A university student's life took an unexpected turn after a surreal night spent with television icons Ant and Dec, leading him to abandon a future in chemistry for the unpredictable world of comedy.
From Lab Coats to Laughter
In the mid-1990s, Rich Pelley was a chemistry student at Nottingham University, more immersed in the burgeoning Britpop and dance music scene than his academic studies. His laboratory skills were questionable, famously illustrated by an incident where he added ten times the required hydrogen peroxide to a goat's blood experiment, causing a dramatic, Sopranos-esque explosion.
"I hadn't really gone to university to win the Nobel prize," Pelley reflects. His focus was on the cultural explosion around him, with bands like Oasis releasing (What's the Story?) Morning Glory as he began his studies.
The Fateful Night Out
The pivotal moment came during his second year when Ant and Dec, then transitioning from their Byker Grove personas PJ and Duncan to CBBC stars, announced a live show in town. Expecting a crowd of ironic students similar to a recent Robbie Williams gig, Pelley and his friend Phil were surprised to find themselves in a theatre packed with teenage girls.
After the show, emboldened by perhaps one too many beers, they managed to discover the duo's hotel and charm their way into their rooms. "We chatted away to the pair for hours while helping ourselves to their aftershow beers," Pelley recalls.
A New Ambition is Born
In those bleary early hours, a new career path crystallised. Why pursue a future of boiling, titrating, and distilling when he could make a living from fun? He decided he wanted to 'become Ant', and his friend Phil would be his Dec. This wasn't just a drunken fantasy; it became a genuine, if ultimately unsuccessful, mission.
The pair immediately launched their double act. They wrote for the student magazine Impact under the joint pen name 'Phil and Rich', bought cheap DJ decks, and adopted ridiculous aliases (Flashmaster Chops and Flexmaster Groove). Their radio show on University Radio Nottingham, Phil and Rich's Potato Mash, featured bizarre segments like "Feel the Food" and was notably memorable for the time they broadcast two hours of silence after forgetting to press the 'on air' button.
The Legacy of a Chance Encounter
After university, they sent demo tapes far and wide, receiving polite but non-committal encouragement. A move to Australia saw them launch a comedy website, philandrich.com, though the dream of becoming a professional duo eventually faded. However, the creative spark ignited that night never died. Both forged careers in creative industries – Pelley in journalism and Phil in a role at the BBC.
While they never became the next Ant and Dec, the experience defined their professional lives. Pelley still holds onto a sliver of hope: "There's always a chance that Ant and Dec will take early retirement, ITV will advertise for a new double act, and we'll be the obvious shoo-in." One spontaneous student night out proved that sometimes, the best experiments happen far outside the laboratory.
