The latest episode of The Claudia Winkleman Show brought together a vibrant mix of personalities on Friday, April 17, 2026, as BBC One and BBC iPlayer viewers tuned in at 10:40pm for an evening of candid conversation, laughter, and more than a few jaw-dropping revelations. Claudia Winkleman’s sofa played host to Dan Levy—the creator, writer, and star of the acclaimed sitcom Schitt’s Creek—alongside celebrated stage and screen actor Cush Jumbo, Ted Lasso’s Phil Dunster, and comedian Josh Widdicombe. From therapy anecdotes to tales of bull testicles and neck braces, this episode was anything but predictable.
Setting the tone for the night, Josh Widdicombe quipped, “I’ve never been on a chat show where we’ve started with anecdotes from therapy.” It was a sign of the unfiltered, lively discussion to come. The episode’s centerpiece was Dan Levy, who opened up about his latest project, Big Mistakes, and gave a rare, behind-the-scenes look at both the creative process and the personal toll of his previous work.
Levy’s new series, Big Mistakes, pushes boundaries, centering on a non-practicing gay pastor who finds love and then secretly resumes his religious duties, leading to complications—especially when crime enters the picture. To ensure the show’s authenticity, Levy explained that the production team enlisted an expert in organized crime. The research yielded some truly startling facts. “We found cocaine in the testicles of a bull—and it has happened. They would take them off, insert it, and reattach them,” Levy revealed, eliciting gasps and laughter from both the audience and his fellow guests. According to Beyond the Joke, this anecdote was just one example of the real-life smuggling tactics the team uncovered while preparing for the series.
Reflecting on his younger years, Levy recounted his first stint living in London at age 21, inspired by the film Notting Hill and hoping to ‘find himself.’ “I did not find Julia Roberts... I did find other things though,” he said with a wry smile, before launching into a story about renting an apartment shrouded in neighborhood speculation. “My neighbors speculated the previous occupants might have been a mother, daughter sex duo!” The story only grew more bizarre as Levy described deep cleaning the apartment and discovering “a phallic shaped perfume bottle, wrapped in a condom and tied at the end.” The audience roared, and even Claudia Winkleman looked momentarily stunned.
Levy also provided insight into the journey of Schitt’s Creek, the sitcom he created with his father, Eugene Levy. The show, which follows the once-wealthy Rose family forced to rebuild their lives in a small town after being defrauded, almost never saw the light of day in its original form. “We almost sold it in America and then we found out they had a problem with the name and didn’t want to make it, so we took it up to Canada and made it there… It would have never been made on network television in America I think,” Levy said, as reported by Press Association. He added, “My dad was adamant [about changing the name] because there was a lot of people saying, ‘what if we called it Upper Creek?’” The show ultimately premiered in 2015, soared in popularity after arriving on Netflix in 2017, and made television history at the 2020 Emmys by sweeping every major comedy award.
But the success came at a personal cost. Levy opened up about the stress he endured during the final season of Schitt’s Creek in 2020. “In the last season of Schitt’s Creek, I was in a neck brace because I was so stressed out that my neck muscles seized and I had to wear a neck brace for the entire last season of the show. I would direct in the morning, and chiropractors would come in at lunch so that I could move my head to perform in the afternoon,” he told Winkleman. Cush Jumbo, quick with a dose of gratitude, responded, “On behalf of everyone that loved that season, thank you for your service!”
Levy’s commitment to a respectful and supportive work environment also came through loud and clear. He admitted to having cut someone from the show’s edit for being rude to his production crew. “When there are people that are tricky, they stand out… I am very protective of my crew. I don’t like people coming into my team and treating them badly. For actors out there, that can happen to you. You’ve got to be nice!” Levy said, underscoring the importance of kindness and professionalism on set. Cush Jumbo chimed in, admitting she maintains a “no arseholes policy” during her own productions, a sentiment that resonated with both the guests and the audience.
The episode wasn’t all serious reflection, though. Phil Dunster delighted viewers with a surprising confession from his early acting days. “I was at drama school and a girl’s got to eat, so I became a butler in the buff,” he admitted, sparking laughter from everyone present. Dunster also had high praise for his co-star Steve Carell in their new project, Rooster. “It puts the ‘don’t meet your heroes’ thing to void because he is such a warm lovely person... he is the funny guy on set, but he loves laughing at other people’s jokes more than he likes telling them! He’s just a great guy.”
Meanwhile, Josh Widdicombe brought a uniquely British flavor to the proceedings, attempting to explain the iconic children’s television character Mr Blobby to Dan Levy. Claudia Winkleman declared, “That is our Mickey Mouse!” to which Levy, visibly unsettled, replied, “This is absolutely bone-chilling. If this person turned up at my house, I would call the police.” Widdicombe also revealed that he now lives in the former home of TV personality Noel Edmonds. “The estate agent said, ‘you’re not going to believe who used to live here’—and it was a deal.”
The night ended on a high note, with a surprise twist that left Dan Levy exclaiming, “You people are fucking crazy!”—a fitting capstone to an episode that was, by all accounts, unpredictable and unrestrained.
The Claudia Winkleman Show continues to offer a space where celebrities can let their guard down, share the stories behind their successes and struggles, and, just maybe, shock even themselves with what comes out on air.