‘We don’t want this to descend into being Drunk History’

As columnist and celebrity chef Matt Preston prepares to sit down with good friend and actor Lachy Hulme for Celebrity Gogglebox, he warns viewers, “it’s a little bit dangerous.”

Knowing something will be water-cooler TV the instant it airs is one thing, but watching it in real time is another. Add being an actual part of that water-cooler moment and you have the surreal experience shared by best mates Lachy Hulme and Matthew Le Nevez when they tuned in for the penultimate episode of Offspring’s fourth season on August 7, 2013.

“It’s a shame that Gogglebox producers weren’t there for that moment – because it would have been liquid gold.” (Picture: Kelly Gardner)

Yes, it was that episode, the one where Dr Martin Clegg (Hulme) was in the middle of planning a baby shower for Nina Proudman (Asher Keddie) when her love, Patrick Reid (Le Nevez), met his devastating end. Like the rest of Australia, Hulme and Le Nevez found themselves weeping.

“Matty and I actually Goggleboxed Offspring together, sitting on my couch, getting drunk,” Hulme tells The Binge Guide with a laugh.

“And we got very, very emotional when Patrick died, not because it was Patrick, but because Matt and I were like, ‘Are we ever going to work together again?’ We were both blubbering like idiots because we realised we had had such a great time on that show.”

After a pause, Hulme says, “It’s a shame that Gogglebox producers weren’t there for that moment – because it would have been liquid gold.”

Well, consider that a dress rehearsal for Celebrity Gogglebox Australia. This time, the cameras will be rolling to capture Hulme’s every reaction when the actor sits down to watch TV with his other star mate named Matt – delicious. On Sunday columnist Matt Preston.

“I hate red carpets, but what I like about the Logies is you get to meet people from other sectors of the industry that you wouldn’t normally get to meet,” Hulme offers about how he and Preston became pals.

For Gogglebox fan Preston, a TV critic before he became a food writer and MasterChef Australia judge, the idea of sharing his views publicly was well within his wheelhouse, and he asked his fellow Melburnian to join him. Hulme, however, needed a little more cajoling.

That’s when Preston promised to cater their five-hour viewing marathon while Hulme would make cocktails to ease the pain of possibly having to watch Married At First Sight.

“We don’t want this to descend into being Drunk History,” Preston says with a laugh about Hulme tending bar on TV night. “But I think that’s what’s exciting. You never know what you’re going to get with Lachy. It’s a little bit dangerous.”

“I think there’s a rule with doing this that you can really only be a bit mean to the people you love and who know that you love them.” (Picture: Kelly Gardner)

Not that Hulme isn’t taking this gig seriously. Like studying up for any role, he has been binge-watching old episodes to get himself up to speed. Meanwhile, as a general TV fan and presenter who handed the cast of Gogglebox Australia their first Logie for Best Factual Program in 2016, Preston was already primed for the challenge.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Preston says, “because I love the medium and it will be fascinating to see how we react in the moment to anything from the new season of Clarkson’s Farm to Love It Or List It Australia with Neale Whitaker. Just as everyone’s a food critic, everyone’s a television critic.”

Preston adds that he doesn’t feel remotely anxious about having to comment on the performances of his friends and colleagues. “If there’s a new Gary Mehigan and Manu [Feildel] program that I’ve got to look at, they’ll be getting a bit of a touch-up,” Preston promises, his tongue firmly in cheek.

“I think there’s a rule with doing this that you can really only be a bit mean to the people you love and who know that you love them.”

Of course, Preston adds, he hopes there will be friendly rivalry with his fellow celebrity Goggleboxers over who provides the most entertaining commentary, and with pairs like Hamish and Zoë Foster Blake; Dave Hughes and his wife, Holly Ife; comedians Julia Morris and Nazeem Hussain; and actors Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor in the mix, plus the stylish trio of Alex Perry, Cheyenne Tozzi and Joh Bailey, there will certainly be some fierce competition.

Matt Preston & Lachy Hulme star on this Sunday’s The Binge Guide.

Hulme, meanwhile, is still trying to wrap his head around it. “So, we’ll be watching television, being filmed, and then that will go to air, and people will comment on what we’re doing,” he says out loud.

“It’s a really strange concept if you look at it through that lens. It gets very weird. Especially, if later, the real Goggleboxers watch Celebrity Gogglebox on Gogglebox! Now that would be wild.”

Celebrity Gogglebox Australia premieres at 7.30pm Wednesday, on Foxtel.

Originally published as ‘We don’t want this to descend into being Drunk History’