DID YOU KNOW? Frank Skinner

As the host of Room 101 (8.30pm, BBC1) prepares to celebrate his 60th birthday, here are a few surprising things you might not have known about this popular comedian… I’ll never forget whatshisname… None for the road…

Frank was born Christopher Graham Collins in West Bromwich, the youngest of four siblings. Although he was known as Chris to his friends, his parents called him Graham; to add to the confusion, he adopted the stage name Frank Skinner (after a man who played dominoes with his dad) after learning there was already a Chris Collins with actors’ union Equity.

Keeping the faith Frank is a practising Catholic, after reconnecting with his family’s faith when he was in his 20s.

Strumming along A fan of George Formby, Frank is also an enthusiastic ukulele player. In 1986, aged 29, Frank was a self-confessed ‘reckless alcoholic’ when a bad dose of flu led him to stop drinking; in 2016, he celebrated 30 years of being teetotal. Fast work While working as an English lecturer in 1987, Frank decided to try his hand at stand-up – he made his TV debut just a year later, and went full-time in 1989. Getting shirty Frank paid more than £11,000 at auction for a shirt worn by his idol, Elvis Presley. He later donated it to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami fund, which auctioned it for £8,000. In the blood Frank’s love of football – he is a huge West Bromwich Albion fan – is probably inherited from his father, a former semi-professional footballer.