Louise Samantha Sanders (born 24 November 1978) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Since beginning her career in comedy, she has appeared regularly on panel shows, performed on Live at the Apollo and won the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019. Since 2021, she has appeared as Mel Giedroyc's sidekick on the Dave comedy series Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and was a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice in 2024.
Early life
Louise Samantha Sanders was born on 24 November 1978[1][2] in Barnstaple, Devon to Margaret (née Lang) and David Sanders.[3][4] Her parents divorced when Sanders was two, and she and her older brother were raised in Broadstairs, Kent by her mother and her stepfather, who was a history teacher.[5][6] Her father was periodically present.[5] Sanders moved out at the age of 15,[5] and she later earned a degree in Communication and Cultural Studies from London Metropolitan University.[5]
Career
Before beginning her career in comedy, Sanders worked in administrative roles, including as an executive PA and complaints handler at Ofcom.[5][7] She took comedy classes from Logan Murray, and she was paid to write a comedic blog about The Apprentice.[5]
As a live performer, Sanders performs regularly both in the UK and around the world. In 2018, her show Shame Pig was the joint winner of the Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[8][9] and she returned to the Festival in 2019 with her show Say Hello to Your New Step Mummy.[10]
Sanders has been an occasional guest host on Elis James and John Robins on BBC Radio 5 Live.[14] In February 2020, Sanders started hosting a podcast called Cuddle Club.[15] From February 2021, she has appeared in the Dave comedy panel show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. From April 2022 until September 2023, Sanders hosted Taskmaster: The People's Podcast.[16] In August 2023, Sanders released her autobiography What's That Lady Doing?.[15][3] In 2024, Sanders appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice. She was paired with Brendyn Hatfield and they were the fifth couple to be eliminated.[17][18]
^Sanders appeared as a panelist on the television game show Would I Lie to You? transmitted on 8 January 2021, and was introduced as having been a complaints handler at Ofcom by host of the show Rob Brydon.
