John Bishop's ITV talk show will be returning to TV this weekend.
The John Bishop Show will open up with a topical stand-up routine before he goes on to chat to some very special celebrity guests. Star interviewees will include the hottest names in film, TV, sport, music and more.
But while the comedian, from Runcorn, spends his time learning about the lives of others, we take a look into his own life. Although John now enjoys a successful showbusiness career, his start in comedy was inspired by heartbreak as his marriage was falling apart.
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According to MyLondon, he told the Big Interview in 2004 about how he performed his first stand-up gig while he was in the midst of an 18-month separation from his wife.
The joke that saved his marriage
He said: "I was as miserable as sin at the time because I was going through a rocky period in my marriage, so it was either a lap dancing bar or a comedy club so I went to the Frog and Bucket."
John has previously told The Mirror about difficulties he has faced in his marriage to wife and mother of his children, Melanie. The pair married in 1993 and went on to have three sons - but found themselves drifting apart.
He told said: "There was no huge fight or revelation about someone else. We just grew apart. Maybe it had something to do with having three kids so quickly. For six years there was always someone in the house in nappies. Our marriage just faded.
"You realise that the person you wanted to spend your life with no longer wants to be with you, or you with them. Suddenly it felt like walking round the house with drawing pins in your shoes."
After the two had parted ways, John was left devastated by the idea of her going on to meet another man who would play a pivotal role in his son's lives. He said: "The realisation cut me in half. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I tried to get wellies on the lads.
"No man wants to cry in front of his sons but it’s even worse when you don’t know why you’re doing it."
The couple managed to bring back the spark to their marriage in an unexpected way after separating. Melanie visited the Frog and Bucket 18 months after their split to discover her husband telling jokes about killing her and keeping her head in the fridge because 'I knew I'd miss her'.
He said: "We met up after the show and she said seeing me up there reminded her of me as I used to be. When I was a good laugh." It appears the joke worked, as the couple are still together to this day and living happily on a farm in rural Cheshire.
The show he made to help his deaf son
One of John's three sons, Joe, lost most of his hearing when he was just 15 years old. To help his son come to learns and engage more with the Deaf community, the doting dad created a one-off film looking into the world of British Sign Language (BSL).
Joe & John Bishop: Life After Deaf documented the dad and lad as they embarked upon a journey to understand more about the Deaf community and learn British Sign Language (BSL) together.
John said: “Before we started this journey, we could never have imagined what an impact it would have on us as a family. Joe and I are so grateful to the members of the Deaf community who we’ve met this year, their generosity has changed our lives.”
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