Would I Lie to You? - The Unseen Bits - Series 17 - 01:40 am Tuesday, January 20 on U&Dave ja vu

Rob Brydon (Host)

Born: May 03, 1965 in Swansea

Best Known For: His chat show and Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born Robert Brydon Jones in Swansea, South Wales, on May 3, 1965. His early years were spent in Baglan near Port Talbot before he and his family moved to Porthcawl. He attended two secondary schools, one alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, the other with Ruth Jones. Under the guidance of his drama teacher at the local comprehensive school, his interest in acting grew, leading to him attending The Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. During the second year of his course, he quit to work for BBC Wales and enjoyed six years of presenting work on local TV and radio stations.

Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.

Quote: "I was always very good with girls, I could talk to them no problem at all. But I could never close the deal. You need Dutch courage to do that, to kiss them."

Trivia: He released an autobiography, Small Man in a Book, in 2011.

David Mitchell (Team captain)

Born: July 14, 1974 in Salisbury

Best Known For: Being one half of hysterical duo Mitchell and Webb.

Early-life: Born David James Stuart Mitchell in Salisbury on July 14, 1974. He has a younger brother called Daniel. His parents were hotel managers who later moved to Oxford, where they became lecturers in hotel management. He claims he always wanted to be an actor or comedian, but told people he planned to become a barrister to please his parents. In 1993 David went to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, to study history. He performed with the famous Cambridge Footlights, eventually becoming the society president. It was in his first year at university that he met Robert Webb at an audition for a student pantomime production of Cinderella.

Career: After graduating, Mitchell worked an usher at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. He and Webb took a number of shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before being asked to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for surreal comedy series Big Train. In 2001, they made their first sketch show, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now-defunct cable channel Play UK. Their next project came in 2003, with the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. They've also worked together on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look and the film Magicians. Solo, Mitchell has appeared on 10 O'Clock Live and numerous panel shows, including Would I Lie to You?, where he's a regular team captain. His autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in 2012.

Quote: "I think, fundamentally, the people I want to make laugh are British. I can't ever imagine living abroad."

Trivia: He writes columns for The Observer and The Guardian.

Lee Mack (Team captain)

Born: August 04, 1968 in Southport

Best Known For: His role as namesake Lee in BBC comedy Not Going Out.

Early-life: Born Lee Gordon McKillop in Southport, Manchester. He lived with his parents above a pub before their divorce and he relocated to Blackburn. He left school at sixteen and worked as a stable boy and a bingo caller before his talent for performing was realised. He joined Pontin's as a Bluecoat but was sacked for shouting profanities at the audience and going on stage drunk. He entered an open-mike competition in 1994 and his talent was so obvious that he was to become a full-time comic within 18 months.

Career: His success as a stand-up was crowned when he won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came to the attention of TV bosses after a stint on the radio. Lee was cast in The Sketch show alongside long-term collaborator Tim Vine. After a short-lived stint presenting They Think It's All Over, Mack and Vine began work on Not Going Out. The series revolves around two friends with opposite backgrounds and personalities, much like the two comics themselves. Mack has recently become a regular on comedy panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He also has sell-out tours and best-selling DVDs to his name.

Quote: "I'm not as bothered about being as cool as I was 10 years ago. I quite like the idea of being phenomenally uncool."

Trivia: In June 2012, Mack was one of the comperes at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace.

Alex Jones (Panellist)

Born: March 18, 1977 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire

Best Known For: The One Show.

Early-life: Born Charlotte Alexandra Jones in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, on March 18, 1977. After training as a ballet dancer as a child, Alex went on to study theatre, film and TV at the University of Aberystwyth.

Career: After graduating, Jones worked as a TV researcher before stepping in front of a camera. She went on to present a number of programmes on S4C, including Can i Gymru, Salon, and Tocyn. Her big break came in 2010 when she became the co-host of The One Show. Since then, she has co-presented Let's Dance for Comic Relief, and in 2011, she partnered with professional dancer James Jordan on Strictly Come Dancing - they were eliminated a week before the final. In August 2014, she began presenting BBC One celebrity gymnastics contest Tumble. Jones began presenting daytime BBC One series Close Calls: On Camera in 2015 and she started co-hosting BBC series Shop Well for Less? in 2016.

Quote: "I grew up on S4C and it doesn't matter whether there are 100 people watching or listening or five million, every single person in that audience is really important."

Trivia: Alex is fluent in English and Welsh.

Will Mellor (Panellist)

Born: April 03, 1976 in Stockport

Best Known For: Hollyoaks and Casualty.

Early-life: Born April 3, 1976, in Stockport, Cheshire. He hated school, apart from playing football at lunchtime. Mellor hoped to follow in his father and uncle's footsteps by becoming a boxer, and even took part in amateur bouts, but decided to concentrate on showbusiness instead. At 11, he sang at his sister's wedding reception, where he was spotted by an agent who told him he should try performing professionally.

Career: Mellor's TV debut came in 1987 when he was cast as a young Clive Barker in a documentary. Three years later, he landed a regular role in Children's Ward, but didn't become well known until Hollyoaks began in 1995. He played the character Jambo for three years. A stint in musical Oh What a Night followed. Since then he's starred in Casualty, Is Harry on the Boat?, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and M.I.T: Murder Investigation Team, as well as having a stint in EastEnders. Mellor also had a short-lived pop career and won Celebrity Fame Academy in 2003. Projects since include In With the Flynns, White Van Man and Broadchurch.

Quote: "There's only so many times I can come in to work with hangovers. I'm trying to take everything a bit more seriously in life, especially my work, because now I've got something to work towards. I've got my children to look after."

Trivia: Mellor has modelled for Topman.

Naga Munchetty (Panellist)

Romesh Ranganathan (Panellist)

Born: January 30, 1978 in Crawley

Best Known For: Being a comedian.

Early-life: Born Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan in Crawley on January 30, 1978. He is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. He started performing stand-up while he was working as a mathematics teacher at schools in Crawley and Banstead. He became a professional comedian in 2012.

Career: Ranganathan's breakthrough came in 2013 when he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Since then, he has appeared on a number of comedy panel shows, including Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Have I Got News for You. He has also performed stand-up on Live at the Apollo and presented the BBC Three series Asian Provocateur and co-presented the ITV series It's Not Rocket Science.

Quote: "I think I'm a mango. Just very sweet and lovely."

Trivia: Ranganathan is a vegan and supports Arsenal FC.

Gabby Logan (Panellist)

Born: April 24, 1973 in Leeds

Best Known For: Being the glamorous face of sport.

Early-life: Born Gabrielle Nicole Yorath on April 24, 1973, to former Leeds United and Welsh international footballer Terry. The family moved around a lot when she was younger due to her father's job. Although Gabby initially dreamed of being a tennis player, she decided to concentrate on gymnastics from the age of 10, and took part in the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990. However, she was eventually forced to quit the sport due to back problems. She studied law at Durham University, but at the same time worked in radio and wrote for magazines.

Career: After graduating, Gabby worked for a series of local radio stations before landing a job at Sky Sports in 1996. She covered a variety of events before she was head-hunted by ITV two years later to front the programme On the Ball. She became a regular fixture on the ITV sporting schedule, and was part of the team responsible for covering the 2002 World Cup. While at ITV she also hosted game show The Vault. She moved to the BBC in 2007, where she is one of the channel's senior sports presenters. She also hosts Splash! and Flockstars on ITV.

Quote: 'If you come across as someone who is knowledgeable and passionate then the fans will respect you.'

Trivia: Gabby took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2007 and she was eliminated in the fourth week.

Jessica Hynes (Panellist)

Born: November 15, 1972 in London

Best Known For: Her appearances in a variety of sitcoms.

Early-life: Born Tallulah Jessica Elina Stevenson in Lewisham, South London, on October 30, 1972, and raised in Brighton, Sussex. She began writing at school, concentrating on creating unusual sci-fi stories. At 14, she joined the National Youth Theatre and four years later moved to London, where she earned a crust as an an actress and comedian. She became friends with actress Katy Carmichael and they went on to work with Simon Pegg on the sketch show Six Pairs of Pants.

Career: Hynes worked with Pegg and director Edgar Wright on Asylum before they collaborated on cult Channel 4 sitcom Spaced. Hynes was nominated for an Olivier Award for her work in stage play The Night Heron, and garnered a Bafta nomination for 2001 TV film, Tomorrow La Scala! She had a small role in Pegg and Wright's hit 2004 film Shaun of the Dead. Hynes also appeared in The Royle Family, Bob and Rose, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, According To Bex, Pinochet in Suburbia, Confetti, Four Last Songs and Magicians. She made a memorable appearance in two episodes of Doctor Who alongside David Tennant, playing a teacher who won the Time Lord's love. She's since returned to sitcoms with Up the Women (which she also wrote), Twenty Twelve and its spin-off W1A.

Quote: "I don't want to be the next Nicole Kidman. I've got enough on my plate being the current Jessica."

Trivia: She decided to become known by her married name of Hynes in 2007.

Victoria Coren Mitchell (Panellist)

Jack Carroll (Panellist)

Craig Charles (Panellist)

Born: July 11, 1964 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Playing Lister in Red Dwarf and Lloyd in Coronation Street.

Early-life: Craig Joseph Charles was born in Liverpool on July 11, 1964. His father was a lorry driver and his Irish mother was a teacher. He grew up in Liverpool with three brothers, one of whom, Emile, is also an actor. As the only mixed race student in his class he turned to comedy to stop being bullied. He showed a talent for literature, winning The Guardian's poetry award at the age of 12, but dreamed of being a professional footballer. He played for Liverpool's youth team and had a spell at Tranmere Rovers.

Career: Charles started in showbusiness as a stand-up comedian and performance poet; he also wrote lyrics for various songs and played keyboard in the band Watt 4. In 1988, he landed the role of Lister in cult BBC sitcom Red Dwarf. He's also appeared in The Governor, EastEnders, The Bill, Doctors, and Captain Butler. Charles has hosted chat show Craig's Funky Bunker, presented game shows Robot Wars, Jailbreak, and Takeshi's Castle, and has published several books, including an autobiography. He joined Coronation Street in 2005, playing taxi driver Lloyd Mullaney. He also presents radio shows on the BBC network. In November 2014, he entered the jungle as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Quote: "There's nothing like a bit of jail to change your outlook. It puts weird things inside your head - my perspective is very different now. I'm much more suspicious."

Trivia: Charles regularly performs DJ sets at clubs and festivals.

Frankie Boyle (Panellist)

Born: August 16, 1972 in Glasgow

Best Known For: His Mock The Week appearances.

Early-life: Francis Martin Patrick Boyle was born August 16, 1972, in Pollokshaws on the south side of Glasgow. His parents came from Co Donegal in Ireland. After leaving school he studied urban planning at Aston University for a year before dropping out to do an English literature degree at the University of Sussex. In 1995, while on a teacher-training course in Edinburgh, he started doing stand-up comedy. He got his big break at Edinburgh's The Stand Comedy Club. However, it was his appearances on BBC comedy news review show Mock the Week that helped turn him into a household name.

Career: Boyle was dubbed 'The dark heart of Mock the Week' by host Dara O Briain, and enjoyed massive success with a series of stand-up shows around the UK. However, Boyle has also courted plenty of controversy with his comments on a range of subjects. He left Mock the Week in 2009; he released his autobiography the same year and in 2010 launched comedy show Tramadol Nights on C4. He also writes a weekly tabloid column, and his tours have gone down a storm in many parts of the UK. However, a pilot for a proposed talk show called Frankie Boyle's Rehabilitation Programme was described as 'non-transmittable'.

Quote: "As long as you're not trying to solicit murder, there's no line that you can't cross."

Trivia: Boyle has published an autobiography and two other books.

Mo Gilligan (Panellist)

Su Pollard (Panellist)

Born: November 07, 1949 in Nottingham

Best Known For: Playing Peggy in Hi-de-Hi

Early-life: Born Susan Georgina Pollard in Nottingham in 1949. she discovered her love of performing at the age of six, when she appeared in a nativity play and made the audience laugh by falling down on stage. After leaving school at 16, Su worked as a secretary during the day, while singing in pubs and clubs during the evening, and also served an apprenticeship at Nottingham Arts Centre, before winning parts in the musicals including Godspell and Big Sin City.

Career: Su made her sitcom debut in Two Up, Two Down in 1978. It only lasted for one series, but the following year, she landed the role that would make her a household name _ chambermaid Peggy in Hi-de-Hi. The hugely successful comedy ran for nine years, and after it finished she reunited with writer David Croft again for the series You Rang M'Lord and Oh, Doctor Beeching! Since then, Su has also provided voices for the children series Penny Crayon and Little Robots, and has also worked extensively on stage, most recently in a touring production of Annie.

Quote: "I adore Lady GaGa's look. Like me she doesn't just wear the same boring frocks all those other stars wear on the red carpet."

Trivia: Away from acting, she reached number two in the charts with the single Starting Together, in 1986.

Jeremy Vine (Panellist)

Born: May 17, 1965 in Epsom, Surrey

Career: During a varied career at the BBC, Vine has been a researcher on Heart of the Matter, a reporter on the Today programme, a political and African correspondent, and an anchor on Newsnight. Since 2006, he has analysed the results on BBC's election night coverage. In 2007, he became the presenter of Panorama and a year later started hosting Points of View. Since October 2008, Vine has shared the hosting role of BBC Two quiz Eggheads with Dermot Murnaghan. He has presented the lunchtime show on Radio 2 since 2003. In August 2015, it was announced that he would be a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: On playing in a punk band: "We wore enormous flared trousers and kipper ties and it started to take off and we were on Radio 1. But it was a catastrophic musical enterprise."

Trivia: In July 2013, Vine's Radio 2 show became the most popular news programme on UK radio with 7.3 million listeners a week. He played in a punk band in the early 1980s with his brother and a friend.

Best Known For: His work at the BBC.

Early-life: Jeremy Guy Vine was born in Epsom, Surrey, on May 17, 1965. His younger brother is comedian Tim Vine. Jeremy was educated at Durham University. After a period working on Metro Radio, he took a journalism training course with the Coventry Evening Telegraph before joining the BBC in 1987.

Bridget Christie (Panellist)

Born: August 17, 1971 in Gloucester

Best Known For: Being a stand-up comedian.

Early-life: Bridget was born in Gloucester on August 17, 1971. She is the youngest of nine brothers and sisters. She studied acting at The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wandsworth, London. In 2003, she found work on the diary desk of the Daily Mail. She began doing stand-up in the evenings.

Career: Christie spent five years working at the Daily Mail before turning to stand-up full time. She took her first show to the Edinburgh Festival in 2005 and she has performed there every year since. In 2009, her show My Daily Mail Hell chronicled her time at the newspaper. Her 2013 show, A Bic for Her, won the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award and it played to packed houses at the Edinburgh Festival, Brighton Comedy Festival and London's Soho Theatre. Christie has also appeared on a number of TV shows, including The Omid Djalili Show, Harry Hill's Little Cracker, Anna & Katy, It's Kevin and Have I Got News for You. Her Radio 4 series about feminism, Bridget Christie Mind the Gap, premiered in March 2013.

Quote: "Comedy goes in cycles - if you hold on long enough, and just keep doing what you love doing, it'll eventually come round."

Trivia: Christie married fellow comedian Stewart Lee in 2006.

Charlene White (Panellist)

Wilfred Webster (Panellist)

Gina Yashere (Panellist)

Best Known For: Her stand-up comedy shows.

Early-life: Gina Obedapo Yashere was born on April 6, 1974 in Bethnal Green, London. She worked as a lift maintenance technician and engineer before she became a comedian.

Career: Yashere quickly gained acclaim as a stand-up comedian and soon began landing TV appearances, such as on Blouse and Skirt and Live at Jongleurs. She has appeared in a number of comedy shows, including Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo. Yashere competed on Comic Relief does Fame Academy in 2005. As well as in the UK, Yashere has seen success in such countries as the United States, Dubai, Hong Kong and South Africa. She has also made a number of appearances on American TV, such as on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, The Jay Leno Show and as a British Correspondent on The Daily Show. Yashere has a number of acting roles under her belt too, such as in The Lenny Henry Show, in the film Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2001), as the voice of Keisha on the animated series Bromwell High, in the TV series Married Single Other and in the TV series Crashing.

Quote: "It was my dream to live in America from when I was a kid. I thought they had better toys."

Trivia: She lives in the United States but spends a lot of time touring, including in the United Kingdom.

Melvyn Hayes (Panellist)

Sam Campbell (Panellist)

Chris McCausland (Panellist)

Zoe Waterman (Producer)

Jake Graham (Producer)

Liz Clare (Director)

Barbara Wiltshire (Director)

Adam Copeland (Series producer)

Peter Holmes (Executive producer)

Rachel Ablett (Executive producer)

Would I Lie to You?: The Unseen Bits - Series 17

01:40 am - 02:20 am, Tuesday, January 20 on U&Dave ja vu (74)

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The Unseen Bits - Series 17
Season 17, Episode 10

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