Daisy May Cooper on the return of Never Mind The Buzzcocks – and her belief in ghosts

As Never Mind The Buzzcocks is rebooted for Sky, team captain Daisy May Cooper talks music trivia, corpsing on set – and her absolute belief in ghosts.

Buzzcocks is back and you’re a team captain, how do you feel?

I know, mental! It’s been an absolute bloody dream. I can’t believe I’m getting paid for it, it’s mad! I just could not believe it when they said they wanted me, especially because I grew up watching this show… then it was just like, ‘Oh my God, I’m actually going to be a team captain with Noel Fielding.’ Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would come true.

What was it about the show that you loved so much?

Oh, it was just so much fun. I always remember the episode when Preston stormed out and  Donny Tourette from the Towers of London? He came on the show smoking and just acting like a tit, and me and my brother used to watch that episode all the time. It’s so funny!

Are you any good at music trivia?

Do you know what? I’m good at my RnB and I’m good at my garage, classic kind of late 90s, early noughties stuff, I’m absolutely on form.

Why do you think now is the right time to bring Buzzcocks back?

Well, music has evolved so much from when it was on the last time and I think us Brits are absolutely one of the leading countries when it comes to good music. So, it just feels right, it really does feel like it’s the right time.

Some people might say the music scene is not as wild as it was back in the day…

No, we definitely have some characters right now. Absolutely 100 per cent. So Aitch, he came on the show - he’s not actually H from Steps, he’s the rapper, Aitch - and he told us about how he went mad in a hotel room by throwing a kettle around. So, they’ve got a bit of rock and roll going on!

What’s Greg Davies like as the host?

He’s just amazing. He was born to do this. He was born to be the host of this show and it’s really difficult to get through an episode where Greg and I don’t end up just crying with laughter.

You’re a team captain and up against Noel Fielding, how competitive does it get between you?

Really competitive! But I’m actually doing better than I thought I would. Especially on the Intros Round, I take that very, very seriously, and also put in my dance moves, as well as just singing along to the intro.

You’re cracking some moves?

Abso-bloody-lutely, mate. Living my best life. I’m pretty much auditioning for Strictly! Let’s go!

Is there any cheating going on?

A lot of cheating has gone on, I’m not going to lie! My team actually got disqualified, it makes me actually really angry even now!  Jamali [Maddix] is the worst at it though, so it’s not just me!

Noel, he is like our veteran  because he was there from the old show. He takes it very seriously but he’s kind of teaching us how to do it.

There’s a lot of corpsing in this series. Who’s the worst at that?

Oh, Greg. By a country mile, he is the worst. Sometimes he never actually makes it to the end of his questions. About 90 per cent  of the show never makes the edit.

Honestly, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s just like hanging out in the pub with your mates, discussing music.

Whenever I’m around Greg, it brings out this side to me where I revert back to being a 14-year-old schoo girl who is sat in the back of the classroom with a supply teacher, and I just want to make his life hell! I just want to chuck things at him and distract him.

Out of all of you, who do you think is the naughtiest?

Jamali definitely. He’s always pushing the boundaries on stuff and he’s always bloody cheating! He needs Greg to put him in detention sometimes.

Do you think it’s important we keep pushing boundaries in comedy?

I think, as long as it’s funny and you’re not hurting anybody, you should always push boundaries. Otherwise it’s just boring, isn’t it? We need something like this show on the telly at the moment. Just a little bit of chaos and fun, it’s been so bleak with lockdown and Covid To actually be in a studio again and doing a panel show after all this time, it’s just been so lovely.

What can you tease about some of the guests you’ve had on?

We had Abz from Five come on, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited in my entire life. I’m completely fan-girling over him. Greg asked him what happened to the farm he started, and he said, ‘Well, all the animals died.’ Oh my God!

We’ve had Bez and Shaun Ryder, that was another hilarious show. Oh my God, honestly, I haven’t laughed until I’ve cried until Bez and Shaun came on the show. Bez is like a kind of toddler, it’s like he’s not living on this planet.

He had to do the Identity Parade, where he basically had to go behind a screen and not move, and we had to guess which one was the silhouette of Bez, so there was four other people and he just couldn’t stop fidgeting and the whole studio was just in tears laughing! There was just total carnage, let me tell you! Absolute, utter carnage!

What you see is what you get with those two, and it’s like this really beautiful relationship that they have with each other. They’re sort of like two old women really.

Do you have a favourite game?

My favourite game is The Mick Hucknall game where it’s a picture of Mick Hucknall’s face on a celebrity, and you have to guess what celebrity Mick Hucknall is hiding. That has got to be one of my favourite ones.

We heard that you believe in ghosts…

Oh my God. A hundred, thousand percent. I just totally believe in them and I actually bought my ghost equipment to the show because we’re in quite an old building. So in between filming, I’m just constantly on the lookout for ghosts.

I don’t know where the fascination came from, I just always loved the thought of something existing that’s kind of make-believe I suppose. My cleaner is a medium as well, so she will be saying stuff to me like, ‘Oh just to let you know, I’ve just picked up on a spirit and it likes to walk through the wardrobe and out into the bathroom, also we’ve run out of loo roll.’

Have you ever seen one?

No but I’ve heard one! I have an EDP which is where you can record dead air basically, you ask questions like ‘Is anybody here? Who am I speaking to?’, and when you listen to it back, you’re supposed to be able to hear the ghosts. I did it and I heard a ghost say, ‘Don’t be afraid’, which is really weird!

Where were you?

It was while I was in hospital. I was in a private room on my own and even though I was feeling really ill, it still didn’t put me off trying to seek out the ghosts!

Did you find any in the studio?

Not as yet, but I’m still on the search. Definitely still on the search.

You need your own show. Move over Yvette Fielding!

You know what? That’s a bloody great idea. I really want to train to be an exorcist and just go out on the road rescuing people and clearing them of all of their demons. Sky have to make it happen!

• Never Mind The Buzzcocks returns to Sky Max at 9pm next Tuesday, September 21. Daisy May Cooper: Demon Exorcist has yet to be commissioned.

Published: 14 Sep 2021