Merrick Watts has opened up about the hilarious thing he did with his Sydney 2000 Olympic Games torch, from when he was a torchbearer for the Paralympics.
The Australian comedian, 50, appeared on Triple M’s Mick & MG in the Morning and told the hosts the amusing story of the ‘banned’ thing he did with his torch after the games ended.
‘I was actually a torchbearer for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, and I got to keep the torch. You get to keep it after you pass the flame on from Greece,’ he began.
‘Once you pass the flame on they extinguish it and it can’t be re-lit because it’s the Olympic flame.’
Watts added he later accidentally broke the International Olympic Committee’s strict rules, by jokingly trying to relight it – and was shocked when it worked.
‘One time I was drinking at home and I took out the torch to show a friend. He asked if you could turn it on and I said, “no, it’s a one-shot trick”,’ he recalled.
‘I lit it and it came to life. Like, oh my God! I joked, “this is the Olympic Flame, let’s start burning s**t.”
‘Went straight outside and lit the barbecue with the Olympic Torch and took up smoking immediately,’ he joked.
Merrick Watts (pictured) has opened up about the hilarious thing he did with his Sydney 2000 Olympic Games torch, from when he was a torchbearer for the Paralymics
In April, Watts spoke out about his ‘brutal’ split with longtime comedy partner, Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross.
‘Merrick and Rosso’ were best known for their radio shows on Triple J, Nova, and Triple M, but the comedy duo shocked their listeners when they parted ways in 2009 after over a decade together.
‘Rosso and I fractured, we split up at the end of 2009. It was brutal, it was tough. It’s not really something I talk about a lot. It was devastating at the time,’ he told SAS Australia host Ant Middleton on his podcast Head Game.
The Australian comedian, 50, recalled the amusing story of the ‘banned’ thing he did with one of the Olympic torches. Pictured: Louise Sauvage on her way to lighting the cauldron during the opening of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
‘I was focused on wanting to follow a certain trajectory that I felt innately was the right way to go and that was probably in conflict to the way we were doing things and the way we were working together.’
The comedian said he felt the collaboration between himself and his partner had run its course at the time.
‘I think we just exhausted ourselves as a unit and we’d done everything, we’d even lived together, and then I got my own family and got different priorities,’ he claimed.
‘I kind of wanted to forge my own identity…which I thought would be a lot easier than what it was.’
Watts said he later accidentally broke the International Olympic Committee’s strict rules, by jokingly trying to relight his Olympic Torch – and was the shocked when it worked
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk