James Corden calls BBC Three sketch show a 'mistake'

Corden said he will not write another sketch show

Comic actor James Corden has admitted the sketch show he wrote and starred in with his Gavin and Stacey colleague Mathew Horne was a "mistake".

In an interview with ShortList magazine, the 31-year-old said: "I'm not good enough at writing sketches to write a sketch show."

Critics panned Horne & Corden, which screened last year on BBC Three, despite initial strong viewing figures.

In December, the BBC said a second series of the show was on hold.

Asked whether he would attempt another sketch show in the future, Corden said: "No. The truth is, honestly, I'm not good enough at writing sketches to write a sketch show.

"It was a mistake. There's no point in doing something unless it's going to be as good as Big Train or The Fast Show. Why bother? And the absolute truth is I wasn't good enough."

I got called a fat waste of space a lot in the papers. The material wasn't strong enough, but the torrent of abuse I got for it from the media was something else James Corden

After the success of Gavin and Stacey, which was also co-written by Corden, a lot of expectation surrounded the sketch show.

But after the first episode aired, The Times' Andrew Billen said it "wasn't subtle, and not very clever either".

The Guardian's Sam Wollaston wrote: "Horne & Corden isn't just bad, it actually made me feel a bit depressed."

Despite that, Corden said the media backlash did not bother him.

"I got called a fat waste of space a lot in the papers. The material wasn't strong enough, but the torrent of abuse I got for it from the media was something else.

"But you can't cry about it - my life is a picnic. People have real problems, I'm just called fat and useless in the papers."

He also said he had not completely ruled out writing another Gavin and Stacey episode.

"People only want a good episode. They only want it to be back if it's great again, and I feel like we've rounded the story off nicely," he said.

"I worry about ruining that. Who knows, in a few years we might do a special or something, but it'd have to be right."

The star also denied recent reports that he had fallen out with Horne.

"Our friendship is great, I love him dearly. I love working with him, and I hope we work together again soon. People just make these things up."