Lee Mack has said viewers will be surprised to see contestants on his new woodworking show wearing face masks, despite the series being filmed before Covid-19.
The Sky History programme The Chop, which is co-hosted by the comedian, sees 10 contestants compete over nine weeks of carpentry challenges in Epping Forest, Essex.
Mack is joined by Rick Edwards, host of BBC One game show Impossible, while master carpenter William Hardie will offer a professional perspective.
The 52-year-old told the PA news agency: “It’s quite ironic that everything was filmed pre-lockdown and pre-Covid and yet most of the contestants spend most of the time with a mask on, because it’s woodwork.
“So people will watch it and go: ‘Well they’re obeying the rules but Rick and Will aren’t’, but actually it was filmed a long time ago – this time last year.”
Mack, best known for writing and starring in the sitcom Not Going Out, said he was interested in pursuing woodworking further after working on the show.
He said: “My woodworking history sort of ended at school, when I was about 14. I made a fish, which I still have. But it’s an area that I definitely am interested in.
“I’d love to be good at it, I’d love to have a workshop or something. But I just own a few basic tools and do some DIY, that’s my limit.
“I’m interested in the subject matter rather than actually doing it – a bit like football. I love football, but I can’t play.”
Speaking about lockdown, Mack said his life had stayed largely the same, as he was writing from home.
He said: “My life didn’t massively change due to lockdown, because I was in the process of writing my sitcom from home anyway, so nothing changed with my personal work, just my kids not going to school was obviously the big thing.”
Jokingly, he added: “But I barely know their names anyway. And that will look good in print.”
The Chop airs every Thursday on Sky History at 9pm.
