Jarvis Cocker reportedly refused to wear the ‘Bargain Hunt’ uniform in an upcoming special episode in which Pulp take on the Happy Mondays.
As part of BBC Music Day on Friday September 28, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker with Pulp’s Candida Doyle will battle Bez and Rowetta Idah from Happy Mondays on BBC to make the most profit from antiques, as part of a special day of shows from the broadcaster.
However, while presenter presenter Charlie Ross has revealed that Cocker really got “into the spirit of things” while filming the episode at Kent County Showground back in July, he didn’t want it to come at the sacrifice of his iconic style.
“There were one or two people staring in disbelief at who was there,” Ross told the Express. “I was expecting Jarvis to be difficult because I didn’t think Bargain Hunt would be his sort of thing.”
“But he was absolutely delightful. He really entered into the spirit of things and I thought he was a really nice bloke.”
Speaking of Cocker’s decision to stick with his trademark attire, executive producer Paul Tucker added: “He’s got such a fashion reputation that he didn’t want to ruin it. But he played ball, because he wore a blue suit as he knew he was going to be the blue team.”
He continued: “But I think it was a step too far for him to wear a Bargain Hunt fleece.”
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Tucker described Pulp and the Mondays as “total opposites coming together in one field” – after it emerged that the ending of the episode had to be re-shot after the ‘Madchester’ legends broke the rules.
“Suffice to say I had to refer to the Bargain Hunt rulebook,” Ross revealed. “I think it’s the first time in history that we’ve had to look at it.”
Tucker added: “We had to deliver this show quite quickly after we filmed it, and of course we weren’t expecting to have to do the ending again. Although it wasn’t expected, it certainly added an interesting twist and another layer to the show. I guess it’s what you might expect from a bunch of rock ‘n’ rollers.”
Meanwhile, fans are awaiting the return of Jarvis Cocker after touring to launch his new project ‘JARV‘ earlier this year.
Speaking to NME back in 2015 about the chances of the band returning for more new material and live shows from Pulp, Cocker said: “We’re very cloak and dagger about that, well, it isn’t cloak and dagger, we just don’t know! We’re not being mysterious, we’re just not very together.”