Mel Giedroyc
| Mel Giedroyc | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Clare Sophie Giedroyc |
| Born | 15 June 1968 Epsom, Surrey, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Spouse | Ben Morris |
| Notable works and roles | Mel and Sue Light Lunch |
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc, known as Mel Giedroyc (pron.: /ˈɡiːdrɔɪtʃ/ or /ˈɡjɛdrɔɪ̯t͡ɕ/; born 5 June 1968) is an English television presenter, actress, and writer.
She was born in Epsom, Surrey.
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Mel and Sue [edit]
Giedroyc is best known for presenting comedy items alongside Sue Perkins. The two women met whilst students at Cambridge and both were members of the famous Footlights comedy club.
As Mel and Sue, the duo were short-listed for the Daily Express Best Newcomers Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993. After a few years writing for French & Saunders, they hosted a lunchtime show on Channel 4 called Light Lunch (and the early evening version, Late Lunch). They were reunited in 2010 to host the cookery competition The Great British Bake Off, on BBC Two from 16 August 2010.[1] The two returned for the second series on 27 September 2011. A third series began on 14 August 2012.
Television projects [edit]
Giedroyc has appeared in one episode of Gimme Gimme Gimme, playing a receptionist at a hotel. Giedroyc has also been a presenter on Channel 4's RI:SE. She narrated Celebrity Driving School in 2003. Some other ventures include being a contestant on the 2005 series of The Games, co-starring in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed and co-presenting Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show on ITV1. She was in one episode of The Vicar of Dibley.
Giedroyc was the sixth student to be voted out of Comic Relief does Fame Academy and was a celebrity judge on the 2007 edition of Making Your Mind Up along with John Barrowman. She starred as one of the presenters in the show Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision! at the Edinburgh Fringe and subsequently in the West End at the Novello Theatre. She played the Fairy Liquid in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk at London's Barbican theatre in December 2007. She is currently performing in a children's sketch show for the BBC, called Sorry I've Got No Head. In 2010 she was a celebrity guest team captain on What Do Kids Know? along with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash and Sara Cox on Watch. She also appeared in the first episode of series two of Miranda Hart's self-titled sitcom Miranda as a life coach.
Mel has been a panellist on Five's The Wright Stuff in 2007, 2008 and most recently February 2010. She plays Mrs V, the owner of the Y cafe, in CBBC program Sadie J. She is also the voice of Mist in Mist: Sheepdog Tales[2] currently shown on Channel 5's morning show Milkshake!.
Six years after her appearance in the Fame Academy, Mel took part in a couple of events for Comic Relief in 2013. Firstly, she hosted a special celebrity series of The Great British Bake Off over four nights in January with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returning as the judges, whilst Sue Perkins did not appear. Giedroyc also featured as a judge in the first episode of the 2013 Let's Dance For Comic Relief series.
It was announced on 25 April 2013 that Giedroyc is to host Channel 4's new daytime series Draw It!, based upon and developed by the makers of the mobile app Draw Something. It will debut in the summer of 2013.[3]
Radio [edit]
In August 2010, Giedroyc appeared on the Dave Gorman show on Absolute Radio as one of his co-hosts, standing in for Danielle Ward. She has also appeared on series 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! on BBC Radio 4.[4] From 2 April 2011, with the rebranding of Radio 7 as Radio 4 extra, she has presented The 4 O'Clock Show, a chat show including items related to children's entertainment.
Books [edit]
- From Here to Maternity (ISBN 978-0091897505), is the diary based on her first pregnancy.
- Going Ga-Ga (ISBN 978-0091905910) follows a similar theme ("Is there life after birth?").
Personal life [edit]
Giedroyc was born in Epsom in Surrey and grew up in Leatherhead. Her father, a history writer, is a Polish-Lithuanian who came to England in 1947. She is a Roman Catholic, and has Polish, Lithuanian, Belgian and Belarussian ancestry.[5] She attended the independent Oxford High School in Oxford and later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a 2:2 degree in Italian language and literature.[6]
She is married to Benedict (Ben) Morris, a TV director, with two children: Florence, aka Flossie (born May 2002), and Vita (born February 2004).
Her sister, Coky Giedroyc, is a TV director. An older sister Kasia is wife of Philip John Parham, a British diplomat. Mel Giedroyc is the youngest of four children.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Mel and Sue to reunite for The Great British Bake-Off". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
- ^ Mist: Sheepdog Tales at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Mel Giedroyc to host Channel 4's new 'Draw Something' game show Digital Spy, 25 April 2013
- ^ http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/dave_gorman/blog.html?mode=post&id=154369&s=1
- ^ Mel Giedroyc at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of comedian Mel Giedroyc". The Independent (London). 8 October 2009.
External links [edit]
- Interview at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007
- Paul Theroff. Giedroyc family genealogy, last retrieved 15 December 2012.
- Profile of Mel Giedroyc
- Official Mel and Sue website (has not been updated in many years
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- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- English women comedians
- English diarists
- British people of Belarusian descent
- English people of Belgian descent
- English people of Lithuanian descent
- English people of Polish descent
- English Roman Catholics
- English television presenters
- Fame Academy participants
- People from Epsom
- People from Leatherhead
- 1968 births
- Living people
- Giedraitis family
- British women comedians
- People educated at Oxford High School (Oxford)
