Alan Carr

Early life and education

Alan Graham Carr was born on 14 June 1976, in Weymouth, Dorset, elder son of Christine and Graham Carr, and spent the majority of his childhood in Northampton. His father, Graham, whose family comes from the North East of England, is a former Northampton Town manager and Newcastle United chief scout. Carr has a younger brother, Gary.

Carr went to Weston Favell Upper School in Northampton and graduated from Middlesex University with a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Drama and Theatre Studies.

After completing his degree in his early 20s, Carr moved to Manchester, aspiring to be a comedian. He lived in Chorlton-cum-Hardy after which he moved to Stretford, which he cites as an inspiration for his comedic work. Carr worked in a call centre for five years and performed on the comedy circuit in his spare time, before moving into comedy as a full-time career.

Career

Television and film

Carr's early TV career included guest appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2005 and The Law of the Playground in 2006. He and Justin Lee Collins co-hosted The Friday Night Project from series two in 2006 until it was cancelled after the end of series eight in February 2009. Carr went on to host two series of Channel 4's game show Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong from 2007 to 2009, and the chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man, which ran for 16 series from 2009-2016, with Christmas Specials in 2016 and 2017.

Carr was a Traitor on the first series of The Celebrity Traitors, which aired in October and November 2025. He won the series, with his prize money of £87,500 being donated to Neuroblastoma UK, a charity he personally chose focusing on childhood cancer. In August 2025, Carr was announced as one of the contestants on the second series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK, set to be released in 2026 on Amazon Prime Video.

Radio

Carr made his radio presenting debut on Christmas Day 2007 for BBC Radio 2 as part of their Festive Highlights with the show Alan Carr's Christmas Box. He filled in on BBC Radio 6 Music on 16 February and 14 June 2008, for Adam and Joe and co-presented The Russell Brand Show on 4 October 2008. He also presented Alan Carr's Comedy Outings for BBC Radio 2 in 2008.

On 25 April 2009, Carr began hosting Going Out with Alan Carr, a new show for BBC Radio 2, in conjunction with Emma Forbes (later replaced by Melanie Sykes). The show was broadcast every Saturday evening from 6pm to 8pm. On 6 March 2012, it was reported that he had made the decision to leave to focus on his Chatty Man show. His last show was on 31 March 2012. Carr was replaced by Liza Tarbuck. He returned on Boxing Day 2015 for a one-off show on the station.

For four weeks in January/February 2017, Carr again returned to BBC Radio 2 to sit in for Paul O'Grady on his Sunday show. Carr reunited with Sykes to present a 10-week show called Summer Escapes sitting in for Graham Norton on Saturdays from July to September on BBC Radio 2 yearly from 2017 until its final run in 2020 following Norton's departure from the station. It included features based around summer including the British Seaside Survey.

Stand-up

Carr performs stand-up regularly, on tour and on television. He became a regular performer on the Manchester comedy circuit in his 20s, where he met fellow comedians Jason Manford, Justin Moorhouse and John Bishop, and had his own monthly comedy and cabaret show Alan Carr's Ice Cream Sunday at the Manchester Comedy Store.

In 2001, Carr won the City Life Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards.

Carr has been featured in three Edinburgh shows and in 2007 he toured throughout the UK, which was followed by a DVD entitled Tooth Fairy Live. He has performed at the Apollo Theatre in London, which was televised for the BBC One series Live at the Apollo, and has been featured in the Royal Variety Performance.

Carr has appeared and performed at many festivals, including the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Latitude Festival in Suffolk and Kilkenny Comedy Festival in Ireland. He has performed stand-up internationally, including an appearance at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.

In March 2010, Carr took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held at the O2 Arena in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London.

Autobiography

Look Who It Is! is Carr's autobiography published in 2008. It details his life from growing up in Weymouth to presenting The Friday Night Project. In the book, Carr recounts how he grew up in the shadow of his father Graham, and was therefore expected to grow up to be a great football player, despite his childhood "puppy fat". The book laments on his schooldays. During that time in his life, Carr was picked last for the football team when the other students found out his lack of talent and his father forced him to refuse to communicate with a friend because he was apparently "gaying him up". Carr also tells the story of how puberty left him with "big teeth" and a camp voice.

Personal life

Carr is gay, but does not consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act; in 2008, he said: "I just think gay people need to get over themselves. Just because you're gay and on the telly doesn't mean you're a role model. I'm just a comedian. That's all I am. I don't talk about being gay and I think what better equality for gays than that?"

According to Carr, he has been aware of his sexuality from a very young age. When Eddie Izzard was a guest on Chatty Man and asked Carr when he came out of the closet, he replied that he was "never really in" and other children were already making fun of his camp behaviour when he was eight or nine years old.

In January 2018, Carr married his partner of ten years, Paul Drayton, in Los Angeles. The wedding was officiated by his best friend Adele. The couple announced their separation in January 2022 following Drayton's conviction for drunk-driving. Carr lives in West Sussex, three miles from Horsham.

Stand-up tours

DVD releases

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards

Bibliography

References

References

1. (26 September 2011). "Alan Carr - Who Do You Think You Are? A mysterious change of name...". [[Who Do You Think You Are? (UK TV series).
2. Corbin, Tianna. (10 July 2020). "What Alan Carr has had to say about life in Northampton".
3. Swan, Kim. (7 May 2011). "Comedian Alan Carr back to his North East roots".
4. (22 August 2017). "Graham Carr: Ex-Newcastle chief scout takes director role at Northampton Town". BBC.
5. Barkham, Patrick. (20 November 2007). "'I couldn't be cool if I tried'". [[The Guardian]].
6. "Prestigious Alumni".
7. (26 September 2011). "A mysterious change of name...".
8. (1 September 2005). "Life's no joke for camp Carr". Manchester Evening News.
9. (23 April 2012). "Alan Carr: Give kids call centre jobs - DecisionMarketing".
10. "Alan Carr - Interview @ Designer Magazine".
11. "8 Out of 10 Cats (TV Series 2005– ) - IMDb".
12. (4 February 2005). "The Friday Night Project". Princess Productions, Channel 4 Television Corporation.
13. (14 June 2009). "Alan Carr: Chatty Man". Open Mike Productions.
14. (2025-11-07). "Alan Carr wins the Celebrity Traitors! 3 key ways he snatched victory from almost certain defeat".
15. (21 August 2025). "The Celebrity Traitors - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre.
16. Badshah, Nadeem. (2025-11-06). "The Celebrity Traitors result revealed after dramatic finale". The Guardian.
17. (21 August 2025). "'Last One Laughing' series 2 cast revealed ahead of return to Prime Video". Amazon.com.
18. "Alan Carr's Christmas Box". [[BBC Radio 2]].
19. "Going Out With Alan Carr - Next on - BBC Radio 2". BBC.
20. Noah, Sherna. (6 March 2012). "Alan Carr gives up radio show to reclaim his weekends".
21. (5 August 2011). "Alan Carr looks back on his early days on the Manchester comedy scene". [[Manchester Evening News]].
22. "Alan Carr".
23. (17 February 2007). "Sundae bloody sundae".
24. "BBC Radio 2 - Alan Carr - Profile". BBC.
25. "BBC Three - BBC New Comedy Awards - About the New Comedy Awards". BBC.
26. "The Official Alan Carr Website – Biography". alancarr.net.
27. (29 September 2008). "Look Who It Is!". Harper Collins.
28. Day, Elizabeth. (15 April 2008). "Elizabeth Day meets award-winning comedian Alan Carr". [[The Observer]].
29. (10 February 2017). "Eddie Izzard - Full Interview on Alan Carr: Chatty Man".
30. (20 January 2018). "Alan Carr gets married to long-term boyfriend in LA". BBC News.
31. (3 April 2018). "Adele 'got ordained to marry Alan Carr'". BBC News.
32. Fuller, Christian. (26 January 2022). "Alan Carr's husband Paul Drayton jailed for drunkenly hitting police car". [[The Argus (Brighton).
33. Nicola Methven, ''TV Alan in split from husband after 13yrs'', Daily Mirror, London, 22 January 2022, page 9.
34. (21 July 2006). "The Law of the Playground". Zeppotron.
35. "Michael McIntyre's The Wheel, Series 1, Christmas Special". BBC.
36. "Alan Carr to Host this Year's Royal Variety Performance 2021".
37. (6 May 2022). "Alan Carr's Adventures With Agatha Christie - Channel 4 commissions new three-part series from Boom for More 4".
38. "Alan Carr's Adventures with Agatha Christie - All 4". Channel 4.
39. (21 December 2021). "Drag Race announces UK All Stars edition – with a gag-worthy twist".
40. (29 January 2023). "Filming commences on ITVX comedy Changing Ends".
41. (23 June 2023). "Password heads to the UK on ITV1 and ITVX".
42. (20 June 2025). "Daisy May Cooper and Alan Carr among stars to quit popular ITV quiz show".
43. (20 April 2024). "Amanda Holden and Alan Carr head off to sunny Spain for their biggest renovation project yet in Amanda & Alan's Spanish Job".
44. "The Celebrity Traitors - Everything you need to know".
45. (4 April 2025). "Amanda Holden and Alan Carr head to Greece in Alan & Amanda's Greek Job".
46. (14 February 2025). "Channel 4 to find Britain's secret geniuses with Alan Carr and Susie Dent".
47. "The British Comedy Awards - Winners 2007".
48. "The British Comedy Awards - past winners".
49. (25 January 2012). "Alan Carr wins National Television Award". BBC News.
50. "Alan Carr wins entertainment performance BAFTA".
51. "The British Comedy Awards - Winners 2013".
52. "Winners: National Television Awards".