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Lou Sanders

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Lou Sanders
Sanders in the 2018 short film Elderflower
Birth nameLouise Samantha Sanders
Born (1978-11-24) 24 November 1978 (age 45)
Barnstaple, Devon, England
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
  • radio
Alma materLondon Metropolitan University
Years active2009–present
Notable works and rolesTaskmaster
Live at the Apollo
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable
Dancing on Ice
Websitehttp://www.lousanders.com

Louise Samantha Sanders (born 24 November 1978) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Since beginning her career in comedy, she has appeared regularly on panel shows, performed on Live at the Apollo and won the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019. Since 2021, she has appeared as Mel Giedroyc's sidekick on the Dave comedy series Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and was a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice in 2024.

Early life

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Louise Samantha Sanders was born on 24 November 1978[1][2] in Barnstaple, Devon to Margaret (née Lang) and David Sanders.[3][4] Her parents divorced when Sanders was two, and she and her older brother were raised in Broadstairs, Kent by her mother and her stepfather, who was a history teacher.[5][6] Her father was periodically present.[5] Sanders moved out at the age of 15,[5] and she later earned a degree in Communication and Cultural Studies from London Metropolitan University.[5]

Career

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Before beginning her career in comedy, Sanders worked in administrative roles, including as an executive PA and complaints handler at Ofcom.[5][7] She took comedy classes from Logan Murray, and she was paid to write a comedic blog about The Apprentice.[5]

As a live performer, Sanders performs regularly both in the UK and around the world. In 2018, her show Shame Pig was the joint winner of the Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[8][9] and she returned to the Festival in 2019 with her show Say Hello to Your New Step Mummy.[10]

Sanders was declared the winner of the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019;[11] she has also appeared on television shows including QI, Would I Lie to You?, Travel Man, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Hypothetical, The Russell Howard Hour, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Red Nose Day for Comic Relief, Russell Howard's Good News, Live at the Electric and Question Team. She has also acted in sitcoms including Aisling Bea's This Way Up and Karl Pilkington's Sick of It. She is also a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth. In 2019, Sanders appeared on BBC Two's Live at the Apollo (series 15, episode 2).[12]

As a writer, Sanders wrote and starred in the short film Elderflower which co-starred Sheila Reid, Tom Rosenthal and Mike Wozniak.[13] She has also written for 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Stand Up for the Week and Miranda Hart.

Sanders has been an occasional guest host on Elis James and John Robins on BBC Radio 5 Live.[14] In February 2020, Sanders started hosting a podcast called Cuddle Club.[15] From February 2021, she has appeared in the Dave comedy panel show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. From April 2022 until September 2023, Sanders hosted Taskmaster: The People's Podcast.[16] In August 2023, Sanders released her autobiography What's That Lady Doing?.[15][3] In 2024, Sanders appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice. She was paired with Brendyn Hatfield and they were the fifth couple to be eliminated.[17][18]

Personal life

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Sanders is a teetotaler[19] and vegan.[20]

Television

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Year Programme Channel Notes
2013 Russell Howard's Good News BBC Three Series 8, episode 3[21]
2016 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Dave Series 4, episode 3: "A Penis Poking Through The Window"
2017 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Series 5, episode 6: "Half of My Special Rose"
Live from the BBC BBC Three Series 2, episode 2
2018 Sick of It Sky One Series 1, episode 3: "Lonely People", as character Megan[22]
The Dog Ate My Homework CBBC Series 5, episode 4
2019 Taskmaster Dave Winner, series 8
8 Out of 10 Cats Channel 4 Series 21, episode 6
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 17, episode 1[23]
Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier Dave Series 2, episode 4: "Health"[24]
The Russell Howard Hour Sky Max Series 2, episode 13[25]
Hypothetical Dave Series 1, episode 3
Travel Man Channel 4 Series 9, episode 2: "Bergen"[26]
This Way Up Channel 4, Hulu Series 1, episode 3, as character Fran[27]
Live At the Apollo BBC Two Series 15, episode 2
2020 QI Series 17, episode 13: "Quills"[28]
Roast Battle Comedy Central UK Series 4, episode 5. With Luke McQueen
Richard Osman's House of Games BBC Two Series 3, week 13
Hypothetical Dave Series 2, episode 5
Big Zuu's Big Eats Series 1, episode 10
The Late Late Show with James Corden CBS Episode 732
2021 Would I Lie To You? BBC One Series 14, episode 1[29]
Question Team Dave Series 1, episode 7
Guessable Comedy Central UK Series 2, episode 3: "Alan and a Spread of Meat Loaf"
Between the Covers BBC Series 3, episode 2. Chose the book Delicacy by Katy Wix
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Dave Series 6, episode 9: "The Accuracy of a Pigeon"
Outsiders Contestant
2021– Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable "Sidekick" to host Mel Giedroyc[30]
2022 Would I Lie To You? BBC One Series 15, episode 4[31]
Guessable Comedy Central UK Series 3, episode 11: "Sugar Puff Daddy"
Married At First Sight: Unveiled E4 Episode 6
Question Team Dave Series 2, episode 8
CelebAbility ITV2 Series 6, episode 2
2023 World's Most Dangerous Roads Dave Series 4, episode 5: "Iceland". With Ed Gamble
The Weakest Link BBC One Series 2, episode 10[32]
Guessable Comedy Central UK Series 4, episode 5: "I live and breathe Lou Bega"
2024 Dancing on Ice ITV Contestant, series 16

References

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  1. ^ "What a day! It's Black Friday and also my birthday". Instagram. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Lou Sanders: 'It took years to get rid of the shame of my drinking'". i. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sanders, Lou (17 August 2023). What's That Lady Doing?. Bonnier Books Ltd. p. 288. ISBN 9781788708579.
  4. ^ "Louise Samantha Sanders". freeBMD. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Jones, Alice (1 February 2021). "Lou Sanders on shame, skating and her new show, Unforgivable: 'You don't have to be broken to be funny'". i. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Exclusive – Lou Sanders speaks out about fronting Unforgivable with Mel Giedroyc: "There's hardly any comedy shows with two women"". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  7. ^ Sanders appeared as a panelist on the television game show Would I Lie to You? transmitted on 8 January 2021, and was introduced as having been a complaints handler at Ofcom by host of the show Rob Brydon.
  8. ^ Davies, Ashley (21 September 2018). "Comedian Lou Sanders on playing her shame for laughs". Metro. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Comedians' Choice Awards". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Lou Sanders: Say Hello to Your New Step-Mummy". Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  11. ^ "News: Taskmaster Winner Announced". Beyond The Joke. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Live At The Apollo". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. ^ Elderflower, retrieved 22 October 2019
  14. ^ "New Tour For Lou Sanders". Beyond The Joke. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  15. ^ a b Aroesti, Rachel (6 October 2023). "Comedian Lou Sanders: 'It blows my mind that people still don't want to believe women'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  16. ^ Bennett, Steve (8 September 2023). "Jenny Eclair joins Taskmaster: The People's Podcast". Chortle.
  17. ^ "Dancing on Ice reveals Taskmaster star as eighth contestant for 2024 series". Digital Spy. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Two icons eliminated from Dancing On Ice in double devastation". metro.co.uk. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  19. ^ Sanders, Lou (12 May 2017). "A moment that changed me: realising, aged 16, that I couldn't handle alcohol | Lou Sanders". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  20. ^ "Hi, I'm Lou Sanders and I'm a Vegan". BBC Radio 6. 31 July 2018.
  21. ^ ""Russell Howard's Good News" Episode #8.3 (TV Episode 2013)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  22. ^ ""Sick of It" Lonely People (TV Episode 2018)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  23. ^ ""8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown" Episode #17.1 (TV Episode 2019)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  24. ^ ""Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier" Health (TV Episode 2019)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  25. ^ ""The Russell Howard Hour" Episode #2.13 (TV Episode 2019)", IMDb, retrieved 29 April 2023
  26. ^ ""Travel Man: 48 Hours in..." Bergen (TV Episode 2019)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  27. ^ ""This Way Up" Episode #1.3 (TV Episode 2019)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  28. ^ ""QI" Quills (TV Episode 2020)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  29. ^ ""Would I Lie to You?" Episode #14.1 (TV Episode 2021)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  30. ^ "Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable - Dave Chat Show". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  31. ^ ""Would I Lie to You?" Episode #15.4 (TV Episode 2022)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  32. ^ "The Weakest Link: Episode #2.10". IMDb. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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