On the sofa with... June Sarpong
The presenter, 39, talks to Ellen E Jones about her viewing habits, her love of US dramas such as Sky Living’s The Blacklist, and why disliking reality shows doesn’t make her a TV snob…
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Your support makes all the difference.My favourite TV watching occasion is any time! I like to stack up my shows while I’m away filming or busy with work, or whatever, then I stay in for a weekend and just veg and binge on telly.
I live in the same building as about eight of my friends. It’s like Friends, literally. And we’re in and out of each other’s houses all the time — invited or otherwise! I watch a lot of TV with my dear, dear friend Tara Smith, who’s a hairdresser.
Am I a remote control hogger? Of course, if it’s my house — actually, if it’s anyone’s house. I’m also the world’s biggest technophobe. I only started doing Twitter properly about six months ago. But when it comes to how I consume content, I’m actually very modern, in that I do tend to watch stuff more on my phone and on my computer than I do on the TV, because it’s so easy now.
I tweet while I’m watching, of course. For me the big one to tweet about was Scandal [available on Sky Living]. Olivia Pope is my everything. She’s always pouting, but Kerry Washington pouts in real life, doesn’t she? So it’s pout, pout, pout. I just love it! Olivia Pope is so complicated and flawed, and perfect, yet seriously imperfect at the same time — and what a mess her personal life is.
This is how well that show is written: she’s a home-wrecker, but you still love her. Like, wow. What other show would you watch where there’s a girl stealing someone’s husband in front of her face and you still like her? And you want them to be together? This is crazy. It’s really good writing.
I’m in America a lot so I watch all of those US shows and I’m obsessed with anything by Shonda Rhimes. Have you seen her new one, The Catch? It’s fabulous. I love Grey’s Anatomy [available on Sky Living], too — anything Shonda.
My other favourite is The Blacklist. I think it is so good. I love Agent Keen [Megan Boone] — I think she’s fantastic and the casting in that show is so strong. It has a sort of beat to it and you kind of know what’s going to happen in an episode, but it still keeps you on your toes. I just think it’s so original, the characterisations are like nothing else you see on TV.
I think the best scene to date is actually the first episode where Red [James Spader] just turns up at the FBI and gives himself up. Like, who does that? I also like Dembe [Hisham Tawfiq] who is Redmond’s kind of gofer. He’s this African character who never speaks, but kills everyone. He’s great.
But if you’re asking me who I identify with most, I think it would be Kaplan [Susan Blommaert], the little lady who comes and cleans up after Red. She’s just weird. I want to be her. She’s got a case, she gets stuff done. Dead body? She’ll clean it up.
Reality TV makes me want to switch off. There are very few of those shows that I watch. I just don’t know what it adds. The thing with great scripted TV is it’s a wonderful form of escapism, isn’t it? And then with really good documentaries, you’re informed about someone else’s life.
I’m not some sort of TV snob — I started out in youth entertainment TV, so I’m not a TV snob at all, but I do think reality TV shows are a bit fake. But I’m not one of these people who gets on their high horse about the Kardashians either, because I actually think Kris Jenner is a phenomenal mother. There is a lot of love in that family.
I’d like to see more diversity on television. I don’t think people realise just how powerful the screen is and how powerful imagery is in terms of changing perceptions and bringing people together. Clair Huxtable [in The Cosby Show] was someone I watched on TV growing up and looked up to. Fabulous, glamorous, sexy, wise: she was Michelle Obama before Michelle Obama.”
June Sarpong's Screen grabs
My TV snack “Can I be really Islington? I’m obsessed now with these matcha and cacao bars.”
My most annoying TV habit “I talk during shows. I’m annoying. Something happens and I’m like, “Oh my God! I can’t believe they did that!”
TV habit I find most annoying in others “People who get annoyed if you watch an episode ahead. It’s like, well you should have been here when I was watching it.”
My first TV crush “Philip Michael Thomas from Miami Vice. He was so good looking. That was a fine-ass man. He had the Jheri curl and everything!”
Current TV crush “There’s only one — Harvey Specter in Suits. That is the best-looking man on the planet.”
My TV style icon “Olivia Pope in Scandal. It’s like office chic, pencil skirts, pencil dresses, fabulously styled hair. Just the way you wish you could look.”
I never sit down to watch TV without “The TV!Hahahahaha!”
The Blacklist tells the story of long-time criminal Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington, who voluntarily hands himself in to the FBI after eluding capture for decades. Revealing he has a list of the most dangerous criminals in the world that he is willing to inform on, he insists on only working with rookie FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen, who soon sees her life thrown into disarray.