Rylan Clark-Neal reckons people are more starstruck by his mum Linda than him after their Celebrity Gogglebox stint last year.
The TV and radio presenter said: “I always joke that was the worst thing I ever did, because these days all people want to talk to me about is my mum.
“Whenever I land at an airport, there’s always someone who shouts, ‘How’s your mum? Is she with you?’
“My mum is absolutely becoming more famous than me. Hopefully I can retire and she can look after me.”
Telly bosses have been desperate to get them to do more projects as a duo.
But Linda’s long-running battle with Crohn’s disease meant she had to turn them all down.
Rylan, 31, added: “We’ve been offered hundreds of things. We got asked to do a travel show and the chance to go here and go there.
(Image: NC)
“It would be hilarious, but she’s just not well enough to do it.
“Gogglebox is enough for us. She feels comfortable doing that show because we’re just sat in my kitchen.
“It’s the only thing we can do together. We might do it again. If it comes around again, we’d definitely think about it.”
Linda has lived with Crohn’s, which affects the digestive system, for decades.
It meant she was only able to attend one of the X Factor live shows when Rylan was a contestant in 2012.
Her condition is so severe that she has nearly died three times.
And Mother’s Day is extra special for Rylan and Linda because she brought him up as a single parent.
They have always been close and regularly spend time together. Rylan said: “People understand why I am who I am when they listen to my mum for five minutes.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
“I’ll get her on when I’m doing Radio 2 and people will hear her eating a toastie while she’s on the phone, and suddenly everything makes sense.”
Rylan has become one of TV’s busiest stars on shows including Supermarket Sweep and Ready Steady Cook.
But he has always kept his feet on the ground thanks to Linda.
He said: “In all the jobs I do, I’m not doing a different role.
“I’m just Rylan on any show I do. People get on with me because I’m not as arsehole. Not everyone in this industry is like that.
(Image: BBC / Endemol / Graeme Hunter)
“When the cameras stop rolling, I don’t stop. I’m the same off-camera.
“It’s not like someone shouts, ‘Cut!’ and then I’m gone. I get on with people. I don’t care who you are.
“It really bugs me when I see a tweet that says I’m a diva or difficult.
“When people say they’ve heard I’m a diva I say, ‘Who f***ing from?’.”
Rylan’s latest show You Are What You Wear will launch on BBC One later this year.
