Comedian Babatunde Aléshé discusses conquering fears on John Bishop’s Three Little Words podcast

Award-winning comedian and actor Babatunde Aléshé has appeared on the latest episode of John Bishop’s Amazon Prime Podcast. The 36-year-old is known for featuring on Celebrity Gogglebox and rose to prominence in 2018 after winning the Amused Moose National New Comic Award and the Best Newcomer at the Black Entertainment Comedy Awards.

Speaking on John Bishop’s Three Little Words podcast, which he hosts with Tony Pitts, Babatunde opened up about his childhood in North London and how his early experiences have taught him to be brave. The star grew up on an estate in Tottenham and admitted his upbringing gave him a sense of hardness.

Babatunde said: “Growing up in Tottenham does give you a sense of hardness, even though you might use it in the wrong way. For me, I feel like I used it in the right way.

“You could always find me on the estate with my friends. We were just getting up to what estate kids do. Real troublemakers but jokers. It was like a melting pot of all different types of cultures, and that, for me, was so beautiful.”

The comedian joined the cast of the 2022 series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! He faced his fears after hanging off the edge of a highrise building in the very first trial and had his head locked in a box full of frogs in another challenge. He finished fifth after spending 18 days in the jungle.

Speaking about his fears, Babatunde said: “I’ve always done things out of my comfort zone, even though I’m a very fearful person. I’m very scared, but I always just find myself doing things like that, even recently with I’m a Celebrity. I remember when they asked me. I was just like, ‘listen, I am petrified of all this stuff, but you know what, let me give it a crack’. ‘I’ll take a crack at it’”.

John said: “You were thrown in right at the deep end with that plank walk, and you think ‘oh listen, no one’s ever died on the show, they’re not going to let you fall off,’ but then your instinct comes in and goes, ‘What am I doing on a plank?’”

Tony joked: “The new part of your brain thinks ‘I’m on I’m a Celebrity’. The old part of your brain thinks, ‘I could die here’. I’d be listening to the old part.” John and Tony invite new celebrity guests onto their podcast every week and have interviewed the likes of Robbie Williams, Tony Bellew, Jimmy Carr and Ian McKellen.