The funnyman and the broadcaster will team up for the first time on TV after they faced a public backlash over controversial calls to actor Sachs in 2008.
- January 19, 2011
AceShowbiz - Russell Brand and U.K. broadcaster Jonathan Ross are set to reunite on TV for the first time since the pair's controversial calls to actor Andrew Sachs almost cost them their careers. The British comic quit his BBC radio show in 2008 after he and Ross faced a public backlash for leaving offensive messages on TV star Sachs' answer machine during a live broadcast. In the program, the pair discussed Brand's fling with the 80-year-old's granddaughter Georgina Baillie.
Ross was suspended from his job at the BBC for 12 weeks without pay and was forced to step down from hosting The British Comedy Awards in 2008 for the first time since he began fronting the show in 1991. The pair is now chancing a risky reunion when Ross hosts the prizegiving again later this month - Brand has been confirmed as one of the award presenters on the televised show.
And TV bosses at Britain's Channel 4 network are hoping the duo will cause a stir again to boost ratings, according to Britain's The Sun. A source tells the publication, "We're dying for some fireworks for the inaugural event - and what better way than by putting (Ross) and Russell together live?"
"They've never really addressed the Sachsgate row together so we're hoping they may make a few cheeky references to it on the show. We'll be standing by with the bleeper in case it gets too debauched, but the show is going out after the watershed."
