Fans of Death in Paradise were devastated to see Ralf Little’s time on the show come to an end.
Express.co.uk caught up with Death in Paradise star Ralf Little’s latest news at a Two Pints Live! show with co-star Will Mellor last week. Despite an incredible four and a half years of filming sessions on the idyllic Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Ralf revealed there were no tearful goodbyes.
“It’s funny because the producer kept coming up to me when it was our last day filming and going, ‘Are you okay?’ and I was like, ‘I’m fine! I have no emotions!'” he exclaimed. “They said: ‘It’s your last day at the police station’ and I was just like, ‘It’s just another day at work.’ Honestly, it was absolutely fine!”
He added that it wasn’t until his departure was formally announced that the magnitude of the situation dawned on him. “When the final episode went out this year, and the secret was out and the world then knew, that’s when it hit me!” he admitted.
Ralf has admitted that, had it been a “heart decision”, he could have continued for another 20 years, but that – as his character sailed into the sunset in pursuit of love – he knew it had been the right time to go. Meanwhile, his live show with former Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps co-star Will Mellor couldn’t have had a more different atmosphere than that of the gritty detective drama.
“I’m not going to show you how to solve a murder. That’s not what this f*****g show’s about!” he warned. As he left his Death in Paradise persona behind, he took fans back to his mischievous early years, and had them roaring with laughter as he reminisced over the good old days.
This isn’t the first time Ralf and Will have been on tour – and the cheeky jokes, boozy banter and liberal use of profanities left a minority so offended last time that the pair now offer a “trigger warning” at the start.
He joked that, on one occasion, his co-star “dropped a C-bomb” ten minutes into the show, prompting one couple to get up and leave.
The pair’s response? “See you later, c***!”
Poking fun at the prospect that the pair’s colourful language and comments could “get them cancelled” and “end their careers”, Ralf told the crowd that an emergency phone had been installed.
If either he or Will said anything too controversial, the phone would be set off – and the pair staged it ringing a few times during the show, to comic effect.
There was a red panic button installed on the desk too.
“There’s every chance during the show that Will might say something [offensive] about once every two minutes,” Ralf teased.
“I have this emergency button that I can press… to distract him from what he’s thinking, because he’s got his brains all over the place!
“It’s possible that I might also say something that might end both our careers, so our producer has the power to intervene in an emergency, to try and get us back on track again!” he grinned.
Meanwhile, fans have continued to speculate over who Ralf’s eagerly awaited Death in Paradise replacement will be.
