Ellie Taylor

Taylor was born in Basildon, Essex, and grew up in Brentwood.^[2][3]

She studied English literature at the University of York.^[2][4] Taylor was a member of the University of York Drama Society and "did three or four plays".^[5]

Taylor was spotted by a model agency scout while interning for FHM magazine,^[2] and signed with ISIS Models.^[6] She did campaigns for Matalan, Asda and Pantene.^[2] She decided she would rather not be a model, so she began working on corporate events.^[2] In her mid-twenties, Taylor began doing stand-up comedy.^[2]

Taylor was discovered on ITV series Show Me the Funny, an X Factor-style contest for aspiring stand-up comedians. In 2014, she performed her debut show Elliementary at the Laughing Horse as part of the Edinburgh free fringe programme.^[7]

In 2014, she hosted a radio show on London-based Fubar Radio alongside comedian Simon Feilder.^[8]

In June 2015, she made her debut in the 14th series of BBC Two's Mock the Week,^[9] and appeared in every series until the 18th.^[10]

In March 2016, Taylor appeared in the third series of CBBC's panel show The Dog Ate My Homework.^[11] She appeared a second time later that month.^[12]

In September 2016, Taylor had a recurring role in The Lodge as Christina. Taylor also plays Gloria, the next-door business-owner to the main characters in ITV2 Ancient Roman comedy series Plebs.^[10][5]

In 2017, Taylor became a regular fill-in for Emma Bunton on London's Heart Radio breakfast show.

Since July 2017, she has been a regular on BBC2 satirical comedy sketch series The Mash Report, appearing as Susan, a newsreader.^[2] A clip of one of her performances on the show later went viral, after it was posted across social media by Madonna.^[13]

In 2018, Taylor appeared in an advert for Stowford Press cider.^[14]

On 5 July 2018, it was announced Taylor and Anna Whitehouse would host a new talk show on radio station Heart FM on Sunday nights from 10pm to 1am.^[15] The show later became available as a podcast, Ellie and Anna Have Issues.^[16]

Taylor has been a regular on the BBC TV stand-up-comedy programme Live at the Apollo, both as a featured act and as a host.^[17]

In 2019, her half-hour stand-up special Cravings was released on Netflix as part of Comedians of the World.^[1]

Taylor has also been a guest on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Pointless Celebrities, Insert Name Here, QI, The Last Leg, Big Brother's Bit on the Side, and Show Me the Funny.^[10] In 2011, she won Company magazine's Lady HaHa title. In 2012, she replaced Jenny Frost as the presenter of Snog Marry Avoid? on BBC Three. She was one of the team leaders on the comedy panel show Fake Reaction. In 2013, she appeared in an episode of the HBO mockumentary series Family Tree.

In 2019, she again became a fill-in presenter on Heart, this time for Amanda Holden, on the national breakfast show alongside regular host Jamie Theakston.

In December 2019, it was announced that Taylor would step down from her Heart FM show to focus on her TV commitments. However, her podcast with Anna Whitehouse, Ellie & Anna Have Issues, is still released every Tuesday.^[18]

In July 2021, Taylor published her debut book My Child and Other Mistakes: How to ruin your life in the best way possible, which became a Sunday Times bestseller.^[19]

In August 2022, she was revealed as a contestant on the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing.^[20] Taylor and her professional dance partner Johannes Radebe were eliminated in Week 10 after losing the dance off to Fleur East and Vito Coppola.^[21]

In 2025, Taylor was the guest co-presenter for Pointless,^[22] appearing in the last nine episodes of series 32 and the first two episodes of series 33.

Taylor married reporter Phil Black in 2014.^[23] They live in Brentwood, Essex, and have a daughter (born 2018) and son (born 2023).^{[24][25][26][27]}

• Elliementary (2015)
• Infidelliety (2016)
• This Guy (2017–2018)
• Cravings (2019)
• Don't Got This (2019–2021)
• Palavering! (2025)