Björn was interviewed by Matt Baker and Alex Jones about Mamma Mia! The Party as tickets went on sale for The O2.

The studio had been laid out with people sitting at tables in the style of Mamma Mia! The Party with Björn sitting at a table with the hosts.

Sandi Toksvig's involvement was highlighted with a little skit featuring her asking Björn if he was there to audition - Sandi did most of the talking.  This led to a brief discussion about an alleged rivalry between the Swedish and Danes.

Björn justified the high ticket price by saying that it included a three-course meal, the show and a disco at the end that would include ABBA records. Matt described it as the perfect night out and then asked Björn what his perfect night out would be.  Björn responded that it would be something with his whole family - soon to number 17 - with a big family dinner in a great restaurant, preferably in the Stockholm archipelago which they would travel to by boat.

When asked whether ABBA would ever reform, Björn said that they had gone into the studio but that they would never reform on stage.  It was mentioned that Rod Stewart had been a guest the previous evening on The One Show and he was happy to keep performing but Björn said it wasn't for them and that Rod was a bit of an exhibitionist.

He was asked where their musical inspiration came from and he explained that growing up with only one radio station in Sweden they had to listen to whatever they could and that included music from all over the world.

The ABBAtar hologram project was mentioned and Björn said they would be launched probably in March next year singing one of the new songs and that they were digital copies of themselves from 1979.  It was Agnetha and Frida's choice to choose 1979 and Björn said he definitely didn't want 1974 as he was overweight!

He described what it was like to be back in the recording studio as a "fantastic moment".  He and Benny had written the songs and sent demos to Agnetha and Frida. The songs were I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down, the former being "in a way about themselves - the four of them" and is the more reflective of the two.

Matt brought up the way he had written the lyrics to The Winner Takes It All - with the assistance of a bottle of whisky and Björn joked that he'd tried it again since but hadn't yielded such good results!

This was a great interview - very upbeat and Björn had a great rapport with Matt Baker and especially Alex Jones.

Next: Associated Press Interview (Björn)
Previous: A Special Message from Sandi and Björn - Mamma Mia! The Party 2019 (Björn)

Mamma Mia! The Party
The One Show (Benny), 2009;
The One Show (Agnetha), 2013;
The One Show (Benny), 2017;
The One Show (Björn), 2018;

Thanks to Chris Williams and Jeanette Lovell c/o ABBAtalk.
YouTube link c/o ABBAtalk.