Iain Lee

Lee began a stand-up comedy career in the 1990s, developing his act initially in the London area before performing nationwide. He does not look back on his time as a stand-up fondly, partly due to the fact that he started abusing drugs and alcohol during this time. However, he did meet Mackenzie Crook, also a stand-up comic at the time, who became a longtime friend.[7]

Lee began his radio career in December 1997, presenting a four-hour show on Horizon 103.3, an independent station in Milton Keynes, on Christmas Day. At that point, he was 24 years old with only fifteen minutes experience in a studio and did not take any compliance or Ofcom regulation exam prior.[6] Lee went on to feature on the station's morning program The Morning Crew hosted by Trevor Marshall and Helen Legh, as Iain in Black Thunder and Iain McCartney.[6] From 1999 to 2001, Lee hosted a show on Xfm London.

Lee embarked on a full time radio career in January 2005, starting with a stint on talk station LBC 97.3. He joined the station hosting weekend evenings before moving to afternoon drive, which he named The 3 Hour 4 'Till 7 Iain Lee Afternoon Wireless Show and later The 3-and-a-Half Hour 3 'Till 6.30 Iain Lee Afternoon Wireless Show. Lee was known for hosting a segment named Triple M (also known as Mental Mayhem or Mick's Mental Mayhem), where calls went straight to air without being pre-screened, which Nick Abbot, Tommy Boyd, and Clive Bull had also done. The segment received its own dedicated slot on Sunday nights in 2007. At the time, management favoured the unique format as they hoped that it would introduce exclusive listeners to the radio station. Lee then hosted the 7–10pm weekday slot which was named Iain Lee's Good Evening. In 2007, Global Radio purchased LBC which led to a change in management, who introduced a talk format of topical and news-driven conversation. Lee's presenting style fell out of favour and he left the station without prior announcement in November 2007.[8]

In January 2008, Lee began to host The Sunday Night Show on Absolute Radio from 10pm to 1am that featured music and talk.[9] In April 2009, Lee wrestled a listener which was broadcast the following month.[10] From 12 October 2009, Lee took over the Monday to Thursday evening slot. In October 2011, the station announced that Lee's contract would be terminated with immediate effect by mutual agreement. His departure occurred during a court case in which a listener was accused of harassing Lee, his wife, and the show's producer.[11]

Lee in 2015

From 2012 to 2015, Lee presented the weekday breakfast show on BBC Three Counties Radio, a local service that served Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire. He later said that he accepted the job as he was unable to find work elsewhere, and felt "crushed" and a little humiliated about taking it at first.[12] From December 2013, Lee also presented a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio WM, the BBC's West Midlands service, which was followed by a Friday afternoon slot on the station from September 2014. He left the station in the following August, citing that management considered Lee hosting both slots as "odd" and wanted him to just present on Saturdays, which he rejected.[13] In May 2014, Lee's Three Counties show won a Radio Academy Award for Breakfast Show of the Year (Under 10 Million).[14] On 12 August 2014, Lee was accused of saying a racist comment to a Three Counties producer following an on-air argument, in which Lee stated: "Go on, go and do the black and Asian show. Bye bye."[15] The argument was described as banter and the BBC apologised for the comments.[15] In November 2015, Lee was fired from Three Counties. His departure followed complaints received about his interview with a lawyer from Christian Concern earlier in the month, in which Lee accused her of being "bigoted" and "homophobic" after she defended a minister quoting verses from the Bible condemning homosexuality as sinful.[16]

In February 2016, Lee announced that had joined the first line-up of presenters for the launch of a new talk radio station, talkRADIO. The station began to air on 21 March 2016, with Lee hosting The Late Night Alternative from 10pm to 1 am on weekdays. [1][12] In 2017, he won a Gold Award at the Audio and Radio Industry Awards in the Best Speech Presenter – Non-Breakfast category.[17] He won a second in 2020, this time for Moment of the Year for directing emergency services to a caller who had taken an overdose.[18][19] Despite the success, Lee announced on 2 June 2020 that his contract was not renewed.[20]

On 10 July 2020, Lee announced that he had been signed by Twitch to continue hosting The Late Night Alternative on its streaming platform. The first launched on 20 July and is recorded from Lee's home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.[2][21] The show allows video calls from viewers worldwide.[12]

From 1998 to 2000, Lee was a correspondent and co-host of the satirical comedy show The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4. The show became a springboard for comedians Ali G and Ricky Gervais. In one incident, Lee received death threats and had a stalker after he joked about Danniella Westbrook and her drug use. The police advised him to move out of his flat; he lived with Mackenzie Crook and in a hotel before the matter was resolved.[4] In January 2000, Lee and Donovan were criticised by Ofcom for making "death jokes" on the recently murdered Jill Dando.[22] After four series, Lee walked out five days before filming of the fifth was due to start. He later said that it was an unfair move, but felt the quality of the show's humour had declined and Channel 4 had cut its budget. Lee said he would have earned £90,000 if he had stayed.[4]

In 2002, Lee accepted to co-host a relaunch of the Channel 4 live breakfast show RI:SE with reality television star Kate Lawler, from January 2003. The show failed to make an impact in viewing figures, however, and it ended in December 2003.[7] By this time, Lee described himself as a "full blown cocaine addict" and would often smoke cannabis before filming RI:SE and take cocaine afterwards.[7] Lee described the year 2004 as "absolutely terrible" in regard to his career and started to drink to cope with the stress,[4] and spending around £2,000 on cocaine each week.[7] Lee went on to present the video game show Thumb Bandits on Channel 4. Later he made regular appearances on Sky News and This Morning, and hosted the Big Brother companion series Bit on the Psych for Channel 5.

In November 2017, Lee took part in the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Lee entered the show on Day 5. During the show, Lee was elected Prime Minister of 10 Downing Creek. Lee made it to the final and finished in third place. He spoke openly about mental health whilst participating in the show.[23]

From the start of 2018, Lee was on the breakfast TV show Good Morning Britain, filling in for Richard Arnold who was taking a 3-week break.[24][25]

Lee formerly wrote a gaming column for MSN.co.uk, as well as recording monthly podcasts.[26] He has also appeared on XLeague.tv discussing video games.[27]

Lee has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends, and presented the official Big Brother radio show with co-host Gemma Cairney, entitled Big Brother's Big Ears. Lee has also been heard as a continuity announcer on the TV channel Dave.[28]

In August 2007, Lee launched a podcast entitled Iain Lee Presents... Shindiggery. It ended in November 2008.[29]

In 2009, Lee took part in an experimental comedy performance by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard in Sheffield called Performer. Audience. Fuck Off,[30] a spin-off to the Performer/Audience/Mirror originally conceived in 1975 by American artist Dan Graham, whereby the performer does their act behind a mirror reflecting the audience.

In February 2012, Lee launched The Iain Lee Pocket Radio Show, a podcast similar in style to his radio shows but utilised various social media platforms for content. Most of it featured conversations with listeners via phone calls or Skype chats. Listeners were also invited to interact with the show by sending AudioBoos to be included in the recording. The podcast also included Lee interviewing guests and celebrity news with Elisa Roche.

In 2015, Lee and Glenn Gretlund had formed 7a Records, an independent record label specialising in obscure recordings by The Monkees and the group's members.[31][32] Lee also had a cameo role in a music video for their self-titled single, released in 2012.[33] In 2020, Lee sold his share of the company. In December 2020 he announced that he has started another record label called Boom Tunes focusing on reissues of 90s dance bands in concert including The Shamen. Lee announced he is working with Mr C from the band on the first release due Feb 2021.