Steve Jones (When Women Rule The World) Interview

Presented by Steve Jones and set in a secret Caribbean village location, purpose built for the show, a UK version of the US entertainment format When Women Rule The World starts on Channel 4 next month.


When Women Rule the World - talk us through the concept...

Eight women, ten men, women rule, men obey. Never has there been a simpler concept with such a catastrophic outcome. The war takes place in a jungle/beach community. If any of our oppressed men are seen not to be pulling their weight, then they are sacrificed to the sea in a ceremony at the end of each episode. Last man standing gets £30,000.

Tell us about some of the women.

Our women are all strong, independent types who most certainly do not take any shit from anyone. Professionally, they range from an ex-porn-queen-turned-sex-therapist to a nightclub bouncer. Our bouncer, for instance, was found on the door of a club in Leeds. This pixie of a girl, called Gemma, was ordering around men 5 times her size. We were so impressed we begged her to be on the show and didn't leave until she agreed. We didn't want to hold auditions because you don't know who you are going to get, so we hunted down the perfect contestants individually. Our casting team did an incredible job.

And the guys - what were they like?

Our men were all "no woman tells me what to do" alpha males (you can see where this series is heading......excellent!). Although some of them arrived as "respectful of women" gentlemen (who soon changed their minds). Some of the men were incredibly narrow- minded when it came to women. My favourite comment in the first episode comes from Dan, and I quote, "If a woman ever says anything interesting then she's just repeating something a man has said". Just takes my breath away!

Did events pan out as expected?

The women were 100% in charge so we couldn't possibly predict what was going to happen. With 8 camera crews and 90 people on set at any one time, we simply crossed our fingers that we would catch all the action. It's a testament to the production team that we did. In fact, a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor as there is only so much you can cram into an hour long show. There were so many twists and turns during filming we started handing out plasters for chins as jaws were constantly hitting the floor. Here's a heads up, one word: ‘AQUEDUCT!’ Just you wait and see.

The women seemed to take to their roles with gusto?

Did they ever! Within minutes of their reign starting they had already told one of the men to dig his own grave! This is just my opinion but in the early days of their rule I felt I witnessed some very male type behaviour from the women. They were very aggressive and they took on an almost tyrannical rule, but in their defence, the men made it hard for them as every female order was met with resistance. God it was so good to watch!

Can we expect romance?

As the series progresses certain men and women do warm to one another.......ok I'm going to drop the S bomb......a couple do have SEX! I've probably already said too much....

How would you have got on if you were one of the slaves?

Well, not good if I was referred to as a slave. The men were servants and were not to be referred to as slaves. I would not have had a problem with taking orders as long as the manner in which I am asked is acceptable. I don't think anything is achieved through screaming and shouting.

Who's servant would you like to have been?

Goodness, tricky, but if I had to choose, probably Gemma or Angela. Gemma was very funny and constantly made me laugh and Angela seemed to be the most level headed and thoughtful.

This is a very different style of show to what you normally present.

It felt like I had been waiting for this show for years. I turn down a lot of shows that I feel are not right for me and when this one was pitched, I knew instantly that I wanted to do it. The prospect of being part of an actual social experiment (and not just a show that pokes fun at people for the sake of it) was too much to resist. There was also huge potential for comedy and I had the opportunity to write and produce, which was key to me agreeing to do it as well. I want to make it clear, the fact it involved 6 weeks in the Caribbean had nothing to do with me agreeing to present it!

Did you get involved in any production decisions about the show?

I'm very very hands on with any show I present, and When Women Rule the World was no different. If you want to be the best at what you do you need to be involved in every aspect of the production. Being the type of presenter who turns up on the day, reads from an auto-cue then leaves has never appealed to me. I can see that type of presenter from a mile off. They are normally located by their dispassionate dead fish eyes.

It looked like a lot of fun, did you enjoy it?

I can’t speak highly enough of this experience, it really was one of the times of my life. The show was fantastic to be around (16hr days on set were not boring in the slightest) I loved hanging out with the production team and crew, we had a ball and over the course of 6 weeks became like a family. I am not ashamed to admit I had a tear in my eye when it all ended and we had to leave.

Is it difficult to say lines like "“You’re marked men, and must face your queen. The rest of you, please return to your mistress’ pod” without laughing?

Ha Ha! Those situations, when a sacrifice is about to be made, are so loaded with tension the last thing on your mind is laughing. Yes it's a strange line for anybody to be saying but it's a lot like acting in the sense that you have to believe in what your saying, in the moment that world becomes your life.

Did you learn anything about men and women during the series?

Yes I learned that men alone and women alone cannot rule the world (look at the state of our planet at the moment, cheers guys!). All the qualities needed to rule this big rock are in women and men, it's just a question of how we can unite them. I feel we are a few years off that just yet, but we'll get there.


When Women Rule The World is on Channel 4 from Thursday 4th September 2008, at 10.30pm.