It’s the beautiful story of an amateur comedian who put his all into his craft: in the blink of an eye Axel Blake went from a property maintenance manager to the 2022 winner of Britain's Got Talent.
The funnyman wowed judge Simon Cowell and went on to scoop the BGT crown on Sunday night, beating ventriloquist Jamie Leahey to the title.
The dad-of-two impressed judges, the audience and viewers with his charming persona and witty jokes throughout the entire series, after receiving a Golden Buzz pass through to the live semi-finals from head judge Simon.
After his final performance in his bid to win the ITV competition, Simon battled to deliver his glowing feedback over the cheers and applause of the crowd.
Simon said: “I feel really emotional for you right now. It’s not just how brilliant you are, it’s how much I like you and how everyone likes you. I believe we have found a star.”
David added: “That was a winning performance in every way. You are a superstar.”
But the dad-of-two had been making waves in the comedy circuit long before impressing the panel of celebrity judges.
The 33-year-old’s quick wit has seen him build a name for himself as a comic alongside working as a property maintenance manager.
In his private life, Axel is a proud family man, having a son and a daughter and a fiancé who he popped the question to in March 2020.
Axel, from West London, has steadily grown his career from the ground up, making local appearances at comedy clubs and uploading comedy sketches which have gone viral online.
His viral videos have helped him amass an enormous online fanbase, with a whopping 95.1k people following him on TikTok.
He started with YouTube videos in 2014 before the social media giant’s inception.
The observational comic has done bits of presenting for SBTV and UNILAD and his hard work has been rewarded with headline shows around the UK.
His comedy has even earned him coveted spots supporting the likes of Eddie Griffin and Dave Chappelle.
Axel’s claim to fame is that global star Dave once told him: “Axel Blake, you killed it tonight.”
His very own live stand-up show, Axel Blake: I’m Not Gonna Lie, was held at The O2 in 2018 and went on to be released on Amazon Prime in 2020 for a year.
But Axel faced controversy for this achievement when his audition on BGT first aired, after the Amazon show was discovered and people assumed it had been commissioned by the streaming service.
Defending his decision to put the routine on the site, Axel revealed he didn’t make any money from it and only agreed to do it to gain more exposure.
He was sleeping in his car and driving around the UK to deliver tickets to his gigs. Axel revealed he even borrowed money and got himself into debt to follow his dreams.
“My stand-up routine was filmed and put it on Amazon. I self-funded the stand-up show, nobody paid me and there was never an agreement with Amazon at the time I was sleeping in my car and driving around the UK to hand out tickets because I didn’t have a ticket operator.
“I would literally ask people who wanted tickets and then I would drive to them. Like a ticket Uber service.
“There would be times I would have driven for hours and hours to go and meet somebody with tickets for my show and then they would never ever turn up.”
Axel explained he questioned his decisions, and his family and friends were concerned because the show was taking such a toll on in him.
“I lived, breathed, cried for that stand-up show. It all came out of my own pocket – I took food of the family table so that I could pursue that stand-up gig that was completely funded and managed by me. I sorted and paid for lighting, staging, you name it, that was me.”
A year later, his friend approached him to help get the show on Amazon Prime.
“I didn’t receive a fee but decided to do it as it could help me get more exposure. The deal only lasted a year which is why you can’t even find it if you look now. Now, as an up-and-coming comedian, would you say no? After sitting in my car, sleeping, and crying in my car driving around the UK being an Uber ticket driver, and then Amazon approach you, after you and your family have sat down to discuss whether this dream is financially viable, asking when we would draw a line, would you say no to that?”
After controversy about the show, Axel said: “I’ve never hidden my past and I’ve always been open about previous work that I’ve done. I’m just a bloke trying to do his best, trying to strive for more.
“Imagine being the guy that people don’t have to Google or Wiki?! To see the likes of Romesh, Mo, Tom Davis etc all being on the circuit for years and years and grafting for their passion and now they are presenting and taking their careers even further – that’s what I hope I can show my children – that there will always be more to strive for.
“That if you fall in love with something (comedy for me) that they can spend every day of their lives doing what they love if they chase the dream. If you love something, you will inevitably do everything you can to ensure longevity and security in your craft.”
Axel has thrown everything he has into finding success as a comic is something he actively manifests for himself, as the comic tweeted back in February: “One day I will have an hour special on Netflix #manifestation.”
Axel has a 21-month-old baby girl, who he famously joked in his stand-up routine he had called Pfizer as she was born during the pandemic.
And he is also father to 13-year-old son Nyron who was his inspiration for appearing on Britain's Got Talent in the first place.
Talking to Lorraine Kelly on her show on Monday morning, Axel said: “The reason I said that was because I just wanted him to see you can do anything you put your mind to.
“[I told him], 'Think of something that you want and believe in yourself’.”
