Lee Hurst

After earning his spurs on the UK comedy circuit Lee became the warm-up man for Have I Got News For You? The producers needed a warm-up man for the pilot of their new comedy sports quiz, They Think It’s All Over, and Lee being as sharp as he was they decided to have him as a regular panellist. Although he had no sporting prowess and he knew next to nothing about football, he won over millions of viewers each week with his quick witted banter. Lee appeared as a regular panellist in the first five series of They Think It’s All Over leaving in 1998. He returned for two appearances as a guest towards the end of its run for Series 17 in 2004, and for the Comic Relief 24 Hour Panel People Special on 6 March 2011.
Lee’s other TV credits include presenting Shark Tank, Salvage Squad and The Warehouse, and guest appearances on That’s Showbusiness, The Stand Up Show and Have I Got News For You. He also appeared as a regular panellist on Don’t Give Up Your Day Job as well as fronting ITV’s short-lived revival of the entertainment show Saturday Night Live. Lee was the creator of Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment, which ran for five series on Channel 5 between 1997 and 2000.
On radio, Lee has guested on The Steve Wright Show, Euromix, Two Men and a Transmitter and The Robert Elms Show. He was team captain on Hold The Front Page. He also presented Wriggling with Eels, a study of Cockney comedians for BBC Radio 4.
In 2000, Lee decided to semi-retire and concentrate on running his comedy venue, the Backyard Comedy Club, acting as resident compere. In 2010, Lee closed this club and razed it to the ground. In its place Lee developed a seven storey hotel, on the ground floor of which is the new Backyard Bar & Kitchen, home of the Backyard Comedy Club.
Whilst the club was been closed Lee wanted to keep his hand in and so he performed a show called ‘Man v Woman’ in a few venues around the country. This was very well received and it spurred Lee on to book a 50 date tour called ‘Too Scared to Leave the House’ which started in September 2012.