How TV legend nearly joined Jim Henson's empire

Legendary children's television presenter Johnny Ball has revealed he once turned down the chance to work alongside The Muppets.

Speaking on the latest edition of the Always Be Comedy podcast, the host of shows such as Think Of A Number told how  Jim Henson's production company approached him in New York at the height of his fame

Ball, now 87, was in the city to attend the International Emmy Awards in 1983, where he was nominated for one of his ground-breaking educational programmes – up against the Henson empire’s  Fraggle Rock.

‘That night, they offered me a job, but it would've been in Canada,’ revealed. ‘And I said, "I'm too busy in London. I can't do it. I'm too busy." And I turned them down. So I turned down the Muppet crew.’

The presenter, whose daughter Zoe would go on to become a household name herself, reflected on the parallel universe where he might have joined the fabled company.

‘It could have gone totally differently,’ he admitted. However, he remains steadfast that he made the right decision, rooted in his pride for British children's television at the time.

‘I saw what they were doing,’ Ball said of the American-led Henson productions. ‘I saw the similarities, but I saw it's American. Sesame Street, I loved, it was a very good programme, but it was not British, so the BBC wouldn't buy it. And they were right.

‘We had a different mood. I was working on the BBC children's television, the best children's television series in the world, bar none, nobody was anywhere near us. And that's why that was great, you know, and I was very happy there.’

Despite declining the transatlantic opportunity, Ball maintained a warm relationship with the Henson organisation. ‘I was great friends with them and whenever I wanted to use their facilities in London, they always opened the doors to me years later,’ he noted.

Reflecting on how he chose  the BBC over the Henson empire, he  concluded: ‘It’s been a funny road. It really has.’

Ball was on the podcast to promote his memoir My Previous Life In Comedy, which charts his life as a stand-up on the club circuit before finding his niche on children’s TV.

» Our review of Johnny Ball: My Previous Life In Comedy 

Published: 11 Jun 2025