INTERVIEW : Katie Hopkins

Loving and laughing across Britain

- DARREN SMITH

What have you been up to?

I spent about five years doing what I do trying to get people together, to acknowledge how hard things are, but also to give people a reason to be hopeful - in the States, the only place I could still talk.

Nearly a year ago today, Alex Belfield allowed me on the stage in Blackpool - the biggest show they ever had. Commercially it was epic. All of these theatres wanted some of that - 35 booked to have the tour. And then subsequently, Belfield went to prison for five-and-a-half years, and then they pulled 30 of them just because of the systematic, very successful attempt taking very little effort by the other side, really just down to one individual in particular - lobbying these places into cancelling.

However, it's been totally successful, because of the handful that have held firm - the tickets sold out so fast; because there's a thirst for feeling better, being in a room together, and there is a large underground network of resistance building up in the UK, and so, so many of the venues I do are not theatres or places that can be lobbied. This is an underground speakeasy network. We are in the time of prohibition, so most of what I do, I'll be in the heart of leftist wokedom performing two sell-out nights that were never advertised, and sold out in 24 hours each. When I tell people they're not alone, I really mean it, because this network is vast, connected and it's brilliant.

You haven't been on the telescreen for a while?