Comedian Ellie Taylor is one of the contestants on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
While she is known best for comedy, the 38-year-old has also enjoyed a diverse career in presenting, acting and writing.
Originally from Brentwood in Essex, Taylor began modelling after being spotted while working as an intern.
Deciding it was not for her, she started doing stand-up comedy during her mid-twenties, citing comedians like Victoria Wood as early influences.
Since then, Taylor has appeared in several TV series including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week and Plebs.
She’s also presented shows including Snog Marry Avoid? and did a stint of hosting on Heart Radio, regularly filling in for Emma Bunton.
Taylor is a regular on Live At The Apollo and has appeared both as a performer and a host.
Outside of comedy and acting, her debut book, My Child and Other Mistakes, was published in 2021, and recently became a Sunday Times Best Seller.
Taylor is competing on Strictly with Johannes Radebe.
On whether she has any dancing experience, Taylor said: “I retired from tap and ballet dancing aged seven, so aside from doing some sort of macarena mini disco on European holidays with my child, no!”
Speaking about whether she’s been preparing in any way for Strictly, she said: “Mostly sort of just panicking and staring at a wall wondering what on earth I’ve done! I’ve also been watching old episodes, which has been useful to try and get my mind in the right mindset.
“But I feel like doing Strictly is a bit like having a child. You can imagine what it might be like but you won’t actually know how wild it is until it starts. So basically, this is just me crowning at the moment!”
Taylor and Radebe scored 28 points in the first live show with their Quickstep to “I Am What I Am”. In week two, they landed around the middle of the leaderboard for their Paso Doble, and in week three, they were third from last with their Cha Cha Cha.
The comedian danced the Viennese Waltz in week four, achieving a total score of 30.
The following week, Taylor danced the tango to the theme from Casualty, finishing with a score of 29.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 29 October at 6.50pm on BBC One.
