Steph and Dom, the posh couple from Gogglebox who love a tipple, invited Nigel Farage round to their house. Channel 4 filmed the encounter. Then they broadcast it.
No, we don’t know what’s going on either, but we’ve gathered the salient points in a very surreal half hour of TV.
1. Messy trousers
Dom starts off by popping a few excitable beers. A little goes on the Ukip leader’s trousers.
“That’s alright… We’ll survive,” said Nigel.
This is not the last we’ll see of his messy trousers.
2. Pronunciation
“Is it Faridge, Farage, or Fridge?” asks Steph.
Nigel utters something about Mancunians pronouncing it differently, but apparently he doesn’t mind.
3. Europe
Well there had to be some politics somewhere. All the national stereotypes throughout the rest of the programme don’t really count.
4. How cool smoking is
Remember, Nigel is a man of the people. And people smoke. Or at least smokers do.
5. Jokes in the pub
“I’m here tonight with David Cameron. As you can tell,” Dom says.
Well, at least he got a laugh off the locals.
6. Being hounded by the press
Turns out Nigel doesn’t like media attention. Who would’ve thought it?!
“They’d like to see me go in (my local pub), drink too much, and say something indiscreet,” he chides.
Doesn’t that just happen at press conferences and radio phone-ins anyway?
7. Why we should be allowed to smoke in a pub
Remember, smoking is cool. We established this earlier. Man of the people, etc…
8. Austrians
“My sister’s married to an Austrian. Called Adolf, by the way,” Dom says.
As he reveals some titbits about his family, Nigel actually roars with laughter.
9. A woman’s place
Nigel covers for Dom as Steph asks why she wasn’t invited down the pub. Presumably they couldn’t find her because she was breastfeeding in a corner.
10. The end of his first marriage
“Was the second wife anything to do with it?” asks Dom. Michael Parkinson would never have done that…
11. Being prime minister
“There are two types of people in politics. Those that want to be something and those that want to do something.”
Noble, Nigel, noble.
12. His pay packet
The European Parliament no longer pays Nigel’s wife’s salary. The Ukip leader doesn’t really explain who does though.
13. His residence
The tone in which Nigel describes it makes it sound like an absolute hovel. Fortunately a lot of people on Twitter were listening to the actual words.
14. Death
Apparently Nigel has survived testicular cancer, a car crash, and a plane crash. We think Dom was threatening to poison him at one point too.
15. More messy trousers (we told you they’d be back)
Nigel gets up and trips over a step. Champagne flies everywhere. The Parkers hatch a plan that sees Nigel in Dom’s ripped jeans.
This is the most dramatic part of the programme.
16. Jokes about Hitler
That unfortunate photograph with the mic is brought up, and Nigel emphasises that he doesn’t find Hitler an amusing figure. Of course most people don’t have to emphasise that.
17. Mussolini’s granddaughter
Nigel somehow diverts Hitler chat into name-dropping Mussolini’s granddaughter. But since Alessandra is an MEP (just like Nigel) it’s not actually very surprising he’s met her…
“Pretty girl” oozes Nigel a few too many times for comfort.
“Wife number three?” enquires Dom.
https://twitter.com/LabourEoin/status/544620671356403712
Verdict?
All in all, an incredibly strange show. Still, this could be the start of a bizarre political franchise for Channel 4.
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