Walsh was born in Camden in London and in his early years lived in Lewisham with his mother, father and younger brother.[1][2][3] Throughout Walsh's upbringing, his father was addicted to heroin and Walsh has spoken about this experience in his stand-up comedy specials "Kiss" and "Seann Walsh: Is Dead, Happy Now?".[4][5]
He attended St Winifred's primary school in Lewisham before his family moved to Brighton for his mother's work.[4][6][7] In Brighton he attended Dorothy Stringer School[8] for high school and he left the school with one GCSE examination pass in Drama.[8][6][7] Whilst Walsh was attempting a GNVQ course, which would have enabled him to gain entry into the last two years of High School, he was given coursework which asked for a written description of a business and on the night before it was due Walsh had not done anything, so he emailed a friend and asked him to send his coursework to him for him to use as a template.[9] Walsh has commented that then "...all I did was every time it said Karim's Indian restaurant' I just cut it and set it to TK Maxx, so I handed in the exact same piece of work, ah except it said TK Maxx... I got kicked out of college for that."[9] Walsh has also commented: "Comedy straightened me out. I don't know what I'd be doing if I didn't do this. I didn't pay attention at school, I got kicked out of college."[10] and also that “I was too hyper as a child. You wouldn’t have got me to do anything. I’d no interest in sitting down behind a desk. I was much more interested in smoking in the woods, which is mainly what I did.”[11]
On Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Walsh and Tommy Tiernan both spoke about high school, " [Tommy Tiernan]: '...the school would only let me back on the condition that I wouldn't talk to any of the other students about religion.' [Walsh replying]: 'I had that with cannabis.' "[12][13] and he has further commented on his regular cannabis use in high school, on Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable saying "Well I was around the age when you started, ehm, you know smoking, [Mel Giedroyc]: 'the Wacky Baccy?' [Walsh]: 'The naughty leaves. And me and five friends smoked this stuff... ...we found this cupborard that um, when you opened it we discovered... that there was no back to this cupboard... so we climbed through and there was like anoher secret hall underneath the gym hall. [Maisie adams]: 'You sure you wern't high?' [Walsh]:' Well, well we got high, underneath the exam hall and so what we did was we, we have ripped cones bongs, bongs...? [Mel Giedroyc]: 'yeah Meera and I...' [Walsh]; oh yeah, you go way back with the bongs, and what we did is we, we blew the smoke through the little holes in our ceiling that went into the exam, so whilst all the other students were doing their exam they were getting bong smoke coming out of the floor and into the exam hall and we thought it would be hilarious, we thought oh they'll all fail, but ah, they were doing a philosophy exam so they got an A."[14]
Walsh has further described his time in high school: "I, just, you know just, eh, [I] was a clown, and just wanted to make, all I cared about, even then, was making people laugh. Stuff like tripping over myself... egging, I egged another student... it was the last day of the year elevens, so we egged them, got suspended for that. I got suspended a lot, I got suspended like, I don't know, ten times."[9]
When Walsh was young he would often watch Jim Carrey films[15] and Lee Evans[6] stand-up specials and would repeat lines and re-enact scenarios from the films.[4][11] When Walsh was 17 he attended a stand-up comedy club in Brighton[16][17] and this experience would later contribute to his interest in beginning stand-up comedy.[4]
Before he became successful as a stand-up comedian Walsh worked at the Roundhill pub in Brighton and at a TK Maxx shop,[8], but he was sacked from the latter when he had had very little sleep the night before and he crawled under the coats and fell asleep.[18][12][14] When Seann was 15 he went on holiday to Spain and became drunk for the first time after drinking vodka and had to go to hospital to have his stomach pumped.[19]
Career
In 2006 Walsh attended a stand-up comedy course run by Jill Edwards comedy workshops and held at the Komedia comedy club in Brighton[20] and he performed his first gig in November 2006.[21] Walsh went on to become the resident host of the newcomer stand-up comedy night Comic Boom, held at Komedia[20] and he won several awards early in his career including Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year (2009)[22] and Chortle Best Newcomer (2009).[23] Walsh supported Stephen K. Amos on his 2008/09 Find the Funny and 2009/10 The Feelgood Factor tours,[7][6] as well as at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festival. Early on in his career he was also an 'audience wrangler' performing stand up for the QI audience prior to the recording of the show.[24]
In 2008[25] Walsh attended the Edinburgh Fringe Fetival for the first time participating in the "So You Think You're Funny" newcomers competition as well as performing at the Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival[25] and by 2018 he had attended 8 times.[25] In 2009 Walsh appeared in his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe and he has commented "The first time I did a solo show in Edinburgh, four years ago, I had a panic attack on stage. I'd always wanted to do comedy, but there was too much stress. If you had a bad gig, there was no time to recover from it, and the next night you'd have another bad gig. I'd been smoking and drinking coffee all day, and it was drink, drink, drink after each show, and that was bound to have repercussions. For some reason I walked on stage and started at the wrong point in my act. I skipped the first 10 minutes and I couldn't get back. I couldn't breathe and I had a strange feeling in my teeth and I thought I was going to die. Then I just collapsed, I fell to the floor; the show had to stop and people had to leave."[19] Walsh has further commented on his experiences with nerves in interviews with the media[15] as well as on his podcast Class Clown, "Vittoria Angelone: '...let's put on a comedy night for the next freshers week and I'll host it. So I just MC'd. It was my first gig to 300 people.' Walsh: 'What?... ...And, and knowing you um from what everything you've said today, that didn't phase you at all?' Vittoria Angelone: 'Naivety, ignorance, no idea it was supposed to be hard.' Walsh: 'Oh man, I'm sorry, but I mean that's incredible because me starting sounds very similar to your, uh, your experience, believe it or not and I... knew what standing in front of 300 people was. That would have absolutely terrified me.'"[26]
Walsh performed both his 2012 show Seann to Be Wild[27][28] and his 2013 show The Lie-In King[29] at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as touring the country with both.[30]
In 2013 Walsh attended a stand-up comedy competition in Brighton and saw Romesh Ranganathan performing[31] and asked Ranganathan if he could be his warm up act on his stand up tour.[32] Whilst on tour in 2013 Walsh would also appear on Stand Up for the Week[33] and he was able to get Ranganathan a stand up gig as a warm up act for a press launch they were doing for the show and the producers of Live at the Apollo watched the gig Ranganathan performed at and later asked him to appear on series 9 of Live at the Apollo which was his first stand up TV performance.[32][34]
He has also performed his solo show on tour with fellow comedian Josh Widdicombe in a tour titled Ying and Young.[35][36]
From 2011 to 2013 Walsh appeared as a regular contributor on Stand Up for the Week,[33] where Walsh would perform stand up to a live audience using material taken from current events in the media in his routine.[33] For 4 series from 2014 to 2017 Walsh was a team captain on the comedy panel show Virtually Famous.[37] On the show two teams are shown viral videos from the internet and they are then asked questions about them as well having to act out tasks in the same way that they're being done in the videos[37][38] and the format for the show was very similar to Never Mind the Buzzcocks.[38]
From 2017 to 2018 Walsh presented a weekly show on FUBAR Radio with comedian Mark Simmons that gave a comedic view of current events in the media.[39]
From 8 September 2018, Walsh participated in the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional dance partner Katya Jones. Early in the series, it was reported that he had become romantically involved with Jones despite both of them being in long-term relationships, and his popularity suffered as a result.[40] Walsh and Jones did an interview with Zoe Ball following the controversy, where after a televised grilling from Ball, Walsh apologised.[41] The couple were voted out in Week 6.[42][43]
In 2019 Seann co-hosted Flinch, a gameshow for Netflix alongside Lloyd Griffith, and Desiree Burch.[44] In the show contestants are put in circumstances that are discomforting, painful and scary, with the goal being to not flinch as if they do, the contestants receive a painful consequence and the hosts, who are being represented by the contestants, receive points.[45][46]
Walsh's stand-up style has been described as "impressively universal, gag-heavy, observational".[29]
Personal life
Walsh has been in a relationship with dance teacher Grace Adderley since 2019. They live in Shepherd's Bush, London, and welcomed their first child, a daughter, in February 2023.[48][49] He is a Queens Park Rangers fan.[50][51]
Once Walsh became old enough to attend pubs and bars he would regularly go drinking with his friends[52][15] commenting in 2024 that in his past "He was also frequently either 'drunk or hungover'."[53] and he has included his experiences of being drunk and having hangovers in his stand-up routines[54][55][5] as well as describing his 2012 show Sean to be Wild as being "...mainly about hangovers."[28]
In his early twenties, Walsh used to regularly smoke cigarettes and in a stand up routine in 2011 he commented: "Like, I've cut down on smoking now, but up until I cut down, I was smoking over 40 a day, right that's bad. The moment I realised "Fuck it, I need to stop. I need to cut down. I need to do something." is when I ran out of breath grating cheese."[56]
In 2008[25] Walsh attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time and he has commented that "For some reason I hadn't arranged any accomodation, so I was just sort of staying on people's sofas and I was homeless for a night, I slept on a bench... my first Edinburgh and I slept on a bench."[9] In 2009, Walsh again attended the Edinburgh festival and he has commented that "The first time I was on Mock The Week, I was in Edinburgh doing the Big Value Show. I was only 22 and that night I couldn't get into my flat and had to sleep on the main road outside using bin bags as pillows. In the morning people were having to step over me to get to work, going isn't that the bloke from Mock The Week?".[57]
1234"Interview: Seann Walsh: Page 2 of 2". Beyond the Joke. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Interviewer: 'Are you thinking of giving up drinking?' Walsh: 'I'm already sort of too busy to keep it up, I can't function on a hangover and when I'm doing TV it's office hours and I can't do it, so it can't go on forever, but I still have big sessions when there is a day off. And they will be big... ...But you have to look after yourself. I've started exercising to sort myself out, I do like to perform, as embarrassing as it sounds, and it is harder to become larger than life when drowsy and down... ...Interviewer: 'Do you suffer from nerves?' Walsh: 'I've lost count of the amount of times I've thought of just jumping on a plane to Dublin, hiding in a pub and not going to Edinburgh. Or just hiding in bed. But I just love it. When I was a kid Jim Carrey was a favourite. He inspired me to get into comedy when I was a child but smoking and drinking changes you. I could do everything Jim Carrey could do, like make my eyebrows go up and down. I trained myself for ages then you get older and it's not cool to do Jim Carrey impressions any more. I'm more interested in drinking and smoking and now I wish I'd stuck with the eyebrows. Ha ha ha.' Interviewer: 'Your Edinburgh picture, surrounded by kebab wrappers and empty bottles of alcohol sums up this stage in your life.' Walsh: 'I did the picture before I'd written the show, but I knew it was going to about drinking at some point. The poster would have fitted last years show and the show before that.'
12345"I TALK TO Seann Walsh". Italktelly.com. I talk telly. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2026. Interviewer:'Can you believe it's been 10 years since you first performed at the Fringe and came runner-up in 'So You Think You're Funny?' ' Walsh:'Oh God!!! I didn't know that. That's horrible. Why have you told me that?! I remember that. I came second.'
12"Seann Walsh: Seann to be Wild". youtube.com. EdFestMagTV. 17 August 2012. Event occurs at 2:37. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Interviewer; '...I mean is this something youre, you ah struggle with and theres lots of hangovers and youre...' Walsh: 'In the show?... It's mainly about hangovers.' Interviewer; 'I remember there was a lot about hangovers last year... and very entertaining, I mean 'cos a lot of the festival crowd can really relate to having hangovers or had one while there sat in the audience.' Walsh;'OK, I hope they do, that'll work better if they do have a hangover. Um the ah, the show is, basically if you've been out, if you go quite large at the weekends I would say, um, when you should be doing things you told yourself you're going to do the next day then you'll like the show. 'cuz it's all about... ...I suppose I struggle, I'm somone that is always going 'Tomorrow, I'm gonna sort out my life, tomorrow, I'm gonna do it tomorrow, that's the day, I'm gonna sort out my life'. Which basically means 'I'm gonna clean my bedroom.'
↑"Seann Walsh". Sky Sports. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
↑Taylor, Ian (1 June 2013). "Seann Walsh". The Inside'R. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
↑"Interview: Seann Walsh". beyondthejoke.co.uk. Beyond the Joke. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Interviewer: '...I interviewed Seann Walsh for The Independent on Sunday on the ups and downs of drinking. Walsh has something of a reputation as an imbiber. He has talked about it in his past shows and picks up the theme in his current show... ... What is The Lie-In King About?' Walsh: 'If it's about anything it's about trying to sort myself out. I moved to London and moved in on my own to get away from the person that I had been in the previous shows, but actually I was just trying to get away from myself and failing miserably. I talk about how I'm not a kid any more and I'm trying to live on my own. The idea was that by living on my own there is nobody to say "lets have a drink," but it's not working.'
↑"Seann Walsh - Live at the Apollo". youtube.com. Off The Kerb Productions. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2025. 'Cos I find it very difficult to have the one. The one drink. That's my problem.
↑"Seann Walsh Cracker Night (2011)". Youtube.com. Sydney Comedy Festival. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Like, I've cut down on smoking now, but up until I cut down, I was smoking over 40 a day, right that's bad. The moment I realised "Fuck it, i need to stop. I need to cut down. I need to do something." is when I ran out of breath grating cheese.
↑"Interview: Seann Walsh: Page 2 of 2". Beyond the Joke. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Interviewer: 'Do you have a favourite Edinburgh story?' Walsh: 'The first time I was on Mock The Week I was in Edinburgh doing the Big Value Show. I was only 22 and that night i couldn't get into my flat and had to sleep on the main road outside using bin bags as pillows. In the morning people were having to step over me to get to work, going 'isn't that the bloke from Mock The Week?' '
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