MARTIN Compston and Vicky McClure may have great chemistry after working together for the last decade, but it seems that was not always the case.
The two actors are best known for their respective roles on the hit crime drama Line Of Duty.
Despite their obvious friendship, it seems the pair haven’t always seen eye to eye.
In fact, they were direct rivals last year when they were opposite teams at Soccer Aid.
Vicky McClure was one of the celebrity coaches for the England Squad which contained the likes of Paddy McGuinness, Tom Hiddleston and Liam Payne.
But Martin was the co-manager of the Rest Of The World squad with players such as Usain Bolt, Tommy Fury and influencer Noah Beck.
Ahead of this year’s Soccer Aid, the actor spoke to Dermot O’Leary for The Sun’s TV Mag.
WHen asked about his role in the big event, Martin admitted that he’s excited at the prospect of a return to the pitch after a spell of managerial roles.
However, he also admitted there was an incident off the pitch last year where the former co-stars came to blows.
Martin told us: “I’m back to playing. I was actually more nervous being the manager because you felt that you couldn’t affect the game.
“There was one moment… It was funny because some of the England coaching team weren’t chuffed with me, but it was because they missed the moment when England went 2-1 up and Vicky [McClure] turned around and started giving me it, McClure was “in my face”.
“So I went, ‘You went too early there, Vic, I think we’ll win this now for that’ and when we went 3-2 I started giving it to her, and the coaching team were all like: ‘What’s your problem?!’.”
He added that he relished the opportunity to share competitive banter with his longtime friend and colleague.
Martin added: “The teams used to be properly separated and when I first started there was an element of dislike when we all got there, but the way we’re all mixing now, it’s fabulous.”
However, when he was the manager, Martin did like personally recruiting celebrities to join his team.
He admitted: “I was management last year and I was lucky enough to pick the celebrities for the [World XI] team, that was my job, and Maisie Adam came on her wedding weekend, it was mad!
“So she was first on my team sheet – she deserved to walk out on that pitch first, and that’s what it’s all about.”
He is super excited about one contestant in particular this year, former The Masked Singer competitor Alex Brooker, 40.
“What I can’t wait for this year is to see Alex Brooker murder Backstreet Boys on the karaoke!”, he exclaimed.
“That boy is a joy to be around, and what an inspiration for kids at home, seeing him up there – and he can hit a penalty by the way, he could smash it, so he would be on penalties for me because what a moment that would be.”
Read Dermot’s full interview with Martin Compston in full in The Sun’s TV Mag, available for free in The Sun every Saturday.
