Iain Lee
Lee hostingThe Rabbit Hole Show in 2017
Born	Iain Lee Rougvie (1973-06-09)9 June 1973 (age 51) Slough,Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation(s)	Broadcaster,writer,comedian
Children	2
Website	iainlee.com

Iain Lee (bornIain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English former broadcaster, writer, and television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk showThe Late Night Alternative on "pay to view"Patreon.

Lee's career began in the 1990s as a stand-up comedian before he gained nationwide fame as co-host ofThe 11 O'Clock Show from 1998 to 2000 and the breakfast showRI:SE in 2003. He then embarked on a full-time radio career in 2005, hosting mainly talk-based shows onLBC 97.3,Absolute Radio,BBC Three Counties Radio,BBC Radio WM, andtalkRADIO, which earned him numerous radio awards. In July 2020, after his contract at talkRADIO was not renewed, Lee launched his Twitch show.^[1][2]

Iain Lee Rougvie was born on 9 June 1973 inSlough, then a part ofBuckinghamshire.^[3] He has Scottish roots.^[4] Lee's father worked at the props department at the BBC and his mother was a secretary until she developedmultiple sclerosis which put her into an early retirement. The couple divorced when Lee was a youngster.^[4]

Lee was raised on acouncil estate and recalled being bullied by fellow pupils because they considered him posh.^[5] By the late 1990s, Lee had dropped the "Rougvie" from his name. He officially changed his name to Iain Lee bydeed poll in 2008, due to his troubled relationship with his father.^[6] Lee is the nephew of Scottish former footballerDoug Rougvie. He attendedHerschel Grammar School in Slough and studied performing arts atMiddlesex University.^[5]

Lee began astand-up comedy career in the 1990s, initially performing on the London circuit exclusively before touring nationwide. Lee considers his time as a stand-up to be a low point in his life, due to the fact that he startedabusing drugs and alcohol during this time. He metMackenzie Crook, who was also a stand-up comic at the time and the two became friends.^[7]

Lee began his radio career in December 1997, presenting a four-hour show onHorizon 103.3, an independent station inMilton Keynes, on Christmas Day. At that point, he was 24 years old with only fifteen minutes experience in a studio and did not take any compliance orOfcom regulation exam prior.^[6] Lee went on to feature on the station's breakfast showThe Morning Crew hosted by Trevor Marshall and Helen Legh, as Iain in Black Thunder and Iain McCartney.^[6] From 1999 to 2001, Lee hosted a show onXfm London.

Lee embarked on a full-time radio career in January 2005, starting with a stint on talk stationLBC 97.3. He joined the station hosting weekend evenings before moving to afternoon drive, which he namedThe 3 Hour 4 'Till 7 Iain Lee Afternoon Wireless Show and laterThe 3-and-a-Half Hour 3 'Till 6.30 Iain Lee Afternoon Wireless Show. Lee was known for hosting a segment named Triple M (also known as Mental Mayhem or Mick's Mental Mayhem), where calls went straight to air without being pre-screened, whichNick Abbot,Tommy Boyd, andClive Bull had also done. The segment received its own dedicated slot on Sunday nights in 2007. At the time, management favoured the unique format as they hoped that it would introduce exclusive listeners to the radio station. Lee then hosted the 7–10pm weekday slot which was namedIain Lee's Good Evening. In 2007,Global Radio purchased LBC which led to a change in management, who introduced a talk format of topical and news-driven conversation. Lee's presenting style fell out of favour and he left the station without prior announcement in November 2007.^[8]

In January 2008, Lee began to hostThe Sunday Night Show on Virgin Radio, laterAbsolute Radio, from 10pm to 1am that featured music and talk.^{[citation needed]} In April 2009, Lee wrestled a listener which was broadcast the following month.^[9] From 12 October 2009, Lee took over the Monday to Thursday evening slot. In October 2011, the station announced that Lee's contract would be terminated with immediate effect by mutual agreement. His departure occurred during a court case in which a listener was accused of harassing Lee, his wife, and the show's producer.^[10]

From 2012 to 2015, Lee presented the weekday breakfast show onBBC Three Counties Radio, a local service that served Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire. He later said that he accepted the job as he was unable to find work elsewhere, and felt "crushed" and a little humiliated about taking it at first.^[11] From December 2013, Lee also presented a Saturday morning show onBBC Radio WM, the BBC's West Midlands service, which was followed by a Friday afternoon slot on the station from September 2014. He left the station in the following August, citing that management considered Lee hosting both slots as "odd" and wanted him to just present on Saturdays, which he rejected.^[12] In May 2014, Lee's Three Counties show won aRadio Academy Award for Breakfast Show of the Year (Under 10 Million).^[13] On 12 August 2014, Lee was accused of making a racist remark to his producer following a spoof on-air argument, in which Lee said; "Go on, go and do the black and Asian show. Bye bye."^[14] The argument was described as banter and the BBC apologised for the comments.^[14] In November 2015, Lee was fired from Three Counties. His departure followed complaints received about his interview with a lawyer fromChristian Concern earlier in the month, in which Lee accused her of being "bigoted" and "homophobic" after she defended a minister quoting verses from the Bible condemning homosexuality as sinful.^[15]

In February 2016, Lee announced that he had joined the first line-up of presenters for the launch of a new talk radio station,talkRADIO. The station began to air on 21 March 2016, with Lee hostingThe Late Night Alternative from 10pm to 1 am on weekdays.^[1][11] In 2017, he won a Gold Award at theAudio and Radio Industry Awards in the Best Speech Presenter – Non-Breakfast category.^[16] He won a second in 2020, this time for Moment of the Year for directing emergency services to a caller who had taken an overdose.^[17][18] Despite the success, Lee announced on 2 June 2020 that his contract was not renewed.^[19]

On 10 July 2020, Lee announced that he had been signed byTwitch to continue hostingThe Late Night Alternative on its streaming platform. The first launched on 20 July and is recorded from Lee's home inAylesbury, Buckinghamshire.^[2][20] The show allows video calls from viewers worldwide.^[11]

In June 2022, Lee was announced as the new presenter ofJack FM's breakfast show,Iain Lee’s Rude Awakening, from 4 July.^[21][22]On 6 February 2023, Lee announced his retirement from radio in order to focus more on his work as a counsellor.^[23][24]

Iain presented his final radio show on 8 February 2023, on Jack FM, in a show which featured previous regular callers and Producers from across his career.

From 1998 to 2000, Lee was a correspondent and co-host of the satirical comedy showThe 11 O'Clock Show onChannel 4. The show became a start-up for comediansSacha Baron Cohen andRicky Gervais. In one incident, Lee received death threats and had astalker after he joked aboutDanniella Westbrook and her drug use. The police advised him to move out of his flat; he lived withMackenzie Crook and in a hotel before the matter was resolved.^[4] In January 2000, Lee and co-hostDaisy Donovan were criticised byOfcom for making "death jokes" on the recently murderedJill Dando.^[25] After four series, Lee walked out five days before filming of the fifth was due to start. He later said that it was an unfair move, but felt the quality of the show's humour had declined and Channel 4 had cut its budget. Lee said he would have earned £90,000 if he had stayed.^[4]

In 2002, Lee accepted to co-host a relaunch of the Channel 4 live breakfast showRI:SE with reality television starKate Lawler, from January 2003. The show failed to make an impact in viewing figures, however, and it ended in December 2003.^[7] By this time, Lee described himself as a "full blowncocaine addict" and would often smokecannabis before filmingRI:SE and take cocaine afterwards.^[7] Lee described the year 2004 as "absolutely terrible" in regard to his career and started tobinge drink to cope with the stress,^[4] and spending around £2,000 on cocaine each week.^[7] Lee went on to present the video game showThumb Bandits on Channel 4. Later he made regular appearances onSky News andThis Morning, and hosted theBig Brother companion seriesBit on the Psych forChannel 5.

In November 2017, Lee took part in theseventeenth series ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Lee entered the show on Day 5. During the show, Lee was elected Prime Minister of 10 Downing Creek. Lee made it to the final and finished in third place. He spoke openly about mental health whilst participating in the show.^[26]

From the start of 2018, Lee was on the breakfast TV showGood Morning Britain, filling in forRichard Arnold who was taking a 3-week break.^[27][28]

Lee currently writes a column in theRetro Gamer magazine.^[29] He formerly wrote a gaming column forMSN.co.uk, as well as recording monthly podcasts.^[30] He has also appeared onXLeague.tv discussing video games.^[31]

Lee has appeared onBBC Radio 4'sLoose Ends, and presented the officialBig Brother radio show with co-hostGemma Cairney, entitledBig Brother's Big Ears. Lee has also been heard as acontinuity announcer on the TV channelDave.^[32]

In August 2007, Lee launched a podcast entitledIain Lee Presents... Shindiggery. It ended in November 2008.^[33]

In 2009, Lee took part in an experimental comedy performance by artistsIain Forsyth and Jane Pollard inSheffield called Performer. Audience. Fuck Off,^[34] a spin-off to the Performer/Audience/Mirror originally conceived in 1975 by American artistDan Graham, whereby the performer does their act behind a mirror reflecting the audience.

In February 2012, Lee launchedThe Iain Lee Pocket Radio Show, a podcast similar in style to his radio shows but utilised various social media platforms for content. Most of it featured conversations with listeners via phone calls or Skype chats. Listeners were also invited to interact with the show by sendingAudioBoos to be included in the recording. The podcast also included Lee interviewing guests and celebrity news with Elisa Roche.

Lee had a cameo role in a music video for the British IBM's self-titled single, released in 2012.^[35]

In 2015, Lee andGlenn Gretlund had formed 7a Records, an independent record label specialising in obscure recordings byThe Monkees and the group's members.^[36][37] In 2020, Lee sold his share of the company.^[38]

The Late Night Alternative (TLNA) is an onlinephone-in show Lee and Katherine Boyle hosted on streaming platformTwitch. The programme was first broadcast on British radio stationTalkradio between March 2016 and June 2020, and won severalAudio and Radio Industry Awards, including 'Best Speech Presenter – Non-Breakfast' for Lee. In July 2020, Lee and Boyle announced the programme's return via Twitch, with the first episode airing on 20 July.^[2]

In May 2017, Lee and Boyle created a record for a phone-in British radio show when the pair took over 150 calls in one three hour show, after announcing anyone could call and would be put through straight to air. The attempt to take a world record 200 calls failed when the phone system broke down due to the number of callers attempting to get through.^[39]

On 19 December 2018, a man called the show after adrug overdose. Lee kept the man on the line whilst Boyle directed the emergency services to his location, with many on social media praising Lee's decisive actions.^[40] Lee revealed on 24 December 2018 that the man had survived and was now back home after receiving specialist treatment for two days.^[41] Lee and Boyle were later awarded a Gold in the 'Moment of the Year' category at the 2020 Audio and Radio Industry Awards for this call.^[42]

On 2 June 2020, Lee announced his contract at Talkradio would not be renewed, having presented his final programme the previous evening.^[43] On 10 July, the pair issued a press release confirming they had been signed byinternet streaming service Twitch and would re-launch the programme on 20 July.^[2]

In March 2018, Lee announced that he and his wife, broadcaster Helena Wilkinson, were gettingdivorced. The couple have two sons.^[44] At the time of the announcement, Lee confessed he had relapsed in drug use after being sober for 13 years,^[45] in a three-month period following his stint onI'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, to which he credited Katherine Boyle in taking him to anAlcoholics Anonymous meeting.^[11] In September 2020, Lee said he had broken a two-and-a-half year period ofsobriety when he relapsed oncocaine.^[46]

In July 2019, Lee came out asbisexual on his radio show, something that he had felt embarrassed about and tried to handle it with drugs and extramarital affairs. He credited sessions with a therapist to deal with hisdepression, which began when he started having sex with older men at fourteen. He realised that "Now I can see that it was abuse."^[44]

In September 2020, Lee started a college course to become a counsellor.^[20]

• Beyond Borders (directed byMartin Campbell)
• Radio Mania (directed byIain Forsyth and Jane Pollard)
• Mandy (episode “Broadsword to Donna Ball”).

• The Sunday Night Show

• Iain Lee on Twitch
• Iain Lee atIMDb
• The Lost Initiative podcastArchived 13 May 2007 at theWayback Machine
• Iain Lee discusses 7a Records with Comedian Tim Powers
• The Late Night Alternative onTwitch
• The Late Night Alternative onAcast

• 1973 births
• Alumni of Middlesex University
• Bisexual male entertainers
• Bisexual comedians
• English male comedians
• English radio presenters
• English television presenters
• English LGBTQ broadcasters
• English LGBTQ comedians
• English bisexual men
• English bisexual entertainers
• English Twitch (service) streamers
• LGBTQ DJs
• Living people
• People from Muswell Hill
• People educated at Herschel Grammar School
• English people of Scottish descent
• Entertainers from Slough
• Comedians from the London Borough of Haringey
• Comedians from Buckinghamshire
• Mass media people from Buckinghamshire

• All articles with dead YouTube links
• Articles with dead YouTube links from February 2022
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• Use British English from August 2012
• Use dmy dates from November 2024
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2024
• Webarchive template wayback links