8 Out of 10 Cats

Jimmy Carr (Host)

Born: September 15, 1972 in Slough

Best Known For: His stand-up comedy

Early-life: James Anthony Patrick Carr was born in Slough on September 15, 1972, one of three sons of Irish immigrants. His parents split in 1994, though the marriage didn't end until the death of his mother in 2001. Jimmy did well at school and studied political science at Cambridge before moving into advertising. He landed a job in the marketing department of Shell Oil, but felt unfulfilled. When the company offered him voluntary redundancy, he took it, and decided to pursue a career in comedy.

Career: Carr began performing on the stand-up circuit, doing up to 300 shows a year for three years, before taking his act to the Edinburgh festival in 2002. This brought him to the attention of TV bosses, and before long he was presenting series such as Your Face or Mine and Distraction. Since then, he's rarely been off TVscreens, hosting the first run of the Friday Night Project, 8 Out of 10 Cats and numerous Channel 4 list shows. He's also made a move into acting, appearing in Alien Autopsy, Confetti, Stormbreaker and Telstar. He is one of Britain's busiest comics and his DVDs are big sellers.

Quote: "I'm not being condescending, I'm too busy thinking about far more important things you wouldn't understand."

Trivia: In February 2007, Carr was the first major comedian to perform in the virtual reality world Second Life.

Aisling Bea (Team captain)

Born: March 16, 1984 in Co Kildare

Best Known For: Being an actress, writer and comedian.

Early-life: Born Aisling O'Sullivan in Co Kildare on March 16, 1984 to Brian and Helen. Her sister, Sinead, is a costume designer. Aisling attended London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and studied French and Philosophy at Trinity College in Dublin. In 2012, she won the Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival.

Career: Alongside her stand-up work, Bea has carved out a successful career as an actress. She made her acting debut in the comedy series The Savage Eye. She has had recurring roles in Cardinal Burns, Dead Boss, Trivia, The Town, The Delivery Man and Trollied. More recently, she starred in The Fall.

Quote: "I love working. It combines my two favourite things: loving working and loving complaining about working."

Trivia: In 2013, Bea was nominated for Best Newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her show C'est la Bea.

Rob Beckett (Team captain)

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.

Katherine Ryan (Panellist)

Born: June 30, 1983 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Best Known For: Being a comedian.

Early-life: Katherine was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, on June 30, 1983. During her childhood, Katherine and her two younger sisters spent most summers in Cork visiting their paternal grandparents. She went on to study city planning at university and ended up training waitresses at Hooters. In her spare time, she attended open mic comedy nights.

Career: Ryan moved to the UK to work for a fashion magazine and began finding stand-up work. She is now a regular guest on Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. She has also starred in the sitcoms Campus, Episodes and Badults.

Quote: "In the UK, people will go out and see music and comedy every night of the week, but that just doesn't happen in Canada and America."

Trivia: Ryan has battled two bouts of skin cancer.

Craig Revel Horwood (Panellist)

Born: January 04, 1965 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Best Known For: Being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.

Early-life: Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, on January 4, 1965. He has four siblings. Their father was in the Australian navy, so the family moved around a lot. At the age of 17, he made ends meet by performing as a drag queen. He went on to become a dancer in Melbourne and appeared in a number of productions, including West Side Story, the Danny La Rue Show, La Cage Aux Folles and Ladies Night. He also featured in numerous TV commercials in Australia, notably for KFC, before moving to the UK to further his dance career in 1989.

Career: Horwood's West End credits include roles in Cats, Miss Saigon and Crazy for You. As a choreographer, he has worked on West Side Story, Martin Guerre and Spend Spend Spend, and as a director on Sunset Boulevard, Chess, the live tour of Strictly Come Dancing, and the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He became a household name in 2004 after becoming a member of the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing. He has a reputation for awarding the lowest marks of all the judges. Since 2009, he has been a regular on the pantomime circuit and in 2011 became a British citizen.

Quote: "When I'm watching something I'm professional about it. I'm not there to have a good time. I'm there to judge a competition."

Trivia: In 2009, he became a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society. He's had two lots of plastic surgery - one op on his nose, the second to get rid of 'manboobs'.

Dane Baptiste (Panellist)

Lisa Kirk (Series producer)

Richard Osman (Executive producer)

Born: November 28, 1970 in Billericay

Best Known For: Pointless.

Early-life: Richard Thomas Osman was born in Billericay on November 28, 1970, but grew up in West Sussex. He was raised by his single mum after his father left home - they didn't see each other for 20 years. Richard studied politics and sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his future Pointless colleague Alexander Armstrong was reading English literature. He claims that one of his proudest moments came when his mum and grandfather watched his graduation.

Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.

Quote: "Whenever I turn up to pub quizzes now, I see people going: ‘Urgh, that's the guy who knows everything.'"

Trivia: He is the younger brother of Mat Osman, bassist with Suede, and suffers from nystagmus, a condition that results in uncontrolled movement of the eyes.

Ruth Phillips (Executive producer)

Andrew Westwell (Executive producer)

12:10 am - 12:55 am, Today on E4 Extra (31)

About this Broadcast

Season 19, Episode 5

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