Anthony started out in journalism before lending his looks and ‘informed’ and funny gobby mouth to television producers. For once they recognised a streetwise talent rather than the usual insipid daytime TV style of presenters that tends to saturate the screens. What’s more he’s a gay lad to boot!

Anthony’s happry to cultivate a bit of a tough boy image, and it’s no wonder when the likes of BBC’s Holiday prefer him to cover sunny locales more like an army recruit on an outward bound course rather then a sedate Judith Charmers with a tequila in her tanned paw.

Regularly seen on T4, Anthony isn’t content with remaining a brand with just one hip channel and over the past few months has been doing more telly than Carol Vorderman does low-fat spread adverts.

GaydarNation caught up with the very accommodating Mr Crank in a posh bar in central Soho.

What shows have you been doing recently?
The latest one has been a project on a new film channel called Eat Cinema on Sky TV and NTL cable, which is transmitting at moment. It’s basically about enticing people into the cinema and is a programme that’s funded by the big cinema companies.

I’ve also just finished doing BBC Holiday which is coming back in the summer.

Sounds very glam?
It isn’t glamorous in the slightest - as much as I wished it was. I used to listen to people like Anthea Turner and Judith Charmers going ‘Oh it’s not glam’ and it really isn’t.

So it’s not a cushy job where presenters get say a week to relax in the sun?
No way. Just before Christmas for the programme I went to Australia for ten hours. I flew economy to Singapore with no films or anything straight through to Australia. I got off the plane, had a shower, went up the harbour bridge, went surfing on Bondi Beach then went back to my hotel.

Next day I was up at 5am and straight to Hawaii where I had to recreate Auld Lang Syne on my own in a packed bar before spending a few hours in Honolulu. I then flew to LA, then London, where I had a day off before going off again to New York!

"I’ll watch myself sometimes and think you ‘camp twat’ - especially when I’m in a negligee!"

Auld Lang Syne?
They wanted me to recreate New Year’s Eve and show what it’s like in the sunny daylight.

It sounds a bit of a busman’s holiday?
Yes, they really put me through it. I said to them you owe me a week in Mauritius now! Still, I got to fly a plane with the aerobatic world champion where I vomited in the air. They’ve also had me topless on a Tuscany beach and had me staying awake in New York for 48 hours. I think they’re just trying to push me to see how hard I am.

Did you cover the gay scene in Sydney?
No, I keep trying to push them to do things like that. For example, there’s a company that does Brokeback Mountain holidays and I pitched that as an idea, but they said that I tend to get a bit camp with my ideas and that I should tone it down.

I wish I had gone out on the scene because I’ve heard so much about it and also Melbourne. We actually drove down Oxford street and I was like, ‘Oh, can we go out for a drink please?’ But it just didn’t happen.

"TV is being good to me because they’re not employing me because of my sexuality."

Any favourite shows you’ve worked on?
T4’s back, which for me is the best thing in the world because I love working with co-presenter Steve Jones. I’ve just been there this morning and spent most of it in a wig with false breasts being hit across the back with a breakable guitar by Steve! But I get paid for that, so that’s fine. Last week I was in lingerie, so it’s a dream job and I just love working with Steve and June (Sarpong).

I can see you as the new gay Nick Broomfield!
Well, I’m working on some things with Channel 5 at the moment. More weighty based entertainment kind documentaries, something with an edge. I’m interested in what I call ‘Council Estate Celebrity’, how these people deal with being in the spotlight after being in Reality TV shows and then coping with the way their lives are sensationalised in the tabloids and ‘celeb’ mags.

You’re known for having a bit of ‘edge’ and not being the ‘lavender poof’ type that TV producers seem so fond of these days.
Yeah, but despite that I’ll still watch myself sometimes and think, 'You camp twat’ - especially when I’m in a negligee! I’m lucky cos I think I’ve got one of the best agents in this country. Sometimes I’ll try and push it and say I want do pieces like the Brokeback Mountain thing or cover the Mardi Gras and they’ll say ‘No, because you’re not being employed for that’. But TV is being good to me in that way because they’re not employing me because of my sexuality.

"My editor threw me in the Attitude office, locked the door and said, ‘Here’s a bit of meat for you boys!'"

How did you get started in showbiz?
Well, I began for magazines like Mizz and More doing things like writing from the angle of a 14-year-old girl starting with her periods, or as a bloke talking about his girlfriend. Just before all that I’d finished a degree and was doing a bit of modelling and generally working on the scene in Manchester really. Then I came to London to become a Rock Star! Well, I knew it was never going to happen, so I did work experience instead. I knew that working for magazines would be a way of breaking in to TV.

You were deputy editor of TV Hits at one point, weren’t you?
Yes, it was good fun although I experienced a fair bit of homophobia there and that’s what gave me a kick up the arse.

Why homophobic?
I don’t really know. Mainly, I guess, because I went in there not discussing my sexuality and then when it was found out I was treated quite dismissively. But the experience made me stronger. I just thought ‘Fuck you lot’ and it gave me the incentive to put myself around as a freelancer.

OK magazine is also on your CV?
Yes that was fun, just spending time laughing at people’s ankles and shit ornaments. In a way I was partly responsible for the whole Jade Goody and Kate (Big Brother) early exposures at the magazine. You know that sort of trashy focus on things and that ‘if these fuckers can do it anyone can!’ attitude.

Did you ever work in gay publishing?
It just never happened, although I was interested in Attitude magazine. But the closest I got to that was when my editor threw me in the Attitude office, locked the door and said, ‘Here’s a bit of meat for you boys!’

"I experienced a fair bit of homophobia there and that’s what gave me a kick up the arse."

So you liked the trash side of celeb magazines?
Well it was good at OK because I was really able to do what I wanted and try different things. I tried to take it down a bit of a cooler avenue, doing interviews with Caroline Aherne and the League of Gentlemen at home, and articles on shit shoes. Plus Jade and her mum and stuff.

So how did you get your first break in TV?
I blagged a trip to Ibiza with the magazine to cover all the club celebrity Meg Matthews kind of thing and ended up doing a live presentation for Manumission. The people involved liked what I did and the next thing is I’m in Barcelona doing the same kind of stuff. It took off from there. The big break was T4 which is where it really started.

I know I’ve landed on my feet and it’s really been the best learning process you can have as a presenter, learning your craft with the likes of June and Steve.

Was it difficult to begin with?
I wasn’t ready when I first started - you could see the fear in my face at times - but I learnt quickly and it’s been the best three and half years and now I’ve got a name and I’ve been getting good solid work.

"The really good thing is that I get to interview some really fit men, which makes my job even better!"

You have a laid back style, a kind of Manchester down-to-earth swag with wit. Have you deliberately cultivated that?
You know, I don’t get excited by the ‘big’ stars, by the Robert De Niros or people like that. The American glossy stars are just so same old, same old thing. I think it’s the PRs that are also the problem. They treat people like me like shit, especially in America. They fawn around the stars and you watch them and think, ‘You tossers’. But the thing is, once you’re in the room with the ‘star’ and they hear your English accent they love it, especially the Americans.

You must hate doing those controlled press junkets then?
Well, you only get about six minutes and I see it as my job to relieve boredom in that time. I end up talking like Cilla Battersby from Corrie and they go, ‘What?’ and they can’t understand my accent. And they’ll say ‘What does that mean?’ when I’ve just called them a big-soft-pat-arse, and they like all that!

Who have been your best and worst interviews?
I can’t stand interviewing Joaquin Phoenix. He’ll say things like, ‘I’m not an actor’ and I’ll think, ‘Well, I’ve just watched three hours of you mugging on screen’. I’d just done Reese Witherspoon and she was great. We did a game called Cash For Questions and she got a dollar for every question she got right. She won eleven dollars and she needed that money. Then you go to Joaquin and ask him if he’ll be a sport and do the same and he’s like, ‘I’m a serious actor’ and refuses to, and you just think, you twat.

“Often they don’t have a clue that I’m gay and I can flirt my arse off with them and they think I’m doing a buddy bonding thing when really I’m just slavering.

Any others?
I’ve done Ben Stiller loads of times and it’s like drawing blood from a stone. He looks at me as if he hates me and I’m like, ‘What is the problem?’ But some of the random ones I really get excited about, like Queen Latifah. She was great, she ended up talking in a Salford accent. And also Sarah Jessica Parker. I had a laugh talking to her like I was a little old lady, doing a sort of Mrs Merton.

Is there anyone who you would find daunting, like as Madonna?
Well I’ve met Madonna. I’ve actually been in a secluded room with her once where the opportunity to interview her might have arisen. I sat there watching and looking at the people around and it just made me think, ‘For fuck’s sake’. It’s like watching someone with learning difficulties. Anyway I did talk to her and my first words were, ‘Welcome to Hackney’ and she liked that.

But the really good thing is that I get to interview some really fit men, which makes my job even better!

Spill the beans!
Well often they don’t have a clue that I’m gay and I can flirt my arse off with them and they just think I’m doing a buddy bonding thing when really I’m just slavering. Jake Gyllenhaal was one for example. Well fucking hell, I think he twigged, cos I blushed and he just played up to it. I was just like, ‘I want to leave this interview now because I can’t look you in the face because you’re just too fucking gorgeous’.

Sometimes I can’t believe I’m getting paid.


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