Jon Joel Richardson (born 26 September 1982) is an English comedian and radio presenter. He is known for his appearances on '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' and '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' and his work as co-host with Russell Howard on BBC Radio 6 Music. He presented '' Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier'', and also features with his wife Lucy Beaumont in the TV show '' Meet the Richardsons''.

Biography

Richardson was born in 1982 in Lancaster, England, where he was also brought up. He attended Ryelands Primary School and Lancaster Royal Grammar School. He left the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

after taking Hispanic Studies for a year and a half, and subsequently spent some time working as a chef. He then decided to pursue a career in comedy, and lived with fellow comedians Russell Howard, Mark Olver and John Robins for a year in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Richardson entered and won his heat of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

New Talent Comedy Search in May 2003. He also reached the semi-finals of the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition in 2004. Quickly developing throughout 2004, he was one of six acts to reach the final of the J2O Last Laugh Comedy Search. He marked the end of his first year in comedy with a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London's West End. Judges Jasper Carrott and Dave Spikey were both "extremely impressed" with Richardson's performance. In 2006, Richardson appeared in ''The Comedy Zone'' at the Edinburgh Festival. He also completed a 60-date British and Irish tour with Alan Carr, and made an appearance on Paramount's ''The Comedy Store''. In 2007, ''Spatula Pad'' (Richardson's first solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) earned him a Best Newcomer nomination at the

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...

. Richardson won the 2008 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act, and performed ''Dogmatic'' (his second solo show) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He later took this show around the country in his first solo tour. He appeared as a team captain in Simon Mayo's 2008 series ''Act Your Age'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Richardson co-hosted a Sunday-morning radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music with fellow comedian and friend Russell Howard, and after Howard left, he continued to present the show himself until 7 March 2010. In early 2009, Richardson's show ''This Guy at Night'' was nominated for the

main prize. That year, he appeared on the

music quiz show '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks''. He also appeared on '' Have I Got News for You'' in December 2009 and October 2010, and was a guest on David Mitchell's '' The Bubble''. Richardson appeared on the BBC Radio 5 Live show '' Fighting Talk'' in February 2010. He was curator of '' The Museum of Curiosity'' for its third series. On 21 March 2010, he presented a BBC Three programme about compulsions and strange habits, entitled ''Different Like Me''. Richardson has performed at comedy festivals in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, and

, and has headlined university gigs for Off the Kerb and Avalon. He has also compèred in the French Alps, headlined in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, and performed a one-man show in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In 2010 he also performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Starting with the 11th series of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's panel show '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'', Richardson took over from Jason Manford as a team captain. Filming for the series began in June 2011. '' It's Not Me, It's You!'', Richardson's first book, was published during the same month. Later in 2011, he became a regular comic on the Channel 4 show '' Stand Up for the Week'', which was hosted by Kevin Bridges during its second series. Upon Bridges's departure, Richardson took over as host, a role he left after series 4 in 2012. Since January 2012, he has also been a regular on Channel 4's '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown''. Richardson presented a 2012 documentary entitled ''A Little Bit OCD'', in which he studied the lives of people diagnosed with OCD and worried that he might have the same condition; he was indeed revealed to exhibit symptoms of OCD, but did not show signs of the accompanying dysfunction. The show won the 2013 Mind Award in the documentary category. On 19 November 2012, Richardson released his first stand up DVD, ''Funny Magnet''. The performance was recorded at the Apollo Theatre in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

on 9 September 2012. The DVD also features Richardson's set from '' Live at the Apollo'' and audio commentary with his then-housemate, comedian Matt Forde. In December 2012,

broadcast ''The Real Man's Road Trip: Sean & Jon Go West'', a two-part series in which Richardson and his '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' colleague Sean Lock travelled to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

to experience the local culture and lifestyle. The show was filmed in September 2012. Richardson began Work in Progress shows in late 2013, and in 2014 took his new show ''Nidiot'' on the road culminating in a DVD of the same name. In August 2013 he headlined the comedy stage at the

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

. Appearing on Radio 5's ''Fighting Talk'' on 11 January 2014, Richardson said his worst ever gig was a couple of months previously at Doncaster Dome. He claimed the initial smattering of applause quickly reduced through his time on stage. Richardson has presented two series of the Dave panel show '' Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier'', in which he and his guests discuss their worries. In 2020, Richardson appeared in the

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

sitcom '' Meet the Richardsons'' for UKTV's Dave and presented ''Channel Hopping With Jon Richardson'' on Comedy Central. The former is a documentary-style sitcom written by Richardson's wife Lucy Beaumont with Tim Reid, in which Lucy has to deal with an exaggerated version of Richardson's character, whilst the latter is a weird TV clips show in the style of '' Clive James on Television'', but with Richardson presenting and two other guests discussing the clips each week. In 2020 Richardson also launched the podcast ''Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts'' with co-hosts Mark Stevenson and Ed Gillespie to discuss systemic societal problems and their solutions. The podcast has received overwhelming positive reviews. '' The Arts Desk'' remarked "without making light of he subject matter Richardson and Co find the funny." Since 2020, Richardson has also co-hosted the ''Down the Dog'' podcast with Matt Forde. In January 2023, Richardson and Beaumont launched ''Jon & Lucy's Odd Couples'' - a panel show featuring celebrity couples answering questions about their private lives and performing various tasks to test their relationships. The show was first announced in 2022 with an order of 6 hour-long episodes. In June 2023, Richardson was made an honorary member of Sheffield F.C. after he visited the club to film for '' Meet the Richardsons'', along with Adrian Chiles and Matt Forde. On 13 August 2024, it was announced that Richardson would return to radio in September that same year to present a Saturday-morning show on Absolute Radio. In April 2025, the BBC confirmed that Richardson would join the cast of the school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' for its sixteenth series.

Personal life

Richardson lived in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

for seven years, then in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

, London, with fellow comedians Matt Forde and Danny Buckler. He also lived with comedians John Robins and Russell Howard. In a 2012 interview with ''Woman'' magazine, he mentioned he had bought a house in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

for his mother. He is a vegan and supporter of Leeds United. In July 2019 Richardson mentioned on '' Saturday Kitchen'' that he had moved across to Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, from Lancashire. He married comedian Lucy Beaumont in April 2015; the pair were introduced by the mutual friend and comedian Roisin Conaty and dated for about two years prior to marriage. They have a daughter born in September 2016. Richardson and Beaumont announced their separation in April 2024. Richardson has explored whether he has

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an ''obsession'') and feels the need to perform certain routines (''Compulsive behavior, compulsions'') repeatedly to relieve the dis ...

(OCD), concluding that he instead has obsessive–compulsive ''personality'' disorder (OCPD); the difference is that OCD is a type of

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, whereas OCPD is a type of personality disorder. His exploration of his obsessive–compulsive behaviour was the subject of his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show ''Spatula Pad''. In 2018, Richardson told '' Radio Times'' that he had been to counselling for six months, calling it "an immensely positive step". Saying "I wish I'd done it sooner", Richardson said "acknowledging there's a problem is the best thing" and recommended counselling to "anyone who's even mildly upset about anything". Richardson was an outspoken critic of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's leadership of the Labour Party and, under Keir Starmer's leadership, participated in a political advert for the party in the run up to the 2024 general election in the UK.

Stand-up shows

DVD releases

Filmography

Television and radio

References

External links

* *
2010 personal column in ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Jon 1982 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol English radio DJs Comedians from Lancashire English male comedians English male writers English satirists English stand-up comedians People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School Writers from Lancaster, Lancashire People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder 21st-century English comedians Year of birth missing (living people)