Bill Bailey says fan campaign may have cost him The Hobbit role

‘I did think that a petition is not the right way to go about getting that to happen,’ he said

Bill Bailey has said a fan petition to cast him in an iconic franchise may well have backfired.

In 2007, fans began campaigning online to get the musician and actor cast in the Hobbit films after Bailey revealed that he auditioned for the role of Gloin the dwarf in Peter Jackson’s franchise.

The support from fans, however, did not work and Bailey was not cast in the Hobbit trilogy, which spanned three films from 2012 to 2014 and starred Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.

Bailey, 59, was asked about the petition in a new interview with The Guardian.

“Yeah! I’d like to be in a Hobbit film in any capacity. I’d have been quite happy to be a dwarf,” he said.

The Black Books star went on to say, however, that he does not think the petition was a good idea – suggesting that it may have actually led to him losing the role.

“But I did think that a petition is not the right way to go about getting that to happen,” he said.

“Imagine the casting director going: ‘Oh yes, we’re looking at this person, this person... oh, but here’s the petition guy with a big pile of signatures that say we have got to use him.’ No one wants the petition guy!”

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' (New Line Cinema)

He conceded that it was “very sweet” of his fans to campaign on his behalf, “but I think they might have actually kiboshed the whole enterprise”.

The actor seems to have changed his tune, however. Speaking to Digital Spy in 2010 amid the casting discussions, Bailey said: “If it works, hey, on you go internet army. Petition away!”

Saturday night fever: Oti Mabuse and Bailey are a must-see combo (PA)

He joked: “Maybe I can mobilise them. I need the council to approve some building work on my house.”

Elsewhere in the Guardian interview, the Strictly Come Dancing star, who made history in series 18 as the oldest champion at 55, recalled his most cringe-worthy run-in with a fellow celebrity.

“Paul McCartney came over. What completely threw me was that he recognised me first,” he recalled.

“So he said ‘Bill Bailey!’ and all of my preparation went out the window. I started babbling this pre-prepared speech that was all back to front. I said, ‘Paul, you’re, with the song, like, isn’t it like, a cultural part of the thread, with, you know, like Yesterday? Everyone in the culture?’ It was just gibberish.”