‘Our youth clubs are being converted into food banks’: Mo Gilligan on the cost of living crisis, gentrification and The Brits

Yoshitaka Kono

If there’s one thing celebrities love, it’s insisting that they’re just like you. Usually, those comments are met with eyerolls, but when Mo Gilligan tells you he’s a normal guy, I for one believe him. He may rarely be off our TV screens, but the stand-up comedian counteracts the glitz and glamour, the live TV and awards’ shows, by gardening and scoping out deals in his local Sainsbury’s. “I’m very much into really mundane, core normality things because there’s things I do in my life that I don’t want to normalise yet,” he tells me.

You can’t blame Gilligan for being overwhelmed by his success. In a few years, the 34-year-old has gone from stand-up comic (performing under the name Mo the Comedian) and social media star to a Bafta-winning presenter. Looking for entertainment on a Friday night? He’s hosting The Big Narstie Show and his own chat-focused The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan. Scrolling Netflix on a hungover Sunday? Watch his stand-up specials. Flicking channels on a Saturday eve? You’ll find him on the judging panel on The Masked Singer or presenting That’s My Jam or, this weekend, at the helm of the Brit Awards.