Rob and Romesh get 'set on fire' in new series of their 'Versus' challenge show

The next time you watch an episode of Bafta-nominated Rob & Romesh Vs watch Rob Beckett’s behaviour very carefully. He may well get extremely cross and frustrated with a challenge in the Sky hit series, but that is not just part of the show, he reveals.

Rob, 38, is actually dealing with his dyslexia, detailed in his memoir A Class Act three years ago – and it’s no laughing matter.

When I interviewed the pair together, Rob explained: “I get really angry about stuff in my head, and my head completely goes, and my anxiety takes over and I start beating myself up.

“Then I realise, ‘Oh, that’s from being diagnosed as dyslexic’ where my short-term working memory is really bad. I can’t read anything from text or be told anything and retain the information or instructions.”

This came to a head in one particular challenge – a Country and Western episode in Nashville.

Romesh, 46, says: “Rob was really trying his hardest to get it and he wasn’t getting it and it was so frustrating for him. But he wasn’t getting angry with me. He was just getting annoyed.

“So with those things, because we’re good friends, you just support each other through that.”

Rob said he now needs to absorb things differently: “I’m much better at learning by doing it than being told what to do.

“So sometimes if I’m working with someone who isn’t like that and wants to tell you every little thing and make you read notes of how to do it, it’s pretty frustrating because I used to put loads of effort into it but it wouldn’t go in.

“So the show has been really helpful in understanding how I learn because obviously, you know when you leave school, you don’t have to really learn but doing this job, you are learning new skills all the time.”

The “Versus” format was styled on shows such as 1980’s BBC hit In at the Deep End, with Chris Serle and Paul Heiney, as the comedy duo take on every challenge from sports to singing.

Despite working in close quarters for its seventh series, the duo have never fallen out. “No, we’ve never had a row really,” said Rob.

They first met on the comedy circuit 10 years ago as struggling stand-ups.

Romesh says: “We first met in a pub playing to about eight people, and then by 2019, we were hosting the Royal Variety Performance together.”

They have since hosted the Baftas, bizarrely having to introduce the contenders in an entertainment category in which they were nominated.

They were looked over this time, but seem certain to pick up the big gong if their show continues to attract bigger celebrities and viewing figures.

In this series, they are on the set of The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt doing a stunt.

The idea? Be set on fire, dressed like cowboys. It will make a compelling trailer for the new series.

“This is pretty much the most insane thing we have ever done,” said Rob, who also has a slot on Radio 2.

But it did not all go according to plan for Rob: “My foot was on fire! I mean, I took my boot off and then there was smoke and fire coming up my boot and then they extinguished it and they’re like, ‘Yeah, put that back on’. I said, ‘No, I’d rather not have that on for a minute’.

“I actually think they forgot to dunk my feet in the fire-proof gel.”

As we know, accidents can happen on Hollywood sets, at least here there was no lasting injury.

Rob continues: “You know what, I thought it’d be a bit of magic, but you are basically just set on fire. Then, there are loads of people with fire extinguishers. Hopefully you won’t get burned, good luck!”

The Weakest Link presenter Romesh said: “You do think there’s gonna be more tech but essentially that’s what it is, ‘We’re going to put you on fire and then we’ll put you out.”

Rob adds: “I don’t think we really accepted how dangerous it was when we were there. Because when you’re there, you just end up doing it. It’s only after I look back and I talked to a lot of stunt people. I went, ‘How many times have you been on fire?’ They said, ‘Never done that!’

“It turns out it’s not actually that common, is it? It’s not that common and you also just get paid extra to do it. So for stunt people, it’s a dangerous gig!”

In the other two episodes of the new seventh series, they play heavy metal at the Download Festival, and go UFC fighting.

At Download, they get a rousing reception from 20,000 fans, which Rob loved having always wanted to be a rock star, but Romesh was more considered, saying: “The problem is that we don’t have any of the requisite talent!

“It’s not like a missed opportunity. You basically get a simulation when we do it.

“Having said that, the response that musicians get compared with being a comedian is very big in comparison. You know for us, if you get a round of applause, you’re lucky.

“These guys are getting people losing their minds in front of them. That’s never happened at a gig of mine and it certainly hasn’t happened at any of Rob’s!”

Finally, would they both do Strictly – Rob & Romesh Vs Sequins?

Rob is up for it if he can become the new “John Sergeant”, meaning he wants to emulate the man who almost brought down Strictly in series six by dancing badly with Kristina Rihanoff but being kept on the show by the public vote.

“I would do that John Sergeant thing where I’d be rubbish, and everyone would vote for me because it’d be funny but I wouldn’t graciously bow out (as Sergeant did). I would just plough on till the end.”

He adds: “I’ve never really thought about doing Strictly really. It takes up a lot of the year round Christmas. And that’s when we tour so it’s difficult to do it because it’s a bit of a conflict of schedule.”

Romesh says he would be worried about treading on the toes of a real dancer: “I feel like loads of people really want to do Strictly who’ve got an interest in dance and to be honest with you, I don’t have any so it would feel like I was taking the spot of somebody that actually has a bit of a passion for it.”

● Rob & Romesh Vs starts its new series on Wednesday on Sky Max.