Mel Giedroyc

Her mother, Rosemary "Rosy" Cumpston (born 1937), is of English origin.

Her older sister is film and television director Coky Giedroyc.

After moving to Oxford as a teenager Giedroyc attended the independent Oxford High School and later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a lower second degree in French and Italian.

Giedroyc is best known for comedy and presenting work with Sue Perkins.

The two women met while students at the University of Cambridge and were members of the Footlights comedy club.

Her father, Michal, an aircraft designer, civil engineer and family historian, of Polish-Lithuanian descent from the aristocratic Giedroyć family, had moved to Britain in 1947; he died in December 2017.

Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (, born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter.

With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including Light Lunch for Channel 4, The Great British Bake Off for the BBC and chat show Mel and Sue for ITV.

Giedroyc was born on 5 June 1968 in Epsom, Surrey, and grew up in Leatherhead.

Mel and Sue, the duo were short-listed for the Daily Express Best Newcomers Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993.

Their first presenting roles saw them host a lunchtime show on Channel 4 called Light Lunch (and the early evening version, Late Lunch).

Giedroyc appeared with Perkins in one episode of Gimme Gimme Gimme, playing a receptionist at a hotel.

She was also a presenter on Channel 4's RI:SE.

She narrated Celebrity Driving School in 2003.

Some other ventures include being a contestant on the 2005 series of The Games, co-starring in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed and co-presenting Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show on ITV.

Giedroyc was in one episode of The Vicar of Dibley.

Giedroyc was the sixth student to be voted out of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and was a celebrity judge on the 2007 edition of Making Your Mind Up along with John Barrowman.

She starred as one of the presenters in the show Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision! at the Edinburgh Fringe and subsequently in the West End at the Novello Theatre.

Giedroyc played the Fairy Liquid in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk at London's Barbican theatre in December 2007.

She appeared in a children's sketch show for the BBC Sorry, I've Got No Head.

Giedroyc was a panellist on the Channel 5 programme The Wright Stuff in 2007, 2008 and in February 2010.

She plays Mrs V, the owner of the Y café, in CBBC programme Sadie J and is also the voice of Mist in Mist: Sheepdog Tales, shown on Channel 5's morning show Milkshake!.

In 2010, Giedroyc was a celebrity guest team captain on What Do Kids Know? with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash and Sara Cox on Watch and also appeared in the first episode of series two of Miranda Hart's self-titled sitcom Miranda as a life coach.

Giedroyc was reunited with Sue Perkins in 2010 to host the cookery competition The Great British Bake Off, on BBC Two from 16 August 2010.

Later, in an apparently syndicated newspaper interview, Giedroyc admitted that she did the show just for the money, informing readers that she had nearly gone bankrupt.

The show moved to BBC One for its fifth series and has won numerous awards.

In 2012 and 2013, Giedroyc hosted two special charity series for Sport Relief and Comic Relief featuring celebrities who took part for charity.

In 2014, she guest hosted an episode of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and in 2015, one episode of The Great Comic Relief Bake Off.

In March 2014, Giedroyc presented Collectaholics, a factual mini-series for BBC Two.

From May 2014, Giedroyc presented one series of the Channel 4 programme Draw It!, based upon and developed by the makers of the mobile app Draw Something.

In May 2014, Giedroyc and clinical psychologist Dr Jennifer Wild presented a one-off show for BBC One called Vertigo Road Trip about people who have a fear of heights.

Reviewing the programme, in The Psychologist, Petrina Cox described it as "an engaging and valuable education for the general public about the nature of anxiety disorders such as specific phobias. It is sure to reduce stigma, inspire hope and encourage people to seek evidence-based treatments... "

On 12 November 2014, Giedroyc guest hosted an episode of The One Show with Alex Jones.

Since 2015 she has held a number of commentating roles for the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2015, Giedroyc narrated eight-part BBC One series Now You See It.

In September 2016, Love Productions announced that a three-year deal had been agreed to broadcast The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4, instead of the BBC, from 2017.

Giedroyc and Perkins announced that they would not be continuing with the show on its new network.

Mary Berry later announced she was also leaving the Bake Off on the same day that fellow-judge Paul Hollywood separately announced he would be staying with the show.

In 2016, she presented the first episode of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off.

In early 2017 Giedroyc co-presented the BBC show Let It Shine.