Interestingly, one mate of mine, a proper leftie, in his heyday all Red Wedge and right-on punch-ups, was melancholy. "I thought I'd be overjoyed, but really it's just … another one bites the dust …" This demonstrates, I suppose, that if you opposed Thatcher's ideas it was likely because of their lack of compassion, which is really just a word for love. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies.

Of his time presenting the show he said "The three years I've spent on Big Brother's Big Mouth have been an unprecedented joy". He starred in the 2011 remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore film Arthur. He presented Dancefloor Chart touring nightclubs in Britain and Ibiza and hosted the tea-time request show Select.

He married American pop singer Katy Perry in October 2010; they separated in December 2011 and were divorced the following year. In 2007 he had his first major film role in St Trinian's. In 2004 Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth a Big Brother spin-off.