I think if you're at the point where you're popular enough to sell your wedding photos to OK! Magazine then you don't need the money.

I came back from university thinking I knew all about politics and racism, not knowing my dad had been one of the youngest-serving Labour councillors in the town and had refused to work in South Africa years ago because of the situation there. And he's never mentioned it - you just find out. That's a real man to me. A sleeping lion.

I still give myself the right to be highly critical of others, though.

Had I become a priest, the sermons would've been electric!

My agent once said, 'You're not very driven.' And it's true. I'm not the type to ring up and go, 'Get me this part!'

The cheese board is my big treat at Christmas that I have to deny myself during the rest of year.

I always feel like an interloper when I do serious drama. It's my own paranoia.

I've been offered all the reality TV shows but have turned them down. If I did it as 'Johnny,' there'd be no jungle left! It was really hard regaining control of myself, so I am reluctant to let 'Johnny' back out of the box.

My name is Michael Pennington, and I am not a comic character.

When I wasn't as attractive as I am now, I suffered at the hands of cruel children and their taunts until I realised that confidence and a bit of aesthetic care can overcome that.

I use very few muscles at the best of times.

I've got too much respect for stand-ups to call myself one.

They look outside the windows of their apartment in town and realize they're not living in a terrace anymore. This is a room full of dreamers who like to go to London for a day.

I've always been looking for other people's approval.

I actually enjoy being heckled; it keeps it interesting, and I think it is a nice feeling for people once they have left the show.

I had a massive amount of self-belief when I did stand-up.

I am very proud of what 'Johnny' achieved in stand-up comedy because he believed entirely in giving an audience the best kick he could. But he was someone who was quite detrimental to my health, both emotionally and physically.

Oh, I'm terrible at travel.

My forte is playing drunks down the ages. When my agent rings me about a role, I don't ask what the part is, but what century it's in.

I'm loath to use my personal life to promote what I do, but at the same time, I don't like a journalist going away with no more than you could get off Wikipedia, where most of it's invented anyway.

I've got little ankles and a bit of a belly, so it makes me look rather an egg on legs.

It is easy for me to love myself, but for ladies to do it is another question altogether.

I do need to explore my faith, because it has got lost over the years and it has been kind of tainted through experience. But I also know it's enriched my life, my dad being a Catholic.

You know, there's that temptation in interviews to make yourself sound - well, to give yourself a bit of mystery.