BBC star 'banned' from clothes store after publicly slamming extra-large brand
Stephen Merchant has hilariously been banned from the High and Mighty clothes store after he criticised its extra-large products. The towering 'The Office' co-creator, who is 6ft 7in, found himself barred by the chain's staff following his less-than-flattering comments about their range in a Time Out interview.
He discovered his ban when someone from the costume department on one of his shows went to buy outfits for him and told a shop assistant: "I'm buying these for an actor." In a Sunday Express article, Stephen shared the laughable moment: "The woman behind the counter said, 'Which actor?'... 'Is it him?' She pulled out a copy of the Time Out interview and said, 'We're not selling clothes to him.'"
OK! has reached out to High and Mighty for comment.
In another funny turn of events, Stephen also recently revealed on a US talk show that he used to carry three wallets while out in London, two of which were decoys in case he got mugged. However, his plan hilariously failed when a mugger demanded his phone instead.
Relaying the story to Seth Meyers, he quipped: "They were walking away and I was like, 'Do you want a wallet?' Adding to his string of comical misadventures, he recounted during his latest stand-up special how he once mistook a woman's intentions when she approached him in Trafalgar Square during New Year celebrations.
He joked about the encounter: "I was in Trafalgar Square at New Year. So I was watching the New Year fireworks. It was approaching midnight and a woman was looking at me and I was like, 'Hang on, here we go. Game on. This lady's seen me on the telly. She wants a little piece of Stephen. She's only human.'
"And she came up and she said, 'Are you going to be here for a while? And I said, 'Yes, I am!' And she said, 'Great, because my friends and I have arranged to meet back at you.'"
He added: "Because I'm 6ft 7in. I'm normally about a foot and a half taller than most people in any crowd. She said, 'Don't worry. You can still move around. We'll see you wherever you are.' And yeah, by about five past midnight, a bunch of people were just gathered around me."
Stephen Merchant currently stars in BBC comedy-drama The Outlaws alongside Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning. Speaking about Jessica - who plays police community support officer Diane Pemberley in the series - Stephen told OK!: "Jessica is the only person I can remember sending in an audition tape where I had no notes – it was perfect.
"We made her a writer on this series and Jessica wrote the last episode with me. I’m incredibly proud, it’s no surprise to me she’s now an international superstar. I’m just worried that when I want to work with her again, she won’t return my calls!"
He added: "I’ve worked with a lot of actors who’ve gone on to become superstars, and I wish there was something in their contract where I could get a piece of their future earnings because I helped them early on – like Martin Freeman or Florence Pugh. Apparently that’s not allowed."
