Last One Laughing is finally back, and the cast is as funny as ever.
The aim of the game? Don’t laugh in the presence of 10 hugely successful comedians who are trying to make you do just that. Simple!
An expert at this is Bob Mortimer, 66, the reigning champion from season one of the Amazon Prime Video phenomenon.
A few days before the launch of season 2 on the streaming platform, Metro chatted to several members of the cast, including the man hoping to defend his title.
Coming into the second season, some might think that the Would I Lie To You? fan-favourite would have an advantage, given that he’s played and conquered the game before.
However, there’s one competitor in particular who he reckons could be his biggest threat – Romesh Ranganathan.
When asked who he was the most scared of playing against, Bob namechecked Romesh, answering: ‘I thought: “He’s going to hit me with something any minute now.”‘
Fellow contestant Diane Morgan, who’s deemed a very strong player given how well she performs deadpan comedy as her alter-ego Philomena Cunk, agreed with Bob, remarking that when it comes to Romesh, ‘when he looks sad it’s even funnier’.
Season one of Last One Laughing came out this time last year, and quickly became a hilarious phenomenon, breaking records along the way.
Some of Bob’s funniest moments that had viewers howling included when he made up his song Slender People, which nearly made Daisy May Cooper lose her composure.
Some of the absurd lyrics went as follows: ‘Raspberry jam is nice, but it’s full of bloody pips. Lemon curd is tasty, but puts inches on your hips. Pâté spreads quite easily, but it tastes of cigarettes. Tomorrow I shall kill again, this time in Dungeness.’
The tune became a bona fide earworm, and while chatting to Metro at the season two launch, Diane admitted to Bob that she’d even heard people humming it as she walked down the street.
Comedian Maisie Adam, who’ll be going up against them both in the second season, revealed to Bob that another of his most iconic season one phrases has also become famous.
‘There’s merch now that says: “Meat and cheeses always pleases.” Did you know that?’ she asked.
He shook his head in disbelief.
What does Metro think of Last One Laughing season 2?
Read TV Editor Sabrina Barr’s five-star review of the first two episodes here:
The iconic phrase came from a challenge, which involved Bob going on a speed date with Richard Ayoade.
Bob asked The IT Crowd star what his parents did, to which he replied: ‘They worked for Nasa.’
‘That’s the supermarket, yeah?’ Bob asked.
‘Yep, in PR. One was on meats. One was on cheeses,’ Richard responded.
This then prompted the quick-witted Bob to deliver the line that has stayed with viewers and been printed on cards, tea towels and T-shirts alike.
The speed date has even been nominated as one of the 2026 Bafta TV Awards’ Moments of the Year, alongside other memorable scenes, including Jamie snapping at the psychologist in Adolescence and Alan Carr winning Celebrity Traitors.
As the only seasoned Last One Laughing player coming into season two, Bob has a key piece of advice for how to hold in a laugh, recommending that everyone choose a ‘safety face’ to revert to in difficult moments.
‘You had quite an impressive underbite,’ Maisie told Diane, who in the show stuck her bottom teeth forward to stop herself from corpsing.
Another tactic the comedians referred to was ‘running away’ – something that Diane admitted to doing after interacting with Bob.
But the Philomena Cunk creator said that she thought that kind of behaviour ‘should be a yellow card’, as it is a cheeky way to avoid cracking a laugh.
‘I think they need to bring in a new rule,’ she suggested.
Do you think Last One Laughing stars should get a yellow card for running away?
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Yes
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No
Host Jimmy Carr brings out a yellow when contestants laugh or smile for the first time.
Despite receiving one in the first episode of season one, Bob clung on until the very end to be crowned the winner in the testing game.
One show that viewers are dying to see him on is Celebrity Traitors. Sadly, he didn’t make an appearance in the inaugural series, but fans are extremely keen to see him enter the castle when the BBC series returns.
While Bob might have been scared of playing against Romesh in Last One Laughing, Romesh was equally as fearful of facing off against Bob.
The Weakest Link host told Metro: ‘I didn’t want to see Bob Mortimer. And that’s true,’ he joked.
‘But no, I’ve obviously seen him in the first series, and he’s just so unpredictably funny. So I wasn’t happy to see him in the slightest.
‘I was quite nervous of him, and I actually did ask him to stay away from me.’
Bob’s presence looms large on the set of Last One Laughing, as comedian Mel Giedroyc also called him ‘the one to watch’.
But as we’ve all learnt – Last One Laughing is as side-splittingly funny as it is unpredictable.
Last One Laughing season 2 launches on Thursday March 19 on Amazon Prime Video.
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