Been a bit quiet on here recently hasn’t it? Sorry about that. For my part, I’ve been off gallivanting trying to get my mug on the telly. It worked. If you look very closely behind the goal on last night’s James Corden’s World Cup Live – there I am.

It was good actually. I’m not a huge fan of Gavin & Stacey (I hated it) and I do think JC himself is a tad over-exposed but I figured it’s good to try new things so I put my name down. Lo and behold, just before Gerrard and Co’s torrid performance on Sunday, I was invited to the hallowed turf of the BBC Television Centre the following day. Show recordings are apparently always over-subscribed to allow for last-minute dropouts so it was a bit touch and go as to whether or not I’d actually get in, but with a spot of eyelash fluttering, your roving reporter was granted access.

The doors opened at around 7pm so we were ushered in to the studio in time for the Brazil v Chile game. It would be remiss of me to not mention it but there’s not much to say; there were some goals, some dives and Fabiano tripped over his own feet attempting “beautiful football”. I did however receive my first introduction to the fêted vuvuzela. They’re actually nothing like the dreadful angry mosquito noise on tv, more a deep, monotonous trumpet type noise, the kind a wounded elephant might bellow to call to its herd.

The show goes live 10 minutes after the end of the game so we were given our instructions and psyched up for the challenge of “playing a huge part”. Hmmmm. I stood around a lot, laughed a bit and swayed with a lighter at the end. I’m not convinced how much that contributed but Corden did offer thanks and the usual platitudes about how great an audience we were.

There aren’t many shows left but if you can get tickets, I’d recommend it. It’s not the best night I’ve ever had but it was thoroughly entertaining and I met some lovely people. Also, watching a match surrounded by 200-odd fellow footy fans who aren’t horrendously drunk (or underage and stealing drinks, eh Dan?!) makes for a good atmosphere. All of the goal attempts were cheered and there was no heckling or booing. Oooh plus you get a couple of free drinks too. And that’s never a bad thing.