Joe Wilkinson

Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. In 2006, Wilkinson won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year.

Wilkinson's television appearances include Live at the Electric and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. He is also in the comedy duo Two Episodes of Mash, alongside Diane Morgan. In 2019 Wilkinson won a celebrity special version of The Great British Bake Off (for Stand Up to Cancer UK).

Early life Wilkinson was born in Bromley to Stella and Brian Wilkinson. He was named after his grandfather, Rolan Joseph. Along with his brother, Robert, Wilkinson was brought up in the village of Kemsing. He attended Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys.

Career While working in graphic design, Asked by the pub to return, Wilkinson told the Northern Echo:

Since 2008, he has performed many stand-up shows, including the tour "Joe Wilkinson: My Mum's Called Stella and My Dad's Called Brian", It had been previously broadcast on BBC Radio 2. It returned for a second series in April 2015.

In 2016, he starred in the Sky 1 series Rovers which he co-wrote with David Earl. He was also a contestant on the second series of Dave comedy panel show Taskmaster.

In 2019, Wilkinson appeared as Jeffrey in the first and third series of the Netflix original series Sex Education, and featured in Ricky Gervais' comedy-drama After Life as "Postman Pat", the incompetent and nosey postman of the main character's street.

In November 2019 he starred in the three-part Gold sitcom The Cockfields, which he co-wrote with David Earl. Wilkinson plays Simon, who takes his girlfriend Donna (Diane Morgan) to meet his family at their home on the Isle of Wight for the first time.

In 2024, Wilkinson co-presented Joe & Katherine's Bargain Holidays with Katherine Ryan on Channel 4. It was on this show that Joe introduced the term 'mousie', which is a selfie taken from the perspective of a mouse.

In March 2025, he starred in the first series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK, hosted by Jimmy Carr & Roisin Conaty, alongside Richard Ayoade, Sara Pascoe, Lou Sanders, Rob Beckett, Judi Love, Bob Mortimer, Joe Lycett, Daisy May Cooper & Harriet Kemsley

In May 2025, Wilkinson was announced as a contestant on the first series of The Celebrity Traitors. Wilkinson was selected to play as a 'Faithful' but was eventually 'murdered' in the sixth episode. He and Keira Knightley starred in the Waitrose Christmas adverts for 2025.

8 Out of 10 Cats Since 2012, Wilkinson has made semi-regular appearances on the 8 Out of 10 Cats spin-off show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. He generally participates in the show's latter half and occasionally acts as Rachel Riley's assistant. He often appears in costumes, performs stunts and brings on special guests, and routinely refers to the show's regular model, Fabio (played by Robert Deaton), as his half-brother. In 2012, during the special episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Deal or No Deal?, Wilkinson made a special appearance as the banker's assistant.

Stand-up Wilkinson has performed two major tours: My Mum's Called Stella and My Dad's Called Brian and The Joe Wilkinson Experience.

Other work In 2014, Wilkinson appeared in a commercial for Hellmann's Mayonnaise with Sue Barker and Brian Blessed, and in 2015, Wilkinson began voicing ads for Hotels.com.

In June 2015, Wilkinson appeared in a live recording for the Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown. From the beginning of the show, he was quite inebriated and had to be substituted with a member of the audience when he left to get himself another glass of wine. The episode was published in August 2017.

In 2019, Wilkinson took part in a special episode of The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer, with Georgia Toffolo, Jeremy Paxman and Sally Lindsay. He made gherkin-inspired biscuits in round one, which host Paul Hollywood loved, and won first place. Round 2 was chocolate crumpets, which also won first place. Round 3 was to bake a cake representing a hobby: he chose a chocolate orange cake to represent his "peachy bum" Rear of the Year award, again coming first. Overall, Wilkinson won Star Baker.

Podcasts Gossipmongers In 2019 Wilkinson, David Earl, and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called Gossipmongers, a weekly podcast where listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In September 2020 Hillstead was removed from the podcast. The podcast ended in February 2022. Earl and Wilkinson have both suggested there are no plans to bring it back.

Chatabix In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called Chatabix, originally a daily weekday podcast recorded very early in the morning. From the summer of 2023 the podcast changed to being 3 episodes a week released Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

My New Football Club In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called My New Football Club. Wilkinson left the podcast in 2022 due to being unable to commit time to it. The show is now presented by Earl, Jon Beer and Alfie Indra. The podcast was originally about David becoming a new fan of Exeter City but now provides regular updates on Exeter City including interviews with staff as well as famous fans of other teams.

My Mate's a Footballer In 2023, Joe Wilkinson and Patrick Bamford began a weekly podcast titled My Mate's a Footballer, centered around Wilkinson's dream to be best mates with a footballer. The two discuss the ins and outs of professional sport, with Bamford able to give insight into the dressing room of Leeds United.

Personal life Wilkinson and his wife, Petra Exton, live in Brighton. He has a stepson. Wilkinson has described his life as "boring" but argues it has been useful in giving him material for his stand-up act.

He is a supporter of Gillingham F.C.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 Monster from Bikini Beach Luau Burdett 2010 England's Worst Ever Football Team Himself Documentary 2012 Eggbox Fast Eddie Television film 2014 The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night Himself 2015 SuperBob The Postman 2023 7 Minutes Jim Short film directed by Ricky Gervais

Television