‘I’m just a bit older and a bit more tired now’: Tommy Little on marriage, fatherhood and THOSE Bachelor rumours

Comedian Tommy Little has addressed speculation he is being courted to be The Bachelor, as well as revealing his plans to start a family and declaring he thinks marriage is ‘pretty redundant’.

Never one to fear wearing his heart on his heavily tattooed sleeve, Tommy Little has experienced enough recent sorrow and joy to become even more candid about his approach to love and life.

After the death of a close friend and the marriage of another, the comedian tells Stellar, “Our time is precious, and so we need to f***ing live it.”

Since pilot Stephen Gale died following a mid-air collision near Melbourne in November, Little has honoured his good friend and flying instructor by throwing caution to the wind. While he still thinks of Gale daily, Little has pushed aside any lingering feelings of anxiety he had about returning to his helicopter training, something Gale had wanted to do with him.

“I felt a whole flurry of emotions I’ve never kind of felt before when it came to flying,” Little admits.

Picture: Sam Bisso for Stellar

“But the thing I took from it is – and I knew him incredibly well – the last thing that he would want is for anyone, particularly myself, to become more boring as a result [of his death]. One of his frustrations in life was when he saw people not living and not making the most of their finite time on this planet.”

Little is certainly doing that. He pushed his mind and body running a marathon in Antarctica in 2018. Four years later, he attempted a charity swim from the UK to Belgium before it was called off after threats from authorities. In March last year, he marked his 38th birthday by riding on the wing of a light plane as it soared through the sky.

But no feat of derring-do compares to getting on stage and telling jokes, Little says.

“I think stand-up is one of the last remaining bastions of ‘anything goes’ and also where everybody’s off their phones,” he says. “It’s one of the few times we have left where we’re just all in a room together.”

Risk, however, doesn’t apply to getting on Mum’s bad side. Usually found sitting in the audience for his gigs, she has warned him to stop using her as his punchline whenever he swears or says something risqué, which is often. “And it’s a shame,” he notes.

“Because my mum is the funniest person in the world. I’m very lucky I’m surrounded by wonderful, funny, intelligent women – my mum being the first one who moulded me into the man I am today.”

Another would be Carrie Bickmore, who has given him the flexibility to broadcast their Hit FM afternoon radio program while on the road for his latest show, Tommy Little Has A Regular Size Deck. Although he is never far from a recording studio, Little concedes that not being right next to Bickmore is challenging.

Picture: Sam Bisso for Stellar

“And so, my wonderful co-host – who has always been not only one of the best broadcasters in the country, but also one of the most supportive friends – has been very accommodating,” he says.

Ironically, touring has reduced his stress levels. “It’s the only part of the day for me where my mind quietens down,” Little says. “I don’t know if that makes me weird, because a lot of people say that the idea of doing stand-up comedy terrifies them.”

Perhaps that’s because most people wouldn’t have the candour to analyse their quirks and habits onstage. To that, Little shrugs; he says that while his routines are always highly personal, he has never used stand-up to process the issues in his life.

“I’ve got many psychologists for that, but I don’t think I have ever worked through anything,” he explains. “I talk about them, but I don’t think I’ve ever bettered myself as a human being and actually worked through things in a proper manner.”

Having built a career out of owning his immaturity, Little saves his more directed, puckish energy for his young nieces. “I love how kids make your world small when you just get to focus on making this child happy,” he enthuses.

Read the full interview with Tommy Little inside Stellar on Sunday. Picture: Stellar

“I’d love to have kids one day. Obviously, I would need to find a willing participant before I do that … I find the idea of marriage pretty redundant because having a kid with someone is a big enough and far more binding contract.”

While he was thrilled to see his friend and fellow comedian Luke McGregor tie the knot early last year, Little admits he is more wedded to the idea of having a family than to actually getting married himself.

Despite creating frenzied speculation in late March that he had secretly fathered a child after he posted a photo of himself with a toddler on Instagram and captioned it, “Nice to finally meet my biological son last night”, the entertainer acknowledges it was all done in jest (the boy was a friend’s son).

Still single, Little says he is looking for a partner but with a lot less enthusiasm than in years past. “When I was young – I mean, this is embarrassing to admit – but I used to come straight off after a show, particularly in a new city, and go on Instagram to see what DMs I’d gotten,” he confesses. “I’m just a bit older and a bit more tired now.”

He also draws the line at his love life becoming primetime fodder.

When Stellar asks Little if he’d ever been approached to hand out the roses on The Bachelor Australia, he is uncharacteristically lost for words. After a brief pause, he stammers, “I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you. Am I allowed to tell you? OK, yes, I was.”

Ultimately, the admittedly prolific dater could think of nothing worse. “If it were me, half the women would drive up and go, ‘Not him’, and get back in the car, and the other half would be like, ‘Not him again’.”

Having stepped back from The Project – and with a stint in the Bachelor mansion ruled out – Little is now looking to create his own opportunities on TV. He is hopeful of getting his own unscripted comedy green-lit.

But, he adds wryly, “If you don’t see it in the next year, just know that’s probably because nobody wanted to make it.”

For tickets and more details for Tommy Little Has A Regular Size Deck, visit comedy.com.au. Read the full interview and see the shoot with Tommy inside Stellar, out today.

Listen to the latest episode of Stellar’s podcast, Something To Talk About, below: