Comic also talks about bullying and relationships on Desert Island Discs

Alan Carr appears on Desert Island Discs this morning – and chose the Argos catalogue as his favourite book.

'At least 'there’s pictures,' he says. 'I feel it would help me through.'

More seriously, he speaks about identity politics, saying there is now greater criticism towards those in the media deemed to represent a minority if they don’t behave in a prescribed way.

‘I don’t represent gays, I represent myself,’ he tells Lauren Laverne on the Radio 4 programme. 

‘People say you have to represent gays on television. TV is a fantasy world Are David Walliams, Simon Cowell or Piers Morgan the perfect representative of heterosexuals? No.

‘It’s the outcasts that are drawn to television, we find our home here because it fantasy. It’s not real.’

The 42-year-old comedian speaks about being bullied for his appearance, voice and sexuality when he was younger – but said it was no ‘Alan’s Ashes’ sob story.

‘When I was growing up it was, "I am what I am",’ he says. ‘I’m not straight, I’m sorry you don’t like me, but it’s good enough for me.’

He says today's youngsters suffer far worse, explaining: 'Kids today go through hell and the bullying doesn't just finish [after school], it's all online now. There's kids going into school with knives.'

But Carr says he now realises the value of his distinctive voice – ‘like a seagull with its wing trapped somewhere’.  'I am stuck with this voice,' he says. ’It is weird when I do stand-up. I am a bit like Mariah Carey, I have to protect it. If I don't reach those high notes people complain.'

Carr’s tracks include Do What You Gotta Do by Roberta Flack, after which he describes problems in his relationship with husband Paul Drayton. 

'We had a bit of a tough time,' he says. 'He went to a treatment centre for alcohol and I was feeling very low. I heard this and I listened to it. Do it for yourself – the lyrics. It just came to me at the right point.’

Last week Carr revealed that he had been asked to appear on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing – and was up for it.

• Desert Island Discs is on Radio 4 at 11.15am today.

Published: 23 Dec 2018