Wilkinson was born to Stella and Brian Wilkinson and grew up in Kent.[3][4]
Career
Wilkinson started his career in 2004 at his local pub, which was holding an 'open mic' evening.[5] Since 2008, he has performed many stand-up shows, including the tour "Joe Wilkinson: My Mum's Called Stella and My Dad's Called Brian",[5] and has appeared at venues such as the Edinburgh Fringe and the Bloomsbury Theatre.
Television
Since 2010, Wilkinson has appeared in a number of television shows. In 2010, he played various characters in the first series of Robert's Web. He appeared on The Rob Brydon Show, The Wright Stuff, Show & Tell, Comedy Lab, My Funniest Year, and the television film England's Worst Ever Football Team. He played a major role in Him & Her as Dan Perkins, the lonely, socially awkward neighbour to main characters Becky and Steve.
Wilkinson wrote three episodes in the first series of Anna & Katy, as well as an animated short in 2012, A Fishy Tale. Three episodes of Show & Tell and the episode '2001' for My Funniest Year were written by him.
Wilkinson was involved in the BBC Three comedy show Live at the Electric as a member of the comedic double act Two Episodes of Mash with Diane Morgan.[6] It had been previously broadcast on BBC Radio 2.[1]
In 2014, Wilkinson appeared as a resident comedian on the revived TV game show Celebrity Squares, hosted by Warwick Davis on ITV.[7] It returned for a second series in April 2015.
In 2016, he starred in the Sky 1 series Rovers which he co-wrote with David Earl.[8] He was also a contestant on the second series of Dave comedy panel show Taskmaster.[9]
In 2019, Wilkinson appeared as Jeffrey in the first and third series of the Netflix original series Sex Education, and featured in Ricky Gervais' comedy-drama After Life as "Postman Pat", the incompetent and nosey postman of the main character's street.
In November 2019 he starred in the three-part Gold sitcom The Cockfields, which he co-wrote with David Earl. Wilkinson plays Simon, who takes his girlfriend Donna (Diane Morgan) to meet his family at their home on the Isle of Wight for the first time.[10]
8 Out of 10 Cats
Since 2012, Wilkinson has made semi-regular appearances on the 8 Out of 10 Cats spin-off show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. He generally participates in the show's latter half and occasionally acts as Rachel Riley's assistant. He often appears in costumes, performs stunts and brings on special guests, and routinely refers to the show's regular model, Robert Deaton, (aka "Fabio"), as his half-brother. In 2012, during the special episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Deal or No Deal?, Wilkinson made a special appearance as the banker's assistant.
In June 2015, Wilkinson appeared in a live recording for the Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown. From the beginning of the show, he was quite inebriated and had to be substituted with a member of the audience when he left to get himself another glass of wine. The episode was published in August 2017.[14]
In 2019, Wilkinson took part in a special episode of The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer, with Georgia Toffolo, Jeremy Paxman and Sally Lindsay. He made Gherkin-inspired biscuits in round one, which host Paul Hollywood loved, and he won first place. Round 2 was chocolate crumpets, which also won first place. Round 3 was to bake a cake representing a hobby: he chose a Chocolate Orange cake to represent his "peachy bum" Rear of the Year award, again coming first. Overall, Wilkinson won Star Baker [15]
Podcasts
Gossipmongers
In 2019 Wilkinson, David Earl, and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called Gossipmongers, a weekly podcast where listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In September 2020 Hillstead was removed from the podcast[16][17] without any public explanation from Earl or Wilkinson. The podcast continued without Hillstead and all mention of her was removed including the entire back catalogue being deleted. The podcast quietly came to an end with the final full episode in February 2022. Earl and Wilkinson have both suggested there are no plans to bring it back.
Chatabix
In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called Chatabix, originally a daily weekday podcast recorded very early in the morning. From the Summer of 2023 the podcast changed to being 3 episodes a week released Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
My New Football Club
In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called My New Football Club. Wilkinson left the podcast in 2022 due to being unable to commit time to it. The show is now presented by Earl, Jon Beer and Alfie Indra. The podcast was originally about David becoming a new fan of Exeter City but now provides regular updates on Exeter City including interviews with staff as well as famous fans of other teams.[18]
My Mate’s A Footballer
In 2023, Joe Wilkinson and Patrick Bamford, began a podcast titled “My Mate’s A Footballer”, a weekly podcast centred around Wilkinson’s dream to be best mates with a footballer. The two discuss the ins and outs of professional sport, with Bamford able to give insight into the dressing room of Leeds United.
Personal life
Wilkinson and his wife, Petra Exton, live in Brighton.[19] He ran the Brighton Marathon in 2022.[20]
Wilkinson has described his life as "boring" but argues it has been useful in giving him material for his stand-up act.[21] He is a supporter of Gillingham F.C.[22][23] who are currently in EFL League Two.
