Trinny and Susannah: What They Did Next

Tell me the story behind the documentary? How did you decide to put the show together?
T: Susannah was sitting around the kitchen table with somebody brainstorming different things, and from that the embryo of the idea came out. From there we teamed up with t5m (production company) and we brainstormed the concept of doing the show as a real, yet not so real, show. From there it grew, and we got in writers, and we got in actors and finally we got sponsorship from Westfield shopping centre. So from that initial idea by Susannah it all came together.

So how did you settle upon the format of doing a spoof documentary?
T: Well the idea was that we wanted to do a parody of ourselves, and all the things that people have taken the piss out of over the years, filmed under the guise of being a serious documentary. It’s a genre that had been around since the days of Spinal Tap; you know the idea that you’re watching something and are not sure if it is real or not. I think it’s a very British thing, and it’s nice to be doing something that is quintessentially British.

I think it’s good that you don’t take yourself too seriously either…
T: Yes it is, and do you know what? We’re not 30; we don’t need to take ourselves too seriously anymore. We’re 46 and 48, we’ve done quite a lot in our lives and we’re now at the right time where we can do this and – hopefully – get away with it as well.