by ASJAD NAZIR
DYNAMIC duo Raj Ghai and Vallisa Chauhan host the popular Breakfast show on Sunrise Radio from Monday to Friday, providing a mix of news, music, interviews, competitions and witty banter.
The talented hosts make everything look so effortless that we at Eastern Eye thought waking up super-early and entertaining listeners wasn’t challenging enough for them. We turned the tables on the duo and put them in the hot seat to answer some devilishly hard scenarios. Raj and Vallisa provided lots of laughs, but also made some eye-opening revelations about themselves…
You are hosting a concert of your favourite singer. They deliver a terrible performance and ask your opinion afterwards. What do you say?
Vallisa: I would take them out for a few drinks and tell them in the kindest way possible that they need to work on their performance before embarrassing themselves again. I would offer to help and think telling them the truth is better than lying.
Raj: I would say: ‘That was terrible, what happened? Did you put on your wife’s knickers by mistake this morning because you were squeaking not singing! Anyway, we made some good money today and I still love your pre-recorded stuff.’
A person finds your lost cat in a ditch and pays £1,000 to save it. You find out a few months later. What do you do?
Raj: I’m an animal lover and so would pay a reasonable amount if someone did actually find my cat, alive!
Vallisa: There is no way it was my cat! I have a cat phobia and couldn’t even look at a picture of a cat, let alone actually own one.
You get offered £700,000 to appear on a reality TV show where you have to shoot cute animals with a gun. Do you accept?
Vallisa: Something strange people don’t know about me is that I don’t like animals at all, but I am also a germaphobe and have a very weak stomach. So I couldn’t shoot any animals for any amount of money as I would end up turning vegetarian as the visions would haunt me.
Raj: I would never do that! Everyone knows a dog is a man’s best friend. Most of my ex-girlfriends were animals. Besides, £700,000 after tax isn’t that attractive. Is there VAT already included?
You get mistaken for a famous Bollywood actor and are offered an all expenses paid trip to The Oscars. What do you do?
Vallisa: Take it. It’s not my fault if I look that great someone thought I could work in Bollywood.
Raj: I would also accept! I’d borrow a suit, shine my shoes, hire a friend and be on my way. I would lie all the way there and back.
Your co-host goes on a reality TV show. You get offered £40,000 to secretly spill secrets on them. What do you do?
Raj: I would do it 100 per cent. Nobody goes on a reality show with the hope th-ey won’t make headlines. I’d be like a catalyst speeding up the process. Good for me and her with 10 per cent commission!
Vallisa: 100 per cent if it was Raj! (Laughs) I am taking that money and making up some stuff up along the way, whether it’s true or not.
An A-list celebrity at a function is being mean to people. Backstage you notice her top has been inside out all this time. Do you say something?
Vallisa: Yes I would, but not to stop them from being embarrassed but to embarrass them more when they realise people have noticed the wardrobe malfunction.
Raj: I hate vain stars! I’ve worked with enough to realise half of their lives are an act. They order stuff from promoters they don’t need, ask for food which they don’t eat. They do it because they can. So I would never let them know they have a wardrobe malfunction. I would ask them to pose for a photo and highlight the clothes on my social media.
Raj, you get offered a revolutionary hair replacement therapy but it means you can never eat meat again or drink alcohol. Do you accept?
Raj: Bald is beautiful. What God giveth, he taketh away. I wouldn’t want any treatment. Plus, I’m now saving a fortune on shampoo. I get 50 per cent off Head & Shoulders because I only use it on my shoulders!
You go to a gay bar for a party and see your friend’s husband there dressed up as a woman and working as a hostess incognito. What do you do?
Vallisa: The friend in me is saying I should say something, but the human in me says everyone has the right to do what they like and shouldn’t be judged. So I would suggest they tell my friend the truth and if she loves him she will stick around.
Your favourite, very sexy movie star is pressed up against you in a crowded room. Do you attempt to smell them or move away?
Vallisa: Favourite, sexy and movie star, why would I walk away? Of course I would smell them. Let’s just hope they smell good otherwise they may not be my favourite for much longer.
Raj: I can only respond with a true story! One particular stunning, super sexy star I was working with met me in a hotel for a press conference. I was stunned by her beauty! We got into a small lift to make our way to an interview room when I became stunned by her methi aroma! I almost entered the Guinness Book of World Records for longest breath holding in an elevator! (No, I will not name her).
Someone offers £250,000 to your favourite charity if you strip down for a nude but tasteful photo shoot, covering the naughty bits. Do you accept?
Raj: Yes for sure. I am not ashamed of what the almighty gave me. What I lack upstairs is more than sufficiently covered downstairs. I would give the photographers 50 per cent back if they made the shoot ‘not so tasteful!’
Vallisa: £250,000 means I don’t have to work for a very long time, so yes I would do it and then just hope my mum doesn’t see them.
You are clearly drunk but remember you have to go on air because another radio host is unwell and there is no cover. What do you do?
Vallisa: I don’t drink, so if this happens I wouldn’t even be able to walk let alone make it to the station.
Raj: I would love to say I would do it because it sounds like fun, but it’s against all company policies and besides I don’t drink. I’m also a compulsive liar.
Someone anonymously sends your partner an expensive birthday gift. The partner thinks it’s from you. Do you take credit for it?
Raj: I’ve done it many times. People have fallen out with my wife because she hasn’t thanked them for various gifts over the years, totally unaware it wasn’t me that sent them! She’ll work it out now I guess!
Vallisa: No I would want to know who the hell is buying my partner expensive presents; if I took credit for it I would never know.
You are at a crowded dinner party in a mansion and spill red wine on a very expensive antique rug and no one sees. What do you do?
Vallisa: Run, before anyone can blame me.
Raj: I would spill more wine all over the rug so it’s all the same colour. Then I would leave a note reading: ‘Sorry…regards Vallisa x’
You go to a close friend’s house for a meal and it was awful, but they put in lots of effort. They ask what did you think. What do you say?
Raj: I tell the truth. When it comes to food, you should be blatant about it. My friends will tell you the number of times the same situation has occurred in their homes and I have just come out with it point blank. I want to do a TV show called Can’t Cook, Don’t Bother.
Vallisa: As mentioned earlier I have a weak stomach so if it was awful I probably wouldn’t have eaten it in the first place so they would know the answer.
A friendly old lady is selling you a house and asking for way too little money. What do you do?
Vallisa: Her estate agent should have given her better advice and house prices are ridiculous at the moment. So if I’m getting a deal I need to take it, sorry.
A young child who looks up to you as a hero asks for helps with their homework and you find it too difficult. What do you do?
Raj: I’d convince them education is overrated! You don’t need a degree to get a job, you need dungarees and a will to work.
Vallisa: I explain that I’m getting old and did this a long time ago, but I don’t want
them to look silly at school for getting it wrong so let’s ask someone who knows.
A close friend asks for a job reference but they are useless. Do you give it?
Vallisa: Why not! As long as they are not working for me, their new boss will soon learn.
Raj: Many people have asked me for references over the years, including those who have never worked for me. This is no joking matter! I know what it feels like to give someone
a job who isn’t capable. It wastes time, money and sometimes damages the reputation of the employer in the eyes of his clients.
You are in a house party and everyone sees you go to the toilet. You go inside and find someone has blocked it, what do you do?
Raj: I scream from inside the toilet: ‘For goodness sake Vallisa, you’re not supposed to pee in the sink’. That takes everyone’s mind off the fact the toilet is blocked.
Vallisa: I walk back out, tell them the toilet is blocked and hold it in for the rest of the evening like a champion.
You agree to interview a prominent politician, then off the record they say something vital to the public interest. Do you report it?
Raj: I think whatever politicians (not all) say and what they mean or do are usually two different things. Politics affect the lives of everyone including my family and kids (all 19 of them), therefore I would do the needy and turn to Twitter!
Vallisa: I am a journalist so I guess it is in my job description.
On an airplane, an old man asks if you will change seats with his wife so they can sit together. You came early to get a window seat and don’t like his wife’s location, which is sandwiched between two large guys. Do you move?
Raj: I’m a kind-hearted guy like that so I would definitely move as I know how it feels. Many times I’ve asked the same of people just so I could sit away from my wife and they have refused, and I’ve had to listen to her all the way to our destination!
Vallisa: No, I am a terrible flyer as it is. I don’t like planes and sleep the whole flight, so
I need a window seat to sleep comfortably otherwise I could be throwing up the whole time.
Someone that you don’t really like invites you to an expensive restaurant you would love to try. Do you go just for the free meal?
Vallisa: Yeah, it’s only one night. I’m not agreeing to be their best friend for life.
Raj: I have presented a restaurant review show on TV for close on three years and have had free food at some of the finest restaurants in the country. So the free meal with someone I don’t want to look at doesn’t excite me.
