Julian Clary

By his own account, he was conceived "in broad daylight" in Clacton-on-Sea in 1958.

Two of his great-grandparents were Germans who had immigrated to Britain at the end of the nineteenth century.

He and his siblings were raised as Roman Catholics.

He attended St Benedict's School, Ealing and, later, he studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths' College, University of London.

Clary is gay, and his sexuality forms the basis for much of his comedy.

He refers to himself as a "renowned homosexual" and is known for his outrageous and flamboyant costumes and make-up, and interactions with his audience such as looking in their bags, commenting on their attire and flirting with straight men in the audience.

For those who get too close he is quick to respond "Don't touch me".

He has been assisted by Hugh Jelly and others in audience participation segments.

Clary began his career under the name Leo Hurll, a fake keyboardist for pop band Thinkman (a recording project conceived by Rupert Hine).

Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter.

Clary was born on 25 May 1959 in Surbiton, Surrey, to Brenda ( McDonald) Clary, a probation officer, and Peter J. Clary, a police officer.

He was brought up in Teddington, Middlesex, with two older sisters.

He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s.

Since then, he has also acted in films, on television and in stage productions, including numerous pantomimes.

He entered the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s, firstly under the alias Gillian Pieface and later as The Joan Collins Fan Club.

He wore heavy glam make-up and dressed in outrageous clothes, often involving leather/PVC and hinting at bondage.

His pet dog Fanny the Wonderdog, a whippet mongrel, also featured in performances.

Since then, Clary has undertaken several tours of his stage act, some of which have been released on home video, including:

After a number of appearances on Friday Night Live in the mid- to late 1980s, Clary co-hosted the short-lived ITV game show Trick or Treat in 1989 with Mike Smith, before achieving greater success later that year with his own high-camp Channel 4 game show, Sticky Moments with Julian Clary.

More a vehicle for his brand of humour than a genuine gameshow, Sticky Moments was a light-hearted "non-quiz" satire, with him often awarding points because he liked the contestants, rather than because they possessed a particular skill or aptitude.

He also appeared in an episode of the improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 1991.

He later starred in the 1992 audience participation sitcom Terry and Julian with Lee Simpson, again for Channel 4.

Also in 1992, he played a cameo guest star part in the BBC drama Virtual Murder.

In the episode "A Dream of Dracula", he played an undertaker, alongside other guest stars including Alfred Marks, Jill Gascoine, Ronald Fraser and Peggy Mount.

In the same year, while visiting Australia, he made a controversial appearance alongside Rex Mossop on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard, during which Mossop espoused homophobic opinions.

On 12 December 1993, he made an infamous appearance at the British Comedy Awards, where he made a joke comparing the set to Hampstead Heath (some of which is known as a cruising area for gay men) and stated he had just been fisting the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, who had presented an award earlier in the ceremony.

Due to the instant audience reaction, the punchline ("Talk about a red box!") was widely overlooked.

Although the joke was met with uproarious laughter from the audience and Lamont himself did not complain over it, he was criticised in some newspapers, particularly by the Daily Mail and The Sun, who both launched a campaign to have him banned from television.

Despite these attempts, Clary's next series was the BBC's studio-based All Rise for Julian Clary in 1996, in which he played a judge in a mock courtroom setting.

From 1998 to 2001, he hosted three series of the Sky TV show Prickly Heat, the first two series with Davina McCall, the last one with Denise van Outen.

He played "First Henchman" and "Tim" in 1998's Jack and The Beanstalk; "The Good Fairy" in 2000's Cinderella; "The Genie of the Lamp" in 2000's Aladdin and "Chris the Cat" in 2002's Dick Whittington.

Additionally, from 1999 to 2002, he was the face of Daz laundry detergent, taking over from Shane Richie, Michael Barrymore and Danny Baker.

He is a recurring performer and one of the most popular performers in the ITV Pantos.

In 1999, he became a team captain on the quiz show It's Only TV...but I Like It, alongside Phill Jupitus and Jonathan Ross.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2001 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during the curtain call of the pantomime Cinderella at the Richmond Theatre.

In 2003, he presented the first series of the Japanese TV clip show, Sushi TV for Challenge.

In 2004, he took part in the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, finishing third with his partner Erin Boag.

In 2005, he hosted Come and Have A Go for the National Lottery.

He was the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in 2012.

He was named Ambassador for the 2016 Adelaide Fringe, responsible for promoting the festival internationally.