12 new stitchers join The Great British Sewing Bee

After all the actor and writer, who is probably best known for his role in Ghosts, was no stranger to the sewing room as he’d already been a contestant in the 2021 Christmas celebrity special.

However, it seems the job offer came as something of a surprise to Kiell, especially as he first heard about it via X (formerly Twitter).

He says: “This is how it happened: [judge Patrick Grant] sent me a DM on Twitter and said: ‘Please do the Sewing Bee job…’ My first reaction was I thought he’d tried to send this message two years ago about the Christmas special and it had only just come through.”

He adds: “I responded with something like: ‘Again?’ And he was like: ‘No, stepping in for the main gig…’ I was like: ‘What?’ I hadn’t heard anything about it.

“I contacted my agent and said: ‘Have you heard about this?’ And she said: ‘No…’ Then, the next day, she said: ‘They just sent me an email and said they’d like you to host…’ I was like: ‘What? Me?’”

One reason he was surprised is because while he may be a familiar face in TV comedy – he’s cropped up in everything from Stath Lets Flats to Taskmaster – this is his first presenting job.

So, naturally when he made his debut as host with the 2023 celebrity festive special, he asked for advice. Kiell laughs: “Everyone was just like: ‘Do your thing…’ I was like ‘I don’t have a thing…’ because I’ve never presented before.

“I guess that was the best advice I could have got, though. I’m not trying to play the role of presenter, I’m just myself.”

As the latest series gets under way tonight, he’ll welcoming 12 new stitchers to the sewing room, and it seems they are a diverse bunch. Kiell says about the age range: “We’re talking 20 to 84. There’s a huge range of life experience there. We have teachers, someone from uni, an office manager… all sorts, but they all really love sewing.”

They get their first chance to prove it as Patrick and fellow judge Esme Young present them with a trio of challenges. They need to show they can follow a pattern as they whip up a denim A-line midi skirt, before letting their creativity run wild as they transform a humble t-shirt into a completely new garment.

Finally for this opening episode, they meet their models for the first time as they create a made-to-measure casual day dress.

And while it still may be fairly new territory for Kiell, he admits he’s glad to be presenting not competing. He says: “Better to be an observer and a supporter of other people doing the sewing rather than at the business end of an overlocker. I stood there thinking: ‘Rather them than me…’ most of the time.”