John Cleese left Roman Kemp and Lauren Laverne in an awkward spot on The One Show after asking the BBC presenters to introduce themselves.
Roman has co-hosted the BBC magazine programme since 2022, including The One Show’s 20th anniversary special. Lauren joined the presenting team a year later and has enjoyed a lengthy radio career, including hosting BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
The unusual exchange came during Tuesday evening’s programme, when the Monty Python star appeared alongside MasterChef critic Grace Dent and former Love Island contestant Shakira Khan.
The One Show’s John Cleese asks Roman Kemp and Lauren Laverne who they are
The awkward moment began when John turned to Roman and asked: “I like this show, what’s your name?”
After Roman introduced himself, the comedian responded: “I’ve only known one Roman, Roman Polanski.”
Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor before leaving the US. He has not returned to the country or travelled to nations likely to extradite him.
Roman appeared to take the comment in his stride, replying: “He’s another famous Roman, indeed.”
John repeated, “Another famous Roman,” before gesturing towards Lauren and asking Roman: “And your friend, what’s her name?”
Lauren then gave her name twice after John failed to hear it the first time, prompting him to tell her: “That’s a nice name too.”
John eventually wrapped up the introductions by saying: “Very good. Well I’m very happy to be on the show.”
Roman replied: “We’re very grateful to have you.”
‘He’s lost the plot’
A clip of the exchange was later shared on X with the caption “awkward chatter”, where it attracted around 800,000 views at the time.
Viewers were divided over what John was doing, with some appearing to take his questions as genuine confusion and expressing concern over the encounter.
“Incredibly awkward,” one user wrote.
“Got to the age where he does not care,” another person insisted.
“This explains his Twitter activity. He’s lost the [bleep]ing plot,” a third said.
“They were obviously [bleep]ing themselves in case he said something offensive. The tension looked crazy,” a fourth added.
However, others were convinced that John had deliberately acted as though he didn’t recognise Roman and Lauren as part of a comedy routine.
“It’s funny and charming. Deliberately so,” one person said.
“He’s toying with them. He knows exactly what he’s doing,” another shared.
A third declared: “He was playing with them. One of the reasons that his comedy is successful is that disrupts the norm and makes people shift uneasily in their seats at times.”
How The One Show interview continued
The unusual atmosphere continued briefly when John kept applauding after the rest of the studio had stopped. Roman and Lauren then moved the discussion towards Monty Python.
That allowed the interview to move on to the comedy work John remains best known for, rather than focusing on the unusual introductions.
The One Show airs on weekdays at 7pm on BBC One.
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