Mariah Meets Rylan is the festive feel good telly we’ve always wanted; an hour long sit down between the X Factor icon and ultimate diva Mariah Carey to celebrate thirty years of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
But it’s so much more than that. Billed by the BBC as an “intimate and exclusive sit-down”, the special is laden with Rylan charm and every aspect of Mariah Carey that viewers have come to know, love and expect.
And with arguably the greatest Christmas song of all time turning thirty, who better than Rylan to get down to why Mariah loves the festive season so much. No “I don’t know her” here.
The pair talk about diva-dom, EastEnders and upscale restaurant Nobu Malibu – but speaking exclusively to PinkNews, Rylan reveals his favourite bits from the chat, including why the Queen of Christmas loves her guncles (gay uncles), her fabled lost album, and how Rylan accidentally ‘stalked’ her.
PinkNews: Congratulations on your special, Mariah meets Rylan. To get the obvious question out the way; how was she, the queen of Christmas herself?
Rylan: She was f**king great. And she was half an hour early. I nearly f**king died. I was expecting her to be like four hours late, and then she was just there. But she was lovely, her team was f**king lovely. She was just so easy, a dreamboat.
She does have that reputation of being not just a diva, but the diva. How much of that was true in your experience?
She’s a diva in the sense of, like, she’s Mariah. Do you know what I mean? But not really, at all, she was lovely, and her team were lovely, and that’s when I’m like, ‘Ah, then she’s got to be all right.’
As much as she’s Mariah, you’re also the Rylan. Were you nervous at all?
The only time I’m ever slightly nervous is that initial ‘Hi,’ the ‘Nice to meet you,’ because after that split second, I know what they’re going to be like. But no, she was lovely, she wants to come around my house now.
And you got it on camera, so it has to happen.
It’s the verbal contract.
You were speaking to her because it’s now thirty years since “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Why do you love the song so much?
You just hear those first four notes, those four dings, and it’s Christmas. It’s Christmas! The second you hear that, you’re like, ‘We’re nearly there’.
It’s just such a great song. And because I’m 36, that song came out when I was 6, in those impressionable years. It was “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, East 17 “Stay Another Day” and Spice Girls “Two Become One”. The Holy Trinity of songs.
Speaking of anniversaries, it was recently 12 years since you, Rylan, left X Factor. How does that feel?
Richer, for one. Amazing, but I was just like, I never expected 12 years on that I’d be sitting in LA with Mariah Carey.
Mariah meets Rylan. This December. @BBCTwo @BBCiPlayer
— R Y L A N (@Rylan) November 19, 2024@MariahCarey x pic.twitter.com/DLshl4gYCN
Well back to Mariah, because I’d love to talk about some specific interview bits, including the bits about her guncles. As a guncle yourself, how was it discovering all these new things about Mariah?
Mariah has always been quite open about her upbringing, and I didn’t want to go into this interview be ‘a journalist’ It’s a f**king Christmas show that’s celebrating her, so I didn’t want to put her in any position where she felt that she had to talk about something like that.
But obviously, we had to touch on her childhood and Christmas and she says that Christmas wasn’t always the best time – but then she had these guncles, so they made Christmas amazing for her. And that was just really nice, because I didn’t know that, and to hear how she spoke of them and that they instilled that love of Christmas into her, was amazing.
And looking at her career, especially with the gay community, that helped to explain maybe why she embraces us so much. It’s that sort of full circle moment.
Was there anything that didn’t make the cut?
Oh, loads. We were chatting for ages – but I think at the end of the show, when the credits run, there’s a few little outtakes, and that’s literally how it was.
I’m so glad they’ve put that in, because there were so many moments where those little bits happened, if they were moving a camera or something. There was another one actually, that got cut, where she asked me what I was doing that night. And I was like, ‘I’m probably going to go Nobu Malibu.’ And she went, ‘Oh, that’s where I’m going with my family.’
I was like, ‘Well I can’t f**king go now, can I. You’re going to think I’m a stalker.’ I went, ‘No that’s fine, because I was tossing up between somewhere else because I don’t actually eat sushi, or fish.’
And then she went, ‘Well that’s fine, because I always stop on the way, for McDonald’s.’
Mariah fans will also be thanking you for your service in Mariah Meets Rylan – because you finally talk about the lost album, Someone’s Ugly Daughter, which is famously unavailable on streaming services. Do you think she’s finally going to release it?
She’s gonna do it. She’ll release it, 100%. I’m adamant. It was a secret, it was underground, and she maybe thought that it wasn;t her image – but now she’s at a point in her career where she’s like, ‘F**k it’.
It’s ready and waiting! There’s probably a few hoops that she’s got to jump through, but I reckon we’ll hear it, 100%. I’ll push the button.
Who is your next dream interviewee?
I know exactly who I want it to be. Celine Dion.
I’ve done Cher, I’ve done Mariah, I’ve interviewed Madonna – and maybe I’d like to have her for a proper sit down and chat. Kylie I see every now and again so that would be nice, and I’d love to have a one on one with Gaga. That would be so interesting.
And finally what are your top Mariah moments?
I obviously love the Good Morning America performance, the “I don’t know her,” but I think her EastEnders moment from our interview, that is going to be a moment. We’re going to look back on that fondly. Mariah Slater in the building.
Watch Mariah Meets Rylan on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Saturday 7th December at 8.15pm.
The post Rylan Clark explains why Mariah Carey loves her guncles – and how he accidentally ‘stalked’ her appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.