Born
Lee Gordon McKillop
Education
Occupations
Years active
1994–present
Known for
Spouse
Tara McKillop
Children
3
Website
Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter.
He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom Not Going Out, being a team captain on the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?, hosting the Sky One panel show Duck Quacks Don't Echo, presenting the panel show They Think It's All Over, and hosting Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof (2022–) alongside Holly Willoughby. He has also been a guest host on Have I Got News for You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, a guest captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and a guest panellist on QI. In 2021 he made his debut on the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. In 2022 he began hosting the ITV game show The 1% Club. In 2024, he appeared on the West End stage as Peter in Steven Moffat's play The Unfriend.
Lee Gordon McKillop[2][3] was born on 4 August 1968[4]inSouthport.[5] He lived above a pub until he was 12, when his parents separated.[6] He went to Birkdale Primary Junior School (Bury Road), Stanley High School in Southport, and Everton High School in Blackburn.[7][8] On leaving school, Mack worked in a bingo hall and as a stable boy. After working at the stable of racehorse trainer Ginger McCain in Southport for three days, he asked if he could ride one of the horses, to which the trainer agreed. Without realising, Mack then chose Red Rum as the first horse he would ride.[6][9]
Mack then became a Bluecoat entertainer at the Pontins holiday resort at HemsbyinNorfolk. He was sacked after appearing on stage drunk one night, forgetting a joke and insulting an audience member.[10][11] He then worked for six months at Pontins in Morecambe.[6]
Mack went on to have various other jobs, and performed his first "open mic" slot in 1994, while studying at Brunel University, from where he graduated with a degree in Drama.[12] Within 18 months he was a full-time comedian.[6]
Mack first came to prominence by winning So You Think You're Funny at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Five years later at the festival, he was nominated for the Perrier Award Main Prize for his sketch comedy show, Lee Mack's New Bits, with Catherine Tate and Dan Antopolski. Since then, Mack has played the part of Graham, the security guard in the original radio version of The Mighty Boosh, and also has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 called The Lee Mack Show, which features varying celebrities co-hosting the show.
Mack was a cast member for ITV's The Sketch Show[6] and featured in the American show of the same name.
In 2005, Mack presented They Think It's All Over, a sports-based comedy panel game, formerly presented by Nick Hancock.[6] However, it proved to be the show's final series.[6] In 2007 he appeared on TV Heaven, Telly Hell.
His first sitcom Not Going Out for BBC One with Tim Vine (in which he plays Lee, the leading man) premiered on 6 October 2006. The show has since returned for eleven more seasons, the most recent airing in 2023. The show has won a Rose d'Or and RTS Award.
Since 2007 Mack has been a team captain on the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?.[6] He has also been guest host on Have I Got News for You six times, and was twice guest host on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Mack has appeared on Live at the Apollo and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, where he is the current Carrot in a Box champion.[13]
In June 2011, Mack launched a new show, Lee Mack's All Star Cast, for BBC One. It features members of the audience taking part in silly games to get a spot in a sketch at the end of the show.[14] In June 2012, Mack was one of the compères at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham PalaceinLondon, introducing Cliff Richard, Ed Sheeran, and Madness.
In March 2013, Mack appeared on the panel on an episode of Let's Dance for Comic Relief with Arlene Phillips and Greg James.[15]
From 2014 to 2017, Mack presented Duck Quacks Don't Echo, a comedy-based panel show for Sky1, with various celebrity guests. In 2017, he made his stage debut in Molière's The Miser.[16]
In 2018, Mack appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Kerblam!".[17]
In June 2020, Mack announced his new sitcom, Semi-Detached. He was also set to host a reality show named The Chop: Britain's Best Woodworker for Sky History. However, the show was suspended shortly after its debut in October 2020, after allegations emerged that one of the series' contestants, promoted through the channel's social media pages, bore facial tattoos resembling Nazi symbolism.[18] Semi-Detached was cancelled after one season.[19]
Mack was on series 11 of Taskmaster, which started broadcast in March 2021.[20]
Mack presented two new shows in 2022: Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof on BBC One - alongside Holly Willoughby and Wim Hof,[21] and The 1% Club, on ITV.[22] The 1% Club was renewed for a second and third series, plus two Christmas specials.[23][24]
In June 2022, Mack was one of the compères at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Platinum Party at the Palace, introducing Jax Jones and Diana Ross.
On 8 November 2022, it was announced that Mack would be hosting that year's Royal Variety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
On 18 May 2023, Mack appeared on an episode of the anthology series Inside No. 9. The episode was initially billed as "Hold on Tight!", featuring creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith alongside Robin Askwith, and was going to be set within a No. 9 bus, but this turned out to be a deliberate hoax; the actual episode was "3 By 3", a supposed pilot quiz show hosted by Mack, that was introduced by the continuity announcer as a replacement for "Hold on Tight!".[25] This was the second time Mack played himself presenting a fictitious game show after 2017's National Treasure.
Mack briefly appeared as the Narrator in the stage adaptation of BBC Radio 4 comedy series, Bleak Expectations.[26] He will also play the lead role in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' The Unfriend from December 2023 until March 2024, with Frances Barber and Sarah Alexander.[27]
Mack has long had an interest in Buddhism, mindfulness and the possibility of leading a more spiritual life. Since September 2020, he has hosted a podcast on Buddhism and mindfulness with Neil Webster called I Can't Believe It's Not Buddha.[28]
In Apr 2001 Mack appeared at Up The Creek (in Greenwich)[29] and in 2003 he was regularly playing clubs around London - including Balham's Banana Cabaret, alongside Ian Cognito.[30]
Mack went on tour in 2006 and filmed his first live DVD at the Bloomsbury Theatre, which was released the following year. In spring 2010 Mack embarked on his "Going Out" tour. Extra dates were added for autumn 2010 due to his spring tour being sold out well in advance. Going Out Live, his second live DVD, was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo and was released in November. In December 2010 he performed at the Royal Variety Performance.[31]
In 2010, Mack took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.
Mack met Tara McKillop during his time studying at Brunel University in 1996. They married in 2005, and they live in East Molesey, Surrey, with their three children,[32] including their son, Arlo, who briefly appeared in the 2013 Christmas special of Not Going Out. Mack is of distant part-Irish descent, which was explored in the 2018 season of the British television programme Who Do You Think You Are?[33] While on the show, Mack found that his great-grandfather was a jobbing comic named William Alexander McKillop, who used the stage name Billy Mac. He also learned that his grandfather Joe was born in Southport, but was taken to Ireland as a baby and brought up by his grandparents in Ballina, County Mayo.[34]
In February 2009, Mack, along with other British entertainers, signed an open letter to The Times regarding the Baháʼí Faith leaders then on trial in Iran.[35]
Mack said in an interview with The Guardian[36] that his first foray into comedy was doing Bobby Ball impressions at his school when he was 15. Ball would go on to play Mack's father, Frank in Not Going Out. Mack is a keen supporter of Blackburn Rovers and occasionally visits Ewood Park to watch games.[37] At one point, he shared a flat with Noel Fielding.
In July 2012, Mack received an honorary doctorate from Brunel University.[38] He published his autobiography Mack the Life (ISBN 0-552-16655-3).
Mack is a darts fan, and regularly plays with his friend and former Not Going Out co-star, Tim Vine. Both men appeared on the debut series of Let's Play Darts, facing each other in the final, with Mack and his partner Martin Adams beating Vine and his partner Darryl Fitton. Mack held two Guinness World Records titles relating to darts. The first was for the most darts number twos in one minute, which stood until 19 November 2020 when Ricky Evans broke the record with a total of 25.[39] Mack had also, on the same day of the first record, broken the record for the most darts in inner and outer bullseyes in one minute; that title was held for a year and two months, before it was broken on 23 September 2016 by professional darts player James Wade.[40][41]
In a 2015 interview with The Big Issue, Mack stated that he adheres to "left-of-centre" political leanings.[42]
Mack is vegan.[43] He has been alcohol-free since 2016, and is an ambassador for Alcohol Concern.[44]
Mack has a phobia of flying, and travels by himself to holiday destinations. He travelled by train to Barcelona, and went around the world for Children in Need in 2009 with other celebrities; however, he and Frank Skinner did not fly to Turkey. Mack said because the day he went home was his wife's birthday, he could not get the train back. He went on a flying course, which briefly helped for the flight home; however, he has not been on another plane since.[45]
Mack has taken part in several Soccer Aid matches to raise money for UNICEF. In September 2021, he scored for the first time,[46] in a year that he played for the World XI team, due to his Irish heritage of his great-grandmother.[47] On 12 June 2022, Mack returned for the following game at the London Stadium, and scored the winning penalty for the World XI after a 2–2 draw in normal time.[48][49]
Year
Title
Notes
2010
Going Out
2013-14
Hit the Road Mack
Title
Released
Notes
Live
26 November 2007
Live at London's Bloomsbury Theatre
Going Out Live
22 November 2010
Live at London's Hammersmith Apollo
Hit The Road Mack
24 November 2014
Year
Show
Role
Notes
1997–1998
Gas
Himself
1999, 2005–2006
Panellist and later Host
1 episode as panellist; host of Series 19 and 2006 specials
2001–2004
Lee
2005–2008
Panellist
7 episodes
2005–2010
Himself
3 episodes (1 as guest; 2 as host)
2006–present
Lee
2007–present
Regular team captain
2008
Himself
2 episodes
2008–2018
Guest presenter
6 episodes
2009–2021
Panellist
8 episodes
2010, 2012
Guest presenter
2 episodes
2011
Host
2013, 2015–2018
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Guest team captain
10 episodes
2014
The Smiths
Michael Smith
Pilot
Himself
2014–2017
Host
2015
Competitor
Won the show
Officially Amazing[41]
Guest
2016, 2022
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Guest announcer
2018
Guest
1 episode
Dan Cooper
1 episode; "Kerblam!"
2019
Semi-Detached
Stuart
7 episodes
Comedians Watching Football With Friends[50]
Himself
1 episode
2021
Contestant
10 episodes
2021-2022
Willy Watkins
4 episodes
2022
Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof[21]
Co-host
Host
2022–present
Host
2023
Himself
1 episode; "3 by 3"
Eddie Braithwaite
1 episode
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2019
Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans[52]
Decimus
Production
Dates
Role
Theatre
9 January - 9 March 2024
Peter
Wyndham's Theatre, London
BAFTA TV Awards
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2002
Best Comedy Programme or Series
Won
2019
Lee Mack for Would I Lie to You?
Best Entertainment Performance
Won
2020
Nominated
2023
Lee Mack for The 1% Club
Nominated
British Comedy Awards
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2001
Lee Mack for The Sketch Show
Best Comedy Newcomer
Nominated
2006
Lee Mack
Best Live Stand Up Tour
Nominated
2007
Lee Mack for Not Going Out
Best TV Comedy Actor
Nominated
Best New TV Comedy
Nominated
2012
Lee Mack
Best Male Television Comic
Won
King or Queen of Comedy
Nominated
2013
Lee Mack
Best Male Television Comic
Won
King or Queen of Comedy
Nominated
2014
Lee Mack
Best Male Television Comic
Won
King or Queen of Comedy
Nominated
Lee Mack for Would I Lie to You?
Nominated
RTS Television Awards
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2007
Breakthrough Award – Behind The Screen
Won
Rose d'Or
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2007
Sitcom
Won
National Television Awards
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2023
Quiz Show
Won
So your veganism has now been moderated to vegetarianism...
1958–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
International
National
Artists
Other
