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Gbemisola Ikumelo

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Gbemisola Ikumelo
Born
Ondo State, Nigeria
EducationQueen Margaret University (BA)
OccupationsActress, comedian, writer
Known forFamalam
Notable workBrain in Gear
AwardsBafta (2020 & 2024)

Gbemisola Ikumelo[pronunciation?] Gbemisola Ikumelo is a British actress, comedian, and writer. In 2020, she won 2 BAFTA awards for her short Brain in Gear and in 2024 for best female performance in a comedy. She also won 2 awards from the Royal Television Society 1 for her role in her show Famalam and another for comedy performance in the BBC show Black Ops.

Life and career

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Ikumelo, who is of Yoruba heritage, was born in Ondo State, Nigeria, and migrated to England, as a child.[1] She aspired to be a serious actress and at the age of 15 she was accepted by London's National Youth Theatre.[2] She went on to study and train in Acting in Scotland at the Queen Margaret University School of Drama in Edinburgh, graduating in 2003. In October that year, she was the narrator for a radio drama by Margaret Busby about warrior queen Yaa Asantewaa, which was serialized on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour, directed by Pam Fraser Solomon.[3][4] Ikumelo's break came when she was cast in Sunny D in 2015,[5] playing the main character (Dane Baptiste)'s twin sister.[6]

She came to notice when her sketch show Famalam appeared on the BBC.[5] In 2021, she received an award for best female comedy performance in Famalam from the Royal Television Society.[7]

Ikumelo was awarded a TV BAFTA for her short film, titled Brain in Gear,[5] in July 2020.[8]

Ikumelo is a main cast member on the Amazon series A League of Their Own. It concerns the creation of a women's American baseball team during the Second World War and it is adapted from the 1992 film of the same title.[9]

It was announced in 2022 that Ikumelo would be starring in a new BBC television series titled Black Ops, with actor Hammed Animashaun and Famalam's producer Akemnji Ndifornyen. Ikumelo plays a woman who signs up to be a community police officer to improve her community, but she and her partner get involved in complication over six episodes. The series is destined for terrestrial channel BBC1 and streaming via BBC iPlayer.[10]

Ikumelo was also named in 2022 for the cast of a remake of the 1989 American action film Road House, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior and Billy Magnussen.[11]

Ikumelo received acclaim for her 2023 performance in Lynn Nottage's play Clyde's at the Donmar Warehouse, London, being described by Sarah Hemming of the Financial Times as "spectacularly scary" in the title role.[12][13]

In August 2025, Ikumelo was announced as a contestant on the second series of the comedy reality television show LOL: Last One Laughing UK, set for release in 2026.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Get to know all about BAFTA Winner Gbemisola Ikumelo & her Love for Stories Celebrating Blackness". BellaNaija. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  2. ^ Ikumelo, Gbemisola (7 October 2020). "Gbemisola Ikumelo: why I spoke out against racism in theatre". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  3. ^ "Yaa Asantewaa", RadioListings. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "Black History Month: Yaa Asantewaa | BBC Radio 4". Radio Times | Programme Index. 11 October 2003. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Frazer-Carroll, Micha (28 August 2020). "Gbemisola Ikumelo: 'On the day I won the Bafta, I was in my PJs eating Domino's Pizza'". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  6. ^ Heritage, Stuart (18 November 2016). "Sunny D – Dane Baptiste's sitcom is dizzyingly hilarious". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ^ "RTS Programme Awards 2021". Royal Television Society. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  8. ^ Kanter, Jake (31 July 2020). "BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Night Of Surprises, As 'Chernobyl' & 'The End Of The F***ing World' Take Two Prizes Each". Deadline. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  9. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (14 February 2020). "'A League of Their Own': Meet the Full Cast for Amazon's Comedic Reboot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Gbemisola Ikumelo, Hammed Animashaun and Akemnji Ndifornyen to lead Black Ops". BBC Media Centre. 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  11. ^ David, Jamil (3 August 2022). "'Road House' Remake With Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo And More Set At Prime Video". Shadow and Act. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  12. ^ Hemming, Sarah (25 October 2023). "The Confessions, National Theatre review – a tough, moving portrait of a woman's life". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  13. ^ Jays, David (25 October 2023). "Clyde's review – crunchy kitchen drama is a dish to be savoured". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  14. ^ "'Last One Laughing' series 2 cast revealed ahead of return to Prime Video". Amazon. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
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