Eleanor Jane Taylor is an English comedian, television personality, actress, and writer. After appearing as a contestant on '' Show Me the Funny'' in 2011, Taylor has appeared on numerous television shows, including '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' (2011–2017), '' Fake Reaction'' (2013–2014), '' Mock the Week'' (2015–2019), '' The Lodge'' (2016), '' Stand-Up Central'' (2017), '' The Mash Report'' (2017–2022), ''

Plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the gro ...

'' (2018–2019), '' Strictly Come Dancing'' (2022), and '' Knuckles'' (2024). She has also presented the television shows '' Snog Marry Avoid?'' (2012–2013), '' Live at the Apollo'' (2016–2018), and '' The Great Pottery Throw Down'' (2022). Taylor has written and performed five stand-up comedy shows: ''Elliementary'' (2015), ''Infidelliety'' (2016), ''This Guy'' (2017–2018), ''Cravings'' (2019) also shown on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

as part of ''Comedians of the World'' and ''Don't Got This'' (2019–2021). In 2021, she published her debut book, ''My Child and Other Mistakes'', which became a ''Sunday Times'' bestseller. From 2020 to 2023, she played Flo "Sassy" Collins in Apple TV's ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...

''.

Early life and education

Eleanor Jane Taylor was born in Brentwood,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. She studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. Taylor was a member of the University of York Drama Society and "did three or four plays".

Career

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

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

. 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. In 2014, she hosted a radio show on London-based Fubar Radio alongside comedian Simon Feilder. In June 2015, she made her debut in the 14th series of BBC Two's '' Mock the Week'', and appeared in every series until the 18th. In March 2016, Taylor appeared in the third series of CBBC's panel show '' The Dog Ate My Homework''. She appeared a second time later that month. 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 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

Ancient Roman comedy series ''

''. 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. A clip of one of her performances on the show later went viral, after it was posted across social media by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. In 2018, Taylor appeared in an advert for Stowford Press cider. 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. The show later became available as a podcast, ''Ellie and Anna Have Issues''. 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. In 2019, her half-hour stand-up special ''Cravings'' was released on

as part of Comedians of the World. 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''. 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 BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. She was one of the team leaders on the comedy panel show '' Fake Reaction''. In 2013, she appeared in an episode of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

mockumentary series ''

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''. 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 James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...

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

Personal life

Taylor married reporter Phil Black in London in 2014 and has two children.

Filmography

Tours

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

Bibliography

* ''My Child and Other Mistakes: How to Ruin Your Life in the Best Way Possible'' (2021)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Ellie 21st-century English comedians Alumni of the University of York English female models English game show hosts English women television presenters English women comedians Living people People from Brentwood, Essex People from Basildon 1983 births Comedians from Essex Models from Essex Heart (radio network) presenters