29 Facts About Josh Widdicombe

Joshua Michael Widdicombe is an English comedian, presenter and actor.

Josh Widdicombe is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg, Fighting Talk, Insert Name Here, Mock the Week and his BBC Three sitcom Josh.

Josh Widdicombe was born on 8 April 1983 in Hammersmith, London, but grew up in Haytor Vale, near Widecombe in the Moor on Dartmoor in Devon.

Josh Widdicombe attended Ilsington Church of England Primary School and South Dartmoor Community College, later studying sociology and linguistics at the University of Manchester.

In 2012, Josh Widdicombe became a regular on Stand Up for the Week.

Josh Widdicombe was a main contributor to Channel 4's daily alternative review of each day's events at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics, The Last Leg with Adam Hills, alongside Adam and Alex Brooker.

Josh Widdicombe appeared on The Last Leg of the Year, the show's end-of-year special.

In September 2012, Josh Widdicombe appeared on The Million Pound Drop with The Last Leg co-host Brooker.

Josh Widdicombe has pectus excavatum, which he discovered after mentioning it to Christian Jessen on season 11, episode 10 of 8 Out of 10 Cats.

In 2013, Josh Widdicombe was again a regular on The Last Leg, after Channel 4 renewed the show for nine further episodes, beginning on 25 January 2013.

In May 2013, Josh Widdicombe was a guest on the second series of Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums with Marcus Brigstocke.

In 2014, Josh Widdicombe appeared again on Mock the Week and on QI, and made his debut on Have I Got News for You.

Josh Widdicombe won Celebrity Mastermind broadcast 31 December 2013 with a score of 24, on the specialist subject of his favourite band, Blur.

On 1 July 2014, the BBC announced Josh Widdicombe would be joining its Radio 5 Live team from August 2014 as the new host of Fighting Talk along with Georgie Thompson.

In 2015, Josh Widdicombe was a contestant on the first series of the Dave game show Taskmaster and won the series.

For one of the tasks, Josh Widdicombe got a tattoo of host Greg Davies's name on his left foot.

Josh Widdicombe then returned for a team task in series two where he was partnered with Richard Osman and Jon Richardson.

Josh Widdicombe has performed on radio on BBC Radio 4's Arthur Smith's Balham Bash and Absolute Radio's The Frank Skinner Show, written for comedy panel shows Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and BBC Radio 4's Look Away Now, and supported stand-up comedians Russell Howard, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, Stephen Merchant and Shappi Khorsandi on their respective live tours.

Josh Widdicombe hosted a weekly radio show on XFM with Neil "Producer Neil" Fearn from February 2013 to July 2015, which was broadcast initially on Saturdays but which moved to Sundays in August 2014 coinciding with his new role as Fighting Talk presenter.

Josh Widdicombe has made four appearances on Live at the Apollo.

Josh Widdicombe was a featured performer on Episodes 7.8,9.1 and 11.7 and hosted on Episode 12.2.

In December 2015, Josh Widdicombe announced that he was a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, appearing alongside Richard Osman and host Sue Perkins.

In December 2017, Josh Widdicombe returned to Taskmaster for a two-part series alongside his fellow winners of previous series including Katherine Ryan, Bob Mortimer, Rob Beckett and Noel Fielding to compete in the Taskmaster - Champion of Champions.

In 2019 Josh Widdicombe began hosting panel show Hypothetical with James Acaster for UK television channel Dave.

In 2020, Josh Widdicombe started a parenting podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett, titled Lockdown Parenting Hell.

In 2021, it was announced that Josh Widdicombe had written a book: Watching Neighbours Twice a Day.

Josh Widdicombe appeared in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, dancing a charleston with professional Karen Hauer to the song "Let It Snow" while dressed as a penguin.

In February 2025 Josh Widdicombe made his debut on BBC Radio 2 sitting in for Romesh Ranganathan on his Saturday Show, alongside with actor and presenter Siobhan McSweeney.

Josh Widdicombe is married to Rose Hanson, a television producer, with whom he has a daughter, Pearl, born in October 2017, and a son, Cassius, born in May 2021.