One of the most loved double acts at the Robin Hood Festival have spoken of the day they got naked – in front of Simon Cowell!

What A Palaver! – aka Rob Sim and Ian Adcock – made it through to the quarterfinals of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Their routine involved dancing naked around strategically placed handbags to the music of Ken Dodd’s song Happiness!

The pair have been entertaining audiences for the last 21 years as What A Palaver! – and are delighted to be appearing once again as medieval jesters at Nottinghamshire County Council’s 30th Robin Hood Festival.

Ian, 51, said: “Most of our routines like Bed of Nails and juggling take around 15 minutes but we only had two minutes for the slot on Britain’s Got Talent. The handbag routine to Happiness was two minutes exactly so we opted for it and bared all – save handbags – on TV!

“It sadly didn’t bring in much extra work but people certainly remembered us when we arrived at the festival a couple of months later. What is remarkable is that several years on, we still get asked if we had been on the show – it is amazing the memories people have!”

Ian, from New Houghton, and Rob, who has recently set up a new bistro restaurant venture close to Robin Hood’s Bay, formed the double act in 1993. They had initially met as performers in a circus troupe in Scarborough in 1985 where they learnt many of the skills such as fire eating and unicycling that now stand them in good stead when entertaining crowds across the country as the act What A Palaver!

Ian said: “It is wonderful to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Robin Hood Festival. It is a magical atmosphere and you cannot point to one single thing that makes it special but it remains as popular as ever and we are looking forward to this special milestone.”

You can read more about their antics as part of the profiles of some of the Facebook Festival Folk ahead of this year’s annual festival which takes place between August 4 and 10 at Sherwood Forest, at: www.facebook.com/robinhoodfestival

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Culture Committee Chairman Councillor John Knight said: “We are looking forward to this special anniversary of the Robin Hood Festival as it celebrates 30 years.

“As part of Facebook Festival Folk, we are profiling many of the characters such as What a Palaver! who help entertain crowds at Sherwood each year and providing updates about the festival as well.”