{"id":36155,"date":"2023-08-25T14:34:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1879646"},"modified":"2023-08-25T14:42:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:42:42","slug":"rose-matafeo-on-starstruck-season-3-and-equality-in-the-comedy-industry","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/rose-matafeo-on-starstruck-season-3-and-equality-in-the-comedy-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Rose Matafeo on Starstruck season 3 and equality in the comedy industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The comedian sat down with Radio Times Podcast to chat about the new season of hit series Starstruck and her love of TV. <\/p>

By Kelly-Anne Taylor\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 25 August 2023 at 12:34 PM<\/p>

\n\n

This interview was originally published in\u00a0Radio Times magazine<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Romcom fans have been patiently waiting for the new season of BBC\u2019s Starstruck<\/a> to land on our screens \u2013 and this time around, the series is set to take a different turn as we follow protagonist Jessie (Rose Matafeo) as she navigates newfound single life after breaking up with movie star Tom (Nikesh Patel).<\/p>\n

Ahead of the new series release<\/a>, creator, star and comedian Rose Matafeo sat down with The Radio Times Podcast<\/a> to chat about the show, as well as equality in the comedy industry and moving to the UK to pursue her dreams.<\/p>\n

She also talks about why following the natural flow of telly is sometimes the best, and why the feelings in Starstruck season 3 don\u2019t necessarily mean it\u2019s an archetypal romcom.<\/p>\n\nWhat\u2019s the view from your sofa?<\/strong><\/p>\nI finally replaced my previous sofa. It was an unsuccessful purchase because it was too small. Emma Sidi, who plays Kate in Starstruck, had convinced me to buy a leather sofa \u2013 it fit her perfectly because she\u2019s short. Now, I have a gorgeous Ikea sofa with a red and white pattern on it. Good bang for your buck. It faces an OLED TV that the colourist on Starstruck said was the best television. I have not regretted it.<\/p>\nWhat have you been enjoying recently on telly?<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m hardcore into the natural flow of television. I enjoy being told what to watch. I enjoy a timetable. I want to be shown an episode of Escape to the Country followed by A Place in the Sun. I want to watch Heartbeat at whatever time ITV choose to show it. My favourite channel is Talking Pictures TV.<\/p>\nYou grew up in New Zealand \u2014 was TV a big part of your childhood?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy nan would describe me as an indoor kid. I liked reading and watching TV, not going outside. From a young age I knew that if I wanted to do something, I\u2019d have to do it myself. My parents were pretty hands-off. I started doing extracurricular activities because they were free. I always went for free classes because my mum would make me pay her back for every drama class that I didn\u2019t go to!<\/p>\nWas it easy to get into the TV industry?<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I was 12, I was on a children\u2019s TV show doing an advice column. Then I started working after school at a production company opening fan mail. As a teenager I wrote scripts for them, so I got my foot in the door aged 12! I didn\u2019t ever have a back-up plan.<\/p>\nYou were a successful stand-up comedian in New Zealand in your early 20s \u2014 what drew you to London?<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m an ambitious person. I came to the UK wanting to learn more and to be in a bigger pond. I moved here at 23 \u2013 and it was an incredible place to do stand-up. It was also an easier route visa-wise than America\u2026 and performing at the Edinburgh Fringe was a goal of mine \u2013 a kind of pilgrimage, in a way.<\/p>\nIn 2018, your one-woman show Horndog landed you the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show. You were the first solo person of colour and the fifth solo woman to win. How has the comedy landscape changed since then?<\/strong><\/p>\nWell, another woman hasn\u2019t won it since\u2026 I remain the last woman. Hopefully not for long! Things in that world are getting better. There\u2019s far more gender parity on line-ups, but they\u2019re not diverse enough. Those things can always get better. That\u2019s got to do with the industry as a whole \u2013 the people who book gigs, the commissioners giving out shows.<\/p>\nI benefit from so much of the pain and hard work that generations of women and non-white performers have done before me. I always joke and say, tongue in cheek, there will be true gender equality when I can bitch about another comedian who isn\u2019t a man. There\u2019s too few of us to stab each other. There has to be solidarity. But the moment it\u2019s an even playing field, you\u2019re on your own, sister!<\/p>\nStarstruck began as a comedy about falling in love. Does that make it a romcom?<\/strong><\/p>\nIn our culture, the function romcoms play in general is to act as allegories of love and romance. They convince us to fall in love and have some babies. That\u2019s what the first series of Starstruck does. The second series is about the diminishing returns of that \u2013 it\u2019s about realistic long-term love.<\/p>\nThe third series is about the complicated history of love, when you\u2019ve loved someone and you\u2019re not with that person any more and you\u2019re moving on with your life. Those feelings don\u2019t fit neatly into the romcom genre. It\u2019s a look at what love looks like as you get a bit older and past your 20s.<\/p>\nStarstruck season 3 will air on Monday 28th August on BBC Three and 10pm on Friday 1st September on BBC One. The full box set will be available on BBC iPlayer from Monday 28th August.<\/strong><\/p>\nCheck out more of our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/comedy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Comedy<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/tv-listings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/streaming-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\nTry Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310, PLUS a \u00a310 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home \u2013 <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/magazine-subscription\/?utm_term=evergreen-article\">subscribe now<\/b><\/span><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/audio\/podcasts\/\">The Radio Times Podcast<\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The comedian sat down with Radio Times Podcast to chat about the new season of hit series Starstruck and her love of TV. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[6,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The comedian sat down with Radio Times Podcast to chat about the new season of hit series Starstruck and her love of TV.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}