But it is then that Phillips reveals something that makes it all make sense: this isn’t his first rodeo, or Royal Rumble. Back before Get Your Own Back, back before CBBC, back before he was even on television, Dave Benson Phillips had a short, secret run as a professional wrestler.

It was the 1980s. Phillips was a youngster, working at the holiday camps in Camber Sands in East Sussex, dreaming of making it in the world of showbiz. Alongside the tribute acts and magicians, wrestling was one of the live shows that would entertain holidaymakers at the parks. “I was a Pontins Blue Coat, wanting to be an entertainer and a song and dance man, and one of my many performance duties was to work as a towel boy for the wrestlers,” Phillips explained. “Then they realised I was quite physical,and they thought it would be fun if they had me in the ring. I was the only black employee Pontins had - It was quite the kudos thing to have this black guy, running around in the ring. They taught me how to be a referee, then I started doing some wrestling as well.”

It was just another skill that the young Phillips was eager to learn. Another string to his bow, that he figured might come in useful in his future career. “As a Blue Coat, I wanted to know about the business. I wanted to learn about every facet of the business, [I wanted to do] the sort of things that would be outside my comfort zone. And if you want to get outside your comfort zone, wrestling will do it."

The late 1980s was the beginning of the dark of ages for British wrestling. The iconic World of Sport was taken off air, and the tradition of ITV Saturday afternoon grappling was killed off. It went from a beloved national pastime to a summer camp sideshow. Still, Phillips got to work with legends of British wrestling, including Giant Haystacks. He reels off fantastical names. “The Tarantula, he was lovely, a massive geezer with tarantula tattoos. The Mighty Chang was another one. Sadly they are no longer with us. They were part of British wrestling history.”

I’m still trying to get a handle on how it is all going to go down. Celebrity involvement in wrestling is hardly uncommon, but it rarely goes well. The President of the United States Donald Trump, of course, famously got involved at Wrestlemania 23, and was about as athletic as you’d expect a man who guzzles down McDonald's and KFC every meal to be. And there’s been a few recently in the UK. X-Factor loser Wagner did a run-in at RISE: Underground Pro Wrestling, where his son was competing, and former Norwich striker Grant Holt is currently training for a bout in 2019.

What training was Phillips doing? “A lot of it is just cardio really, a lot of walking around in my particular case. A lot of stretching. A lot of what I’ve been doing is just getting my heart rate backup. The last time that I wrestled before I did the match in Horsham was about 25 years ago, a long old time. I never thought I’d do it again in my lifetime.”

Was he looking at actually becoming a regular wrestler? Were there any more bouts on the cards? “I want to see how this one goes. It’ll be good fun.”