Sophie Willan

Sophie Willan
Born
Sophie Willan

(1987-10-21) 21 October 1987
Bolton, Lancashire, England
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actress
  • presenter
  • narrator
  • writer
Known forAlma's Not Normal
Children1
Websitesophiewillan.com

Sophie Willan (born 21 October 1987) is an English actress, presenter, narrator, writer and comedian. She has won three BAFTAs for her television sitcom Alma's Not Normal.

Early life

Sophie Willan was born on 21 October 1987;[1][2] she grew up in Bolton, Lancashire and spent time in care as a child,[3][4] as her mother was a heroin addict.[5] She later worked as an escort to fund her arts career.[5]

Theatre and stand-up comedy

Willan began her arts career in theatre, founding feminist theatre and cabaret group Eggs Collective.[6]

Willan's stand-up takes inspiration from her unusual life experiences. In 2015 she won the Magners New Comedian of the Year award.[7][8]

In 2016 she took her debut stand-up series On Record, based on her experiences of growing up in and out of the care system, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A nationwide tour followed in 2017, including 10 dates at London's Soho Theatre and a commission to adapt the show into a BBC Radio 4 series, with a second series being approved.[9]

Her second show, Branded, was an exploration of the labels applied to Willan by other people.[10] In the show she addressed her past as a sex worker.[11] The show received a positive review in The Guardian.[12] Willan performed the show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017, receiving a Herald Angel Award and a nomination for Best Show.[13]

Television

Willan was the narrator of Channel 4'’s The Circle and was cast in BBC One's Still Open All Hours, She portrayed Carol in series 4 of CBBC's sketch show Class Dismissed and has performed comedy in Live from the Comedy Store[14] for (Comedy Central), in As Yet Untitled for Dave and in The Last Leg Correspondents for Channel 4.[15]

She has been nominated as a Chortle Best Newcomer, honoured on the BBC New Talent Hot List and became the first recipient of the BBC's Caroline Aherne Comedy Bursary.[16] She was a nominee for South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Breakthrough in 2018.[17]

She played the character Jessie in the TV Christmas film Click & Collect (2018) which also starred Stephen Merchant.[18]

In 2020, following the success of the pilot episode of her sitcom Alma's Not Normal, which she wrote and starred in, as the title character Alma Nuthall, it was commissioned for a full series by BBC Two and broadcast in 2021. The Times said, "Willan's writing is skilled and clearly very personal... uplifting and strangely enchanting."[19] A second series of the show was commissioned in 2022 and premiered on 7 October 2024.

In 2023 Willan appeared as Maeve in the second series of the BBC One prison drama Time.[20]

Willan appeared as a contestant on the seventeenth series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster which launched in March 2024.[21] Previewing the first episode, The Guardian's Phil Harrison commented that "Already, Willan looks like a potential all-timer contestant".[22] She also appeared in Ludwig in 2024 as Holly Pinder.[23] Since 2024, Willan has been a guest captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.[24] In September 2025, Willan was announced as a guest judge on the seventh series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[25] She took over from Sara Pascoe as host of BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee, starting with the Christmas Celebrity Special in December 2025.[26]

In February and March 2026, Willan portrayed Bev in the BBC Two sitcom Small Prophets.[27]

Other work

In 2015, Willan secured funding of over £100,000 to create the multi-platform literary project Stories of Care, creating and curating short stories written by fellow care leavers. The project recruited care leavers across North West England to contribute to the creation of a published children's anthology for looked-after children[28] and ran until 2023.[29]

Personal life

On 18 May 2025, Willan announced via Instagram that she and her partner, chef Carniel Francis Levy, were expecting a child.[30] Their son was born on 30 November 2025.[31][32]

Awards

Willan won a BAFTA Television Craft Award for Best Writer: Comedy for the pilot of Alma's Not Normal. At the 2022 British Academy Television Awards, Willan was awarded the Best Female Comedy Performance for her performance in the series, which was also nominated for Best Scripted Comedy.[33][34]

In 2022, Willan received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton for her contribution to television and comedy.[35]

References

  1. ↑ "I'm 31!". 21 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Sophie Willan, Edinburgh Festival review: Frank and extremely funny". standard.co.uk. 22 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Logan, Brian (26 April 2017). "Sophie Willan review – tales of neglect and addiction told with good cheer". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Comedy review: Sophie Willan: On Record". The Scotsman. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Comedy review: Sophie Willan: Branded". www.scotsman.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Sophie Willan's new brand of stand-up". British Comedy Guide. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Stand up and be counted! Bolton comic scoops top award". The Bolton News. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Caroline Aherne 'inspired' BBC bursary winner Sophie Willan to perform". BBC News (Manchester). 20 February 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  9. ↑ Saner, Emine (6 September 2021). "'I went to school drunk in a bikini': how Sophie Willan turned her chaotic life into sitcom gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Sophie Willan: who are you calling a northern working-class comic?". The Guardian. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Comedy review: Sophie Willan: Branded". www.scotsman.com.
  12. ↑ "Sophie Willan review – cheery standup skewers lazy labels". The Guardian. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Dessau, Bruce (12 August 2017). "News: Edinburgh Fringe Prize For Sophie Willan". Beyond The Joke. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "Series 5, Episode 4 - Lee Nelson At The Comedy Store". British Comedy Guide.
  15. ↑ "The Last Leg: Correspondents cast and crew credits". British Comedy Guide.
  16. ↑ "Bolton comedian Sophie Willan wins Caroline Aherne Bursary". www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Sophie Willan up for breakthrough award". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  18. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bwq0gc
  19. ↑ "The Times". What’s on TV and radio tonight: Tuesday, April 7.
  20. ↑ "Time season 2 cast: Who stars in the BBC prison drama?". Radio Times. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "Taskmaster season 17: Release date, cast and latest news". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  22. ↑ Harrison, Phil; Seale, Jack; Catterall, Ali; Wardell, Simon (28 March 2024). "TV tonight: Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West's ode to female friendship". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  23. ↑ "Ludwig cast | David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin star". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  24. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (5 October 2025). "Greg Davies, Noel Fielding, Sophie Willan and Jamali Maddix talk Buzzcocks interview - Never Mind The Buzzcocks". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  25. ↑ "RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 7 celebrity guest judges revealed". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  26. ↑ "Sophie Willan to host The Great British Sewing Bee". BBC Media Centre. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  27. ↑ "Small Prophets credits". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  28. ↑ "Looked After Children". NSPCC.
  29. ↑ "Stories Of Care". storiesofcare.co.uk.
  30. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (19 May 2025). "Sophie Willan reveals pregnancy". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  31. ↑ Sansome, Jessica (1 December 2025). "Bolton actress Sophie Willan welcomes first child and shares adorable names and photos". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  32. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzM7oYjX5R/?hl=en
  33. ↑ "Female Performance in a Comedy". Bafta. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  34. ↑ "Bafta TV Awards 2022: The winners and nominees". BBC News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  35. ↑ Chaudhari, Saiqa (13 July 2022). "Clive Myrie and Sophie Willan honoured at University of Bolton graduations". The Bolton News. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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