WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RE-VISIT ASIA?
Russell: I'd always wanted to go to Japan and India. So, we did the Holi festival, we found the weird underbelly of Tokyo, we recorded a K-pop song in south Korea... We went to places really off the beaten track, because all the people that worked on the show put together this amazing itinerary.
It's like this perfect gap year. You do five things a day that ordinarily would be the one thing you'd do for that holiday, and it would be enough. But we were doing so many bucket-list-type things.
DID YOU HAVE FUN FILMING TOGETHER?
Ninette: We had a lovely time doing it.
R: I loved it! It's put a great strain on mum's marriage, though. She used to be happy watching Emmerdale and now she's been to South Korea, she's been in a £200 million robot and she's changed. And, to be honest, the rest of the family are beginning to notice it.
DOES RUSSELL'S DAD NOT FANCY JOINING YOU?
N: No, no. He just goes cycling, and now he's doing paddleboarding.
R: It would be awful, wouldn't it, if dad was there as well... it would be two people who look identical, in a car, not talking.
HAVE YOU GOT USED TO HAVING THE CAMERAS AROUND?
R: It's kind of odd, it's a proper family isn't it? I can't imagine doing it with anyone else but them, so you forget the cameras are there. You're just trying to make everyone crack up.
N: The first series was in 2016 in America and it was all the same crew, so it was lovely.
YOU FILMED OVER TWO SETS OF SIX WEEKS. IS IT DIFFICULT BEING AWAY FROM HOME?
R: You don't really miss home – that's the strange thing. You miss home on the days off, but the [filming] days were so jam-packed with 'You're going to meet a man that's going to try and break six Guinness world records, and now you're going to meet a man who's got cosmic energy in his hands and he's going to give you a massage, and then you're going to a temple full of rats'. Then when you had time on your own, you go, 'Oh god, I really wish my wife was here'.
N: I didn't miss home. I was quite happy to be there! In fact, when I got home it was like [sighs], 'I'm home now. I miss my people, I miss my friends'.
YOU TWO SEEM SO CLOSE, IT'S GREAT TO WATCH YOU MAKE EACH OTHER LAUGH SO MUCH.
R: I think that's the funny thing – I find mum very funny. We're not trying to outdo each other. So, it's quite nice to see two people, who actually like each other, hanging out. On TV, a lot of comedy is quite combative, 'Who's going to get the laugh?' Whereas we're not really fussed, are we?
N: I don't think I'm funny at all. I just do silly things.
R: But you're earnest and you're completely yourself. There are no affectations.
DO YOU FIND IT WEIRD WATCHING THE EPISODES BACK?
N: No, I don't actually, which is weird. You should do, shouldn't you? I don't even comment on myself. I don't look too bad really!
R: The great thing is now I've completely forgotten [what we did]. That's the best thing isn't it, we're really lucky – we've essentially got this photo album. We've got 14 hours of us travelling around the world. It's going to make mum's funeral amazing. Perfect show-reel!
:: Russell Howard and Mum: Globetrotters returns to Comedy Central on Wednesday October 9
