Andy Lee (comedian)

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Andy Lee
Andy Lee at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards.JPG
Lee in 2011
Birth nameAndrew Thomas Lee
Born (1981-05-24) 24 May 1981 (age 43)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
MediumRadio, television
NationalityAustralian
Education Camberwell Grammar School
Alma mater University of Melbourne
Years active2003–present
Genres Comedy
Partner(s)Rebecca Harding (engaged)
Website www.hamishandandy.com

Andrew Thomas Lee (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian comedian, television presenter, musician and children's writer. He is known for working alongside Hamish Blake as part of the comedy duo Hamish & Andy.

Contents

Personal life

Andy Lee is the middle child of Michael and Margaret Lee. [1] Lee has a younger sister, Alex Miles, who writes pantomimes and stars in the comedy stage show Porky Pies. He also has an older brother, Cameron, with whom Lee started the band Zoophyte.

Lee attended Balwyn Primary School and Camberwell Grammar School. He was also a member of the Scouting Movement, performing in Camberwell Showtime and Melbourne Gang Show. He then went on to study Commerce at the University of Melbourne, where he met comedic partner Hamish Blake in 2001.

In 2006, Lee was announced as Cleo's Bachelor of the Year. [2]

Lee previously dated Megan Gale. They ended their relationship in 2010. [3]

In January 2015, it was announced that Lee was dating model Rebecca Harding. The pair briefly separated in July 2016 [4] , but reconciled a few months later. [5] [6] While rumours have flown the couple have been engaged since 2021, Lee confirmed on the 02 May 2024 episode of the Hamish and Andy podcast that he had proposed to her the previous Sunday. [7] [8]

Lee is a supporter of the Carlton Football Club and has worked for the club in off-field roles with Carlton members.

Career

Hamish & Andy

Lee (left) and Blake (right) at the 2009 ARIA Awards Hamish & Andy - 2009 ARIA Awards.jpg
Lee (left) and Blake (right) at the 2009 ARIA Awards

Lee and Blake teamed with Ryan Shelton and several others to create a show called Radio Karate for RMIT University's student television company RMITV, broadcast on community-access television station Channel 31. They also trained with, and appeared on, RMIT's student radio station SYN, and they subsequently had a few spot projects on FOX FM.

Lee and Blake then hosted a televised comedy programme on Australia's Seven Network, The Hamish and Andy Show, which was shortly cancelled after bad ratings. Critics acknowledged their talent but panned the show as poorly executed. [9] Since this show, Lee and Blake have almost always performed together. They are now consistently referred to as Hamish & Andy. Another early TV project the duo took part in creating was the mockumentary TV show Real Stories (not to be confused with True Story, a later series by the pair).

Blake and Lee hosted the national (Hit Network) drive-time radio program Hamish & Andy that ran between 4 pm and 6 pm, Monday to Friday. In 2011, the program was cut back to a weekly Friday show due to the duo wanting to pursue other opportunities. [10] The radio show was considered to be immensely successful, scoring top positions in the radio ratings in the crucial Sydney and Melbourne markets (as well as Perth). [11] Their audience share was around 20%, which is the highest ever recorded for a national FM show in Australia. [11]

Lee won the first series of Joker Poker, a celebrity poker show in which contestants win money for charity. He appeared on the Network Ten program Australia's Brainiest Comedian.

He was selected as one of the entrants to the Who's Who in Australia 2011 edition. [12]

On 10 May 2010, Andy and Hamish appeared on the TV show Good News Week .

In 2011, the duo made a deal with Channel Nine, creating a ten-part series called Gap Year: New York . In 2012, the comedy duo created a second Gap Year season, titled Hamish and Andy's: Euro Gap Year , in which the two travelled throughout Europe leading up to the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2013, they continued the Gap Year series, creating a third season titled Hamish & Andy's Gap Year Asia . In 2014, they completed their fourth and final gap year in South America, aptly titled Hamish & Andy's Gap Year South America. Other projects the pair have worked on include a weekly podcast (as opposed to when they worked on the radio) on the PodcastOne network as well as the aforementioned TV series True Story .

Solo work

Lee released an educational times table CD in 2003, The Sing Along Times Table CD Book. The CD was re-discovered in 2005/2006 after an "alert listener" informed Blake, causing him to tease Lee about it on their radio show. [13]

Lee was a founding member of Melbourne band Zoophyte, along with his brother Cameron. In 2007, Lee had retired from the band due to other commitments, but he occasionally appeared as a guest at gigs. [14]

In 2015, Lee formed Coolboys and the Frontman with comedic partner Hamish Blake and producer Jack Post.

In 2016, Lee surprised his nephew George for his first birthday by authoring what was supposed to be a one-off single-copy children's book called Do Not Open This Book, featuring illustrations by Heath McKenzie. [15] However, the book became very successful, leading to widespread publication and an award-winning series over the next several years. [16] As of 2021, there are 30 items in the Do Not series, including several books. [17]

Ahead of the 2020 AFL season, Seven Network's The Front Bar announced that Lee would join original hosts Andy Maher, Mick Molloy and Sam Pang as a regular cast member. [18]

In early 2021, he was the host and executive producer of the Australian version of the game show The Cube on Network 10. He also hosted The Hundred with Andy Lee on the Nine Network in 2021.

During the 2021–22 Ashes series, Lee served as a commentator on Triple M's coverage.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2006 Cleo Bachelor of the Year Cleo Bachelor of the Year Won [19]
2013 Logie Awards Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated [19]

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References

  1. ↑ Money, Lawrence (23 August 2015). "Radio prankster Andy Lee's mum gets thumbs up on Twitter". The Age.
  2. ↑ "Andy Lee bachelor of the year". news.com.au.
  3. ↑ "Andy Lee and Megan Gale split up". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Hockey, Maddison. "Bec Harding reveals the secret to her happy long-term relationship to Andy Lee, and it's stunningly simple". Now To Love. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Epstein, Jackie (6 December 2016). "Andy Lee back with ex-girlfriend". Herald Sun. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Hockey, Maddison. "Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding set engagement rumours ablaze thanks to a very telling clue". Now To Love. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Incredible Prank | Hamish & Andy . Retrieved 4 May 2024– via www.youtube.com.
  8. ↑ Bond, Nick. "Hamish and Andy star Andy Lee drops big personal news on-air". News.com. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Hamish & Andy". www.theage.com.au. 2 April 2007.
  10. ↑ "The Spy Report: Hamish and Andy quitting daily radio show". Archived from the original on 4 November 2010.
  11. 1 2 "Southern Cross Austereo - Absolutely Engaging" (PDF). www.austereo.com.au.
  12. ↑ "Who's Who pack now boasts Siddle, Hamish and Andy and the Masterchef judges". Herald Sun. 9 December 2010.
  13. ↑ "Hamish & Andy: Hamish & Andy - Andy's Timetable Sing-A-Long CD!". handa.libsyn.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Moran, Jonathon (15 April 2007). "Andy Shows Another Side | thetelegraph.com.au". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  15. ↑ Andy Surprises His Sister (and Nephew), archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 26 July 2021
  16. ↑ book, Do not open this. "Do Not Open This Book | Global Best-Selling Children's Picture Book". donotopenthisbook.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  17. ↑ book, Do not open this. "The Complete Set Of Children's Books By Andy Lee". donotopenthisbook.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  18. ↑ The Front Bar "selects" Andy Lee in the TV Show Draft The Front Bar on Twitter
  19. 1 2 "Andy lee". TV Week Logie Awards 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
Preceded by Cleo Bachelor of the Year
2006		Succeeded by
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