So why quit? It turns out there were several reasons. “If you’re in charge of something, it’s not as fun as being on it,” he admits. “There’s a certain amount of information you have to get across. You have to pretend to have opinions about things that you have no opinions on whatsoever, and you have to pretend not to have opinions about things that you do have opinions on. So you end up in a slight kind of flux.”

He worried that chairing duties meant he was “not being terrible creative. If you watch someone like Nish [Kumar] on The Mash Report or John Oliver, sitting behind a desk talking about the news and making jokes, you think: ‘That is what they really want to be doing.’ And if I’d hear myself, I’d think: ‘Well, I sound like someone who happens to be hosting the The News Quiz…’ So from about three years, I thought I’ll probably stop.”

The news cycle got pretty wearing: “The same topics came up rather often, and I’d think: ‘Am I saying the same words in a different order?’”

The death of longtime regular Jeremy Hardy was another factor. “Once I knew Jeremy was so unwell, I didn’t really like the idea of doing the show as he wouldn’t be in it any more. Every now and then, a recording would find itself going down this cul-de-sac, and you’d think ‘I know what this evening needs…’, and there’s no way it can happen.”

As for criticism that The News Quiz was too Left-wing, Jupp brushes it off: “Who is sitting at home thinking, right, I’m about to be told facts for 30 minutes solid? To worry about [bias] means to not credit the audience and listenership with a great deal of intelligence.”

He shrugs: “In terms of political balance, I was never really bothered about it because that’s not the job of that programme. It’s just jokes.”

Now he is off the show and free to talk about his own politics. So, is he a Tory? “No, I am absolutely not a Tory. I’ve never, ever put a cross in that box.” That’s not to say he’s a Jeremy Corbyn fan, either. He imagines their conversation: “I’m happy to vote for you, but can you just tell me – it doesn’t have to be an essay – what it is that I’m voting for? Can you just say vaguely what it is you actually think?”

Jupp also says he left The News Quiz because he wanted to spend time with his family, which from a politician would sound like a lie but from a man with five children sounds eminently reasonable.

He lives in Monmouth with his wife, Rachel, whom he met at university in Edinburgh (a period when he also found fame as Archie in the BBC children’s show Balamory). Their eldest is now 10, the youngest four, with an eight-year-old and seven-year-old twins in between. I imagine the logistics are quite something.

“The rules of my local leisure centre make it possible for me to take four children swimming at a time, and we do that without much difficulty. It’s as difficult sometimes as people imagine, and as fun sometimes as people imagine. But you do have to have a f------ big car.”

What of the Duke of Sussex’s recent pronouncement about having only two children to save the planet? “Is that what he thinks? Um, well, it’s a bit late really… we’ll try and offset it somehow. I’ll get them to wear solar backpacks.”

Jupp has heard the environmental argument many times. “If I had a herd of cows, would you be saying to me: ‘Hmm, now, you must have heard that cows are quite bad for the environment.’” He’s giggling now. “If you interviewed a Formula One driver, would you say, ‘You know, it’s actually better to drive a little bit slower just in terms of fuel efficiency…’?’

Rather than the weekly travel that The News Quiz entailed, he now plans to spend longer stretches at home. And to concentrate on acting and writing. He is working on a novel about a man in his 30s who is disillusioned with his job – no, not presenting The News Quiz, but teaching. And he would love to take The Life I Lead to the US.

“You could do it in America, on the East Coast or the West Coast. Or Des Moines.” Then he checks himself. “I mean, I’m totally flying kites here. The producer may well be reading this and thinking: ‘Um, no. This is definitely the last time he’s doing it.’”

Miles Jupp stars in The Life I Lead at Wyndham’s Theatre (Charing Cross Road, London WC2, 0844 482 5151, delfontmackintosh.co.uk/ tickets/the-life-i-lead) from 16-21 September