Lou Sanders

Louise Samantha Sanders (born 24 November 1978) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Since beginning her career in comedy, she has appeared regularly on panel shows, performed on Live at the Apollo and won the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019. Since 2021, she has appeared as Mel Giedroyc's sidekick on the Dave comedy series Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and was a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice in 2024.

Lou Sanders
Sanders in the 2018 short film Elderflower
Birth name	Louise Samantha Sanders
Born	(1978-11-24) 24 November 1978 (age 46) Barnstaple, Devon, England
Medium	Stand-up television radio
Alma mater	London Metropolitan University
Years active	2009–present
Notable works and roles	Taskmaster Live at the Apollo Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable Dancing on Ice
Website	http://www.lousanders.com

Early life

Louise Samantha Sanders was born on 24 November 1978^[1][2] in Barnstaple, Devon to Margaret (née Lang) and David Sanders.^[3][4] Her parents divorced when Sanders was two, and she and her older brother were raised in Broadstairs, Kent by her mother and her stepfather, who was a history teacher.^[5][6] Her father was periodically present.^[5] Sanders moved out at the age of 15,^[5] and she later earned a degree in Communication and Cultural Studies from London Metropolitan University.^[5]

Career

Before beginning her career in comedy, Sanders worked in administrative roles, including as an executive PA and complaints handler at Ofcom.^[5][7] She took comedy classes from Logan Murray, and she was paid to write a comedic blog about The Apprentice.^[5]

As a live performer, Sanders performs regularly both in the UK and around the world. In 2018, her show Shame Pig was the joint winner of the Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe^[8][9] and she returned to the Festival in 2019 with her show Say Hello to Your New Step Mummy.^[10]

Sanders was declared the winner of the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019;^[11] she has also appeared on television shows including QI, Would I Lie to You?, Travel Man, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Hypothetical, The Russell Howard Hour, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Red Nose Day for Comic Relief, Russell Howard's Good News, Live at the Electric and Question Team. She has also acted in sitcoms including Aisling Bea's This Way Up and Karl Pilkington's Sick of It. She is also a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth. In 2019, Sanders appeared on BBC Two's Live at the Apollo (series 15, episode 2).^[12]

As a writer, Sanders wrote and starred in the short film Elderflower which co-starred Sheila Reid, Tom Rosenthal and Mike Wozniak.^[13] She has also written for 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Stand Up for the Week and Miranda Hart.

Sanders has been an occasional guest host on Elis James and John Robins on BBC Radio 5 Live.^[14] In February 2020, Sanders started hosting a podcast called Cuddle Club.^[15] From February 2021, she has appeared in the Dave comedy panel show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. From April 2022 until September 2023, Sanders hosted Taskmaster: The People's Podcast.^[16] In August 2023, Sanders released her autobiography What's That Lady Doing?.^[15][3] In 2024, Sanders appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice. She was paired with Brendyn Hatfield and they were the fifth couple to be eliminated.^[17][18]

In March 2025, she starred in the first series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK, hosted by Jimmy Carr & Roisin Conaty, alongside Richard Ayoade, Sara Pascoe, Bob Mortimer, Rob Beckett, Judi Love, Joe Wilkinson, Joe Lycett, Daisy May Cooper & Harriet Kemsley.

Personal life

Sanders is a teetotaler^[19] and vegan.^[20]

Television

Year	Programme	Channel	Notes
2013	Russell Howard's Good News	BBC Three	Series 8, episode 3[21]
2016	Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled	Dave	Series 4, episode 3: "A Penis Poking Through The Window"
2017	Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled		Series 5, episode 6: "Half of My Special Rose"
	Live from the BBC	BBC Three	Series 2, episode 2
2018	Sick of It	Sky One	Series 1, episode 3: "Lonely People", as character Megan[22]
	The Dog Ate My Homework	CBBC	Series 5, episode 4
2019	Taskmaster	Dave	Winner, series 8
	8 Out of 10 Cats	Channel 4	Series 21, episode 6
	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown		Series 17, episode 1[23]
	Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier	Dave	Series 2, episode 4: "Health"[24]
	The Russell Howard Hour	Sky Max	Series 2, episode 13[25]
	Hypothetical	Dave	Series 1, episode 3
	Travel Man	Channel 4	Series 9, episode 2: "Bergen"[26]
	This Way Up	Channel 4, Hulu	Series 1, episode 3, as character Fran[27]
	Live At the Apollo	BBC Two	Series 15, episode 2
2020	QI		Series 17, episode 13: "Quills"[28]
	Roast Battle	Comedy Central UK	Series 4, episode 5. With Luke McQueen
	Richard Osman's House of Games	BBC Two	Series 3, week 13
	Hypothetical	Dave	Series 2, episode 5
	Big Zuu's Big Eats		Series 1, episode 10
	The Late Late Show with James Corden	CBS	Episode 732
2021	Would I Lie To You?	BBC One	Series 14, episode 1[29]
	Question Team	Dave	Series 1, episode 7
	Guessable	Comedy Central UK	Series 2, episode 3: "Alan and a Spread of Meat Loaf"
	Between the Covers	BBC	Series 3, episode 2. Chose the book Delicacy by Katy Wix
	Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled	Dave	Series 6, episode 9: "The Accuracy of a Pigeon"
	Outsiders		Contestant
2021–	Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable		"Sidekick" to host Mel Giedroyc[30]
2022	Would I Lie To You?	BBC One	Series 15, episode 4[31]
	Guessable	Comedy Central UK	Series 3, episode 11: "Sugar Puff Daddy"
	Married At First Sight: Unveiled	E4	Episode 6
	Question Team	Dave	Series 2, episode 8
	CelebAbility	ITV2	Series 6, episode 2
2023	World's Most Dangerous Roads	Dave	Series 4, episode 5: "Iceland". With Ed Gamble
	The Weakest Link	BBC One	Series 2, episode 10[32]
	Guessable	Comedy Central UK	Series 4, episode 5: "I live and breathe Lou Bega"
2024	Dancing on Ice	ITV	Contestant, series 16
2025	LOL: Last One Laughing UK	Amazon Prime UK	Series 1 Contestant