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Paul McCartney has revealed he is huge fan of daytime TV – including BBC show Homes Under The Hammer.
The Beatle, 78, watches shows about finding hidden gems and making money whilst he works out.
He said: “What happens is I go to the gym most mornings and there's always a TV programme on and Homes Under The Hammer is normally what's on at the time I go, so I watch that.
“Now I'm moving around. Big favourite at the moment is American Pickers, it's great, it's two guys Mike and Frank who go around America collecting for their antiques shop and they go to all these places, all these barns where there's all - what they call it - rusty gold and it's great, they find it, they bargain, it's just a good show, they're fun guys. Some of the stuff they find is quite amazing. So I like that.
“I like Storage Hunters, that's quite funny, there's an American version that's quite funny and an English version, there are great characters on it and it is interesting to see whether they've found something good in the bin or whether it's a complete washout. This shows my mental age, but I like that sort of stuff, it's not too challenging and I think it's interesting.”
Homes Under The Hammer has been running since May 2003 and there are now 23 series and more than a thousand episodes. Presenters include Martin Roberts, Dion Dublin and Martel Maxwell.
Speaking on the Adam Buxton podcast to promote his new album, McCartney also revealed he loves panel shows, with Would I Lie To You his favourite and he even plays along at home.
He highlighted panel captain Lee Mack as someone to watch. He said: "I love comedy. I watch it on TV, you know Live From The Apollo, you see wonderful people on that. Then I like shows like Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You, I like those shows. And I like Would I Lie To You? I think there's some very funny people on that, Lee Mack is a very talented boy. You sit at home with your friends or family and you say, 'He's lying, he's lying"!' That's the kind of thing I like."
Asked if he would be tempted to go on, he seemed reluctant for fear of being able to lie well.
He said: "That is an interesting question. Most people who watch that show think 'could I lie with a straight face?' It would be fun to lie. The ones I like are the double bluffs where it is so ridiculous. He looks like he is lying but in the end it is true.
“I probably wouldn't risk it(going on) but I haven't been asked, so that is a factor.”
Macca also spoke about wishing he had hugged John Lennon before when they were growing up and how he composed his new LP McCartney III in lockdown, coming back from the studio and playing his new music from the day to his daughter over dinner in the evenings.
McCartney III will be the final album in a trilogy of LPs where Sir Paul plays all the parts on each song and produces the album. It follows 'McCartney' made 50 years ago in 1970 shortly after the Beatles split and McCartney II made in 1980.
Paul plays an array of vintage instruments on the new album have a rich history, including the original double bass of Bill Black from Elvis Presley's band, alongside Paul's own iconic Hofner violin bass, and a mellotron from Abbey Road Studios used on Beatles recordings including Strawberry Fields Forever.
The final track on the album When Winter Comes, is a song originally made with “fifth Beatle” George Martin in the early 90s.
Martin, who worked on all the Beatles albums, died in 2016 and this track which was recently discovered by Sir Paul is thought to be the last song he will release that features his last friend on the mixing desk. Sir Paul, who described his lockdown as a “rockdown” in his Sussex studio, said: “I was living lockdown life on my farm with my family and I would go to my studio every day. I had to do a little bit of work on some film music and that turned into the opening track and then when it was done I thought what will I do next?
“I had some stuff I’d worked on over the years but sometimes time would run out and it would be left half-finished so I started thinking about what I had.
“Each day I’d start recording with the instrument I wrote the song on and then gradually layer it all up, it was a lot of fun. It was about making music for yourself rather than making music that has to do a job. So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”