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Comedian Chris Ramsey’s star has been on the rise for a number of years, thanks to his stand-up shows and reaching the semi-final of the most recent series of Strictly.

But it’s a DIY project with his wife from their South Shields living room that has unexpectedly propelled the couple’s careers to another level.

Chris and Rosie, a theatre star and drivetime radio DJ in the north-east of England, have amassed an incredible following to their podcast, in which they chat funnily about life, relationships, arguments, annoyances, parenting, growing up and everything in between.

Clearly attracting word-ofmouth pick-up, the show is showing a growth of 700,000 listens week on week and has now reached more than 25 million downloads – not bad since it only launched in February last year.

With success like that, why stop at a podcast? A spin-off tour quickly sold out after its release, in the process breaking the record for the world’s biggest ever live podcast audience by selling out their hometown date at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.

The couple are performing two nights there next June, also playing Wembley Arena, and finishing the tour,with two nights at Edinburgh’s Playhouse.

Their first book, out in September, went to No.1 on the Amazon charts for pre-orders, crashing the site due to demand, and merchandise is also in development.

Chris and Rosie said:“We are absolutely blown away that so many people are listening to and enjoying our podcasts, while being simultaneously mortified that so many people are hearing the sometimes horrific things we say on the podcast.

“We didn’t think this would happen, but we’ve made our bed, so now we have to sleep in it.”