Birmingham comic will be part of the opening ceremony

Joe Lycett has revealed he  is taking part in the opening ceremony of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The comic will be introducing some of the countries as their athletes parade around Alexander Stadium in his home town on Thursday.

It will air on BBC One in the UK and on other broadcasters around the world, and Lycett said he was ‘panicking’ about the number of viewers who will be tuning in.

Speaking on Jamie Theakston and Zoe Hardman on Heart Breakfast this morning, the comic said he was ‘really proud’ of Birmingham for staging the Games.

‘It's sort of odd isn't it, to sort of be proud of where you come from in some ways, because it's like I didn’t choose where I was born, but I am really thrilled for Birmingham at the minute, it seems like a really exciting time.’

When Hardman asked if he would be getting into the celebratory spirit, he added: ‘Well, I'm not sure I'm allowed to say but… I'm part of the opening ceremony.

‘I’m introducing some countries - but they've said you've got 30 seconds where you can… they sort of said "say what you like" before you introduce the countries and they want me to submit my sort of script of what I'm going to say. But you know… the minute you go live, there's a little thing in your head that just says "say something awful".

Lycett said he would be introducing the countries of Asia, adding: ‘I’m panicking because I feel like there'll be quite a lot of viewers for it around the world.’

• Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden (whom Hardman was standing in for) is on from 6:30am to 10am on weekdays. Watch Joe Lycett’s interview in full on Global Player. The opening ceremony will air on BBC One from 7pm on Thursday.

Published: 26 Jul 2022