‘I never thought I’d sell out the Apollo’: Mo Gilligan on why he’d rather be gardening than partying

Mo Gilligan: ‘I was looking around and I was just, like: Whoa, I have come very far in my career.’ Styling by Stefan Richards; jumper by Percival; grooming by Sam Lascelle using Giorgio Armani and Kiehl’s Skincare. Photograph: Pål Hansen/The Observer

In 2011, Mo Gilligan posted on Twitter that he quite fancied hosting the Brit Awards. Or the Mobos: he wasn’t that picky. At the time, he was a very green, 23-year-old comedian, who lived with his mum in south London and worked as a sales assistant in shops – it might have been Jo Malone in Westfield or Levi’s Covent Garden back then. Gilligan set a target for 2013 and signed off: “fingers crossed”.

This February, admittedly a few years later than projected, Gilligan stood on stage in front of 20,000 people at what he called “the MO2”. Wearing a deep-green Ozwald Boateng three-piece suit, he had taken over from Jack Whitehall as the steward of the first gender-neutral Brits. His impression of Liam Gallagher had gone down well, and he’d mostly got away with accidently saying “fuck” on primetime live TV: “Auntie Patrice won’t be happy,” he apologised. “No curried goat for me.” Now, in an ad break, Gilligan had a few seconds to take in the scene.