SOFA SO GOOD

GOGGLEBOX DUO STEPHEN AND CHRIS GET OFF THE COUCH TO TALK ABOUT THEIR CHILDHOODS, WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP DIDN’T LAST AND WHY THEY THINK MADONNA IS PAST HER PRIME. THEY’VE ALSO GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT BAKE OFF PRESENTERS

WORDS: SIMON BUTTON PHOTOGRAPHS: LEON CSERNOHLAVEK @ THE LIGHT LOUNGE IN SOHO

PLONKING THEMSELVES DOWN on the sofa Googlebox style, Stephen and Chris, the nation’s favourite gay gassers, fall straight into their usual banter with cheeky back-andforths just as they do on the telly.

We’re in the Light Lounge in London, a long way from the Brighton sofa (at Chris’ home) that the boys share once a week for back-to-back viewing on catch-up, and they are both in a jolly mood. Not only are they back on the box every Friday but former lovers Stephen Webb, 45, and Chris Steed, 40, are engaged – the former to hairdresser Daniel Lustig, the latter to gardener Tony Butland — and they’ve also written their first book. It’s a sort of free-form autobiography called We Need To Talk, and it’s as funny as they are, but it’s not a laugh all the way through.

As they settle down for a chat, the duo admit they’ve had their fair share of hardships.

So what’s the book all about?

STEPHEN: It’s about us and it has stories from our childhoods and time at school.