The TV and radio star is branching out from presenting after receiving a message of ‘adoration’
Rylan Clark has said he “started crying” when he read his Doctor Who script for the first time.
The 36-year-old star will play a fictionalised version of himself in this weekend’s ‘Interstellar Song Contest’ episode – which is based on the real life ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ – and Rylan was shocked to land such a “full part” on the iconic show alongside current Time Lord, Ncuti Gatwa
He said: “As a massive Whovian, I have always loved the show so much. I bumped into Russell at the Attitude Awards a few years previous, and I was too nervous to say ‘Hi.’
“Instead, I sent a message to say I wanted to say hello and I’m such a big fan. He replied straightway saying ‘I adore you, I wish you came to say hello’.
“We stayed in touch, I joked about wanting to be in Doctor Who, he joked that I absolutely should be.
“One day I was flying back from Italy from a shoot and my manager said to me, ‘Oh, Doctor Who has just come in’, in the meantime Russell texted saying ‘check your emails’ and I opened my phone.
“It was the full script and a really full part. I’m not gonna lie, I started crying. It was unreal, I was so delighted.”
Rylan – who admitted “it was so hard to keep the secret” for the last year – revealed he took inspiration from ‘The Hunger Games’ star Stanley Tucci’s flamboyant character Caesar Flickerman.
He added: “I did [put on a persona] a little bit. I played myself but also added a bit of Caesar from the ‘Hunger Games’ for good measure.”
Rylan will play himself in an episode of the popular show in which he is one of the presenters for the Interstellar Song Contest – a mimic of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The episode is due to air this Saturday, May 17, the same night that the Eurovision Song Contest Final is due to take place in Basel, Switzerland.
When it came to the actual role, Rylan insisted he was confident – but being on the set of Doctor Who itself was a different matter.
He explained: “I wasn’t nervous. It felt like I should be doing it. The most nervous thing was actually knowing I was in ‘Doctor Who’. But now I’ve hosted the Interstellar Song Contest – surely ‘Eurovision’ will come knocking…”
The episode comes as the all-female trio Remember Monday are set to represent the UK in Switzerland with their song What The Hell Just Happened?
Doctor Who returns on Saturday (May 17) with ‘The Interstellar Song Contest’ on BBC One.
