Suzi Ruffell on comedy, coming out and meeting Mel C

Suzi Ruffell was born in Portsmouth in 1986, trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and began performing standup in 2008. She has toured, appeared on Live at the Apollo, hosts the podcast Out With Suzi Ruffell and co-hosts Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen, and has written a bestselling memoir.

She is touring her show The Juggle until September. The photograph was taken in the living room of the house she grew up in, aged 10 and deep in her Spice Girls phase, especially Mel C. She remembers a loud, busy home where her mother listened to the Supremes or Diana Ross, polished a red leather sofa and made tea for anyone who dropped by, while dad’s mates, an uncle and her nan often filled the rooms.

Ruffell describes a childhood marked by anxiety, dyslexia and a secret struggle with her sexuality, which she did not reveal until she was 20.

suzi ruffell, portsmouth, standup comedy, apollo, podcast, like minded, tom allen, memoir, the juggle, mel c