Sarah Millican

South Shields-born Sarah Millican followed an unusual path to fame. Left unexpectedly by her husband in 2004, she moved back home with her parents and started taking writing workshops as an outlet for processing her emotions.

Her first ever stand-up gig was in a Newcastle pub called The Dog & Parrot, which had a fringe theatre upstairs. Although she had no idea what she was doing, Millican drew on the pain of her failed marriage and connected with the audience… from then on, she was hooked on live comedy.

Millican made her debut at the Edinburgh Fringe with Not Nice in 2008 and was named Best Newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. She continued to garner acclaim when she returned in 2009 with her battle of the sexes themed Typical Woman and again in 2010 with her fast-talking Chatterbox.

Soon after she started making the rounds on TV comedy and panel shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Mock The Week, Live At The Apollo and Have I Got News For You.  

In 2010 she appeared in her own radio series, Sarah Millican’s Support Group, as a modern-day agony aunt and was also invited to perform as part of The Royal Variety Performance. The following year she was invited to join the panel of the popular ITV show Loose Women.

Her own TV show, The Sarah Millican Television Programme, combining stand-up with celebrity interviews, arrived in 2012 and ran for three series.

Millican founded an online magazine for women in 2014 called Standard Issue and launched a spinoff podcast by the same name in 2016. Her autobiography How to be Champion was published in 2017.

In 2018, Millican toured Control Enthusiast in the UK and abroad, with the show later being released on DVD. She began presenting Radio 4’s comedy panel programme Elephant in the Room in 2019. 

Millican said she spent much of 2020 writing jokes. At the end of the year, she announced the result – a bigger backside and the new stand-up show, Bobby Dazzler, which she’d take on her sixth international tour in 2021 and 2022.