‘I'm gonna build an ark’ - Rylan Clark tells Chris Evans about his run-ins with animals

Virgin Radio

24 Jan 2024, 14:11

When Rylan Clark swung by Virgin Radio to speak about his new reality series, talk turned to how he recently made headlines due to an encounter with a bat.

The beloved presenter was on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch ahead of the release of his brand new series Hot Mess Summer, when Chris asked him about his scrapes with the animal kingdom. 

“I feel like Noah. I'm gonna build an ark,” Rylan joked. “I don’t know what’s happening. I got attacked by a bat last week!”

He added: “I've had two snakes, a deer on my treadmill and I got attacked by a bat last week, and I've got a pheasant.”

Recalling what happened with the bat, he told Chris: “I opened my front door and it was almost like in slow motion. I watched this thing fly and I was like, ‘What is that’ and I looked, and there was a bat spread on my hand. It took me one second to realise what was going on. And then it flew away. But then I had a little scratch. Everyone's like, ‘You've got to get a rabies shot.’" 

On why he seems to get himself in scrapes with animals, he said: “I don't know what it is. One day I drove out of my house, the gates shut, as I come back in, a deer's run out! I'm like what's going on? I've looked back on the cameras. A deer has run as I've drove out, and then, because it was summer, I had all my gym undone, all the bifold. It was sat on my treadmill!”

He added: “It wasn’t on.”

Rylan hosts Hot Mess Summer, which is released on Prime Video on Wednesday 7th February. The series follows a group of eight party animals who jet off to Zante, believing they're in for a summer of non-stop revelry. However, the tables turn when Rylan tells them that their ultimate party haven is, in fact, a bustling pool bar, and they're not the guests, but actually the staff!

The individuals were nominated by their friends, who are sick of their chaotic antics. Explaining the premise, the Celebrity Gogglebox star told Chris: “I say, ‘The reason why you're here is this,’ and then they all have to sit there, unbeknownst to them that their friends and family are sitting there going, ‘You know what, we're just fed up with your attitude! You go out on a night out, you've ruined every night of ours, so we're sending you here, you need to grow up!’”

The host revealed: “One of the contestants walked out straight away, disowned all their friends, wanted their phone back to ring them and have a row. So there was that whole chat on camera like, ‘Are you sure you want to leave?’ And you'll have to watch the show to see if they ended up staying.

“At one point we were like, ‘Oh, God, what if they all walk out?’”

In the six part series, the group find themselves organising events, catering to VIPs, and even cleaning toilets, all with a lucrative cash prize hanging in the balance. Describing the contestants, Rylan said: “By episode three and four, I mean, drowned rats, the lot of them. But that's why I love them. Because they then realise, ‘We're not going to earn any money unless we actually clean them toilets. Yes, we actually get rid of that sick that’s on the floor. They were getting down and gritty.”

On whether the show could come back for a second series, he added: “I would love to do another one.” 

Read more from Chris and Rylan’s conversation here. 

Hot Mess Summer is available on Prime Video from Wednesday 7th February.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.