Maria McCerlane shares her HILARIOUS comeback to Bill Nighy when he didn’t recognise her

Virgin Radio

12 Nov 2023, 11:07

Maria McCerlane has been on our screens and the radio for a number of years, but despite this, she often finds people don’t recognise her. 

The Virgin Radio presenter spoke on the Graham Norton Show with Waitrose about how people and fellow celebs say she looks familiar but rarely know her name. However, she has a witty response up her sleeve when this happens. 

She told Graham: “Well, my face has been on telly, and my voice is a bit known, but people do say to me a lot, ‘You look really familiar? Where do I know you from?’ And it's either that they think I work in the Co op or the bank or something like that.

“But I always say it now because it closes things down. When someone says, ‘Your face looks terribly familiar,’ I say, ‘That's because we've slept together.’”

Maria’s cheeky response has caught quite a few people out, including Bill Nighy. 

She revealed: “I've managed to get Bill Nighy on that one who looked momentarily, very panic-stricken, and Christian Slater, who looked equally horrified. And then I was with you when we went to see Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell was there. Do you remember? You looked at me, slightly horrified. And she said, ‘Oh, I've only slept with nine people, I'll have to check’.”

Maria reflects more about fame and her career in her upcoming memoir, Bumps In The Road. The book looks back on chapters in her life marked by the type of bike she was riding at the time. 

Speaking more about her celebrity status, Maria added: “People say to me, ‘Why aren't you more famous?’ And I don't think I ever wanted to be enough. Yes, of course, getting free things and having money and all of those things, but as you know, there's a price to pay. And I watched the Robbie Williams documentary this week, which made me think, ‘Why did you not just stop doing it?’ But it's like an addiction. That adoration is like an addiction, but fame costs, as they say.”

The presenter started writing her memoir during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it has made her reflect on many things throughout her life, including her upbringing in Bletchley when she lived in a council house with her father, a factory worker, and her mother, a housewife. 

When asked what she learned from writing Bumps In The Road, Maria said: “I learned that your memory can come back to you because I'm seeing it…I remembered a lot more than I thought I did.

“I learned quite a lot about upbringing and how it affects you and how it affects everybody who has different upbringings. Whether they are happy or sad, it’s going to have an effect on you. And it's how you play those effects and the hand you're dealt.”

Bumps In The Road by Maria McCerlane will be out on 17th November and is available for pre-order now.

Listen to The Graham Norton Radio Show every Saturday AND Sunday from 9.30am on Virgin Radio or catch up on-demand here.