Roisin Conaty

“I've never been that girl who has to be in a relationship. My job has given me such a big, full life and, while I know it's not quite the same as having an intimate relationship, I do have a lot of friends and family.”

“I mean, I've got a face for comedy. I say that with love. It does its job.”

“Passion and kindness are the most attractive qualities. Sense of humour is up there, but kindness becomes more important as you get older. You realise the funny, charming ones aren't always the best people.”

“Most shows for me tend to be 'missable', because I work in the evenings, but if 'Come Dine With Me' is on I'll find it. Eight hundred channels, but I'll find it.”

“I was a very imaginative child and I told a lot of lies. My sister used to call it my Exaggerator Calculator. I liked telling a story and I knew how to polish it up.”

“And the comic Daniel Kitson, he makes very good pies. I think he made one with feta, it was incredible. King of the pies.”

“I watch stuff from all around the world. We all grow up watching American TV, so the idea that I might have teenage American girls watching my show is kind of funny!”

“I'd seen Richard Pryor and Joan Rivers, the stuff off the telly. I don't think I'd seen anything live before I did a gig, which is weird.”

“Me and Greg Davies once shared a whole jar of pesto, neat, during the Edinburgh festival years ago because we had no food in the flat.”

“All my mother's sisters are matriarchs - there are big characters and opinions.”

“Comedy is one of the few places in entertainment at present where it's good for women to be, as no one is telling you that you're too heavy or too old.”

“I'm from an Irish family and, even though I grew up in 80s London, I spent a lot of my childhood in southwest Ireland.”

“We weren't very wealthy, but I had a real working-class guilt about wanting to perform. I felt disdain towards it because of the thought that performers were looking for attention. I did theatre studies for my A levels, but didn't think a career as a performer was something I could do.”

“I like garish things: I like the 1970s and 1960s, and country music - that big-hair look. I don't go for nudes or beiges. My hair's naturally black - I bleach it. I don't go for subtleties.”

“My mum is hilarious. My dad was very, very funny too.”

“I like a lot of makeup and I like big blonde hair. Life's too short for the natural look. Bang it on.”

“If something's awful, I find it funny. If something's funny, I find it funny. It's my natural, go-to place.”

“I think the most bonkers and tiring job I've ever had was in my teens where I worked in Woolworths in the Christmas period. That level of tired I've never really felt since.”

“I'm a terrible dresser. I wouldn't know what's in or what season I'm in. It's a real effort for me not to look mad.”

“I like a sleeve on a dress, something pinched in at the waist that shows my figure.”