HIS festive special with pop royalty Mariah Carey will be a brilliant bauble on the BBC’s Christmas tree this year.
Now Rylan Clark has revealed how much of a gift it was for him – as the renowned prima donna was a joy to work with.
And it was in fact him that ended up feeling like the diva, as he inadvertently kept HER waiting.
Rylan laughed: “Oh, my God.
“She was half an hour early, so she had to wait for me.
“I was so embarrassed.
“She was just so decent, like, in between when we were sort of cutting cameras and stuff like that, we were just chatting normally.
“She’s promised to come round and she’s looking forward to meeting [my mum] Linda.
“Do you know what her drink was?
“She likes a Snapple, just like a little fruit juice.”
Rylan flew to Los Angeles to film the 55-minute special to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her song All I Want For Christmas Is You.
But Mariah wasn’t his first diva.
Sitting down with TV Biz for my exclusive takeover to discuss his epic 2024, Rylan added: “I’ve been lucky to interview Madonna, Cher, Kylie.
“I would love to have Celine Dion — she is next on my hit list.
“I feel like I’m ticking them all off the list.
“If I’ve cornered the diva market then great, everyone move out the f***ing way, like, I’m coming through!”
It comes as Rylan hosts a new mini chat show for Amazon called the Black Friday Week Show.
It’s a format he feels comfortable with after fronting Up Late for Channel 5 in 2016.
He said: “I had a dabble eight years ago now with Up Late, which I loved, but I was so young, I didn’t feel like I’d earned the right.
“But, yeah, it’s the natural thing for me to sit and talk b*****ks with someone for an hour.
“Eventually that is something I would 100 per cent love to do.”
And after years in the biz, he’s certainly got the phone book to fill a sofa or two.
Rylan laughed: “Yes! I feel like I could be like the booker for Saturday Night Live now!
“I was really lucky back then — Mel B confirmed the Spice Girls reunion on my chat show so that was a bit of a moment.
“But my dream guest? All five Spice Girls together!”
Tell me what you want, what you really really want.
RYLAN is now a firm fixture at Radio 2 with his Saturday afternoon show, which means he has felt the shockwaves of Zoe Ball‘s resignation from the Breakfast Show this week.
He took on Zoe’s Saturday afternoon slot when she moved to breakfast six years ago – and also succeeded her on Strictly: It Takes Two.
He said: “Zoe’s honestly just the most decent woman that you could possibly have around.
“The time we were together was at Scott Mills’ wedding and we were just so happy to see her there because she’s had such a tough year.
“I’ll miss waking up with her.
“Scott’s my Eurovision husband and I’ve never been more proud because for him it’s the number one job.
“One downside is that we won’t have as many late nights out together, but I’m sure I can persuade him to do brunch or something.”
JET-SETTING Rylan has just returned from India where he’s been filming the second series of his BBC travelogue, The Grand Tour.
Behind the scenes snaps have shown him and Rob Rinder meeting elephants as they explore the country – inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1924 novel A Passage To India.
Sharing an update, Rylan said: “I’ve been out there for a month with Rob.
“No Delhi belly!
“I was really lucky.
“But when we went to Jaipur, I got a bit of a chest infection because it’s so polluted out there, and because it was near Diwali there was so much smoke from all the fireworks.
“It was crazy!”
Probably makes for better telly than a dodgy tum.
ONE of Rylan’s biggest projects this year was saucy Dating Naked for Paramount+, which saw a group of brave singles fall in love entirely in the buff.
So has it inspired an uptick in the host’s own love life?
Rylan said: “There’s nothing to report, unfortunately.
“I’m in a different country every week and I don’t even keep up with my friends but if I had time to actually go on a date, I’d love to.”
Dating Naked fared a little better, though, and a second series is on its way despite some lofty critics’ negative reviews.
Rylan hit back: “I’d say to them, why was the show at number one on Paramount+ then?
“If you think that show won’t be for you, then don’t watch it.
“It really is that simple.”
THIS month Rylan has been busy fronting Amazon’s Black Friday Week show, where he sits down with swimmer Adam Peaty, Stacey Dooley and Clara Amfo to chat bargains.
As well as discussing the retailer’s biggest deals, he grills the trio on any festive gift faux pas.
Rylan said: “Because I know Stace, I know Adam and I know Clara, it just felt like fun.
“Adam, he’s a man mountain isn’t he?
“We were talking about delivery drivers and he was saying that every time one comes around he’s working out, they’re like, ‘You’re looking well’.
“And Stacey, she’s like, ‘Oh I need kids’ books now for the baby’.
“We had a massive giggle, they’re a proper nice bunch.”
All eight episodes will air on Amazon UK’s Instagram until December 2.
RYLAN is a big fan of regifting this Christmas.
He laughed: “I’ve opened perfumes before and it’s got that person’s initials engraved on it.
“Or, like, a bottle of champagne that says: ‘A massive thank you from ITV’.
“It always makes me giggle.
“I never say anything because I just don’t mind.”
IT’S a lesser-known fact that Rylan’s first showbiz job was on Love Actually, as a schoolkid in the musical number.
This week he was a surprise feature in another musical, Here & Now, which is based on songs by Steps, with one character describing Rylan as her “dream man”.
