Paedophile rejected before his crimes had been exposed

Sanjeev Bhaskar has told how ‘creepy’ Jimmy Savile was rejected as a guest on The Kumars At No 42 before his crimes became public knowledge 

He says: ‘We turned Jimmy Savile down as a guest on The Kumars without knowing what was going on, to be quite honest - he was just so weird and creepy.’

Speaking to The Mirror, the comic also spoke about how the spoof chat show he created with Meera Syal was the late Queen’s favourite programme, as has perviously been reported.

He said: ‘The Kumars was the late Queen's favourite comedy TV programme. I always knew that she watched it. 

‘But, apparently, a journalist was standing next to her once at a function and, trying to kill time, he asked her, "Got a favourite TV programme?’"and she said, "The Kumars at No 42" and then she proceeded to talk about it.’

However, he added that she probably didn’t buy their single, a version of Spirit In The Sky as The Kumars with Gareth Gates for Comic Relief which hit number one.

‘It was one of the most bizarre moments of my life,’ he said. ‘I remember being on Top Of The Pops. The people in the audience were about 12 and I was 45!’

Published: 12 Aug 2026