For comedian and presenter Joel Dommett, the path to primetime television fame was paved with relentless hustle, a charity shop bicycle, and a pivotal three-minute slot on a Los Angeles rooftop that cost him just ten dollars. In a reflective look back at his career, the star of ITV's The Masked Singer and I'm a Celebrity... Unpacked shares the formative moments that shaped his journey from a quiet Gloucestershire child to a household name.
A Quiet Country Childhood and Alternative Rebellion
Born in Rockhampton, Gloucestershire, in 1985, Dommett describes himself as a quiet, introspective child who was perfectly content in his own company. Growing up in the countryside, his weekends were spent exploring woods, where finding a good stick could entertain him for a full day. While his brother dreaded being sent to his room, Joel saw it as a reward—a chance to be alone with his imagination.
His teenage years saw a foray into alternative culture, drawn to the sounds of Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, and Nirvana. However, his rebellion had limits. His mother forbade long hair, leading to a spiked, gelled style worn only on non-uniform days. A secret Boots bag hidden in his cupboard held eyeliner and nail polish, applied on the school bus and removed before returning home.
A major comedic inspiration struck early with the TV show Bottom. He became obsessed with Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, rewatching VHS tapes repeatedly, captivated by the show's anarchic slapstick even if he didn't grasp all the jokes.
The London Leap and the First Seed of Stand-Up
On a whim after leaving school, Dommett moved to London when a friend offered a spare room. He negotiated the rent down from £60 to £30 a month and initially followed his friend into acting, though he found the scene too serious. His true passion was comedy, but he didn't yet see it as a viable career.
The first seed was planted during a role on Ade Edmondson's sitcom Teenage Kicks. When Dommett shared his aspirations, Edmondson himself suggested he try stand-up. Around the same time, the illegal file-sharing site LimeWire became an unlikely tutor. Having downloaded every song he could find, he searched for "comedy" and discovered thousands of stand-up sets, which he studied for months, learning the mechanics of joke-writing subconsciously.
The $10 Gig That Changed Everything
His first real performance came two years later during a trip to Los Angeles. While he failed to secure meetings with Hollywood executives, he paid a promoter $10 for a three-minute slot between bands at the rooftop bar of the legendary Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset Boulevard.
"I was hooked," Dommett recalls. The set itself was fine, but the experience was transformative. He did the "clichéd thing" of walking over the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame afterwards, knowing he had found his calling.
Back in the UK, he committed fully, inspired by Jimmy Carr's memoir which detailed doing 300 gigs in his first year to conquer stage fright. Dommett emulated this, buying a charity shop bike and cycling between multiple shows a night. He became part of a burgeoning comedy community with future stars like Josh Widdicombe, James Acaster, Joe Lycett, Romesh Ranganathan, and Rob Beckett.
Honing a Persona and Navigating Big Breaks
Dommett spent eight years on the circuit learning to be himself on stage, which meant he never had to invent a TV persona later. His big break came with I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2016, which made him a household name.
His next major opportunity, hosting The Masked Singer, arrived with a significant conflict: the first day of filming was scheduled for his wedding day in Mykonos. His agent presented it as a scheduling issue for fellow client Jonathan Ross, allowing Dommett to marry and fly back the next day. Twenty-four hours later, he was in Bovingdon, revealing Patsy Palmer as the Butterfly.
Now a father, Dommett feels reconnected to his childhood self, enjoying slides, puddles, and wellington boots with his son. He hopes to pass on the joys of his own childhood, with a promise: "He can wear as much black eyeliner as he likes."
