Josh Widdicombe (/ˈwɪdɪkəm/; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg (2012–present), Fighting Talk (2014–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019), Mock the Week (2012–2016) and his
BBC Three sitcom Josh (2015–2017). He also won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015[1] and the show's first Champion of Champions special in 2017.[2]
Widdicombe also hosted Hypothetical with fellow comedian
James Acaster (2019–2022). During the 2020
COVID-19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the Parenting Hell podcast with fellow comedian
Rob Beckett.
In 2010, Widdicombe worked as a contributor for the Dora the Explorer magazine,[13][14] and in 2011 he performed his debut solo show "If This Show Saves One Life..." at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was subsequently nominated for Best Newcomer by the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards[15] and for the
Malcolm Hardee "Act Most Likely to Win a Million Quid" Award.[16][17]
In 2013, Widdicombe was again a regular on The Last Leg, after Channel 4 renewed the show for nine further episodes,[21] beginning on 25 January 2013. A third series started on 31 July 2013, a fourth on 31 January 2014 and a fifth on 1 August 2014. In May 2013, Widdicombe was a guest on the second series of Dara Ó Briain: School of Hard Sums with
Marcus Brigstocke.[22] Following this, he featured as a comedian on The Apprentice spin-off show, The Apprentice: You're Fired![23] In June 2013, he again appeared as a panellist on Mock the Week, featuring on several episodes of the show's 12th series.[24] In 2014, Widdicombe appeared again on Mock the Week[25] and on QI,[26] and also made his debut on Have I Got News for You.[27] Widdicombe won Celebrity Mastermind broadcast 31 December 2013 with a score of 24, on the specialist subject of his favourite band,
Blur.[28] His chosen charity was The Lily Foundation.[29][30]
On 1 July 2014, the
BBC announced Widdicombe would be joining its
Radio 5 Live team from August 2014 as the new host of Fighting Talk along with
Georgie Thompson. Both hosts announced on 10 August 2016 that they would not be returning to the show for series 14 in September due to their "increasingly busy schedules".[31][32]
In August 2014, Widdicombe starred in the BBC Three Comedy FeedspilotJosh, which he co-wrote with comedian Tom Craine and which was directed by
David Schneider.[33] A full six-episode series of Josh, also directed by Schneider, ran on BBC Three from 11 November to 16 December 2015.[34] BBC Three ordered a second full series of Josh; and a third and final series followed in 2017.[35]
In 2015, Widdicombe was a contestant on the first series of the
Dave game show Taskmaster and won the series. For one of the tasks, Widdicombe got a tattoo of host
Greg Davies's name on his left foot.[1] He then returned for a team task in series two where he was partnered with
Richard Osman and
Jon Richardson.[36][37]
Widdicombe hosted a weekly radio show on XFM (now
Radio X) with Neil "Producer Neil" Fearn from February 2013 to July 2015,[42] which was broadcast initially on Saturdays but which moved to Sundays in August 2014 coinciding with his new role as Fighting Talk presenter (see above).[40] The show regularly featured contributions from comedians
James Acaster,
Nish Kumar,
Joe Lycett and several others along with occasional interjections and background laughter by XFM's "Intern Charles". The podcast of the show was named "iTunes Best New Audio Podcast" in 2013.[43][44] The last edition of the show aired on 26 July 2015.[citation needed]
Widdicombe has made four appearances on Live at the Apollo. He was a featured performer on Episodes 7.8 (21 January 2012), 9.1 (22 November 2013) and 11.7 (AKA Nöel at the Apollo; 20 December 2015) and hosted on Episode 12.2 (14 November 2016).[40]
In December 2015, Widdicombe announced that he was a team captain on the
BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, appearing alongside
Richard Osman and host
Sue Perkins.[40] The show aired in January 2016 and returned for two more series in January 2017/2018.[45]
In December 2017, Widdicombe returned to Taskmaster for a two-part series alongside his fellow winners of previous series including
Katherine Ryan,
Bob Mortimer,
Rob Beckett and
Noel Fielding to compete in the Taskmaster - Champion of Champions. He won the series.[2]
Widdicombe hosts 1990s
footballnostalgiapodcast and live shows called Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?.[46] Guests include footballers such as
Iain Dowie,
Darren Huckerby,
Pat Nevin and
Matthew Le Tissier as well as comedians such as
Elis James,
Tom Parry,
Ivo Graham and
Matt Forde.[47] In 2019, Widdicombe began hosting panel show Hypothetical with James Acaster for UK television channel
Dave.[48] In 2020, Widdicombe started a parenting podcast with fellow comedian
Rob Beckett, titled Lockdown Parenting Hell. It was renamed Parenting Hell following the third national lockdown. It is a podcast about bringing up children, experiences, tips and face-palm moments.[48] In 2021, it was announced that Widdicombe had written a book: Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... How '90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life, published in September 2021.[49][48] It made The Sunday Times bestsellers list.[8]
Personal life
Before becoming a comedian, Widdicombe worked as a
sports journalist, writing for The Guardian.[50][51] He supports
Plymouth Argyle.[52] He is a vegetarian.[49] He is married to Rose Hanson, a
television producer, with whom he has a daughter, Pearl, born in October 2017, and a son, Cassius, born in May 2021.[48][17][53] The couple lived for a considerable amount of time in
Shoreditch, before moving to a "sleepier" area of
East London to raise their children.[54]
^8 Out of 10 Cats. Series 11. Episode 10. 19 August 2011. 23 minutes in. Channel 4. Josh Widdicombe: "I've got an embarrassing body... I wanted to check with you. Now, I've got like a hole in my chest. Look, it just keeps going in. *unbuttons shirt* It's like a concaveness." Jimmy Carr: "Can I get the diagnosis, what is the matter with his..." Dr. Christian Jessen: "It's called Pectus Excavatum 'cause it's an excavated chest."
^Kalina, Paul (20 February 2013).
"Risking laugh and limb pays off". The Sydney Morning Herald.
Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
^"Series 2, Episode 2". BritishComedy Guide. n.d.
Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.