocket money
14:06And I found out that eventually that he was my birth father
14:11What?
14:14When my mum first came to this country in 1957, I think
14:18She left behind in Jamaica, four kids and my dad, Winston
14:23Her mission was to earn money, get somewhere to live
14:26And then send for the rest of the family
14:32But she met my birth father
14:34Who was called Bertie
14:36She was sick
14:37And he made her soup and looked after her
14:40And then when she was better
14:42He kind of showed her around Dudley
14:44And I think they fell in love basically
14:46She really relied on him in those early days
14:50She wrote to my dad and said
14:53There's a whole thing going on here
14:55I'm pregnant
14:56But if you
14:57If you can't forgive me
14:59Then
15:00We'll just go our separate ways
15:02But he said I'd forgive you
15:04And so Winston came to Britain
15:06With my sister Kay
15:07And they became a family again
15:10You know, we
15:12We make our family and our relationships where we find them
15:15If we're in trouble
15:16We lean on each other
15:18They went through a whole thing there
15:19And it's something to survive
15:21And they did survive it
15:23That's amazing, I like that
15:24Thank you
15:29Sean!
15:31Here's my man who read the thing at the beginning
15:35Go on Sean
15:36Dude!
15:38Hello Lenny Henry
15:39It's just Lenny, you can just call me Lenny
15:41Okay Lenny, Lenny
15:42The question is
15:47What is your favourite memory of your late mother?
15:53Oh
15:54Lots of memories
15:55Lots of them about food
15:56She used to give you this soup bowl
15:59That was this big
16:01And we had to finish it
16:02You must finish it, you know
16:03Finish the soup
16:04And we had to like
16:05Sleep all the way through the wrestling
16:09Yeah, I got lots of memories of my mother as well
16:13She passed away
16:172009
16:20But you still remember her?
16:22Yeah, I really miss her
16:23And I'm pretty sure you miss your mum as well
16:26Yeah, my mum was sick for seven years
16:28Yeah
16:29Yeah
16:31And er...
16:32When she was really sick
16:34I was supposed to go on tour to Australia
16:37And er...
16:38I said to the doctor
16:40I should not go to Australia
16:41And he went, no, no, no
16:42He said, we've got this Len
16:44Your mum will be fine
16:47I was there for four days
16:48I did a show
16:50And interestingly
16:51In the interval
16:53I went to the dressing room
16:54And I just sat in the dressing room
16:55And I closed my eyes
16:57And I heard voices talking to me
16:59And one of them was my mum's
17:00Saying, you're going to be alright
17:02You're going to have a good time tonight
17:03And I did the second half
17:05And it was a fantastic show
17:06And then at the end
17:08The promoter came in and said
17:10I've got some bad news for you
17:11Your mum's passed away
17:13Yeah
17:14Er...
17:14And it was a whirlwind
17:17And to stop the tour for like 15 days
17:19Cos I had to bury my mum
17:21And every show from that moment on
17:23I was shaking
17:25Erm...
17:26But the audiences were so lovely
17:27They held me up
17:29And I hope your friends held you up too
17:32Yeah, I agree
17:33I agree
17:41Right, we're going to move on
17:42To setting up for something for you
17:44Are you with me drinking alcohol?
17:46I mean, I remember all the dates
17:47When I...
17:48And I've tried alcohol
17:49I haven't liked it
17:50Do you remember the dates when you drank alcohol?
17:51I definitely do
17:52Yeah
17:52But the viewers would...
17:54We won't have time
17:55It's a...
17:56It's a half an hour show
17:57It's a half an hour show
17:58And with the ad break
18:00Erm...
18:00It's good...
18:01The viewers might not get the information they want
18:04They would make the show longer
18:04Cos we won't...
18:05I won't be able to say all the information
18:07No, I can't
18:08Thank you
18:08Thank you
18:09It's a good burger hug
18:14Lean on me
18:15When you're not strong
18:18I'll be your friend
18:21I'll help you carry on
18:25For...
18:28It won't be long
18:29Till I'm gonna need
18:31Somebody to lean on
18:41Sometimes in our lives
18:43We all have pain
18:45We all have sorrow
18:49But...
18:50If we are wise
18:51We know that there's always tomorrow
18:53Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
18:57Lean on me
18:58When you're not strong
19:00I'll be your friend
19:03I'll help you carry on
19:08For...
19:10It won't be long
19:11Till I'm gonna need
19:14Somebody to lean on
19:20Please...
19:21Swallow your pride
19:23If I...
19:25Have things...
19:26You need to borrow
19:29All right
19:30No one can feel
19:32Those of your needs
19:34Only you can let them show
19:36Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
19:40You just call on me brother
19:42When you need a hand
19:45We all need somebody
19:47To lean on
19:50I just might have a problem
19:53That you don't understand
19:55And we all need somebody
19:58To lean on
20:00If this is a load you have to bear
20:02That you can't carry
20:04Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
20:08Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
20:13I'm right up the road
20:14I share your load
20:16If you just call me
20:19If you just call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, lean on me.
20:34When you're not strong, I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long, so I'm
20:49gonna do somebody to lean on, lean on.
21:10CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
21:26You did great again, Jules.
21:29Well done, Jules.
21:32You've done good, man.
21:34It was the right thing you came on this show.
21:36Do you think so?
21:36Yeah.
21:37I felt like it was an honour to be with you today.
21:43It was an authentic experience, and I've loved being with you.
21:48It's been weird.
21:50You get asked things that you never get asked on the one show, and you're expected to answer the questions
21:55properly.
21:56I hope I've done that.
21:59Have I done that?
22:00Yeah, definitely.
22:02Yeah!
22:02Yeah!
22:02Yeah!
22:03Yeah!
22:06You guys are fantastic.
22:09Oh, my days!
22:11Yeah, I know you.
22:12But I'm not gonna dance on my own.
22:14Come on!
22:15Oh, this is great.