Comedian Jenny Eclair: ‘Anorexia is difficult. I can joke about it now, as I’m overweight’

The comedian and novelist tells Harriet Gibsone about the stress of sudden success, her disordered relationship with food, and how hobbies have replaced her libido

Jenny Eclair: "I was not being myself. I spent all my 20s and 30s trying to make people think I was great; it was exhausting." Picture: PA Photo/Handout. 

Born in Kuala Lumpur in 1960, Jenny Eclair is a comedian, actor and author. The daughter of a major in the British army, she spent her childhood in Singapore, Malaysia and Germany, until the family settled in Lancashire. After studying drama at Manchester Polytechnic, Eclair began standup in the 1980s, and in 1995 became the first female solo comic to win the Perrier award, now the Edinburgh comedy award. 

Her career since has been prolific: comedy tours, writing and hosting for TV, radio and podcasts, as well as publishing six novels. She lives in London with her husband Geof Powell; her daughter is the playwright Phoebe Eclair-Powell.