‘I've missed seeing Dad'

Michael and Jack Whitehall on celebrating Father’s Day lockdown-style…

- ELAINE REILLY

JACK WHITEHALL’S FATHER’S DAY

NEW FRIDAY / BBC1 / 8.30PM / ENTERTAINMENT

Behind the intergenerational bickering and playful one-upmanship of their TV travelogues and chat show Backchat, it’s clear that comedian Jack Whitehall and his father, Michael, have an incredible bond.

But because of lockdown restrictions, like many of us, Jack is going to miss spending some quality time with his dad on Father’s Day on Sunday 21 June.

However, he has a plan! For one-off 30-minute BBC1 special Jack Whitehall’s Father’s Day, he’s setting up camp on the pavement outside his dad’s front door, so they can reminisce over family photos and hilarious home videos, and tell favourite Whitehall stories.

Along the way, they’ll also be surprising key workers who can’t be with their loved ones on the big day – plus they’ve accepted a special lockdown MasterChef challenge from judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace!

Here, Jack, 31, and former theatre agent Michael, 80, tell us why they hope the show makes the nation smile…

Why did you want to make this Father’s Day special?

JACK: It came about from us twiddling our thumbs, sitting at home and thinking about what we could do to give people a bit of light-hearted distraction from their lockdown. A lot of people won’t be able to spend Father’s Day with their dads, and hopefully this will be fun and show that it’s possible to have a close relationship with your dad even when you can’t be in the same room. It’s our attempt at trying to have some Father’s Day fun!