Comedian Joe Lycett announces birth of baby boy
Joe Lycett has become a dad with his girlfriend ‘Denise’. (Getty)
Comedian and pansexual icon Joe Lycett has joyous news to share: he is now the proud parent to a baby boy along with his long-term girlfriend.
Lycett revealed the addition to his family by sharing a picture on Instagram of him holding the baby, who was born at Birmingham Women’s Hospital.
In the post, Lycett thanked the hospital and praised NHS staff for “masterfully [welcoming] a little boy into the world, who happens to be [his] son”.
He wrote: “An appreciation post from me for the extraordinary [Birmingham women’s hospital]. My first encounter with them was years ago when they looked after a pal of mine through surgery, and then most recently when they masterfully welcomed a little boy into the world, who happens to be my son.”
“The care and compassion his mum and he received was exceptional; from the antenatal classes, incredible midwives, consultants, doctors, nurses and the ongoing care in the community.”
“Birmingham is so lucky to have them and I will be forever grateful for everything they’ve done,” Lycett continued, adding that the end that while he is loving “being a dad”, this now means he has no excuse to avoid being a guest on fellow comedians “Rob [Beckett] and Josh [Widdicombe’s] f***ing podcast” which is called Parenting Hell.
Beckett responded to the post not with congratulations but a simple “let’s talk” and Widdicombe asked: “Next Friday?”
While Lycett is known for his jokes and pranks, often announcing random news that turns out not to be true, The Guardian reports that the comedian’s post is, in fact, sincere and true.
The news was also confirmed by the Birmingham Women’s Hospital, who offered congratulations to the family, saying that they were “proud to have supported [them] on this incredibly life-changing milestone”.
Lycett did add another joke into his post, telling any journalists who might be reading it that the family will “not be taking any press requests” as they “have already sold the rights to the first family picture to [car buying website] Autotrader”.
Lycett revealed that he had a girlfriend earlier this month during an interview with drag queen Bimini Bon-Boulash, though he declined to offer any details about her and insisted on using the pseudonym ‘Denise’ to “keep her out of the public eye”. It is presumed that ‘Denise’ is the mum to Lycett’s baby boy.
He said he lives with his girlfriend, and claimed that the reason he chose the name ‘Denise’ is because “she hates the name”. Not much else is known about her.
The 36-year-old host of Channel 4’s Late Night Lycett has been very open about his bisexuality and pansexuality in the past, with Unicorn Magazine previously describing him as “probably the most high-profile pansexual man in Britain today”.
He has also spoken about the struggles of people wanting to put him in a box when it comes to his sexuality despite the fact being pansexual “means you fancy people of all genders”.
People also will assume that he is gay even though he has been in a long-term relationship with a woman, with Lycett adding that he received a lot of biphobia when he first came out.
“I use the term bisexual when I just want to give a quick answer because people understand that. But I think the most accurate way of describing myself is pansexual, in that I’m not attracted to people just because of their gender,” he said.
Lycett added: “I get it but it would be nice to live in a world where everyone just chilled the f**k out.”
Since becoming a household name in the 2010s, Lycett has used his platform to speak about sexuality and issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, in addition to causing controversy for his pranks and publicity stunts.
