Ghosts star Kiell Smith-Bynoe has talked candidly about working on hit sitcom Ghosts and pivoting towards co-presenting The Great British Sewing Bee in an interview with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett for their podcast Dish.

Read some exclusive snippets from their interview below and listen to the podcast here.

KIELL ON THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: It is a big show, yeah. It's a big beast. It's out now. Yeah, it's weird that they asked me. I was on the Christmas special as a contestant, and then I made enough of an impression to be asked back, which is, it's an achievement, sure, but like, I've never, I've never presented before so to be asked me to present like a mainstream, primetime BBC One show that so many people love, I was like, are you sure? And yeah, they were sure, and then we did it. 

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: It's hard work, though. Presenting's hard. Well done, mate.

KIELL ON THE SEWING COMMUNITY

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: I mean they're quite nice. Supportive, nice, and usually got pink hair or something. Everyone that's like been in either my DMs or my comments about the show has always said like really nice positive things. I mean you get the odd, like, I don't understand why they have to have an annoying person annoying the sewers. Can't it just be about the sewing? Yeah, that's a proper, like the hardcore sewing fan. It is just people sewing, yeah.

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: And also, it was a completely new job for me, I've never presented before, I was giving it a go. But you have to do so many things, you have to sort of navigate the show in a certain way, because you know that you've got this a bit and this bit and this and you got to get through those. But you've also got to deal with real people and their real emotions, whether they're doing well or they're doing badly, whether they know that they're not gonna finish in time.

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Sometimes someone might need half an hour to finish this thing and they've got five minutes left. And then they're like, ‘Kiell, go and ask them how it’s going,’ I'm like, they're crying into the clothes. You can see how it's going. But I still have to come over and be like- ‘So.. what's going on?’ ‘I'm not gonna [crying].’ And then you have to deal with that and then be like, ‘Okay, so!’ So it's like a really, really different thing, especially from like playing characters. But I gave it a go. Yeah. I think I've done alright.

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Until I was a presenter, the day that I was a contestant was the hardest day of work that I'd ever done. Because I was really trying, like, ‘cause I'm quite competitive as well. And I was like, well, yeah, no, we're all having fun, but also I want to win. So, like, let's try and do this thing. I sewed the first jumper inside out. So, I was already on the back seat- foot, and seat. And, also, here's another thing. How can you be calling a part of the sewing machine a foot, when you also have to use your foot when you sew? Whose idea was that? So when someone's like put the foot down, I'm putting my foot down. And then it's going [sewing machine noise] And they’re like no, that's not what we mean. Don't call it that then! But yeah, it was hard but being a presenter was I think maybe harder.

WORKING WITH PATRICK AND ESME 

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Yeah, I don't know, I thought Patrick would be the strict one, like the sort of Simon Cowell kind of character, but it's actually Esme. She gets in there and she is poking holes in everything. ‘There's a hole there,’ [ripping sound] and literally just like, anytime she can find a hole, she'll stick her finger in it. 

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Yeah. She’s like, look, there's one, and then, and like pulling threads, she's like, nope, unfinished. She's savage. Yeah. But I mean, obviously very good at her- and she takes it very seriously, and they're all up for a laugh and whatnot, but they, they do take the craft very seriously because it is like how they got to where they are. And these people are there because they're going to like, it's a massive opportunity to take them to the next level from amateur sewers to like pros. So obviously you have to be a bit like of a strict judge. They're great, but also, I mean, too many fingers in too many holes is all I’m saying. That's the short answer, too many fingers in too many holes.

SPENDING TIME GROWING UP IN BARBADOS 

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: I hated it. Yeah. Because all my friends were still in London. Like, graffit-ing a car or something, and, that's what I wanted to do. But instead I like, had to go to the beach. And, um….Yeah. I had to go lay on the beach. And I'm an only child, so it was just like me and a bunch of adults, because it was just like my mum taking me to different family members or friends or whatever. But then I got older, and I decided that- my mum hadn't been back for like eighteen years, so I decided I was going to take her back December 22. And I went back for the first time in ages and realised how expensive it is. And I was like, oh actually, thanks mum.

KIELL ON GHOSTS

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Yeah. People have come up to me in the street telling me that I've made their kids cry. And I'm like, it wasn't me. It really wasn't. Yeah, the creators decided that…That was it. And yeah, called it a day at five, which is great. I could have done one more. Financially speaking. Could have done another one. Yeah, but it's so much fun and it was like, you know, when you come out of, you sort of take those things for granted when you're doing it, and you sort of complain about how cold and dusty the house is, but then when it comes around to the next January and you're not working, you wish to be back in that cold old house. And no, we really loved it and we love each other and became a family, and yeah. And also they’re like the funniest performers in the country, I would say, so it was a real pleasure to be a part of that. And people still come up to you and say nice things and say that like- because it's a show that has brought people together. And there's not a lot of shows that I feel like our entire family can watch from like grandchildren up until grandparents. And that is one of those shows. And people would sit around and watch it together, especially at Christmas.

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL OF GHOSTS

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: Well the thing is, it's like, we were filming the Christmas specials in like February. By the time they come out in December, and you're doing like a press run, and they're asking you like, oh, so tell us what happens in the Christmas specials, and you're like, I've got no idea. We filmed that eleven months ago, I don't have a clue what it's about. There was some talk about having a ghost that was, like, on the outside- and I think we delved into it a little bit in the last series, when there was a ghost neighbour who was on the other side of the fence. Yeah, there were talk of like, bringing in extra ghosts in different parts of the house. But it didn't happen. That’s more people for me to ignore as well, it's too much for me.

IGNORING PEOPLE DURING GHOSTS FILMING

KIELL SMITH-BYNOE: It's difficult. And also, going away from it and then coming back, and then remembering that that's what you're supposed to be doing. It's quite hard, because you're sort of- like, you're catching up with your mates, you've just seeing them, and you're like, oh yeah, dadada, and action, and then they start talking and you’re like, oh. 

picture credit: Dish/Waitrose/S:E Creative Studio