Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the

BBC New Comedy Award The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perform ...

s. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeoned on the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

comedy circuit before he became known for co-hosting ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

'' (2006–2009) with

Justin Lee Collins Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an actor and former radio and television presenter from Bristol, England. Collins began his career as a stand up comedian in the 1990s when he was in his late teens. He then presented a number of TV sh ...

. This led to the release of a short-lived entertainment show '' Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong'' (2008), and he went on to star in the comedy chat show '' Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' (2009–2016) which aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. Since 2017, Carr often stands in as a team captain on ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

''. In 2019, he became a judge on ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

''. In 2021, he took over from

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...

as host of BBC’s '' Interior Design Masters''. Carr hosted the radio show ''

Going Out with Alan Carr ''Going Out with Alan Carr'' was the incarnation of the Saturday evening show on BBC Radio 2 between 25 April 2009 and 31 March 2012, produced by Open Mike Productions, which also produced Carr's TV series '' Chatty Man''. It was hosted by Brit ...

'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

(2009–2012), as well as releasing his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

book ''

Look Who It Is! {{Infobox book , name = Look Who It Is! , title_orig = , translator = , image = Look Who It Is!.jpg , image_caption = The Book's Dustcover with Book , author = Alan Carr , illustrator = Photographs from Alan Carr's life , cover_artist = ...

'' (2008), and going on three arena stand-up comedy tours: ''Tooth Fairy Live'' (2007), ''Spexy Beast Live'' (2011) and ''Yap, Yap, Yap!'' (2015). Carr has won three

British Comedy Awards The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

(2007, 2008, 2013), two

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

(2012, 2015) and a

BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

(2013).

Early life

Alan Graham Carr was born on 14 June 1976 in

Weymouth, Dorset Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, on the English Channel coast of England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,427 in 2021. It is the third l ...

, oldest son of Christine and

Graham Carr William Graham Carr (born 25 October 1944) is an English former professional footballer, manager and scout. He is currently an associate director for Northampton Town. Club career Carr, a half-back, joined his first professional club, North ...

, and spent the majority of his childhood in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. His father, whose family comes from the

North East of England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

, is a former

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

manager and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

chief scout. Carr has a younger brother, Gary. Carr went to Weston Favell Upper School in Northampton and graduated from

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

with a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Drama and Theatre Studies. After completing his degree in his early 20s, Carr moved to

, aspiring to be a comedian. He lived in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

after which he moved to

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

, which he cites as an inspiration for his comedic work. Carr worked in a call centre for five years and performed on the comedy circuit in his spare time, before moving into comedy as a full-time career.

Career

Television & film

Carr's early TV career included guest appearances on ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...

'' in 2005 and ''

The Law of the Playground ''The Law of the Playground'' is a British television series broadcast on Channel 4 produced by Zeppotron in which various British comedians and celebrities recollect the past times of childhood at school. Throughout the series many different asp ...

'' in 2006. He and

co-hosted ''

'' from series two in 2006 until it was cancelled after the end of series eight in February 2009. Carr went on to host two series of Channel 4's game show '' Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong'' from 2007-2009, and the chat show '' Alan Carr: Chatty Man'', which ran for 16 series from 2009-2016, with Christmas Specials in 2016 and 2017.

Radio

Carr made his radio presenting debut on Christmas Day 2007 for

as part of their Festive Highlights with the show ''Alan Carr's Christmas Box''. He filled in on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

on 16 February and 14 June 2008 for

Adam and Joe Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish are British comedy performers known together as Adam and Joe. They are best known for presenting ''Adam and Joe (radio show), Adam and Joe'' on BBC Radio 6 Music (2007–2009, 2011) and ''The Adam and Joe Show'' on C ...

and co-presented '' The Russell Brand Show'' on 4 October 2008. He also presented ''Alan Carr's Comedy Outings'' for BBC Radio 2 in 2008. On 25 April 2009, Carr began hosting ''

'', a new show for BBC Radio 2, in conjunction with

Emma Forbes Emma Katy Forbes (née Clarke; born 14 May 1965 in Hammersmith, London) is an English radio and television presenter. Biography Forbes's parents are Nanette Newman and Bryan Forbes (né John Theobald Clarke). She attended Hurst Lodge School. ...

(later replaced by

Melanie Sykes Melanie Ann Sykes (born 7 August 1970) is an English television and radio presenter. She is best known for co-hosting '' Today with Des and Mel'' with Des O'Connor and '' Let's Do Lunch'' with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted '' Going Out with ...

). The show was broadcast every Saturday evening from 6pm to 8pm. On 6 March 2012 it was reported that he had made the decision to leave to focus on his '' Chatty Man'' show. His last show was on 31 March 2012. Carr was replaced by Liza Tarbuck. He returned on Boxing Day 2015 for a one-off show on the station. For four weeks in January/February 2017 Carr again returned to BBC Radio 2 to sit in for

Paul O'Grady Paul James O'Grady Order of the British Empire, MBE Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his d ...

on his Sunday show. Carr reunited with Sykes to present a 10-week show called ''Summer Escapes'' sitting in for

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

on Saturdays from July to September on BBC Radio 2 yearly from 2017 until its final run in 2020 following Norton's departure from the station. It included features based around summer including the ''British Seaside Survey''.

Stand-up

Carr performs stand-up regularly, on tour and on television. He became a regular performer on the Manchester comedy circuit in his 20s, where he met fellow comedians

Jason Manford Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC an ...

Justin Moorhouse Justin Moorhouse (born 15 May 1970) is an English stand-up comedian, radio DJ and actor from Manchester. He appeared in ''Phoenix Nights'', ''Looking for Eric'' and Guess The Attendance. Moorhouse has also appeared as a guest on the Dave TV ser ...

and

John Bishop John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer. Bishop formerly played football as a midfielder for Winsford United F.C., Crewe Alexandra F.C., Runcorn F.C., Rhyl F.C., Witton Al ...

, and had his own monthly comedy and cabaret show ''Alan Carr's Ice Cream Sunday'' at the Manchester Comedy Store. In 2001, Carr won the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the

s. Carr has been featured in three

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

shows and in 2007 he toured throughout the UK, which was followed by a DVD entitled ''Tooth Fairy Live.'' He has performed at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in London, which was televised for the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

series '' Live at the Apollo'', and has been featured in the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

. He has appeared and performed at many festivals, including the

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

Latitude Festival The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 ...

and

Kilkenny Comedy Festival The ''Cat Laughs Comedy Festival'' is a comedy festival held over the first weekend in June each year in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1994. History Cat Laughs was envisioned in 1994 by Lynn Cahill who ran Bi ...

. He has performed stand-up internationally, including an appearance at the Just for Laughs festival in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. In March 2010, Carr took part in ''

Channel 4's Comedy Gala ''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'' is an annual British comedy benefit show organised by Channel 4 in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. The show is filmed live at the O2 Arena in London, and then broadcast later by Channel 4. An inaugu ...

'', a

benefit show A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

held at the 02 Arena in aid of

Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

Personal life

Carr is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, but does not consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act, once saying, "I just think gay people need to get over themselves. Just because you're gay and on the telly doesn't mean you're a role model. I'm just a comedian. That's all I am. What am I meant to do? Do I go down the

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

route and talk about

fisting Fisting, handballing, fist-fucking, brachiovaginal, or brachioproctic insertion is a sexual activity that involves inserting a hand into the vagina or rectum. Once insertion is complete, the fingers are either clenched into a fist or kept straig ...

and

poppers Popper is a slang term given broadly to drugs of the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled. Most widely sold products include the original isoamyl nitrite or isopentyl nitrite, and isopropyl nitrite. Isobutyl nitrite is al ...

? I don't talk about being gay and I think what better equality for gays than that?" According to Carr, he has been comfortable with his sexuality from a very young age. When

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

was a guest on ''Chatty Man'' and asked Carr when he came out of the closet, he replied that he was "never really in" and other children were already making fun of his camp behaviour when he was eight or nine years old. In January 2018, Carr married his partner of ten years, Paul Drayton, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The wedding was officiated by his best friend

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

. The couple announced their separation in January 2022 following Drayton's conviction for

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

. Carr lives in West Sussex, three miles from

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Controversy

When accepting his award for Best Entertainment Personality at the

in December 2008, Carr dedicated it to Karen Matthews, who had earlier that month been found guilty of kidnapping Shannon Matthews, her own daughter. Carr was quoted by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

as stating: "I should dedicate this award to her

aren Aren may refer to: People ; Given name * Andreas Arén (born 1985), Swedish ski jumper * Aren b, also known as Brendan Vintedge, American singer-songwriter * Aren Davoudi (born 1986), Armenian basketball player * Aren Kuri (born 1991), Japanese ...

She would be my dream guest. I think she's a gay icon. People like a bit of rough, don't they?"

Shahid Malik Shahid Rafique Malik ( ur, شاہد رفیق ملک نے; born 24 November 1967) is a British Labour Party politician, a technology and media industry chairman, a visiting professor, and chairman and adviser to a number of non-profit organis ...

, MP for Matthews' constituency of

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

, described Carr's comments about Matthews as "sick and insensitive". Carr subsequently apologised for his comments, saying "I realise what I said was insensitive and I am very sorry for any offence caused." On his own website he added: "For those of you who have enjoyed my comedy and seen my act over the last seven years you all would have got used to my tongue in cheek style and near the knuckle observations. Last night at the Comedy Awards ..I was being ironic, these aren't my real sentiments obviously."Apologies All Round
. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stand-up tours

Awards

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Alan 1976 births Living people 20th-century English comedians 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English male actors 21st-century English writers 21st-century LGBT people Alumni of Middlesex University BBC Radio 2 presenters Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners British atheists British male television writers Comedians from Manchester Comedians from Northamptonshire English atheists English game show hosts English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors English stand-up comedians English television presenters English television talk show hosts English television writers English gay actors English gay writers LGBT actors from England LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom Gay comedians Male actors from Dorset Male actors from Manchester People educated at Weston Favell Academy People from Northampton People from Weymouth, Dorset RuPaul's Drag Race UK Writers from Manchester