Amelia Dimoldenberg (; born 30 January 1994) is an English journalist, comedian,

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

, and television presenter. She created the web series ''Chicken Shop Date'', in which she interviews rappers,

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

artists as well as other YouTubers and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

footballers in

fried chicken restaurant A fried chicken restaurant is a fast food restaurant, often a chain, that serves (mainly) fried chicken—usually chunks of chicken, battered or breaded and deep-fried. United States The concept of the fried chicken restaurant originated i ...

s. She is known for her use of

sarcasm Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection ...

, deadpan humour and

awkward silence An awkward silence is an uncomfortable pause in a conversation or presentation. The unpleasant nature of such silences is associated with feelings of anxiety as the participants feel pressure to speak but are unsure of what to say next. In conv ...

s in her interviews.

Early life and education

Dimoldenberg grew up in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

and attended

St Marylebone School St Marylebone C of E School is a secondary school for girls in Marylebone, London. It specialises in Performing Arts, Maths & Computing. In the sixth form, boys can also attend. On 1 September 2011 the school became a converter academy havin ...

. Her father is Paul Dimoldenberg, a Labour Party member of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

and her mother, Linda, is a retired librarian. She studied

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in English, art, politics and IT, and went on to obtain a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design and a BA in Fashion Communication from

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, London. Of her time at university, she has written, "I was always on the outskirts of the ultra-fashionable scene and left the party-going to those who had the stamina, and the invite".

Career

''Chicken Shop Date''

''Chicken Shop Date'' began as a humorous

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

written by Dimoldenberg for the youth magazine ''The Cut'', which was based at the Stowe Centre, a

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vid ...

Harrow Road The Harrow Road is an ancient route in North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and Kensal Green, straddling the NW10 ...

, London. It was other members' interest in grime that led her to interview grime artists, as she "wanted to know more about the music"; she began by interviewing "friends of friends". Dimoldenberg had the idea to frame the interviews as

dates Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating * Play date, a ...

, and the location of a chicken shop was chosen as it was "somewhere you wouldn't usually go on a date". The first filmed episode was released in 2014 – it featured a "date" with the grime MC

Ghetts Justin Clarke, better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network, and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Cur ...

. The filming of each episode takes around 40 minutes; finished episodes last at most seven. Dimoldenberg has described her persona in the show as "an exaggerated version of myself" adding that "in the edit is where the character comes through, we chop and cut things, we make it more awkward". While noting that ''Chicken Shop Date'' is "not as popular" as American interview formats like ''

Hot Ones ''Hot Ones'' is an American YouTube talk show, created by Christopher Schonberger and Sean Evans and produced by First We Feast and Complex Media. Its basic premise involves celebrities being interviewed by Evans over a platter of increasingly sp ...

'', ''

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis ''Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis which features celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guests trade barbs and insults. ...

'' and ''

Carpool Karaoke Carpool Karaoke is a recurring segment on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', in which host James Corden invites famous musical guests to sing along to their songs with him whilst traveling in a car driven by Corden on a planned route usual ...

'', Jonah Engel Bromwich of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' has described it as "notable for the way in which it has grown through tapping into a specific subculture", writing that " pturing an audience of music enthusiasts has given the show credibility".

Television

In 2018, Dimoldenberg presented the Channel 4 documentary ''Meet the Markles'', in which she travelled to the United States to meet members of

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III. Meghan was ...

's family; ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' called it "an entertaining ride ..slicked by moments of real hilarity" and the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' described it as an "instant hit". The same year, she appeared in an episode of ''

The Big Narstie Show ''The Big Narstie Show'' is a British chat show, presented by rapper Big Narstie and comedian Mo Gilligan, that debuted on Channel 4 on 29 June 2018. Big Narstie is a rapper from the grime scene and has been cited as one of the original purveyor ...

'' alongside

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amate ...

Rachel Parris Rachel Sarah Parris (born 27 May 1984) is an English comedian, musician, actress and presenter. She hosts the satirical news show '' Late Night Mash'' (formerly ''The Mash Report''). Early life Parris attended Loughborough High School. She hold ...

and

Krept and Konan Krept and Konan is a British hip hop duo from London, consisting of Casyo Valentine "Krept" Johnson BEM (born 4 February 1990, Gipsy Hill) and Karl Dominic "Konan" Wilson BEM (born 3 September 1989, Thornton Heath), the son of Delroy Wilso ...

. In October 2018, she appeared in the first series of the

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

hip hop-themed comedy show '' Don't Hate the Playaz'' as a "roving reporter". The programme was nominated for a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award in the Entertainment category. Dimoldenberg did not appear in the second series, which aired in autumn 2019. In 2020 she appeared on Channel 4's '' Celebrity Come Dine with Me'' with Marcel Somerville,

Dave Benson Phillips Dave Benson Phillips (born 3 February 1965) is a British entertainer, comic, children's television presenter and wrestler, best known for his work presenting ''Playhouse Disney'' (1998–2006) and '' The Fun Song Factory'' (1994–1999). He ...

Anthea Turner Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English former television presenter. She was a host of ''Blue Peter'' from 1992 until 1994, and of ''GMTV'' from 1994 until 1996. Early life Turner was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and educated ...

and

AJ Odudu Onatejiro "AJ" Odudu (born 12 February 1988) is a British television presenter from Blackburn, UK. She is best known for co-presenting the 2013 Channel 5 reality show spin-off ''Big Brother's Bit on the Side'', alongside Emma Willis and Rylan ...

. In December 2021, it was announced that Dimoldenberg would host a web shorts series titled '' Celebrity Rebrand'' for Channel 4. The first season, consisting of six episodes, was released via the network's social media channels. The comedy programme features Dimoldenberg as a "celebrity brand visionary" attempting to assist various Channel 4 stars in rebranding their image. Beginning in 2022 Dimoldenberg became a brand ambassador for

Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

. In January 2023, Dimoldenberg appeared on '' Taskmaster'' New Year's Treat, alongside

Rebecca Lucy Taylor Rebecca Lucy Taylor (born 15 October 1986), also known by her stage name as Self Esteem, is an English singer-songwriter and actress. The inspiration for her stage name comes from the evolution of Taylor's confidence from her early 20s. Early l ...

, Sir Mo Farah,

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...

and

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman, HonFIET (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh media personality, best known for appearing on the game show ''Countdown'' for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet ...

References

External links

*
Amelia Dimoldenberg
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimoldenberg, Amelia 1994 births Living people 21st-century English comedians Alumni of Central Saint Martins Comedians from London Comedy YouTubers English documentary filmmakers English women comedians English television presenters English women journalists English YouTubers The Guardian journalists Vice Media 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English non-fiction writers People from Westminster YouTubers from London