Alan Carr — things you didn't know about the British comedian

Comedian Alan Carr at the BGC Charity Day 2019.
Alan Carr is one of the best-loved comedians in the UK. (Image credit: Getty)

Alan Carr exploded onto the comedy scene back in 2001 when he won the City Life Best Newcomer of the Year and The BBC New Comedy Award. He then got his first TV gig when he hosted The Friday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins between 2006 and 2009. 

Since his big break, Alan has spent the last two decades entertaining his legion of fans with sell out comedy tours, best-selling autobiographies, celebrity chat shows and radio performances. 

Alan has won British Comedy Awards, National Television Awards and a BAFTA TV Award. His comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man, which aired on Channel 4 between 2009 and 2016 was a huge hit, and in 2019 he become a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK. He has also appeared on the panel for The Masked Singer UK, and presents Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr on BBC2. He also regularly presents shows on BBC Radio 2. 

But what else is there to learn about the much-loved comedian and presenter? Here are a few things you might not know.

His distinctive toothy look is due to a childhood accident

When Alan was young he fell and banged his chin on a family holiday. He told the Daily Mail: "I was climbing on a caravan towbar on holiday when I was six. Then slip... bang! My earliest memory is of my mum scooping me up as the blood flowed and my milk teeth fell out. 

"The dentist said my adult teeth would either come through all black or all crooked. He was right, when they came out the looked like they were having a party. But I think I was lucky — what I've been left with has had the best possible outcome, my looks have made my career. That's the weird irony — everything I hated about myself at school has become the key to my success."

He quit Twitter in 2018

After wishing his followers a happy new year on January 1st 2018, Alan mysteriously vanished from Twitter and hasn't been seen on the social media platform since. During an interview with Good Morning Britain, Alan revealed his reasons for leaving his account dormant: "I've just gone, but it's nothing serious. It's just something I thought that when I started was very fun. It felt a bit like a community. 

"But then you moan, you moan and moan, and it all just got like Speakers' Corner towards the end. Everyone was just moaning. I worked for four years in a call centre, so my days of listening to people moan are well over."

He was in The SpongeBob Movie

While Alan has spent the last 20 years carving a hugely successful career out for himself, one of his lesser-known credits was playing a seagull in The SpongeBob Move: Sponge Out of Water in 2015. Other famous faces who lent their voice to an animated seagull include Stacey Solomon, Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee. 

His dad was a football manager

Alan's father, Graham, was manager of Northampton Town FC, and also coached Nuneaton Town. Alan spent a lot of his childhood visiting football grounds and his dad hoped he would one day be a footballer like his grandad. However, Alan admitted to The Guardian that he didn't share his family's passion for the sport... "I was rubbish, scared of the ball. Absolutely terrified. When Mr Jenkins, the PE teacher, said we'd like you to be team captain, I was like, 'Ooh no, I'm fine, please don't, it's fine!'"

Alan Carr's fact file

Things you didn't know about the star...

How old is Alan Carr?

Alan Carr is 47 years old. He was born on 14th June 1976. 

Is Alan Carr married?

No, Alan Carr is not married.

Where was Alan Carr born?

Alan Carr was born in Weymouth, Dorset. 


How tall is Alan Carr?

Alan Carr is 5ft 8 inches tall.

Instagram: @chattyman

We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 


After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off


She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 


As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.