Nikesh Patel on his 'leading man' role in Starstruck

Virgin Radio

15 May 2021, 15:11

Nikesh joined the Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose to chat about his leading man role in Rose Matafeo's BBC comedy Starstruck.

The romantic sitcom starts in an East London nightclub, with Rose's character Jessie bumping into Tom (Nikesh) and going home with him on a one-night-stand. Things get a little more complicated with for the pair when Jessie learns that Tom is actually an A list film star...

In reality, Nikesh met Rose for their his first chemistry reading in an ever-so relatable way: "In true lockdown spirit, the first time we chemistry-read was on zoom"

"I'm looking at the spot on my bookshelf where I set my laptop and they're like 'Right, we're gonna connect and Rose is gonna be on the call with a couple of the other producers' and it was one of those crossing your fingers and hoping the connection was going to hold out and my flatmate wasn't going to hog the broadband" he laughs.

There may be another reason the pressure was on for Nikesh at the pivotal audition moment: "I was a Rose Matafeo fan before getting cast in the show Starstruck which I think she finds deeply uncool, because she'd much rather I was sort of more aloof" he jokes.

"I'd been to see her shows and seen how brilliant she was so when this audition came along, even before the reading I knew it was going to be good"

To round things off, Nikesh brought great news for existing fans of Starstruck, as he confirmed the show will be returning for a second series!

All episodes of Starstruck are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer

For more great interviews listen to The Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose, Saturdays AND Sundays from 09:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.