We chat to Ellie Taylor about her new tour, hectic life and finding the fun in ‘serious and tricky’ mid-life.
There aren’t enough days in the week for Ellie Taylor.
The comedian, actress and TV presenter, who’s also a wife and mother of two young children, is currently filming Bake Off: The Professionals, which she co-hosts, and is about to start a two-month long stand-up comedy tour around the UK.
And of course she’ll be squeezing in as much time as possible with her husband, the Australian TV reporter Phil Black, and their two children, aged six and one. Which leaves no time for anything as luxurious as relaxation.
The woman who describes herself as “a show-off for hire” admits: “I would love to relax, but there’s no capacity – there aren’t enough days in the week.
“If I’m not working, I’m in full-time mum mode, so time for myself is very precious and rare. Right now there’s very little me-time, but hopefully once the tour’s finished, I’ll get a bit of time for myself over the summer. I’d like to just chill out a bit – it’s been a really busy 18 months, so I’d like to sit and stare at a wall for a little bit.”
The tour, Palavering!, which starts this month, is the first time Taylor’s been on the road for around four years, and she explains: “It’s a stock-take of what I’ve been up to in life – it’s a new stage for me. I’ve got another baby, I’ve turned 41, I’ve got an air fryer with two drawers – it’s all changed.
“So it’s talking about that point of early mid-life where everything seems very serious and tricky and full-on, and trying to find the fun within all that.
“It’ll be lovely to get back out on the road and do live comedy again, and get a chance to wang on about my life in front of a group of people. It’s probably a bit like therapy, which I don’t have time for either. So that’s what it is – I’m doubling up.”
And ‘doubling up’ to make the most of every situation is something Taylor, 41, is good at – especially with her kids. “It’s always a full-on thing with any parent who works away,” she admits. “You have to just make it work as much as you can, and take home presents for your children, usually from set which involves a variety pack of Coco Pops or a packet of crisps I’ve stolen from the green room. But if you brand it as a present, they’re very happy.
“I think a lot of parents with young kids are in similar positions, where one moment you’re working, or the next your focus is your family. And I’m fine with that. I know it’s a stage in life – I love being at home, and I really miss them, so it’s lovely to get back and instantly get through the door, put on a load of washing, and pretend to be a horse.”
That’s one way to get the kids laughing – and Taylor is, of course, better than most mums at that. But what’s the secret to getting kids – and her adult audiences – to laugh?
“I’m a big fan of really silly stuff,” she says. “And I love when I get to the stage with my show where I know it really well, and then I can be a bit more free and silly and whimsical. I really enjoy that bit where I get to be more playful, because people say you forget to play when you grow up.
“As a stand-up, you’re so lucky that you get to muck around and behave like a child. That’s probably why I like playing with my kids so much, because I’m in my element – they’re very up for improv.”
Taylor’s had another baby – a boy – since she last toured, and admits: “Two kids is a whole different kettle of fish, for sure. Everyone said it would be a lot of work, and I said ‘Yeah, yeah, sure’. And now here I am going ‘God, it really is, I really understand.
“I thought it’d be a few more loads of washing a week, maybe making a couple of extra fish fingers. But it’s a whole other human and a whole other personality in the house, so yeah, it’s really changed things.”
But she says it’s “really interesting” having a little boy and seeing how her daughter interacts with him, and happily declares: “Being a little unit of four is something I still think we’re getting used to. He’s a year and a bit now, but he’s lovely, and it’s lovely.
“He’s at a really good age, where he’s developing before your eyes, especially because I’m away for work so much so I come back and he’s learned another little trick – like a puppy. ‘Give me a paw, now learn a new one’. Yeah, that’s very sweet.”
Needless to say, Taylor’s hectic work/parenting juggling act means she has little time for exercise – but it’s something she does intend to start doing more of when time allows.
“If I can, I try and do some weights, which I quite enjoy, and I’ve got a Peloton, so I jump on that. But it’s so hard when you’re busy with kids and work and crazy schedules and filming away and stuff. For me at least, my own fitness becomes the last thing on the list.
“So it’s definitely fallen off at the beginning of this year, unfortunately, but hopefully once I finish this block of filming, and I get back just into tour mode, then I’ll have some more free time, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
She says she “really enjoyed” a weights program she did on the Peloton last year, and really saw a difference in her body, especially as it was not long after having a baby. “I’d felt really wibbly and unstable, so I was enjoying feeling strong again. So that’s my aim, once I get a bit of time, just to get some muscles back.”
Taylor is chatting during a break from filming Channel 4’s Bake Off:The Professionals, which she admits is “a good gig, I won’t lie. I love it, it’s so much fun.”
But fun or not, the crucial question is does she get to eat any of the gorgeous patisserie items the professional pastry chefs make on the show?
“Oh, that’s problematic,” she says with a chuckle. “Yes, I’ve been scoffing my face – we’ve got choux pastry today.
“As much as I think I probably shouldn’t eat too much, I also think in a few years time, when I’m old and grey, I’ll remember when I worked on that lovely show with all the fine patisserie and I’d hate to go ‘But you never ate any Ellie did you, because you wanted to make sure you fitted in your trousers.’
“So now I’m like: ‘Just give me all the icing, give me all the chocolate’. You’ve got to have a go, because ultimately, what a sad little life if you’re on a baking show and you don’t get to eat anything. Where’s the fun in that?”
