Taipei Times: How did you get your job?
Ian Wright: I was doing video work with kids, community work and stuff like that and there was an advertisement in The Guardian and somebody said, "why don't you go for it?" I was like, hum? I mean, those jobs are so ludicrous and the other side of the fence that I really thought there was no point in going for it. They said send in a show-reel. So me and a mate did a little piss-take guide to London -- I was sitting on the bog shitting and talking about the rich food of the country, getting beaten up changing money on the black market and ended up in jail. The whole thing was a piss-take. I sent it in as a joke not knowing that Pilot Productions was looking for something a bit different. I got a letter saying come in for an interview and almost shit myself. Now, sixty programs on they can't get rid of me.
TT: How do feel about your job now you've been doing it for 10 years and how many countries have you been to?
PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES
Wright: I ain't complaining. In fact, I'm the luckiest bastard in the world and it's better than working for a living. Oh, Jesus, 70 plus. You have to remember that on some shows we double up and there are two other presenters.
TT: Your job looks enviable. Is it as cushy and as ad-libbed in the field as it appears on TV?
Wright: No, I mean you're there to do a job and make a program, so it takes a lot of work. There are always 100 things to do and you don't get a day off. The production team spends a couple of months planning the trip and routes in the office and then the producer and director will fly out and spend three or four weeks on location before the rest of us fly out and spend another three or four weeks on location. ... Some countries, like Cambodia are easy. You can point the camera in any direction, say: "Lets go over there and see what they're doing," and it will work. But you can't do that everywhere. In Norway you can't say: "Hey, let's go over there and see what they're doing," cos' they'll just be watching [TV].
TT: Have you or the crew ever run foul of the authorities or the local population while filming a show?
Wright: There are five of us -- the director, cameraman, producer and a local guide or driver -- so you get into less scrapes than independent travelers would. I did nearly get beaten up in Japan. The director asked me to walk into a circle of rockabillies dancing in a park in Tokyo. I knew it was a no-no, but it was one of my first shows so I thought I'd go with what the director wanted. I didn't want to cause waves at the time. I got two steps into the circle, [the rockabillies] saw us filming and it got a bit dodgy.
TT: Do you have any particular favorite destinations?
Wright: Cambodia. And I adore everything above the Arctic Circle, as it so out there and nothing can relate to it. Greenland is an ice-cube in the middle of nowhere half the size of Europe. Fifty-five thousand people live there and there are no roads between any of the towns. I love it. It's a lovely country.
TT: Is there anywhere you haven't been but are itching to see? And do you enjoy traveling when you're on holiday?
Wright: I've never been to Vietnam or Central America. Both of which I'd love to go to. God yeah! I haven't got a camera shoved up my arse. It's heaven. I haven't got to do anything.
TT: Why do think that people are so crazy about you and the show?
Wright: In England nobody knows me. I call a cab and the taxi driver hears he's picking up Ian Wright (ex-Arsenal and England soccer star) looks at me, and wonders who the hell I am. They're nuts for [the show] in Norway and Canada, but in Asia people are absolutely nuts about it. ... And in Taiwan, well, I figure it's because the people here have a mad and cheeky sense of humor. It's sort of Englishy in a way, as they relish seeing someone taking the piss.
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