I started doing comedy impressions at a very young age, around ten. I once called the local radio to do celebrity impersonations for their "Talent Tuesday" section. I wasn’t allowed to use the house phone, but my dad was in the shower, and I seized my opportunity by calling in.
After this, the station used to call me each week to give me the challenge of mimicking various soap stars. As soon as my school teachers caught wind of these impressions, I was given permission to impersonate my school teachers in assemblies. Looking back, they must have absolutely hated me because I wore cheap wigs, exaggerated their voices and expressions, and absolutely roasted everything about them.
I’m half Irish, half Scottish, and I grew up in North Yorkshire – so I’ve always been around different accents.
I was also inspired by Catherine Tate – her comedy sketches and impressions have always inspired what I do.
To be honest, I didn’t have the best experience at school. I was picked on pretty badly: this knocked my confidence a lot, suppressing my earlier drive to perform. Looking back, it was a real shame I stopped – but, having said this, the harsh experience at school certainly shaped the woman I am today.
In 2008, I was a contestant on the TV show ‘Gladiators’, where I met my husband – he was the head trainer on the series. The producers were keen for me to show my comedic side, something I really enjoyed showcasing.
I came second in the final; the bitch that beat me got £25k. As for me, I walked away from that travellator empty-handed – and with a painful leg injury.
However, I got a lot more from this experience than I had bargained for. During breaks in filming I was standing with Ian Wright, one of the show's presenters, and to help him rehearse he encouraged me to read Caroline Flack's autocue. I did, and he was very complimentary, even suggesting I go into presenting. His encouragement was a real turning point for me. I followed his advice.
I started at the bottom, doing the graveyard shifts on shopping channels on weekends. After working 60 hours a week for my day job, I also presented regional beauty pageants, or any job where somebody would give me a chance. I asked my boss at the time not to tell anyone that I was working on a shopping channel as I was going to miss the staff Christmas party. Naturally, when he got drunk and told people what I was doing, they put the TV on in the bar. This coincided with me selling a really shit PVC handbag – the kind you would struggle to give away. Little did I realise at the time that this would prove to be a huge deal for me; one of the producers for the London 2012 Olympic Games was in that bar and he later reached out to give me a break.
I have spent years presenting live sport on Sky Sports, ITV, BBC, MUTV, the 2012 and 2024 Olympic Games, to name a few. Seven years ago I was encouraged by our electrician to try stand-up comedy; I chatted to him for some time while I was on maternity leave when he was working at our house. I didn’t realise that, not only did he do stand-up, but he was one of the best MCs in the country. He has been incredibly supportive of my stand-up comedy journey from the moment I expressed an interest in pursuing it.
I used to make silly comedy reels to send to my best mate about parenting, to cheer her up. I was doing this while fully in the newborn trenches with my third baby; as you can imagine, the material was flowing.
A year ago, this mate encouraged me to post one of my reels online. At the time I had 450 followers and it just felt so cringe filming myself in wigs and putting on accents in my bedroom between school runs.
I didn’t know about algorithms, hashtags and editing, but I just made light of being a new mum; exploring the things us parents think but don’t always say. People seemed to engage with my style and told me how relatable it was. When people ask me where I get all my inspiration from, the answer is being a working mum in 2025 with three kids.
For me, comedy is an escapism – to forget about changing nappies or putting the bins out. Parenting can be as tough as it is rewarding, I love the thought of other parents finding my comedy relatable and it making them laugh; after all, if we don’t laugh, we would most definitely cry.
Hannah East’s brand-new show is a hilarious deep dive into the highs and lows of parenting. With millions of views across her viral comedy reels, she brilliantly captures the chaos, joy, and absurdity of mum life. Book tickets here.
