Bizarre interview with Shakin’ Stevens resurfaces

Just in time for ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ to hit the charts again, a new generation is being introduced to Shakin’ Stevens’ 80s antics by way of a classic interview.

‘Somewhere Over There Nostalgia’ reposted the clip from the Calendar Goes Pop interview to Facebook, with the innocuous introduction “Can you remember when Richard Madeley interviewed Shakin’ Stevens?”

In the clip, Madeley says to Shaky: “You’re known for this old style rock & roll.”

“No, no! I’m a 1980s act,” Shaky replies.

“Of course, you’re acting in the 1980s, but your style-” Madeley clarifies before he’s interrupted again.

“No, I’m not acting.”

“Your style is in the roots of rock & roll, isn’t it?” Madeley continues undeterred, before innocently joking, “Let’s not finish this with an argument.”

A smiling Shaky then tackles him to the sofa while Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi duck to avoid the sudden fight.

“Feel better for that,” Shaky declares as it calms down. The atmosphere is light, however, as Richard Madeley thanks his interviewee.

“That was a wonderful Christmas present. Thank you very much indeed, Shaky,” he says, putting his arm around the Welsh singer. “Although you’ve ruined the hairstyle.”

It doesn’t take long for Shaky to wrap an arm around Richard, a gesture which quickly devolves into another playful attack, with the Status Quo members getting caught up in the scuffle also.

The clip is taken from the 1980 show Calendar Goes Pop, a combination of music and interviews with the era’s stars for Yorkshire TV’s Calendar news programme. Much of the show’s legacy is centred around the ‘Shaky incident’.

“Lads from Quo got him off his tits apparently in the green room before,” one commenter shared by way of explanation.

Others believe that as Shaky had been waiting for a while to be interviewed, he got frustrated with the repetitive questions. Although he allegedly broke Madeley’s watch in the process, he later offered to pay for any repairs.

Madeley clarified on Loose Women in 2022 that he’d “never heard of him. My briefing notes said that he was ‘Shakin’ Stevens’ and he was happy to be called Shakin’.

“I started the interview, I think he felt a bit upstaged by Status Quo to be honest, and I called him Shakin’ and he said ‘No, no it’s Shaky’,” Madeley went on with a mock Welsh accent.

“I said ‘No, it’s Shakin” and he went mad and slapped me. We’ve met many times since, there was no harm done.”

Some viewers had their opinion of Shaky knocked by the scene, with one writing: “He behaved like a total ass, so out of character when compared with all his other interviews I’ve seen. Looks like he was drinking or on something. You can still be a fan of Shaky but tell this for what it is.”

Many others think that it was all a bit of fun or that Madeley got what he deserved. “Well done Shaky!” one shared, while another said, “Richard needed putting in his place .”

With a rare full version of the infamous interview uploaded to YouTube in August 2025, you can now decide for yourself the source of Shaky’s fighting spirit.