| Lucy Beaumont | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lucy Ann Beaumont[1] |
| Born | (1983-08-10)10 August 1983 (age 41) Truro,Cornwall, England |
| Medium |
|
| Alma mater | University of Hull |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Lucy Ann Beaumont[1] (born 10 August 1983[2]) is a British comedian fromHull. Her early performances were based largely on anecdotes about Hull and the widerNorthern England region.[3] She was a finalist onSo You Think You're Funny in 2011 and won theBBC Radio New Comedy Awards in 2012. Her 2014 debut show at theEdinburgh Fringe,We Can Twerk It Out,[3][4] was nominated for that year'sBest Newcomer Award.[5]
Born prematurely inTruro while her parents were on holiday inCornwall,[6] Beaumont grew up with a single mother[4] in the Spring Bank area of Hull. She later lived in the town ofHessle, near Hull.[7][8] Her mother, playwright Gill Adams, won the Fringe First Award for best new play in 1997 at the Edinburgh Festival.[9] She attendedHessle High School,[10] before going on toWyke Sixth Form College.[11] Beaumont worked at the meat counter ofAsda on Hessle Road, West Hull,[5] and later went on to theUniversity of Hull, graduating with a degree in drama studies.[8]
After university, she briefly worked as a teaching assistant. When one of her first acting jobs after university fell through, Beaumont took on a job as a cleaner at the university to make a living, leading her to joke later that she was probably the only person with both a BA and anNVQ from the University of Hull.[12][5]
Beaumont had a brief acting career,[13] touring withHull Truck Theatre,[14][5]York Theatre Royal andWest Yorkshire Playhouse.[15] She switched to comedy after she had initially tried it in an attempt to conquer stage fright[16] and was inspired by her sitcom-like life in Hull.[12] In 2009, she took part in the BBC'sNorthern Laughs programme,[17] where she was mentored byJeremy Dyson.[18]
Beaumont is known for her observational comedy about her home city ofHull including the local dialect and food such aspatties andchip spice.[12] Her on-stage persona delivers deadpan anecdotes and has been described as "ditzily naïve".[19]
Her first gig was for the2011So You Think You're Funny competition,[20] for which she would later become a finalist.[21]
She co-wrote and starred in the radio sitcomTo Hull and Back, starring fellow Hull actorMaureen Lipman. The sitcom started with a pilot onBBC Radio 2 in 2014, and a full series was ordered.[22] Three series of the show were broadcast between 2015 and 2018.[23] She wrote an article inThe Guardian about Hull in 2015 as it prepared to beUK City of Culture.[24] In 2017, Beaumont presented theBBC Two documentaryWelcome to Hull – City of Culture 2017.[25] Beaumont is also the narrator in the 2018 BBC documentaryHull's Headscarf Heroes aboutLillian Bilocca and the 1968Triple Trawler Disaster.[26] Beaumont said that the story moved her especially because her grandparents and their families were "born and bred in the fishing community on [Hull's] Hessle Road."[27]
In 2013, Beaumont won theChortle Award for Best Newcomer and appeared onBBC Three'sLive at the Electric. She presented her showWe Can Twerk It Out at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014 nominated for that year'sBest Newcomer Award.[28]
She was a guest onDave'sAlan Davies: As Yet Untitled in 2015 and on theBBC Two panel quiz showQI in 2016. She has been a regular guest on the Dave panel showJon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, hosted by her husbandJon Richardson, in 2018 and 2019.[29]
In 2019, Beaumont returned to the Edinburgh Festival with her showSpace Mam,[30] which she also took on tour in the UK.
Beaumont was team captain for the University of Hull team onBBC Two's 2019Christmas University Challenge. Although they won their first round, the score was insufficient to advance to the semi-finals.[31] Beaumont also made her first appearance on8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown alongside her husbandJon Richardson,Sean Lock andBob Mortimer for the 2019 Christmas special.[32]
A comedy series,Meet the Richardsons, written by Beaumont and Tim Reid was broadcast on Dave from February 2020;[33] it is a documentary-style sitcom with Beaumont and Richardson playing exaggerated versions of themselves.[34] A two-part Christmas Special aired from 9 December 2020[35] and a second series followed in April 2021. The third series began broadcasting in March 2022, with the fourth series airing from 6 April 2023. A fifth series began broadcasting in April 2024 at a time when it was later revealed Lucy and Jon had separated.
In 2021, Channel 4 commissioned a comedy series calledHullraisers from Beaumont, co-written with Anne-Marie O'Connor and Caroline Moran.[36][37][38] Beaumont also released her first bookDrinking Custard: Diary of a Confused Mum, which details her struggles with her pregnancy and motherhood.[6][39]
In 2022, Beaumont appeared in an episode of the revival series ofThe Weakest Link, hosted byRomesh Ranganathan. She was voted out in round 3.
Beaumont was a contestant in the 16th series ofTaskmaster, broadcast September–November 2023. She was placed last.[40]Den of Geek's Louisa Mellor praised her as consistently funny and interesting for her "child-like joy" during tasks and strange anecdotes from her childhood.[41]
In 2024, Beaumont told a story on the panel showWould I Lie to You? (and later on episode 237 of the comedy podcastOff Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster)[42] about pretending to havetype 1 diabetes to get food on a plane. The diabetes research charityJDRF condemned the show's use of the story for humour.[43]
Since 2024, Beaumont has co-hosted theLucy & Sam'sPerfect Brains podcast withSam Campbell.[44]
In 2019, Beaumont set up the project "Backpack Buddies" in Hull to help children in need of meals during the school holidays.[5][45] To raise funds for the project, Beaumont staged theHULLarity comedy gala in June 2019.[46]
Beaumont supports several UK charities, including Hull Children's University,[47] Mothershare[48] and the Great Laugh campaign.[18][5]
Beaumont married comedianJon Richardson in April 2015 after being match-made by fellow comedianRoisin Conaty.[49] They have a daughter born in 2016.[50][5] Beaumont and Richardson announced their separation in April 2024.[51][52]
In 2023, she stated publicly that she had been diagnosed withADHD.[53]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier | Guest |
| 2019 | Christmas University Challenge | Team captain |
| 2019–present | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown | Guest |
| 2020–2024 | Meet the Richardsons | Writer |
| 2021 | Richard Osman's House of Games | Contestant |
| Jon & Lucy's Christmas Sleepover | Co-host withJon Richardson | |
| 2022 | One Night In... Legoland (with Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker) | Guest withJon Richardson |
| The Weakest Link | Contestant | |
| Big Zuu's Big Eats | Guest | |
| Jon & Lucy's Party of the Year | Co-host withJon Richardson[54] | |
| 2022–2023 | Celebrity Gogglebox | WithJon Richardson |
| 2022–2023 | Hullraisers | Writer |
| 2023–present | Would I Lie to You? | Contestant; multiple episodes[55][56] |
| 2023 | Jon & Lucy's Odd Couples | Co-host withJon Richardson |
| The Last Leg | Guest[57] | |
| The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show | Guest | |
| The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off | Contestant[58] | |
| Have I Got News For You | Guest[59] | |
| Taskmaster | Contestant[40] | |
| 2024 | The Wheel | Expert[60] |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Lucy Beaumont Live | UK & Ireland tour[61] |
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Academy Television Awards | 2023 | Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme | Meet the Richardsons | Nominated | [62] |
The first episode of "Hullraisers" is broadcast on Channel 4 this evening...The series is co-written by former Wyke student Lucy Beaumont...After studying A levels in English and Drama, Lucy progressed on to Hull University to complete her Drama degree.
