Judi Love is one of five born to her Jamaican parents in Hackney, East London. Always the funny one in the family, she gained a Masters in social work before kicking off her career in stand-up. In 2011, she made her professional debut with a show named after her motto in life, Laughter Is Healing. Since then, Judi’s comedy and culinary skills have given rise to a broadcasting career. She is a much-loved regular on Loose Women and won the Celebrity MasterChef, Christmas Cook Off in 2021. Judi...

Born and raised in Swaziland (Eswatini), Richard E. Grant moved to London in 1982 after studying drama at Cape Town University. He worked extensively in theatre before achieving widespread recognition in the cult classic Withnail and I in 1987. Richard had notable roles in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, as well as The Iron Lady, Star Wars: Episode IX and Saltburn. Richard has appeared in some of the biggest shows on TV, including Doctor Who,...

Born in Hammersmith, with Jamaican roots, Lashana Lynch showed promise from an early age, becoming the first girl to be cast as Pinocchio in West London. She began her working life as a singer but won a scholarship to drama school, which changed the course of her career. In 2019, she was cast as Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel and, two years later, she received a much-anticipated call from Barbara Broccoli of James Bond fame. Lashana won a Bafta for Rising Star in 2022 for her role as Nomi in...

Beauty entrepreneur and fashion expert Trinny Woodall rose to fame as one half of the iconic makeover duo, Trinny and Susannah, on the BBC’s What Not To Wear in 2001. Since then, they have written many style advice books, which have sold more than three million copies. With a lifelong passion for skincare, Trinny branched out into the beauty industry in 2017. Trinny London is one of Europe’s fastest growing beauty brands and is now available in John Lewis. Nick mixes a non-alcoholic gin...

Damian Lewis grew up in North London and, after a spell in boarding school, returned to the city to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He began his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company before transitioning to television. Damian’s breakout role came in Band of Brothers, which was the most expensive TV show of all-time, in 2001. His portrayal of Nicholas Brody in Homeland earned him both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe. His latest film, The Radleys, is adapted from a...

Sandi Toksvig OBE is a Danish-born comedian, broadcaster and writer. She spent her formative years travelling the world with her family, thanks to her father’s job as a foreign correspondent. Sandi has had a long and successful career in UK radio and television, which began in the eighties on kids TV. She is best known for presenting QI, taking over from Stephen Fry in 2016. She subsequently spent three years co-presenting The Great British Bake Off with Noel Fielding and Prue Leith. Sandi is...

Born in Yorkshire, Anna Maxwell Martin is an actress celebrated for her versatility across theatre, television and film. After studying history at Liverpool University, she trained at LAMDA, launching her career at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her breakthrough role came in 2005, when she portrayed Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House, earning her the Bafta TV Award for Best Actress. Since then, Anna has delighted audiences playing Julia in sitcom Motherland, and the...

Richard Armitage’s dream of becoming an actor began in his teens, in a circus in Budapest, where he slept within sniffing distance of the elephant enclosure to earn a much-needed Equity card. Having spent his early career on stage, his big break came in the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South in 2004. Richard went on to star in Spooks, before scoring roles in The Hobbit Trilogy and Ocean’s 8. Recently he has appeared in Netflix hits including Obsession and Fool Me Once, with...

Nick and Angela welcome their first guest of series 6 to Dish HQ. Comedian Katherine Ryan hails from Ontario, Canada. She studied town planning at university in Toronto before making the move to the UK in 2008. Katherine is one of the hardest working comics on the circuit. She makes regular TV appearances on panel shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats, has recorded many live comedy specials and even has her own drama series, The Duchess, on Netflix. Katherine has a podcast called Telling Everybody...

Josh Homme was born in Joshua Tree and grew up in Palm Desert, California. He founded Queens of the Stone Age in 1996 and is the lead singer, primary songwriter and guitarist in the band. Josh is one of the music industry's most prolific collaborators. Alongside Queens, he formed the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures in 2009 with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), and has produced music for Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop, Lady Gaga and many more. Queens of the Stone Age...

Danny Dyer was discovered by a scout while at school in East London and landed his first acting role in Prime Suspect 3 in 1994. He gained a reputation for playing the tough guy and films like Human Traffic (1999) and The Football Factory (2004) put him on the road to stardom. Danny is most famous for his portrayal of Mick Carter in EastEnders from 2013 to 2022. Ryan Sampson was born in Rotherham and studied acting at Drama Centre London. He began his career on stage in various theatrical...

Anne-Marie Duff is one of the UK’s most respected actresses. Born and raised in London, she performed at family gatherings from an early age and was soon honing her craft at an amateur theatre company. Her stage career began in 1994 and roles in War and Peace, King Lear and Collected Stories alongside Helen Mirren raised her profile. In 2004, Anne-Marie was cast as Fiona McBride in Shameless and many notable TV and film roles followed. She is best known for appearances in Nowhere Boy, The...

Perrie Edwards hails from South Shields and has musical roots - her mum was a soul singer and her dad played in rock bands on the northern club scene for many years. Perrie had to be convinced to audition for The X Factor at 17, but went on to win the show with Little Mix in 2011. The band scored five UK number one singles and became the first British girl group since the Spice Girls to have a debut album enter the top five in the US. In 2022, Little Mix decided to take a hiatus from music to...

Proud Mancunian Emma Barnett is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author. She began in print journalism before landing a job on radio at LBC in 2012. Emma became known for her agenda-setting interviews, delivered in a warm but forensic manner, and it wasn’t long before a career at the BBC beckoned. She hosted a daily three-hour show on Radio 5 Live for many years before moving to Radio 4 to front Woman’s Hour, a show that became the BBC’s most downloaded podcast under her...

East London comedy and stage actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe studied drama and began gigging and writing sketch shows from a young age. His hit improv show Kool Story Bro sold out in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Kiell landed his first professional TV job on the ITV drama Whitechapel in 2012. He is best known for his roles in Stath Lets Flats on Channel 4 and in the much-loved BBC series Ghosts, which ended in 2023 after five series. Kiell can now add presenting to his list of skills,...

The Queen of Country Pop has sold over 100 million albums worldwide and won five Grammy awards, but her path to stardom was not easy. Growing up in poverty, Shania’s mother sent her out to sing in bars and clubs at a young age to make ends meet. Fame found her at 30 and, to this day, Shania Twain remains the only female artist to have three consecutive diamond albums in the US. Her record-breaking second album, The Woman in Me, was released in 1995 and became the biggest-selling country album...

Harry Hill is one of the UK’s most respected entertainers. He studied medicine at St George’s Hospital Medical School in South London before quitting to become a comedian. Harry spent 10 years hosting his multi award-winning TV show Harry Hill's TV Burp, which at its peak was watched by more than six million people on a Saturday night. These days, Harry is one of the hosts of Junior Bake Off on Channel 4 and has just launched his own family friendly podcast, Are We There Yet?. He is going on...

National treasure and proud Bristolian Stephen Merchant struck gold when he collaborated with Ricky Gervais on a little comedy series called The Office in the early 2000s. Buoyed by their TV success, Stephen and Ricky branched out into a brand new medium and became one of the pioneers of podcasting. The Ricky Gervais Show became the most downloaded podcast in the world at the time, securing them a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Stephen has won three BAFTAs, two Golden Globes...

Nick Mohammed is a comedian, writer and actor. In the UK, he is best known for his character Mr Swallow, who he developed more than 20 years ago. Nick played Nate in the hit series Ted Lasso, opposite Jason Sudeikis, earning him Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022. He created, wrote, executive-produced and co-starred in Sky One's Intelligence, alongside David Schwimmer, and is here to talk about playing Billy Blind in Disney+’s Renegade Nell,...

Comedian and broadcaster Joel Dommett grew up on a farm in Gloucestershire but, with no interest in getting his hands dirty, he set off for the bright lights of London. He is blessed with funny bones and, after some challenging years on MTV News, he set his sights on stand-up comedy. A stint in the Jungle in 2016 secured his big break and he returned the following year as the host of I'm a Celebrity... Extra Camp. These days Joel Dommett is prime time, presenting The Masked Singer and the...

Dua Lipa is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. She has won three Grammys and picked up her seventh Brit award in March for Best Pop Act. Last year, she collaborated with Mark Ronson on Dance the Night, which featured on the Barbie soundtrack, and appeared in the film as Mermaid Barbie. This year is proving to be Dua’s most successful yet with the release of her highly anticipated third studio album, Radical Optimism. As well as fulfilling a lifelong dream of headlining Glastonbury,...

The actor and writer join Nick and Angela to talk about the new series of The Responder. Martin Freeman is a man of many genres and he has mastered most of them in his 27 year career. We first fell in love with him as Tim in The Office in 2001; he gained cult status as Dr Watson in Sherlock in 2010; and then hit the big time as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit in 2012. Martin won a Bafta and an Emmy for Sherlock and last year scooped an International Emmy for his portrayal of Chris Carson in...

Lily Allen burst onto the music scene in the mid-2000s with her debut album Alright, Still. It received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Recently, Lily appeared in the West End production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman and also starred in Dreamland, a six-part television series based on Sharon Horgan’s Bafta Winning short about four sisters living on the Kent coast. Miquita Oliver is a television presenter and radio personality, best known for...

Marian Keyes is one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. She has written more than 20 books and sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Marian studied law in Dublin to placate her parents but had no interest in pursuing a legal career. Instead her rebellious nature took her to the UK where she lived in a squat in East London. It never occurred to Marian that she might be a writer until one day when she was inspired to write a short story. Her first novel, Watermelon, was...