Former Gogglebox star Lisa Baggs has lifted the lid on starring on the popular Channel 4 show.
The Baggs family - matriarch Lisa, 53, husband Terry, 56, and sons Joe, 23, and George, 17, - joined the hit programme back in 2020 and filmed three series before announcing last year they had quit.
Now, ahead of the new series launching on Friday, Lisa has broken her silence on their sudden departure.
Of the Baggs not featuring in the upcoming series, mum Lisa, said jokingly: "It was the most exciting time - apart from being with my husband."
"For somebody of my age, I turned 50 that year to be asked to go on a show like that was amazing and I really, really enjoyed it," she continued.
"We did it for two years and then it was time for us to trying something else. So we did have a really good time and I'm still friends will all the producers. Everyone was lovely."
The mother-of-three also divulged a few behind-the-scenes show secrets during the Saving Grace podcast - with everything from family rows to drinking bans.
Scouted through TikTok
During the chat, Lisa revealed the family were scouted by producers through TikTok, with Lisa's sons Joe and George already 'famous' on the platform.
The siblings boasted hundreds of thousands of followers, with Joe's TikTok platform now standing at 1.3million.
Their legions of followers took to Twitter at news of the signing, with one writing at the time: "Yay!!! The Baggs family!!!! please bring the same energy from TikTok to #GOGGLEBOX."
While a different fan Tweeted: "The Baggs on #GOGGLEBOX has made my week! If you’ve seen George Baggs or Joe Baggs on TikTok you will know how funny they are."
Drink bans
Lisa said how she would secretly sneak off to the kitchen to drink wine - when she wasn't meant to drink alcohol while filming scenes for the show.
She revealed: "I wasn't supposed to drink was I? I will say, son number two and three used to say to me 'mum you are not allowed to drink' and then, without them knowing I would have a bottle of wine in the fridge and be getting drunk."
The mother-of-three revealed how she was "mortified" when she looked drunk on the show after she treated herself to some wine because she wasn't in the mood to film.
"I was really fed up all my friends were out," she recalled. " I had two glasses of wine. It looks like I had ten. The next day I was mortified."
Family rows
While the family are closer-than-ever, Lisa admitted there were times where filming got tense and the family would head to the kitchen to settle their differences.
She said: "The boys wouldn't let me eat while we were filming because I eat really loudly.
"We used to row in the kitchen all the time. Joe was like my manager. He used to tell me off all the time. He's a proper diva."
Husband Terry's comments 'never put in'
TikTok star Grace Keeling, who was hosting the podcast, said she found Terry "really funny" in real life - worlds away from his quiet character on the TV screen.
And Lisa said Terry's comments were nearly always cut from the editor's floor.
She said: "It was never put in. Some of the times we were crying all four of us and they said "guys can you stop now" and we were just crying. It went on for hours."
Awkward microphone moments
And Lisa said there were plenty of awkward moments for the family while filming, with the Baggs having to run off the kitchen to "boil a kettle" when really they needed to pass wind.
She said: "We would go into the kitchen we were all microphoned up, nine times out of ten one of us wanted to fart so we would have to hold the mic."
Recalling one embarrassing moment, she said: "I leant over by the kettle and we just had mounds of pizza. I thought this really isn't going to end well and I went to Joe, 'I hold my microphone and thought I'll just let a little one out'.
As I've done that the soundman walked in and said Lisa we need to change your microphone. And I did once let it all out around the sofa and then sat down. I thought 'this is the most embarrassing ever', if they put that in I'm not filming next week."
Gogglebox's stars earn some money, but it's only a reported £1,500 per family, shared out between them - nowhere near enough for them to give up the day job.
And so patriarch Terry is a car salesman, while Joe works in recruitment and youngest son George is training to be a plumber.
George attended Birchwood High School while big brother Joe was a sixth-former at Herts and Essex High School.
- The new series of Gogglebox starts on Friday on Channel 4 at 9pm
