From stage to screenm, funnyman Jason Manford talks about his life, his new TV show and UK tour

Jason Manford has learned a valuable lesson during his 20 years in comedy: He will never be as funny as somebody falling over.

“You can write the best joke in the world, but somebody will fall over or fart and that will always be funnier!” quips the 35-year-old. With this in mind, his latest venture, Bigheads, is quite the comic dream.

Giving a whole new meaning to the idea of inflated celebrity egos, the new, six-part series takes the form of a high-energy game show, which sees eight members of the public, per week, transformed into celebs by donning giant heads. Filmed in front of a live arena audience, the Bigheads will then compete against each other in a string of celebrity-inspired challenges, culminating in a grand finale.

For the Salford-born comic it’s an appointment that’s come at the right time. “I’ve done a few things for ITV over the years, and I was getting to a point where I was feeling a bit despondent,” admits Manford, whose past presenting credits include Comedy Rocks, The One Show and Show Me The Funny.

“I thought I was just going to go on tour and not really worry about trying to do telly, but then Kevin [Lygo] took over at ITV. I’ve known Kevin for a long time, and [entertainment commissioner] Peter Davey - and they were keen to spread the love a bit. Ant and Dec are so good, why wouldn’t you just give them everything? That makes sense from a business point of view, but it was nice they were like, ‘Look, we’re going to try and do a few different things here’.”

Manford certainly makes for easy company - friendly, engaging and naturally witty. Despite hinting that his ‘nice guy’ image may have gone against him in the past, the father-of-five is as likeable in the flesh as he is on stage. He’s pleased to be working on something more family-friendly too, so his kids can watch.

“You get to a point where you think, ‘I can’t keep doing Live At The Apollo and things where they don’t know what daddy does’,” says Manford - who has three daughters and a son with his ex-wife Catherine, plus another daughter with girlfriend Lucy Dyke.

“Gradually, I’ve been trying to move a bit before nine o’clock, so I spent last year doing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on tour and they came and saw that, and they’ve seen a few other musicals I’ve done.”

With a CV already spanning stand-up, presenting, radio and acting, is there anything else he’d like to try his hand at?

“What I like about my job is it’s so different. Once people can see you can do lots of things, you’re not too pigeonholed; they will let you do stuff. Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff you can’t do,” Manford adds, with a grin. “I don’t think I’ll have my own cop drama and no one’s going to see me in Les Mis at any point, but with the parameters that you set yourself as well, the opportunities do come up. I feel very lucky - I enjoy presenting, I enjoy doing the stand-up, but then I’m back to singing and dancing and flying cars.”

Bigheads airs on ITV on Sunday, April 23

Jason Mansford starts his UK Muddle Class tour in Leeds and tickets go on sale on Friday.

He will be at:

Leeds Town Hall on 24 January 2018

Hull City Hall on January 25

Victoria Theatre Halifax Feb 1

The Dome Doncaster Feb 3

The Barbican York, Feb 8

Spa Pavillion Bridlington Feb 9

City Hall Sheffield Feb 17