‘Almost’ 5ft 11in Josie Gibson and 6ft 7in Stephen Merchant hilariously compared each other as Josie admitted she grew up believing she was related to the creator of The Outlaws.
Stephen, 49, appeared on This Morning on Thursday to talk about the third series of his crime thriller comedy The Outlaws, set in Bristol.
He had barely entered the studio when Josie, 39, stood next to him and said: ‘Can we just stand up because I’m so tall, you’re so tall? How tall is she? ‘
Stephen, co-creator of the cult classic The Office with Ricky Gervais at the turn of the century, cheerfully replied: “6ft 7in” and Josie said: “I’m almost 5’11, 177cm.”
With false surprise, Stephen said: Oh, 5ft 11in, yes, I remember I must have been around, ooh, 12? When she was 5 feet 11 inches.
5ft 11in Josie Gibson, 36, and 6ft 7in Stephen Merchant, 46, were hilariously compared to each other on Thursday’s This Morning when Josie admitted she grew up believing she was related to the Outlaws creator .
Stephen appeared on the show to talk about the third series of his crime thriller comedy The Outlaws, set in Bristol and starring Baby Reindeer actress Jessica Gunning.
With false surprise, Stephen said: Oh, 5ft 11in, yes, I remember I must have been around, ooh, 12? When she was 5 feet 11 inches
They both come from the Bristol area – Josie from South Gloucestershire and Stephen from Hanham – and compared their accents.
Josie revealed she thought she was related to Stephen because they are both tall and from Bristol, and co-host Dermot O’Leary asked: “Is that all it takes?”
During the interview, Stephen talked about how his mother inspired The Outlaws and how he conceived the idea for the show as a child.
The Outlaws follows seven strangers from different walks of life who are forced to complete a Community Payback sentence, set in Bristol.
However, their luck changes (not necessarily for the better) when they discover a bag full of money, not knowing that its true owners are very dangerous.
Stephen shares what his mother says: ‘She was supervising offenders and she used to tell me about the people from Bristol who came to the door and how they were a mix of people, some of whom went to my school.
‘I just thought it was an interesting backdrop for a show, which would become a crime thriller. Since I was a teenager, I always thought it was a good idea for a show.
The star managed to recruit Hollywood legend Christopher Walken for the BBC program ‘comparing Bristol to San Francisco’.
He told Josie and Dermot, 51, about the Academy Award winner’s character.: ‘He is a fairly calm man, a thoughtful person.
“I took him to Stonehenge and he didn’t speak for the first hour. Then he said, ‘Apparently blue stones have healing properties.’ He asked to touch them and the woman said “No” quite firmly and I said “But it’s an Oscar winner!”
‘When you ask him a question, he doesn’t answer straight away, it’s like he’s buffering, but he’s just reflecting. “It’s like having a Zoom conversation in person.”
Josie revealed she thought she was related to Stephen because they were both tall and from Bristol, and co-host Dermot O’Leary asked: “Is that all it takes?”
Stephen based The Outlaws on stories of troubled youth from Bristol that he heard from his mother as a child.
He said of Christopher Walken, the protagonist: “I took him to Stonehenge and he didn’t speak for the first hour.”
A star of the show, Jessica Gunning Diane (the community recovery officer), achieved worldwide fame in April when the British black comedy miniseries Baby Reindeer premiered.
A star of the show, Jessica Gunning, achieved worldwide fame in April when the British black comedy miniseries Baby Reindeer premiered.
Stephen previously revealed that Jessica’s character Dianne was inspired by his mother and Jessica has writing credits on season three.
Baby Reindeer follows comedian and bartender Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd), who is stalked by former lawyer Martha Scott (Jessica).
The Outlaws starts May 30 at 9pm on BBC1 One and BBC iPlayer