Mr Skavlan’s self-titled talk show has made him a household name
on his native Norwegian and neighbouring Swedish shores. On the eve of
its debut on BBC airwaves, we turn the tables on the show’s host and
fire a few choice questions Fredrik’s way.
In a nutshell, what can viewers expect from tuning into Skavlan?
It’s a talk show with a twist and a distinctive Scandinavian flavour.
Rather than replicating traditional English and American chat show
formats, we set out to create an arena in which people from all walks of
life, not just the entertainment industry, could meet and converse. It
unites Hollywood stars and pop personalities with politicians,
scientists, sports heroes and all manner of interesting individuals. It
also has quite an unconventional mix of one-on-one interviews and
panel-show style conversation. By the end of the show, up to four
diverse guests share the sofa and participate in lively and often
surprising group discussions… like Eli Hagen (the rather eccentric wife
and secretary of the prolific Norwegian politician Carl Hagen) quizzing
former Guns N’ Roses rocker, Slash, about his guitar. It can be pretty
difficult to predict where the conversation will lead when you have a
combination of guests that would usually never have any cause or even
inclination to rub shoulders in their everyday lives.