Joe Lycett

Joe Lycett
Lycett performing in 2018
Birth name	Joe Harry Lycett
Born	(1988-07-05) 5 July 1988 Birmingham, England
Medium	Stand-up, television
Education	University of Manchester (BA)
Years active	2009–present
Website	joelycett.com (2020)

Joe Harry Lycett (born 5 July 1988), also known by the self-given moniker Mummy, and formerly as Hugo Boss, is a British comedian, television presenter and painter. Known for his sardonically camp demeanor, public stunts and elaborate set designs, Lycett has been described as one of Britain's most popular comedians.

Lycett began performing stand-up in 2009 and won the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year the same year. He has appeared on TV shows including Live at the Apollo, Taskmaster, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, QI, as the announcer on Saturday BBC One show Epic Win, the narrator for Ibiza Weekender and as the presenter on BBC Two's The Great British Sewing Bee and Channel 4's Joe Lycett's Got Your Back and Late Night Lycett.

In February 2020, Lycett briefly changed his name by Deed Poll to "Hugo Boss" as part of a protest against the fashion brand of the same name. He is also recognised as one of Britain's most high-profile queer or pansexual men, and has partaken in advocacy for the LGBTQ community on many occasions.

Early life

Born in 1988 at Hall Green, Birmingham, to David Lycett and Helen née Scholey, he grew up in Solihull. His paternal Lycett family hailed from Staffordshire, whilst his grandmother's Wilkinson family came from the East Midlands being distantly related to the Wilkinson baronets.

After attending King Edward VI Five Ways Grammar School, Lycett went up to the University of Manchester where he read Drama and English, graduating BA.

Career

Lycett performing for the Equality Network's LGBT Rights: Stand-up for Russia event in Edinburgh, August 2013

Stage

Early in his career as a 22-year-old comedian, Lycett appeared on stage alongside Jim Davidson, who is known for his offensive jokes, which have been described as both racist and homophobic, and Lycett complained about Davidson's use of the racial slur "chink" in one of his jokes (which Davidson later removed). The two became friends while touring together (with Davidson's only complaint to Lycett being that he swore too much). "[Jim Davidson's] views on race are incredibly misguided but he is very educated about it. He has read the Quran, and at one point told me in detail about the origins of Rastafarianism", Lycett told the Birmingham Mail in 2011.

In June 2022, a member of the audience at a Belfast show called the PSNI to complain about a joke that referenced a donkey. Lycett bemoaned being investigated by the police over a joke, but was happy to recount his enjoyment from repeating the joke, which he regarded as one of his best, in his messages to the police. The investigation was subsequently closed.

Television and video

Lycett has appeared on television in Live at the Apollo, 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Celebrity Juice, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Spicks and Specks, Would I Lie to You?, Insert Name Here, Virtually Famous, and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, and was a regular panellist on the E4 show Dirty Digest. He has co-written narration on ITV2 shows The Magaluf Weekender and Ibiza Weekender. Lycett featured on Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Christmas Special with Jason Manford, Rev Richard Coles, and Jo Joyner. Lycett starred as one of the contestants in the fourth series of Taskmaster with Al Murray, and has made several guest appearances on Sunday Brunch in the absence of one of the regular hosts.

On 12 February 2019, Joe Lycett took over as the new presenter on the fifth series of BBC Two's The Great British Sewing Bee.

Lycett started presenting his consumer show Joe Lycett's Got Your Back, which was branded a "sexy Watchdog" in 2019 with help from various guests and Mark Silcox. The show takes on big corporations, such as airlines and banks, to provide justice for consumers with a humorous spin. The series was renewed for a second series. Lycett describes the show as "a cross between Rogue Traders and RuPaul's Drag Race".

In 2021, Lycett presented the television documentary Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant.

On 4 September 2022, Lycett appeared as a panellist on the debut issue of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. The show featured an interview with Liz Truss, who at the time was considered highly likely to win, which she later did, the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election and therefore become Prime Minister. The cost-of-living crisis, caused in part by high energy bills, was a current significant issue. Truss had given few interviews since the start of the election campaign to elect the Leader of the Conservative Party. On the show, Truss endeavoured to give assurances. When asked for comment by Kuenssberg, Lycett said with deadpan delivery that he was "very Right-wing" and that he loved the clarity and was reassured by Truss's statements about the proposed measures to address the crisis. Deploying apophasis, he suggested that he would not say that from dregs Truss was the "backwash of available MPs". This was met with incredulity from Kuenssberg and titters from other guests. In a similar vein, Lycett went on to state Truss was right to ignore economists' stark predictions. Several days later, MP Steve Brine asked BBC Director-General Tim Davie about "the Joe Lycett débacle" when Davie appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

Radio and podcasts

On the radio Lycett has been a guest on Scott Mills, Greg James and Nick Grimshaw's programmes on BBC Radio 1 and on Richard Bacon's programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. In August 2011, he wrote and performed the short story "Spooky and the Van" which was broadcast in the Afternoon Reading slot on BBC Radio 4. In August 2013, he made his début on Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4. In September 2016, he took over from Miles Jupp as the host of It's Not What You Know, also on BBC Radio 4. Lycett was known as "the resident news hound" on Josh Widdicombe's XFM radio show, which was broadcast on Saturday (and later Sunday) mornings.

In addition to his appearances on various radio stations, Lycett has featured as a guest on numerous podcasts, including My Dad Wrote a Porno, SoundCheck Podcast, The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith, and Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.

From July 2018, there were two series of Joe Lycett's Obsessions on BBC Radio 4.

On 17 August 2019 and 26 October 2019, Lycett stood in for Rylan Clark-Neal on Rylan on Saturday on BBC Radio 2. In December 2019 he returned to Radio 2 covering Sara Cox's drive-time show over the Christmas and New Year period.

In late November 2023, Lycett launched a "fake" podcast, Turdcast, about "celebrities talking shit," and recorded an episode with Gary Lineker. He set up an inflatable toilet dubbed "the Turdis" at Liverpool's Royal Albert Dock for the launch, though this was cancelled seemingly "due to a technical issue," with the alleged waste from the toilet spilling into the Mersey. Lycett later released a statement revealing that "it was fake sewage, from a fake toilet, to promote a fake podcast". He criticised water companies in England for discarding "billions of litres of real sewage" into bodies of water, and announced an hour-long Channel 4 special, Joe Lycett vs Poo (later retitled Joe Lycett vs Sewage), about the water companies.

Name change

In February 2020, in response to a legal dispute between fashion company Hugo Boss and the Swansea-based Boss Brewing, he changed his name by Deed Poll from "Joe Lycett" to "Hugo Boss". Boss said that he was drawing attention to the company's use of legal action and cease and desist letters relating to alleged copyright violations against numerous small businesses, including Boss Brewing, for use of the word Boss. In the second series of Joe Lycett's Got Your Back, the comedian launched a fake fashion show celebrating the release of a wrist brace under the name Hugo Boss outside the flagship store of the fashion company with the same name in Regent Street, London. Lycett asserts that Hugo Boss, the company, reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police. In April 2020, he changed his name back to Joe Lycett.

Qatar controversy

On 13 November 2022, Lycett released a video criticising David Beckham for his multimillion-pound sponsorship deal promoting the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to the Gulf state's stance on LGBT rights. In the video, he said he would give £10,000 to charities that support queer people in football if Beckham pulled out of the deal. If Beckham did not pull out of the deal, he promised to shred the money during a livestream on 20 November, just before the World Cup opening ceremony. By 20 November, Beckham had not pulled out of the deal, so Lycett livestreamed himself appearing to shred the money on the website www.benderslikebeckham.com. The next day, Lycett revealed that he had faked the shredding and had already donated £10,000 to LGBTQ+ charities.

In December 2022, against the backdrop of his criticising David Beckham's sponsorship deal, the tabloid newspaper The Sun published an article detailing the fact that Lycett had himself previously performed at Doha, Qatar, in 2015. The paper suggested that Lycett had engaged in "hypocrisy" by performing in Qatar. Lycett responded on Twitter, admitting that he had accepted a fee to perform in Doha adding that he does not "have the perfect hindsight and spotless morality of, to pick a completely random example, The Sun newspaper".

Painting

Lycett is also a self-taught painter and has had his artwork exhibited. In 2018, a sculpture of his, CHRIS, was accepted by Royal Academy and listed for sale as being worth £12,500,000. CHRIS is still for sale on Lycett's website for the same asking price.

Charity work

Following comments in early November 2023 from then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman that homelessness was a "lifestyle choice," Lycett used a stock image of pot-pourri to raise over £50,000 for homelessness charity Crisis.

Awards

In 2009, Lycett was awarded that year's Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award and was also the winner of Bath New Act Competition. He was runner-up in the 2009 Laughing Horse New Act of the Year, and a finalist in the 2011 BBC New Comedy Awards. In 2012, his début stand-up show Some Lycett Hot was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. In October 2023, Lycett won The Comedy Award at the 2023 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards. In March 2024, Lycett was awarded a BAFTA Television Award for his evening chat show, Late Night Lycett.

Personal life

Lycett frequently refers to his bisexuality and pansexuality as part of his stand-up routines. In 2021, Lycett was described by Unicorn magazine as "probably the most high-profile pansexual man in Britain today". In a 2015 interview with Attitude magazine, he described how being bisexual "presents its own challenges", when people have "no box to put you in", adding "it just means you fancy people of all genders". In the Series 2 première of Late Night Lycett, he revealed he had a girlfriend.

In 2015, while performing in York, Lycett was given a parking ticket for parking illegally in a taxi rank. The ensuing paper trail of correspondence, between him and City of York Council, was recounted as an anecdote on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown becoming the basis for one of his stand-up routines.

In May 2019, Lycett arranged for the Birmingham Lord Mayor Cllr Yvonne Mosquito to attend the official opening of his kitchen extension. At first, Mosquito declined, as it was not a public event, but after Lycett raffled four tickets for the event to the public Lord Mayor Mosquito agreed.

Lycett has been a supporter of West Bromwich Albion FC since 2012.

Lycett lives in Birmingham and owns a flat in Peckham, south London. He is known to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Laughter Shock	Himself	TV movie
2011	Epic Win	Himself	August – September 2011
	Dirty Digest	Himself	November 2011
2012	8 Out of 10 Cats	Himself	Series 14
	Celebrity Deal Or No Deal	Himself	Appeared on the wings for Sarah Millican's game
	Celebrity Juice	Himself	Series 8
2012–2014	Never Mind the Buzzcocks	Himself	Series 26 (2012), Series 28 (2014)
2014–2015	Virtually Famous	Himself	Series 1 (2014), Series 2 (2015)
2014–2016	Live at the Apollo	Himself	Series 10 (2014), Series 12 (2016)
2014–2017	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown	Himself
2015	Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled	Himself	Series 3 (2015)
2015–2020	Would I Lie To You?	Himself	Series 9 (2015), Series 11 (2018), Series 14 (2020)
2016	Insert Name Here	Himself	Series 1 (2016)
	Countdown	Himself (Dictionary corner guest)	Series 75 (2016)
2017	Taskmaster	Himself	Series 4 (2017)
2017–present	QI	Himself	Series O (1 episode), Series P (2 episodes), Series Q (2 episodes), Series R (2 episodes)
2018	Roast Battle	Himself	Series 1 (2018)
	The Time It Takes	Himself	Series 1 (2018)
2019–2021	The Great British Sewing Bee	Presenter	Series 5 – Series 7
2019–present	Joe Lycett's Got Your Back	Presenter	Series 1 (2019), Series 2 (2020), Series 3 (2021)
2019, 2020	The Big Fat Quiz	Himself	The Big Fat Quiz of Everything (2019 Special), The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade (2020)
2020	Dragon's Den	Presenter	Dragons' Den: Best Ever Pitches: The Inventions, Ep1 - 6
2021	Birdgirl	Graham	Voice acting
	Have I Got News for You	Himself (Panellist)	Series 61, Episode 4 (30 April 2021)
	Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant	Himself (Presenter)	Air date: 24 October 2021
2021–present	Travel Man	Himself (Presenter)	Succeeded Richard Ayoade as presenter from series 10
2022	Joe Lycett's Big Pride Party	Himself (Presenter)	Air date: 3 July 2022
	Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist	Himself (Presenter)	Air date: 23 July 2022
	The Sandman	The Tabby Kitten	Voice acting
	Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg	Himself (Panellist)	Air date: 4 September 2022
2023–present	Late Night Lycett	Host	Series 1 (2023); Series 2 aired (2024)
2024	Joe Lycett vs Sewage	Himself (Presenter)	Air date: 20 February 2024
	Sky Arts Awards	Himself (Host)	Air date: 17 September 2024
2025	Joe Lycett’s United States of Birmingham	Himself (Presenter)	Upcoming three-part series

Stand-up DVDs

Title	Release date	BBFC rating
Joe Lycett: That's The Way A-Ha A-Ha, Joe Lycett – Live	21 November 2016	15
Joe Lycett: I'm About to Lose Control And I Think Joe Lycett – Live	26 November 2018	15
Joe Lycett: More, More, More! / How Do You Lycett? - Live	11 November 2022	No Rating

Bibliography

Title	Release date
Parsnips, Buttered	20 October 2016
Joe Lycett's Art Hole	21 September 2024

External links

• Official website
• Joe Lycett at IMDb