With her sharp wit, self-deprecating humour and conspiratorial charm, Claudia Winkleman is one of our brightest and most brilliant TV presenters. However, as she filmed the new series of The Piano, she admits her cool façade crumbled and she couldn’t help but be overcome by emotion. “I cried three times,” Claudia says. “The finalists are unbelievable.”
Channel 4’s Bafta-nominated and Broadcast Award-winning show is back for a third series, with five fresh locations, including Heathrow Airport. There’s another big change too – multi-Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste replaces pianist Lang Lang.
According to fellow mentor and Grace Kelly singer Mika, the shake-up has given the show a new lease of life. “It has a different energy this year than the past two years,” says Mika. “It’s obviously because Jon is around and it’s taken a whole new shape in terms of the discussions and the considerations.
“Putting someone else into the show was a really good disturbance, a really great exercise – emotionally, stylistically, culturally. Some things would clash, some things were in complete harmony, and it’s all in there.”
Claudia agrees and admits she was so taken with Jon she found herself absent-mindedly stroking his shoulder before asking him, “Is it too much?”
“We were in awe. I just stared at him,” says Claudia. “At one point he was like, ‘What are you doing?’”
Despite having worked with the greats including Stevie Wonder, Prince and Lenny Kravitz, Jon says he in turn found filming the emotional show “overwhelming”.
“It’s going to change so many people’s lives who we don’t even know,” he adds. “It’s like, ‘Did we make the right choice?’”
“We think about it for days,” adds Mika. Although Claudia hosts the show, she takes a backseat with the musical choices. She says, “It’s up to them. It’s their concert, their choice.”
Filming at Heathrow Airport brought an exciting change to the format but it wasn’t without its challenges. “They almost kicked us out, multiple times,” laughs Mika. “They tell you what to do all the time! So many rules!”
“It was so much fun going through security,” adds Claudia. She doesn’t have favourites but she admits one pianist at London’s Liverpool Street Station took her breath away after auditioning at the behest of her daughter, without ever having seen the show.
“Somebody who’s extraordinary, who’s going to play in the concert, had no idea about the show,” adds Claudia. “Her daughter just drove her to the station and she’s phenomenal.”
After finding the talent in the stations, Jon and Mika pick a number of contestants to mentor – and were shocked by how much they improved with practice.
“There are some astonishing transformations that have happened in a few weeks,” says Jon. “It’s just like, ‘Whoa, I heard you two months ago in a train station!’”
This year, the contestants are more diverse than ever, in terms of musical styles, backgrounds and ages. But, they all have one thing in common: their passion.
“You have to really love the piano to be on this show,” says Jon. “The way that we have passion for the instrument beyond music, I think it’s changed our lives.”
Claudia also hosts huge shows Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors. However, The Piano has a special place in her heart.
“The people who make the show make it beautifully,” she says. “There are no lights. There is no tripod. They’re just in the station and they’re documentary makers at heart. It’s not like any other TV show. The people who make it are the stars.”
Despite being surrounded by musical talent Claudia isn’t keen to take up an instrument herself. “I can’t do anything,” she laughs. “I once sang happy birthday to Lang Lang and he made me sign a contract saying I would never sing in his presence again. I sang with Jon the first time we met – he now has a restraining order against me!”
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