Since 2009 he has hosted The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, broadcast live on Saturdays and later released as a podcast.
31 Facts About Frank Skinner
2.
Frank Skinner was the youngest of four children born to John Collins and his wife Doris.
3.
Frank Skinner wrote in his autobiography that his father, who was born in West Cornforth, County Durham, played for Spennymoor United before the Second World War, and met his mother in a local pub after Spennymoor had played West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup game in 1937.
4.
Frank Skinner attended Moat Farm Infant School from 1961 to 1964, St Hubert's Roman Catholic Junior School from 1964 to 1968, and then Oldbury Technical Secondary School from 1968 to 1973.
5.
Frank Skinner passed two O-levels in summer 1973 and took A-levels in English language and art, along with several O-level resits, at Oldbury Technical School Sixth Form.
6.
Frank Skinner subsequently took 4 A-levels at Warley College of Technology and graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic in 1981 with a degree in English.
7.
Frank Skinner once explained that whenever someone called at his house to ask if "Chris" was there, his mother would say yes, only to then turn around and shout for "Graham".
8.
Frank Skinner adopted the stage name Frank Skinner when the actors' union Equity told him there was already a singer from Burnley on their books called Chris Collins.
9.
Frank Skinner took the name from a member of his late father's dominoes team.
10.
Frank Skinner performed his first stand-up gig in 1987 and made his television debut a year later.
11.
Frank Skinner won the 1991 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, beating Jack Dee and Eddie Izzard.
12.
Frank Skinner has worked with David Baddiel, notably on the popular late-night entertainment show Fantasy Football League from 1994 to 2004 and on Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005.
13.
Frank Skinner visited the US to find out if the shirt was the genuine article.
14.
Frank Skinner is a lifelong fan of Elvis and used to buy the Elvis Monthly magazine.
15.
Frank Skinner has appeared in a number of self-written sitcoms, including Blue Heaven and Shane.
16.
In 2005, Frank Skinner announced he was going to leave behind his television work in favour of returning to the stand-up comedy circuit.
17.
In November 2008 and in the light of senior broadcasting figures such as ITV boss Michael Grade and Terry Wogan calling for TV to reduce its use of vulgar language, Frank Skinner decided to experiment with removing swear words altogether from his stand up live act although stated that it would be a shame if 'clever swearing' was lost.
18.
From March 2009, Frank Skinner started to present the Saturday Morning Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio with his co-hosts Emily Dean and Gareth Richards.
19.
Frank Skinner plays the banjo ukulele and in 2010, he contributed ukulele parts to a song by Fairport Convention called "Ukulele Central" which featured on their album Festival Bell.
20.
Frank Skinner said each episode was only 15 minutes as it was "too intense" to be any longer.
21.
From 2012 to 2018, Frank Skinner was the host of BBC show Room 101.
22.
Frank Skinner subsequently featured in the 2019 Big Finish Productions audio release The Sinestran Kill, the first episode of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures, Season 8.
23.
In 2015, Frank Skinner appeared in the inaugural season of Taskmaster where he tied for second place with Romesh Ranganathan behind Josh Widdicombe, who won the series.
24.
Frank Skinner was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to entertainment.
25.
Frank Skinner married in 1990, but the marriage was annulled shortly after.
26.
Frank Skinner is a supporter of West Bromwich Albion, and regularly attends games.
27.
Frank Skinner was a victim of the credit crunch in the late 2000s after investing in AIG, losing millions of pounds as a result.
28.
Frank Skinner stopped drinking alcohol at age 29, having become concerned when he changed from having sherry for breakfast to Pernod.
29.
Frank Skinner has said that he has never been able to replace the "white heat of joy" he got from alcohol and that his social life has never recovered from stopping drinking.
30.
In July 2019, Frank Skinner told The Times that he had always voted for the Labour Party, but said he would probably vote for the Green Party at the next election.
31.
Frank Skinner, who is a practising Christian, released a book of prayers, A Comedian's Prayer Book, in 2021.