Alan Carr Biography

Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian and television personality.

Carr was born in Weymouth, Dorset, and spent most of his childhood in Northampton before moving in his early 20s to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, where he began his comedy career. Carr's breakthrough was in 2001, winning the City Life Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards.

In the ensuing years, his career burgeoned on the Manchester comedy circuit before he became well known for hosting The Friday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins. This led to the release of a short-lived entertainment show Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong in 2008 and, eventually, his popular comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man, which aired on Channel 4 between 2009 and 2016.

Carr also hosted a radio show, Going Out with Alan Carr, on BBC Radio 2 for three years as well as releasing his autobiography Look Who It Is! (2008) and going on three arena tours: Tooth Fairy Live (2007), Spexy Beast Live (2011) and Yap, Yap, Yap! (2015).

Carr is represented by the agency Off the Kerb. He has won two British Comedy Awards, two National Television Awards and a BAFTA TV Award.

Personal life

His father, whose family come from North East England, is former Northampton Town manager and Newcastle United chief scout Graham Carr. Carr has a younger brother, Gary.

Carr went to Weston Favell School, 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, seeking a better life and aspiring to be a comedian. He moved into a house full of activity in Chorlton-cum-Hardy after which he moved to Stretford; which he cites as an inspiration for his comedic work. Carr soon became a regular on the Manchester comedy circuit, including Alan Carr's Ice Cream Sunday at the Manchester Comedy Store. Carr also made friends with fellow comedians based on the Manchester circuit, including Jason Manford, Justin Moorhouse and John Bishop.

Carr is openly homosexual, he does not consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act, once saying, "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. What am I meant to do? Do I go down the Julian Clary route and talk about fisting and poppers? I don't talk about being gay and I think what better equality for gays than that?" In January 2018 Carr married his partner of ten years, Paul Drayton, in Los Angeles. The wedding was officiated by his close friend, singer-songwriter Adele.

On 21 September 2006, Carr and entertainer Lionel Blair helped save a man who was about to fall from a pier in Blackpool. The man was holding on by his fingertips, but the two men managed to pull him to safety.

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 Radio 2, in conjunction with Emma Forbes (later replaced by Melanie Sykes). The show was broadcast every Saturday evening from 6pm to 8pm. On 7 March 2012 he announced that he made the decision to hang up his headphones to focus on his Chatty Man show. Carr said: "I've loved every minute of it but it's time to reclaim my weekends. I wish Radio 2 every success but I'll listen from my home in the future instead." His last show was on 31 March 2012. He returned on Boxing Day 2015 for a one off show on the station. For 4 weeks in January/February 2017 Alan again returned to 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 till September 2017 on Radio 2. It was on air between 10am and 1pm and included features based around summer including the 'British Seaside Survey'.

Performance

Carr performs stand-up regularly, on tour and on television. He 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". Carr had his own monthly show in a Manchester comedy club and he has toured nationwide, supporting other acts. 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, the Kilkenny Comedy Festival and Live Earth, where he welcomed musical acts David Gray and Damien Rice on stage. He has performed stand-up internationally, including an appearance at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" festival.

In 2010, Carr took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

Controversy

In December 2008, when accepting his award for Best Entertainment Personality at the British Comedy Awards, Carr dedicated it to Karen Matthews, who had earlier that month been found guilty of kidnapping Shannon Matthews, her own daughter. Carr was quoted by BBC News as stating: "I should dedicate this award to her [Karen]. She would be my dream guest. I think she's a gay icon. People like a bit of rough, don't they?"

Shahid Malik, MP for Matthews' constituency of Dewsbury, described Carr's comments about Shannon Matthews as "sick and insensitive". Carr subsequently apologised for his comments, saying "I realise what I said was insensitive and I am very sorry for any offence caused." On his own website he added: "For those of you who have enjoyed my comedy and seen my act over the last seven years you all would have got used to my tongue in cheek style and near the knuckle observations. Last night at the Comedy Awards [...] I was being ironic, these aren't my real sentiments obviously."

Filmography

Film roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Tooth Fairy Live	Himself	Stand-up special
2009	Nativity!	Critic
2011	Spexy Beast Live	Himself	Stand-up special
2015	The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water	Seagull (voice)	UK version
2015	Yap, Yap, Yap! Live	Himself	Stand-up special

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006-2009	Friday/Sunday Night Project	Host
2007-2008	Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong	Host
2009-2016, 2017	Alan Carr: Chatty Man	Host	181 episodes (series 1-16; two Christmas specials)
2011	Who Do You Think You Are?	Himself	Episode: "Alan Carr"
2011-present	Alan Carr's Specstacular	Host
2012	Playing It Straight UK	Narrator
2012, 2014, 2016	Stand Up to Cancer	Co-Host
2014	The Singer Takes It All	Host
	Stars at Your Service	Co-host
2016	Alan Carr's Happy Hour	Host	3 episodes (series 1)
	Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas	Host
2017	The Price is Right	Host
2018	The Remote Controller	Host
	I Don't Like Mondays	Host

Bibliography

Awards

• 2001 Manchester City Life Best Newcomer of the Year
• 2001 The BBC Best New Stand Up
• 2006 Best in Show "? Sheffield Comedy Festival
• 2006 The Golden Rose of Montreaux for Best Entertainment Show for The Friday Night Project
• 2006 LAFTA's Funniest Double Act (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2006 LAFTA's Funniest Entertainment Show for The Friday Night Project
• 2007 British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-Up
• 2007 Cosmopolitan Celebrity Men of the Year (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2007 LAFTA's Funniest Double Act (with Justin Lee Collins)
• 2008 British Comedy Award for Best Entertainment Personality
• 2009 Television and Radio Industries Club 'Personality of the Year' Award
• 2009 Royal Television Society Entertainment Performance of the Year
• 2009 Heat's Funniest Book of 2009
• 2010 Alan Carr: Chatty Man wins Best Entertainment Show at the TV Choice Awards
• 2012 Best Talk Show at the National Television Awards for Alan Carr: Chatty Man
• 2012 Loaded LAFTA Award for Best Stand Up
• 2012 Television and Radio Industries Club for Best TV Personality
• 2013 BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance
• 2015 National Television Award for Chat Show Host