Comedian Joe Lycett has said fans were "surprised" when he opened up about his family life, as he prepares to appear on Celebrity Traitors, which begins tonight (October 1).
Private family life revealed
Known for his bright and sometimes eccentric on-screen persona from shows such as Live at The Apollo, Taskmaster, 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown and his own talk show Late Night Lycett, the star is usually more private about his home life. In 2024, he shared a social media post announcing the birth of his child with his partner Denise - a pseudonym, as she works in a job where she cannot be in the public eye.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, the 38-year-old explained that he battled with his identity in the lead up to his paternity leave and "lost who I was a little bit". He added: "Also there's sort of lots of caught up in I suppose my identity as a public persona I suppose. Lots of people were surprised when I had a child with a woman because they were like, 'but you're the gay man'. And I've never said that I'm gay because I've never been gay, but because I'm camp and I do innuendo and all these sorts of things that people will have this idea of what that is."
Fans react
Joe continued: "And then I was like do I have any idea of what am actually? Like on stage I kind of played on these things because they are funny ultimately, but how much of that has filtered into what I actually am?"
Many viewers confessed this was the first time they heard about his family life, with some fans saying: "Wow you learn something new everyday." Another person said: "Oh I didn't know that and yeah he plays it so well but he is a funny guy and it shouldn't matter no matter what."
The comic also confessed he does not believe he would have the courage to go into stand up comedy now, as it is such a "high risk to do", involving so much brain power and vulnerability.
Celebrity Traitors hopes
Joe is taking part in this year's Celebrity Traitors along with 20 other celebrity contestants. He has confessed he wants to experience what it is like both as a Faithful and a Traitor. He said: "I want to start as a Faithful and then be converted. I think I'd find it very stressful being a Traitor, but I think you only get one chance to have a go at it, don't you?"
However, he did seem to lean more on the side of being a Faithful, as it would mean he would not have to lie all the time and could go to bed earlier while the Traitors are in the turret. Fans can watch Joe Lycett in Celebrity Traitors tonight at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
