Mel Giedroyc

Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (ˈɡɛdrɔɪtʃ; ˈɡjɛdrɔjtɕ, born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including Light Lunch for Channel 4, The Great British Bake Off for the BBC and chat show Mel and Sue for ITV. In early 2017 Giedroyc co-presented the BBC show Let It Shine. Since 2015 she has held a number of commentating roles for the Eurovision Song Contest. Giedroyc was born on 5 June 1968 in Epsom, Surrey, and grew up in Leatherhead. Her father, Michal, an aircraft designer, civil engineer and family historian, of Polish-Lithuanian descent from the aristocratic Giedroyć family, moved to Britain in 1947; he died in December 2017. Her mother, Rosemary "Rosy" Cumpston (born 1937), is of English origin. Her older sister is film and television director Coky Giedroyc. After moving to Oxford as a teenager Giedroyc attended the independent Oxford High School and later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a lower second degree in French and Italian. Giedroyc is best known for comedy and presenting work with Sue Perkins. The two women met while students at the University of Cambridge and were members of the Footlights comedy club. Mel and Sue, the duo were short-listed for the Daily Express Best Newcomers Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993. Their first presenting roles saw them host a lunchtime show on Channel 4 called Light Lunch (and the early evening version, Late Lunch). Giedroyc appeared with Perkins in one episode of Gimme Gimme Gimme, playing a receptionist at a hotel. She was also a presenter on Channel 4's RI:SE. She narrated Celebrity Driving School in 2003. Some other ventures include being a contestant on the 2005 series of The Games, co-starring in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed and co-presenting Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show on ITV. Giedroyc was in one episode of The Vicar of Dibley. Giedroyc was the sixth student to be voted out of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and was a celebrity judge on the 2007 edition of Making Your Mind Up along with John Barrowman.