Noel Fielding (; born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. He is known for his dark and surreal comedic style. In the 1990s, Fielding began performing stand-up comedy and met Barratt on the comedy circuit. Together, they produced a 2001 radio series called The Boosh for BBC Radio London. This was followed by the television show The Mighty Boosh, which ran for three series on BBC Three from 2004 to 2007. The show generated a cult following and won a variety of awards. During the 2000s, Fielding also had smaller roles in a number of comedy shows for Channel 4 including Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd, AD/BC: A Rock Opera, and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. After The Mighty Boosh, he wrote and starred in two series of a solo show for Channel 4 called Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, which ran between 2012 and 2014. He also appeared as himself as a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks from 2009 to 2015 and as a guest on Richard Ayoade's Travel Man series. Fielding has also exhibited his paintings in London and collaborated with Fendi for their autumn/winter 2021 menswear collection. He is the founder of the band Loose Tapestries, which he formed with Kasabian guitarist Sergio Pizzorno. Early life Fielding was born in the Westminster area of London on 21 May 1973, the son of Royal Mail manager Ray Fielding (born 1953) and Yvonne Fagan (1953–1990), and grew up in Pollards Hill near Croydon. He is of French descent through his grandmother. His parents separated some time after he was born. His comedic partner Julian Barratt described Fielding’s upbringing as “feral”; according to an article in The Sunday Times, Fielding's parents "had lots of parties" during his childhood, and Fielding has described how they would party through the night and that he would have to step over the bodies of their sleeping friends in the mornings as he got up. When Fielding was three years old, his father remarried, and Fielding was mostly raised by his grandmother. He describes his grandmother as someone he had a lot of respect for, saying in 2011 to The Guardian, “My grandma is