Iconic TV hosting duo Miquita Oliver and Simon Amstell are reuniting on air for the first time since 2006.
The TV personalities – aged 16 and 21 respectively at the time – were the original presenters of the beloved Channel 4 show Popworld which delved into the world of celebrity news and gossip with a splash of absurd humour.
Miquita, 40, and Simon, 45, left the show in 2006 and their roles were taken over by Alexa Chung and Alex Zane before it was ultimately cancelled in 2007.
They cooked up plenty of onscreen chaos during their time on the show from the Nickelodeon presenter interviewing Natalie Imbruglia with a bag over his head to The Strokes being grilled by a horse.
Although Miquita and Simon have not had a professional reunion since their five-year joint gig they have remained close friends over the years.
And almost two decades later, fans can finally watch their playful dynamic play out once more with a hit of nostalgia.
Simon is joining the BBC Sounds Miss Me? podcast as a guest presenter alongside Miquita while usual co-host Lily Allen takes an extended break following her rumoured split from husband David Harbour.
The Miss Me? podcast is a ‘candid twice-a-week catch up’ between best friends Miquita and Lily who live across the ocean from one another.
No doubt, our guest host will have plenty to dish after so long apart. Especially considering in 2022, Miquita told Metro she doubted the pair would ever work together again.
‘Simon will not work with me again,’ she said.
‘I don’t know why. He’s like, “It was brilliant. Let’s just leave it there”. And I’m like, “Yeah… but we were so good”.’
And had told OK! magazine: ‘He’s a very, very important person in my life but I’m not sure the TV reunion is going to happen.’ Oh well, podcasting is a close second.
Reflecting on their first impressions of each other on the 20th anniversary of Popworld in 2021, Miquita told The Guardian: ‘I was interested in how confused you [Simon] were by me.
To which Simon responded: ‘That’s because everything you said was hilarious and absurd. You were like: “I went to this squat party last night,” and I was like: “What’s a squat party?” I’d grown up in this suburban Jewish bubble, and I was 21, but Essex 21, which is like 12.
‘And she was west London 15, which is like 36. We really were fascinated by each other.’
After leaving Popworld because it ‘got too easy’, Simon hosted Never Mind The Buzzocks and has since gone on to pursue a career in screenwriting, directing and comedy. He released his debut feature film Benjamin in 2018 starring actor Colin Morgan.
In 2019, he also released his stand-up special, Set Free, on Netflix which explores ‘love, ego, intimacy and ayahuasca’.
Their Miss Me? episodes will air on January 30 and February 3.
Other guests bridging gap while Lily is away includes singer Mabel who is the goddaughter of Miquita’s mum, Andi Oliver.
And one half of Rizzle Kicks, Jordan Stephens will join her for an episode after the pair have just returned from holidaying together in Kenya alongside Jordan’s girlfriend, Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall.
In total the Smile hitmaker will be away for three weeks after reportedly heading to an £8,000-a-week trauma clinic.
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In a recent episode she revealed to Miquita that she was ‘spiralling and spiralling’.
She continued: ‘I came to the Miss Me? Christmas lunch and had a panic attack and had to go home and the I went to see something at the theatre the other night with my friends and I had to leave at half time.
‘I can’t concentrate on anything except the pain I’m going through. It’s really hard.’
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Miss Me? is available to stream on BBC Sounds.
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