Roisin Conaty on the panel of Have I Got News For You
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Discover Roisin Conaty: from stand-up to ‘After Life’ stardom

The British/Irish comedian and actor is a popular face on TV

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Roisin Conaty is a very funny and popular woman and you’ve landed on this page because you want to know more about her. So, let’s dive in!

The actress and comedian has become a regular face on TV but how did she start out in her career?

Roisin Conaty on the panel of Have I Got News For You
Roisin Conaty on the panel of Have I Got News For You? (Credit: BBC)

Who is Roisin Conaty, where is she from and how old is she?

Roisin was born on March 26, 1979, making her 42, currently.

Her parents are both from Ireland but met in London and Roisin was born in Camden, North London.

She and her younger sister, Siobhan, spent summers in Ireland, in County Kerry and County Cork.

Read more: Roisin Conaty joins Bradley Walsh on The Jonathan Ross Show

Roisin identifies more as Irish than British, telling Irish Times: “I still identify as Irish.

“But I’m a Londoner too. It really is a great place to grow up. I grew up on a council estate and I met everyone from everywhere, and had food [from] all over the world before I was 10.

“It means I can travel the world and I don’t feel like it’s a strange place. There’s poverty and racism here [Ireland], of course, which makes you wonder if it’s just nostalgia.

“But as a country, I feel more Irish than British.”

What has she been in?

Roisin Conaty started her comedy career at the age of 24, after graduating with a degree in film from Middlesex University.

She won the Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010. In that same year, she made her first TV appearance on Russell Howard’s Good News.

Roisin has appeared on many of the UK’s favourite comedy panel shows, including 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, A League of Their Own and Would I Lie To You?

She competed on the Big Fat Quiz of Everything in a team with Rob Beckett in January 2021.

Although Roisin made a name for herself in comedy, she has also turned her hand to writing and acting.

After finding success as a comedian, Roisin appeared in Man Down, written by comedian Greg Davies.

After her appearance in this, she wrote and starred in the Channel 4 sitcom GameFace – first with the pilot in 2014, then the first series in 2017 and the second in 2019.

Fans of Ricky Gervais’ Netflix series After Life will recognise Roisin from her role as sex worker Roxy who strikes up an unlikely friendship with widower Tony (Gervais).

Why was Roisin Conaty not in After Life series 3?

After Life fans were pretty disappointed that Roisin’s much-loved character didn’t pop up in the final series.

Ricky explained to Digital Spy: “With Roxy we thought there wasn’t quite the story there. It’s, you know, it’s a mutual decision, I didn’t write them out.

“That was fine because Roxy wasn’t in it much, you know, so I got around that with giving the story sort of through the postman [Pat, played by Joe Wilkinson].”

Are Roisin Conaty and Rob Beckett related?

Well, no, Roisin and Rob aren’t related (unless they’re keeping it well hidden) and honestly it’s a stretch why people might be wondering…

Jimmy Carr once jokingly introduced them as Boris Johnson’s love children – pointing out their blond hair and ‘big teeth’ – on Big Fat Quiz of Everything.

There is a passing resemblance beyond that too, admittedly.

And a fan commented, “Roisin and Rob could very well play brother and sister in a comedy… They are so cute together!”

Yeah, let’s make that happen, telly people.

Are Roisin Conaty and Greg Davies friends?

Are they ever. They’ve been pals for over 15 years in fact and, for the record, Greg has confirmed he finds Roisin funny.

Roisin starred as Jo in Greg’s Channel 4 comedy Man Down. And she’s always a brilliant addition to Greg’s Taskmaster.

Roisin once confessed she and Greg shared a whole jar of pesto, neat, during the Edinburgh festival some years ago because they had no food in the flat. And surely there aren’t many people in life you’d do that with.

Read more: The Cleaner viewers obsessed with Greg Davies’ height

How tall is she?

Now, this might seem like a bit of a random question, but there’s a lot of search for it, so clearly there’s a thirst for this nugget of knowledge.

Admittedly, we’ve not gone at Roisin with a tape measure, but numerous celebrity biography sites claim she’s 5 foot 5 inches, which is a smidge above average for a British/Irish woman.

Hopefully you can sleep a little better tonight knowing this now.

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Kaggie Hyland
Editor-in-Chief