Celeb Gogglebox star SLAMS C4 show insisting filming ‘was like torture’ and he’d NEVER do it again

FRANK Skinner has revealed he hated his recent appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox with David Baddiel – saying he was desperate for it to end and shockingly compared it to being stubbed with a burning cigarette.

The comedian said he even voiced his unhappiness to the programme makers – leading David to suggest he make his displeasure less obvious.

The former TV comedy duo favourites appeared on Channel 4 in aid of Stand Up To Cancer two weeks ago.

However, Frank has since said that the experience was even worse than his most disastrous stand-up gig he did on the Isle of Man – which resulted in him vowing to never to return to the island again.

Speaking honestly to his podcast colleagues Emily Dean and Pier Novellie about the two experiences, Frank revealed: “You know when I said I didn’t enjoy doing the gig on the Isle of Man, well it was a glorious pleasure compared to filming Gogglebox.

“There’s a place in Wareham in Dorset called Monkey World, and it’s beautiful because they’re often monkeys that have been rescued from unkindness on the continent, and a lot of Spanish, in particular, there’s a thing of having your photo taken with a monkey.

“The way to make them behave – and you can see this when you get close – is they’ve got cigarette burns on their skin that they use to make them do what they want them to do. And doing Gogglebox was a very similar experience.”

Asked if he was going over the top, Frank admitted he was not as he went on to claim the show was heavily “produced” and suggested it was not reflective of simply sitting and watching the TV.

He said on the podcast: “No. I thought me and Dave sitting watching the telly together – we’ve been doing that for years – we’ve always had such a laugh doing it.

“But what happens, it’s very, very produced.”

Exposing the filming process, he continued: “So you sit in a room – you only watch like ten minutes of a programme.

“We’re sitting watching the telly and we start talking, and a voice says ‘Say something about his jacket’. Then it would stop, and they’d say ‘Can you not go into digressions, it’s funny if you keep it close to what’s actually happening’.

“And pretty soon I’m thinking ‘just please make this stop’.

“And when I left – I’d made it pretty clear in a politer way – I said ‘Sorry, I thought this was going to be like enjoyable’.”

Asked on his Frank Off The Radio: The Frank Skinner Podcast by Dean if he actually said that, he insisted: “Yes. As I left I said ‘anyway good luck with all of it’, and the producer said ‘you’re not going to watch it are you?’

“And I said ‘No, no, I’m not going to watch it’ – and I haven’t.

“It’s such a shame because I think we could have had a laugh and stuff. 

“But to be fair to them, they know how to make it – they’ve been making it for years.  

“The producer was a really nice guy, they were nice people, they got me fish and chips.”

Taking a swipe at the cast of the regular version of the programme, he added: “But they’ve been working with a lot of non-professionals on Gogglebox, who probably need a lot of guidance. Why change a winning formula?”

“I think it’s quite helpful as you get older and you’ve got less time, to within a couple of weeks discover two things that you know you’ll never do again.

“The Isle of Man was a joyous festival of mirth compared to Gogglebox.”

Revealing another shocking truth from the filming process, Frank went on to admit that the home they recorded in was a rental that had no connection to either him or David.

He bluntly confessed: “Somebody who has a nice house has rented it out for filming.”

Gogglebox, which sees families, couples and friends comment on TV shows, has been running on Channel 4 since 2013 and has spawned more than 20 series including spin-offs.