Joanna Page’s three young children are thrilled at the impending patter of tiny feet. Will they be disappointed to find we’re talking about human feet though? ‘They really want more pets,’ admits Gavin & Stacey actress Joanna, whose children are aged eight, six and four, and whose fourth is due in December.
‘Eva is pushing for a third dog but also wants guinea pigs and a rabbit. Kit wants a tortoise and Noah wants a rat and two mice. I’m holding off because I know I’ll end up doing all the clearing-up.’
She’s brought this on herself though by fronting The Pet Show, basically a Top Gear for pets, which starts this week on ITV. For the pilot show Joanna looked after a chinchilla, a South American rodent, for a week, which sealed her fate.
Joanna Page, 44, has teamed up with Dermot O’Leary to present ITV’s The Pet Show, as the number of pets in Britain rises to 52 million. Pictured: Joanna with her dog, Bess
‘The children thought it was the best thing ever, but I spent the whole time trying to stop our cocker spaniel Bess getting hold of it. It was the most stressful week of my life.’
The Pet Show is a nod to the fact we all went animal crazy during the pandemic and there are now a staggering 52 million pets in Britain. Joanna is best known as an actress, but since becoming a mum she’s done more presenting, finding it more compatible with family life. She’s teamed up with Dermot O’Leary – who describes himself as a ‘proud cat dad/ servant’ – for this show, and things can get quite messy.
Joanna tells me one of her favourite ‘guests’ was a 30st tortoise who proceeded to ‘do a wee’ near her feet. ‘It was like a dam breaking,’ she shrieks.
There were other hairy filming moments too. ‘A nine-year-old girl came into the studio who has 82 tarantulas in her bedroom! I’m terrified of spiders, but Dermot managed to pick one up.’
The Pet Show offers practical advice from vets and animal behaviour experts, but also tells heartwarming tales of pets that have saved lives. There are kooky segments too, particularly Ready Pet Go, where celebrities bring in their dogs to attempt a Crufts-style agility course.
In the first show actor Ben Miller tackles the course with Jet, his Black Russian terrier, who looks more like a bear than a dog. They’re unlikely to qualify for Crufts.
RADA-trained actress Joanna, who is best known for starring in Gavin & Stacey, said presenting suits her as she’s quite chatty and can be with her kids. Pictured: Joanna with co-star Mathew Horne in Gavin & Stacey
Joanna confides that she was ten weeks pregnant when she filmed her first segment. The programme-makers didn’t know she was expecting again – but she ended up having to tell them after one very eventful trip.
‘I was flying to Scotland to meet a woman who rescues sheep, pigs, goats and chickens,’ she explains. ‘I decided that because I was coming back the same day I didn’t need a change of clothes, so I just wore my dungarees.’
Big mistake. ‘I had terrible morning sickness, and with that and having to wear a mask, by the time I arrived I was such a sweaty mess I had to tell the director I was pregnant. I ended up in a field with about 30 sheep.
One body-slammed me into some barbed wire, leaving sheep poo all over my dungarees, and I had to fly back like that, sitting between two people. At least it helped with social distancing!’
Joanna (pictured, with Dermot) said The Pet Show is not like work and added that with animals you never know what’s coming next
She tells the story with glee. ‘The show is fascinating. It’s not like work. It’s fun. With animals you never know what’s coming next. But glamorous it is not.’
It’s a curious career departure for a RADA-trained actress. But Joanna, 44, says presenting suits her no end. ‘I’m quite chatty. I find people fascinating. And a lot of acting jobs involve being away for long periods, but I can do this and be with my kids.’
Joanna made her name in Gavin & Stacey, where she played bubbly Stacey Shipman over three series. The return for the 2019 Christmas special was joyful.
‘Everyone was exactly the same, though James Corden had a more expensive cardigan,’ she says. ‘It was like a family reunion. If they ever made another one I think we’d all want to do it.’
The Pet Show starts tomorrow at 5.35pm on ITV.