Mo Gilligan: ‘I like going to B&M and finding stuff I didn’t know I needed’

The stand-up comedian, TV presenter and now podcast host, 36, on his love of homeware, running and DIY Sundays

How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Mo Gilligan
I used to be a late person, as you’d expect from a comedian, but I’ve enjoyed waking up early since I realised that I can get more done.
My kitchen is the focal point of the house. Friends always end up here on a Friday night, so I start my day tidying up, playing Jamiroquai.
I’ll chuck on some vinyl, usually Motown, and get a double espresso on the go. I’m lucky enough to have a built-in coffee machine. Then I have breakfast – honey-nut cornflakes with bananas – and mess up the kitchen again.
I do a 5km run pretty much every day – if I haven’t done it, I have to make up for it the following day. I run in Hyde Park or in the gym. I’m a headphones-on, hood-pulled-down runner, and I’m usually in the zone, looking unapproachable. In my 20s, ­getting buff was the plan, now it just makes me feel better.
If I end up running in an area where there’s a market, I’ll get a coffee and treat myself to a pain au chocolat. Walking around in my activewear makes me feel cool, I can’t lie!
I love browsing for homeware, having a look at cushions. A bowl, a candle – I live for it. If I won the lottery, my house would be filled with things from Soho Home. I also like going to B&M and finding stuff I didn’t know I needed. I inherited that from my mum. She buys me random bits such as solar-powered lamps because, she says, sometimes it gets dark in the garden. (”Well, Mum, that’ll be night-time.”)
I’ll go to Mum’s. I moved out six years ago and I always feel nostalgic looking around – that homely feeling, the smells…
Mum’ll cook or we’ll go for a catch-up over Caribbean food at Cottons Camden. I tell her what work I’ve got coming up – I’ve just started a podcast, Mo Gilligan: Beginning, Middle & End, in which I talk to everyone from Jonathan Ross to my old mate, comedian Babatunde Aléshé, about their lives and what their legacy will be. Sometimes Mum will say things like: “They mentioned you on Loose Women the other day.” She’s all over that. She’s very cute.
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Often I perform on a Saturday, so when I get a night to myself I just want chill time. I love a crime docu-series. My go-to is Unexplained Mysteries. And everyone should watch Worst Roommate Ever.
Nine times out of 10, I fall asleep on the sofa. I set the alarm because Sunday is DIY day. I own every tool known to man: drills, pipe cutters, goggles. I’m one of those people who will take something apart and then not be able to put it back together, though I changed the lock on my bathroom recently and felt so accomplished. Then the boiler broke. I watched a video on YouTube and fixed that too. I couldn’t believe it.
Mo Gilligan: Beginning, Middle & End is available on Global Player
As told to Lara Kilner