There’s a new chat-show kid on the block...Joe Lycett

Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross had better watch their backs – there’s a new chat-show kid on the block.

Following the success of his Big Pride Party on Channel 4 last year, for which the host was nominated for a National Comedy Award, Joe Lycett is back broadcasting live from his hometown of Birmingham for the next five weeks.

Each Friday, a mix of Joe’s community of local legends, LGBTQ+ heroes and allies will join the host, alongside celebrities and big-name guests from the worlds of comedy, TV, music and film.

With inclusivity and fun at its heart, Late Night Lycett will see Joe take a look back at the week – combining his unique brand of mischief and mayhem with his singular style of comedy.

As well as roping his guests into games and sketches, he offers audience members the chance to win his own possessions.

Back in December, Lycett teased fans with a then unnamed series on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 breakfast show, saying he had been pitching it to Channel 4 for ages.

Late Night Lycett is said to have been inspired by Chris Evans’s groundbreaking 1990s show, TFI Friday, and as it’s shot on the on the banks of Birmingham’s canals, he is hoping it will bring a touch of Hollywood sparkle to Digbeth.

Joe says: “I’m absolutely psyched and naturally very nervous about hosting a weekly live show from Birmingham, but it has been a dream of mine for many years and I look forward to some (controlled) late night chaos.”

Meanwhile, Emily Hudd, the joint MD at the production company Rumpus Media, adds: “We are so excited that Joe is hosting this series from the centre of his universe – Birmingham – creating a truly inclusive show to which everyone is invited.

“It’s a weekly celebration uniquely curated by Joe that harnesses both his mischief but also his warmth – it will be funny, silly and explicitly Joe Lycett.”

One the past few years, the 34-year-old comic has previously appeared on Live at the Apollo, Taskmaster, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, QI, as the announcer on Saturday BBC One show Epic Win, the narrator for Ibiza Weekender and as the presenter on The Great British Sewing Bee and Travel Man.

In addition, his consumer rights show, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, won the prestigious RTS Programme Award for Best Formatted Popular Factual.

The show also generated headlines around the Qatar World Cup in November when the host threatened to shred £10,000 of his own money destined for queer charities in football, unless David Beckham pulled out of his multi-million pound promotion of the tournament.

And Lycett’s lofty ambitions seemingly don’t stop at chat shows.

Earlier this month, he even said he was “very much available” to step in and host Match of the Day after BBC’s decision to temporally remove Gary Lineker from the programme.

“I have informed the BBC that I am very much available for tomorrow’s #MOTD,” Lycett posted, in a Tweet that received tens of thousands of likes.

That’s something many of his fans would love to see – but let’s see how he gets on with this new chat and entertainment show first.