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Mo Gilligan reveals why new Netflix documentary is the "hardest" job he’s ever done - and the real story behind 'Big Chicken'
It was "extremely hard" for the comedian.
Netflix
- Katelyn Mensah
Published: Wednesday, 5 August 2026 at 8:00 am
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Mo Gilligan is taking on a challenge like no other in brand new documentary series Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy, in which he sets out on an experiment to eat fried chicken three times a day for 28 days straight.
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Over one month, the comedian travels from South London to the United States as he discovers the historical origins of fried chicken and the social, economic and industrial forces driving our mass consumption of it - from fast-food chains to large-scale farming - and the impact on our health, our planet and the way we eat.
It was by no means an easy experiment for Gilligan, with the comedian becoming emotional and lethargic at times as he coped with his changing body and not being able to do anything about it - or even eat something aside from fried chicken to get a reprieve.
"It's so interesting because the food never tasted bad at any point, so when I was eating the food, every time it was nice," Gilligan said in an exclusive interview with Radio Times. "I'd love to be like, 'Oh, that one meal.' There were some meals that I had and I was like, 'I'm not feeling this.' And I was always told, 'If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it.' I was never forced to eat it. But there was one meal in particular and I was like, 'Oh, I'm not feeling this. I just can't eat this.' And that kind of made me upset. But then knowing that that is also because of how much of the food I consumed, that's how my brain's psychology started to change."
Throughout the documentary, Gilligan meets with health professionals, activists and journalists who helped him understand more about the concerns around fried chicken and the corporations who are pumping it out to the masses.
He continued: "Once I started finding this stuff out from professors, I was like, 'Oh, so it's not just me that I didn't like it because there was no barbecue sauce.' Like, it's a scientific reason. But yeah, it was easily the hardest thing I think I've ever done. A lot of people say I'm so brave of going on stage and that must be daunting. But this was the hardest thing I think I've ever done, especially a face fronting [documentary]. Yeah, extremely hard."
Across the 90 minutes, Gilligan uncovers shocking revelations, including that some burgers made with fried chicken contained dimethylpolysiloxane, a chemical that is used as a food additive that can also be found in shampoo, conditioner and is also used as a lubricant.
"I've met a lot of experts over the last couple of days," he says in the documentary.
"You know, one of the ingredients, they also put it in condoms for lubrication. Who knew that went into a burger? So many things go into it that are artificially engineered to give you a better experience and get you to come back for more."
The number of chicken shops rose 7.2 per cent year-on-year compared to 1.7 per cent for other takeaways, according to data from Meaningful Vision, with customers increasingly amongst the younger generation.
In 2025, 52 per cent of Gen Z fast good consumers and 47 per cent of millennial fast food consumers were reported to have eaten from a chicken shop in the past year.
Maria Vanifatova, chief executive of Meaningful Vision, said that several US chains have entered the market in recent years, including Raising Cane's, Chick-fil-A, Slim's Chicken, Popeyes and Wingstop.
She said: "Chicken is really booming and we believe that this year this trend will continue."
The rise of accessibility to food like fried chicken has seen a rise in obesity, with a Unicef study last year revealing that for the first time, there are more children in the world who are obese than underweight.
Mo Gilligan. Netflix
"You've got a younger generation where when they finish school, their first thought is to go to the chicken shop," Gilligan told Radio Times. "You've got an older generation where now you can get a delivery to your house of the favourite food that you want. So I think it's come at an important time to get the information out there."
He continued: "I think that's the most important thing, is not to say to people, 'Never eat this food again.' Because I went into this, I like the food, I love it. I'm not trying to be on anyone's team here. I'm probably more of a neutral fan of chicken rather than a neutral someone who's not a fan of it.
"But I guess it's just really to make conscious choices and I think programmes like this and working with Netflix, you know, they beam this out to 180 countries and the same thing that's happening here is happening across the pond and somewhere else. So I think it's come at a perfect time."
Over the 28 days, Gilligan gained half a stone, saw his mood plummet and his chances of developing diabetes increase, and it was certainly quite some time before he took a bite of fried chicken again.
"I didn't have it probably, I wanna say six [or] seven months after. I didn't have any fried chicken, and it wasn't because I didn't wanna have it," he told Radio Times.
He explained: "I knew a bit more information about it, so I was like, 'If I could have anything, I think I might just draw for the oat bar. I've had enough chicken for probably, like, a year at that point.' So I think, for me, it was almost looking at fried chicken of, like, I've had enough of it, and if I really want it, it's going to be there...
"Do you know what was the funniest part of going to the chicken shop at 11am when they're not really set up, and being the first one before the doors opened. [That] was a moment in my life where that's when it felt like the whole film got real and I'm like, "I'm fully outside the chicken shop at 10:30am waiting for it to open.' That was the realest part for me. So that six months I was like, 'I don't need it just yet.'"
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Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy is available to watch on Netflix now. You can sign up to Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky TV and Virgin Media.
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Authors
Katelyn MensahSenior Entertainment Writer
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
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