Tom Allen (comedian)

Early life and education

Allen attended Coopers School in Chislehurst. He trained with the National Youth Theatre, performing with the company in London and Manchester, in addition to working on outreach projects, films and also forming part of their Company Management Team.

Career

In 2005, at the age of 22, Allen won the UK comedy newcomer award, So You Think You're Funny. The same year, he won the BBC New Comedy Award. In 2016, he supported Sarah Millican on her sold-out tour of Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He has also supported Josh Widdicombe, Romesh Ranganathan and Michael McIntyre.

After a sell-out run of his show Indeed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2016, he returned to The Pleasance in Edinburgh the following year with his show Absolutely. Allen subsequently embarked on his first solo tour around the UK in September 2017; he extended the tour into 2018, including two London runs at the Soho Theatre.

Film and television

Allen's film work includes Colour Me Kubrick with John Malkovich, Starter for Ten with James McAvoy and Mark Gatiss, and Tamara Drewe. In 2003 he played Prince Albert in a BBC One documentary drama, 'Looking for Victoria'. For the BBC, he has appeared in the series Sensitive Skin and The Cut, as well as biopics of Fanny Cradock (Fear of Fanny) and Frankie Howerd (Rather You Than Me). In 2008, Allen made his own documentary about identity for E4, titled Who Is Tom Allen?. In 2009, Allen appeared on Channel 4's weekly TNT Show, writing and presenting Dictionary Corner. He also appeared on Law of the Playground for the same broadcaster. In August 2015 and March 2016, Allen appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown as a Dictionary Corner guest. In October 2016, he appeared as a guest on BBC2's The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, and in January 2017, he made his debut on Live at the Apollo in an episode hosted by Sarah Millican. The following month, he appeared as a panellist on the CBBC show The Dog Ate My Homework. In July 2017, he appeared on a celebrity special version of gameshow The Crystal Maze and – an hour later the same night – on Mock the Week.

He has also appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother.

In 2018, Allen appeared on the BBC One comedy quiz show Ready or Not. He hosted Bake Off: The Professionals with former contestant from The Great British Bake Off Liam Charles, but left before season 5 where he was replaced by Stacey Solomon. He joined the 2018 series of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice as a regular contributor.

In 2019, it was announced that he would become the new host from Series 15 of The Apprentice: You're Fired!, taking over from Rhod Gilbert. On 14 January, it was announced he will be stepping down as host of the show. Angela Scanlon was announced as the new host.

Allen also appeared in an episode of Josh Widdicombe's show Hypothetical.

Allen competed on Richard Osman's House of Games in 2020, alongside Chizzy Akudolu, Charlie Higson, and Kate Williams. He also made two appearances on QI in the same year, and appeared again on Hypothetical.

In December 2020, Allen co hosted The Great Christmas Bake Off alongside Matt Lucas as a replacement for Noel Fielding due to his paternity leave following the birth of his second child.

On 20 February 2021, Allen appeared as a contestant on the ITV game show Celebrity Catchphrase. On 11 April 2021, Allen appeared as a contestant on the ITV quiz show Tipping Point.

Also in 2021, Allen presented Tom Allen's Quizness for Channel 4 (a five-part series, first shown on 14 May 2021) and was signed up to present ITV/Marks & Spencer's Cooking with the Stars, a competitive cookery show which aired its first episode on Tuesday 13 July.

In late 2021, Allen was signed up to be the host of the first National Comedy Awards, a new annual awards ceremony which Channel 4 hopes will be the successor to the British Comedy Awards. Allen was going to present the awards at the London Roundhouse on 15 December 2021 (with a Channel 4 transmission date of 17 December 2021), but the first ceremony was postponed by the channel a week before it was due to be staged, due to the concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19. On 8 December 2021, Channel 4 said that event will be rescheduled for another time, though they did not give an indication to what date it would be or whether Allen would still be the host.

In 2023, it was announced that Allen would be involved in the BBC's programming around the 10th anniversary of same-sex marriage in Great Britain Big Gay Wedding with Tom Allen was first shown on BBC One on 27 March 2024.

In 2025 he took over hosting/narration duties from David Walliams on It'll Be Alright on the Night for its 37th series.

Radio

Allen has co-written and recorded two series of The Correspondent for BBC Radio 4. In 2009, he made guest appearances on Loose Ends and The Richard Bacon Show.

He took the lead role of young Pip Bin in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Bleak Expectations, which has so far run to five series (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012), co-starring with Anthony Stewart Head and Richard Johnson.

In 2008, he recorded a radio adaptation of The Wooden Overcoat with Julia Davis and David Tennant, written by Mark Gatiss.

Allen has also guested as a panellist on BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute, in August 2015 and February 2017. He was also a guest presenter on the 9th episode of the 86th series broadcast in April 2021.

In 2018, as part of a series of comedy stand-up specials on BBC Radio 4, a programme titled Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice was broadcast on 22 April. The show was then extended to a series with four episodes broadcast in December 2019.

In 2024, Allen joined Virgin Radio UK and presents Sunday afternoons 12:30 pm–4:00 pm.

Audio dramas and podcast

Allen portrayed Oliver Harper, the travelling companion of the First Doctor and Steven Taylor during a limited three-story arc in the Big Finish Productions audio dramas based on the Doctor Who series, released in 2011. His character is a city trader from 1966, who joined the First Doctor and Taylor in the audio plays The Perpetual Bond, The Cold Equations and The First Wave. Harper was the first ongoing companion created for the Companion Chronicles range.

Since October 2015, Allen has co-hosted the podcast Like Minded Friends with comedian Suzi Ruffell. He also guested on Ruffell's other podcast, Out with Suzi Ruffell.

Bibliography

Allen has published two memoirs .

• No Shame (2021) Hodder Studio.
• Too Much (2022) Hodder Studio.

Awards and nominations

• So You Think You're Funny (2005)
• BBC New Comedy Award (2005)

Personal life

Allen is gay. He has spoken of his difficulties growing up as "closeted, working-class kid in Bromley" and homophobic bullying at school, saying Why do you talk about being gay all the time?' Well, it's because people wouldn't let me talk about it for the first half of my life!" Allen lived with his parents until May 2021. His father died on 1 December 2021, aged 80, of a sudden heart attack.

He is close friends with comedian Rob Beckett. They have discussed their time at Coopers School and their friendship during appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Great British Bake Off, Sunday Brunch, and elsewhere. They have frequently promoted each other's work.

It was confirmed on BBC Saturday Kitchen that he lives in Chislehurst, with Tom commenting "Now everyone knows where I live."

References

References

1. Trickett, Amanda. (20 August 2008). "Tom Allen: A Voyage Round My Mother". [[Metro (British newspaper).
2. Maxwell, Dominic. (19 December 2020). "Bake Off's Tom Allen: 'It's amazing that some of the bakers haven't smashed that cake in my face'". [[The Sunday Times]].
3. Gilbey, Ryan. (12 November 2020). "Bake Off Extra's Tom Allen: 'I wanted to be an actor – but it turned out I was just gay'". [[The Guardian]].
4. (13 December 2005). "22-year-old newcomer scoops this year's BBC Talent New Comedy Award".
5. (13 December 2005). "Tom takes BBC crown".
6. Westbrook, Caroline. (2 October 2019). "How old is You're Fired's new host Tom Allen and where have you seen the comedian before?". [[Metro (British newspaper).
7. "Who Is Tom Allen? – E4 Comedy – British Comedy Guide".
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170726133756/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-crystal-maze-celebrity-specials/on-demand/65986-019 The Crystal Maze: Celebrity Specials] via 26 July 2017 snapshot at the [[Wayback Machine]]
9. "Mock the Week – Series 16: Episode 6". BBC.
10. (31 May 2022). "Stacey Solomon has taken over from Tom Allen as Bake off: The Professionals presenter".
11. (12 August 2019). "The Apprentice: You're Fired replaces Rhod Gilbert as host". Digital Spy.
12. Zone, T. V.. (14 January 2026). "YOU'RE FIRED: TOM ALLEN STEPS DOWN AS HOST OF THE APPRENTICE BBC TWO COMPANION SHOW".
13. "BBC Two - Richard Osman's House of Games". BBC.
14. (29 June 2018). ""Richard Osman's House of Games" Episode #2.25 (TV Episode 2018)". IMDb.
15. "When are The Great British Bake Off Christmas and New Year specials on TV?".
16. "Catchphrase Celebrity Special Episode 8".
17. "Tom Allen's new Channel 4 show Quizness - rules explained".
18. "Tom Allen's Quizness - All 4". Channel 4.
19. "Celebrities and chefs confirmed for ITV's Cooking With The Stars".
20. "ITV commissions new entertainment series Cooking With The Stars".
21. (7 July 2021). "PICTURES: COOKING WITH THE STARS ARRIVES ON ITV".
22. (7 December 2021). "C4's new National Comedy Awards postponed".
23. "About the show".
24. (8 December 2021). "C4 Postpones National Comedy Awards Ceremony".
25. Bennett, Steve. "Omicron halts National Comedy Awards : News 2021 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
26. Christian-Sims, Ella. (30 June 2023). "Tom Allen to celebrate equal marriage with new BBC special ''My Big Gay Wedding''". [[Royal Television Society]].
27. "Big Gay Wedding with Tom Allen". Radio Times.
28. (21 February 2011). "Bleak Expectations moves to telly".
29. "Just a Minute – Available now – BBC Radio 4". BBC.
30. "Just a Minute – Available now – BBC Radio 4". BBC.
31. (17 August 2017). "BBC Radio 4 confirms 35 comedy commissions".
32. "13 questions for Tom Allen".
33. (13 November 2018). "Radio 4 reveals new comedy shows for 2019".
34. (2 January 2024). "Tom Allen announced as new Virgin Radio weekend host".
35. "Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen & Suzi Ruffell on acast".
36. "Out with Suzi Ruffell: S1 EP4: Tom Allen on Apple Podcasts".
37. Brown, Helen. "Tom Allen: 'Why do I talk about being gay all the time? Because I wasn't allowed for half of my life!'". [[i (British newspaper).
38. Taylor, Jeremy. (7 July 2021). "Tom Allen and his mum, Irene, on coming out and living at home until he was 37". [[The Sunday Times Magazine]].
39. Bashforth, Emily. (2 December 2021). "Comedian Tom Allen in 'total shock' as dad dies after heart attack, aged 80". [[Metro (British newspaper).
40. BBC 1 Saturday Kitchen, 22 November 2025