Larry Lamb sounds perfectly convincing when he says, ‘I was never a philanderer’. How could you doubt those twinkling eyes and that convincing shake of the head?
It’s only when his son George practically falls off his seat laughing that the doubt sets in. Let’s not forget Larry is an actor. It’s his job to convince.
What follows is hilarious. Larry gets quite irate, insisting he was absolutely not a philanderer.
‘Not if you mean someone who goes from one woman to another when he’s still in a relationship. I was more the sort of person who went from one relationship to the next, a serial monogamist.’
In their new show Turkey A To B George and Larry Lamb travel 2,000 miles round the country
George snorts. His father rolls his eyes. Who to believe? So that means you never cheated when you were in a relationship? ‘Yeah well, er, um. Maybe we should talk about the show…’
This little insight shows just why this pair have become a winning TV double act. Although both have had solo careers – Larry, 70, as an actor, most famously on Gavin & Stacey and EastEnders; George, 37, as a presenter – they first got together for a radio show, then an ITV reality show called The Parent Trip.
‘It was just an extension of what we do in real life – holiday together,’ says George. ‘We’d been on some great trips so doing that for work was a dream.’
For a history nut like Larry, working on their new show Turkey A To B – which involved travelling 2,000 miles round the country – was even more of a blast. While he gives an impromptu history lesson about the city of Ephesus, George nods and says, ‘This is what he does. He’s a walking search engine. It’s why he’s great to travel with, he knows everything.’
Their trip starts in Istanbul, where East meets West. This city represents the start of the Silk Road – the ancient trade route linking Europe to Asia – and their journey begins, appropriately enough, with some haggling in the Grand Bazaar. Will Larry’s legendary gift of the gab be up to the task? Why yes. ‘The thing about Dad is he has a knack for languages,’ laughs George. ‘He only has to be in a place for five minutes and he’s picked up the lingo. I wish I’d inherited a bit more of that.’
The father and son have a go at making traditional kebabs during a visit to Ankara
From Istanbul they head to Alacati, home of Turkish olive oil production, and get to see how it’s made. Then it’s on to rural Pamukkale to swim among Roman ruins where Cleopatra once bathed. What on earth do the locals make of their visitors? ‘They’re fascinated when they hear we’re father and son. That’s the lovely part,’ says Larry. ‘It just adds another dynamic and they want to know all about us.’
George and Larry tease and spark off each other, but when it comes to it they’re two halves of the same coin, much as George hates to admit it. ‘We all think we’re nothing like our parents, but the older I get the more I think I’m exactly like them both, God help me. Because my parents split up when I was young, Dad was the fun guy who lived round the corner, my buddy. Mum was the disciplinarian. He’d put me on the handlebars of his bike, everything was an adventure. As I grew up we kept that bond. It’s sad that it’s unusual these days for sons to hang out with their dads. My dad’s my mate.’
The difference here is that sometimes the son seems more grown-up than the father. George confirms he’s been in a relationship ‘for a while’, while Larry’s love life is famously chequered. He’s been married ‘three or four times’ says George, which tells its own story. ‘Three,’ confirms Larry.
He married his first wife Anita Wisbey when he was 21 after she became pregnant. They split up soon after, and he only met his daughter Vanessa, who was born in 1969, once. Marriage number two was to American nurse Jacquie Parris, but the one most pivotal to George – Larry’s marriage to his mum Linda Martin – happened in 1979. The pair split in 1996.
‘We just couldn’t live together,’ admits Larry. ‘I was very immature. In fact, I think I was in my 60s before I grew up as far as women were concerned.’ When Larry took part in I’m A Celebrity last year, viewers thought he was still in the relationship he’d been in for 20 years with actress Clare Burt, mother of his daughters Eloise, born in 1999 and Eva, born in 2003.
Yet he emerged into the arms of French artist Marie Victorine. He confirms today that they are together. ‘Forever,’ pipes up George. ‘This is it. He’s finished.’ Larry laughs. ‘It’s true. I’ve finally worked out what I want from life.’
By the time George was old enough to understand what his father did, Larry was famous. ‘Was it glamorous having a famous dad round the corner? No! I mean, he was glamorous. Every kid thinks their dad’s a god, but mine was handsome and debonair and he looked like a god. But in terms of money, no way. He’s always been rubbish with it. There’d be no money, then he’d get a job and there’d be lots of it, then no money again.’
Having split from Linda, it would have been very easy for Larry to lose contact with his boy, He credits Linda with the fact this didn’t happen. ‘It was all her. She was determined I’d have a relationship with George, and the way we are today is all thanks to her.’
Many children from broken relationships find it hard to understand why their parents split up, but George says he can’t understand how his stayed together so long. ‘They married after 11 days. That says it all.’ Many women, I suggest, would be cross to see their child worship the estranged husband. ‘I’m sure she has been,’ concedes George.
‘But she knows deep down…’ he breaks off. ‘Put it this way, if there was a fire and I had to pull one of them out first, I’m pulling Mum out.’ Larry splutters. ‘Sorry Dad, there you go. That’s the payoff.’
Turkey A To B starts tonight at 8pm on Travel Channel.