Adam Hills on why he knocked back Prince Charles to play footy and learning not to be a loser

Internationally acclaimed comedian Adam Hills has had to deal with a lot in life, but even at 49 he’s still learning crucial lessons, and snubbing royalty.

Adam Hills might be a stand-up comedian of international renown and a top-rating TV host both here and in the UK but he says his true obsession is rugby league.

The Aussie funny man hosts the satirical talk show The Last Leg in England and the much loved music quiz show Spicks and Specks in Australia – which returns to the ABC tomorrow night — but he says he’s so committed to the sport he’s loved since he was a child that he’s knocked back royalty and risked injuries just so he can play.

“I put so much on hold for rugby league,” Hills says.

“I’ve turned down gigs, I’ve put stand-up tours on hold. I turned down an invitation to Prince Charles’s 70th birthday at Buckingham Palace. Not even for a match — it was training. It was a Tuesday night and that’s when we train and I’m like ‘nup — Tuesdays are for training’. I’ve been knocked out during one game for two and a half minutes and I fractured an ankle in December.”

Myf Warhurst, Adam Hills and Alan Brough are back for more Spicks and Specks.

Hills, who was born without a right foot, is a rabid South Sydney fan and helped set up the Warrington Wolves Physical Disability Rugby League team in 2017 while based in London. After defeating a Rabbitohs team last year ANZ Stadium, the Wolves won the UK’s inaugural PDRL championship in September and Hills revealed this week he’d made a documentary about his journey in the sport, called Adam Hills: Take His Legs, which will air in the UK next month.

He says his experiences with the team have brought out a different side in him, especially when he was asked to be captain thanks to an injured teammate.

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“I was like ‘I can’t be the captain, I’m the idiot’,” Hills says.

“Comedians don’t win things. That’s why we’re funny because we’re the losers. There’s nothing funny in holding up a trophy. There’s something funny about tripping over on the way to it and not getting there. So I had to find this part of myself that wasn’t the loser.

“At the age of 49, to go on this weird personal journey of discovering I don’t have to be the loser all the time has been remarkable.”

Sydney-born Hills recently moved his wife, performer Ali McGregor, and their two daughters Maisie and Beatrice back to Melbourne and he will base himself there while filming The Last Leg in the UK in 10-week blocks.

Pictured in Sydney ahead of the last year’s Physical Disability World Club Challenge are comedian Adam Hills and Souths player George Tonna. Picture: Richard Dobson

While he was back last month, he reunited with long-time friends Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough to film four new episodes of Spicks and Specks, after last year’s reunion special became the ABC’s highest rating show of the year.

The first episode will air tonight as part of Ausmusic Month and three more specials showcasing the music of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s will air next year.

“The second that I walked into the makeup room and Myf was having her makeup done and Alan was chatting to her, we just started bouncing off each other and we were cracking each other up straightaway,” Hills says.

“There was there was no awkwardness, there was no getting to know each other it was like ‘bang we are back’.”

Spicks and Specks, Ausmusic Special, ABC, Sunday November 24, 7.40pm

Originally published as Adam Hills on why he knocked back Prince Charles to play footy and learning not to be a loser