Jack Whitehall

Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall, born 7 July 1988, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his roles as JP in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Fresh Meat and Alfie Wickers in the BBC Three sitcom Bad Education, a series he also co-wrote. Additionally, Whitehall was a long-running regular panelist on the show A League of Their Own, starred in the Netflix documentary series Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father, and hosted the BRIT Awards across multiple years.

Whitehall was born at Portland Hospital in Westminster, London, to television producer Michael Whitehall and actress Hilary Amanda Jane Whitehall (née Isbister). He has a younger sister and a younger brother. Whitehall is a descendant of Thomas Jones Phillips, a Welsh lawyer who was a major opponent of the Newport Rising of 1839. His godfathers were actors Nigel Havers and Richard Griffiths. His father, a staunch conservative, impersonated Whitehall via postal vote in the 2010 general election and has frequently appeared alongside him in television programs.

He attended Tower House School in London, where he was a schoolmate of actor Robert Pattinson, and auditioned for the lead role in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sent to boarding school at age eleven, he was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Marlborough College. Following a gap year in which he decided to pursue stand-up comedy, he attended the University of Manchester to study history of art, dropping out after two terms.

Whitehall began performing stand-up at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a sketch show called Comic Abuse and at the Comedy Reserve showcase. In 2007, he won the Amused Moose Laugh Off competition. He performed his first solo stand-up show, Nearly Rebellious, at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009, earning a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He subsequently created and performed five stand-up tours: Jack Whitehall Live, Gets Around, At Large, Stood Up, and Settle Down.

His television presentation and panelist career grew with appearances on Big Brother's Big Mouth, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, and Stand Up for the Week. From 2012 to 2018, he was a regular panelist on A League of Their Own, and in 2012 he hosted his own countrywide comedy tour series, Hit The Road Jack.

In acting, Whitehall made his debut in Fresh Meat in 2011, playing public school boy J.P. across four series. In 2012, he launched Bad Education, playing teacher Alfie Wickers; he later co-wrote and starred in its 2015 feature film adaptation, The Bad Education Movie, and returned for a 2022 reunion special. His other acting projects include the BBC series Decline and Fall, the anthology series Inside No. 9, and the comedy-drama Little Crackers.

Throughout his career, Whitehall has hosted major national broadcasts and documentary series. He co-starred with his father in Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father starting in 2017. He hosted the BRIT Awards from 2018 to 2021, returning to host in 2025 and 2026.