Nick Grimshaw SHOCKED to learn that Hello Kitty is not a cat - ‘What are you talking about?’

Virgin Radio

22 Jul 2024, 12:07

If you’ve always, understandably, thought that Hello Kitty was a cat, then Nick Grimshaw has got some news for you.

Grimmy, who is hosting the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar for a couple of weeks while Chris is on his summer holiday, shared the revelation this morning (22nd July).

“I want to talk to you now about something that was revealed over the course of the weekend, which shocked me to my core. It's about Hello Kitty,” he told listeners.

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The presenter continued: “You know that cat, Hello Kitty? Really famous little cartoon cat, you see it everywhere? I don't think that you can go a day without seeing it on something, on like a backpack, or on someone's drink or a sticker or a bag.”

He said: “Well, breaking news that occurred this weekend, Hello Kitty… not a cat! What are you talking about? What are you talking about?”

Revealing where he discovered this information, Grimmy said: “So there's a big interview with one of the creators. It was on American telly, on The Today Show on NBC. And the breaking news was, it's not a cat.” 

Struggling to believe it, he added: “It's got whiskers and cat ears.”

Grimmy went on: “The people who run it were like, ‘Oh no, it's just a little girl.’ 

“Japanese cat, is what I thought Hello Kitty was. From Japan and a cat.”

Adding more revelations, Nick said: “Not from Japan apparently either. Hello Kitty is actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London. Really? Jill Cook, the director of the business said, ‘Actually, she's from London. She has a mum and a dad.’ 

“Hang on. Oh, are we confusing Hello Kitty with Lily Allen? Because that's a girl that was born in the suburbs of London. This is a cat with whiskers. Apparently, Hello Kitty has a mum and a dad and a twin sister, also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies. She enjoys making new friends. But she is not from Japan. She's from London. Alright. She's from the suburbs. Who knew? That is breaking news to me. I never knew this!”

The character was first introduced in 1974 in Japan. “I love that we've waited 50 years for this, by the way. 50 years to be like, ‘Sorry, what is it?’ It's not a cat. You sure?” Nick said.

Speaking more about the interview that he saw, Grimmy added: “The Today Show wanted to know a bit more about Hello Kitty. Like, how tall is she? How much does she weigh? And I love that this was said on the news in America.

“Hello Kitty, quote, ‘weighs three apples and he's five apples tall’. OK, yeah, great. I love that that was a news item.

“So she's five apples tall and weighs three apples. A tiny, tiny little British girl. 

“I couldn't believe that. Did anyone else know that? I thought, ‘surely that is a cat.’ She's not a cat, everybody. It's just a normal human with whiskers who weighs the same as three apples. Alright?”

Whilst this has come as news to Grimmy (and plenty of other people), Saturday Night Live aired a sketch back in December 2022 about the fact that the animated character is actually a little girl. 

It turns out that manufacturer Sanrio had already confirmed that Hello Kitty is indeed a human back in 2014, as anthropologist Christine Yano had to change her exhibit in the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles when she incorrectly referred to her as a cat. Read more about it here.

Listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.