Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English former broadcaster, writer, and television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show The Late Night Alternative on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began in the 1990s as a stand-up comedian before he gained nationwide fame as co-host of The 11 O'Clock Show from 1998 to 2000 and the breakfast show RI:SE in 2003. He then embarked on a full-time radio career in 2005, hosting mainly talk-based shows on LBC 97.3, Absolute Radio, BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio WM, and talkRADIO, which earned him numerous radio awards. In July 2020, after his contract at talkRADIO was not renewed, Lee launched his Twitch show. Early life Iain Lee Rougvie was born on 9 June 1973 in Slough, then a part of Buckinghamshire. He has Scottish roots. Lee's father worked at the props department at the BBC and his mother was a secretary until she developed multiple sclerosis which put her into an early retirement. The couple divorced when Lee was a youngster. Lee was raised on a council estate and recalled being bullied by fellow pupils because they considered him posh. By the late 1990s, Lee had dropped the "Rougvie" from his name. He officially changed his name to Iain Lee by deed poll in 2008, due to his troubled relationship with his father. Lee is the nephew of Scottish former footballer Doug Rougvie. He attended Herschel Grammar School in Slough and studied performing arts at Middlesex University. Career Comedy Lee began a stand-up comedy career in the 1990s, developing his act initially in the London area before performing nationwide. He does not look back on his time as a stand-up fondly, partly due to the fact that he started abusing drugs and alcohol during this time. However, he did meet Mackenzie Crook, also a stand-up comic at the time, who became a longtime friend. Radio Lee began his radio career in December 1997, presenting a four-hour show on Horizon 103.3, an independent station in Milton Keynes, on Christmas Day. At that point, he was 24 years old with only fifteen minutes experience in a studio and did not take any compliance or Ofcom regulation exam prior. Lee went on to feature on the station's morning program The Morning Crew hosted by Trevor Marshall and Helen Legh, as Iain in Black Thunder and Iain McCartney.