...but Peter Kay is the most-loved

Alan Carr is the best-known comedian in the UK, researchers have found – but he’’s far from the most popular.

According to polling company YouGov, a massive 97 per cent of people know who Carr is… but only 57 per cent of people have a positive opinion of him.

Second place goes David Walliams, again known by 97 per cent of Brits, but slightly less popular stills with a 56 per cent approval rating.

Third place is Ricky Gervais, known by 96 per cent of people and liked by 60 per cent.

Britain’s best-loved comedian is Peter Kay, with a 74 per cent  approval rating, followed by the late Ronnie Corbett (70 per cent) and Dawn French (69 per cent)

The YouGov figures for the second quarter of this year, show the top ten most popular comedians are

1. Peter Kay 74%
2. Ronnie Corbett 70%
3. Dawn French 69%
4.  Ronnie Barker 69%
5. Billy Connolly 64%
6. Johnny Vegas 63%
7. Kenneth Williams  62%
8. Bradley Walsh 61%
9. John Bishop 60%
10. Ricky Gervais 60%

The full chart is here.

And the most well-known:

1. Alan Carr 97%
2. David Walliams 97%
3. Ricky Gervais 96%
4. Peter Kay 96%
5. Harry Hill 95%
6. Jo Brand 95%
7. Jimmy Carr 95%
8. Johnny Vegas 93%
9. Michael McIntyre 93%
10. Dawn French 92%

The results come from millions of data points and are weighted to be nationally representative.

Published: 26 Sep 2024