{"id":368574,"date":"2026-03-27T19:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/368574\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T19:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:40:12","slug":"i-wont-get-married-unless-i-have-a-lobotomy-joanne-mcnally-reveals-all-about-her-time-living-in-vogue-williams-and-spencer-matthews-basement-her-record-breaking-comedy-tour-and-fertility-pla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/368574\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I won’t get married… unless I have a lobotomy.’ JOANNE MCNALLY reveals all about her time living in Vogue Williams’ and Spencer Matthews’ basement, her record-breaking comedy tour and fertility plans with her gay best friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joanne McNally has just purchased her first house. \u2018Like, yesterday!\u2019 The 42-year-old has been renting a flat by herself in Clapham, south-west London<\/a>, but has now bought somewhere nearby.<\/p>\n

Given that she spent a chunk of her 30s in flatshares where the bathrooms were so mouldy that mushrooms started growing, she\u2019s excited. She might get a pet when she moves in. \u2018I\u2019d love a couple of chihuahuas, a couple of rabbits and a baby llama. Can you have a llama on Clapham Common?\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally is becoming one of the biggest comedians in the country. As a speedy CV, the Irish native: hosts, with her friend Vogue Williams<\/a>, the podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me (3.5 million listeners a month); went on a three-year-long tour in 2021 called The Prosecco Express (she sold out Vicar Street, Dublin\u2019s 2,500-person theatre, 78 times); appears on TV shows like Taskmaster, QI, The Weakest Link and The Wheel; was on The Claudia Winkleman<\/a> Show last week; and is rumoured to be in the next series of The Celebrity Traitors (\u2018I cannot [confirm] that, I\u2019d get f***ing killed\u2019). All of which means she has now been able to buy a house.<\/p>\n

McNally is \u2013 and these are her words \u2013 very single and very unfertilised. And a lot of her current tour, Pinotphile, is about those things. When I went to see it in Dublin, the crowd was largely female and giddy. In 2023, one of her gigs at the London Palladium sold the most alcohol<\/a> in the venue\u2019s 116-year history; in Dublin, I saw two women each holding a pint of white wine. It was a Tuesday. I asked what they liked about McNally and they replied: \u2018Oh, she\u2019s just bang on.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"McNally <\/p>\n

McNally is very much single at the moment – but has at least bought a house\u00a0<\/p>\n

McNally was on stage for 90 minutes and, really, every single line was a joke. There are gags about how, when she gets dumped, her friends always tell her she dodged a bullet (\u2018even though, I\u2019m the bullet\u2019); tweakments (\u2018I\u2019ve enough fish sperm in my face to sink an aquarium\u2019); and her hard-partying 20s (\u2018I didn\u2019t see my jaw for ten years\u2019).<\/p>\n

And there are a lot of jokes about men. McNally wonders why they always look awful in sunglasses (\u2018Do they know they can try them on first?\u2019) and how they are capable of coordinating polyamorous relationships but not, say, owning a fitted sheet. When she complains that men are unable to take decent photos of women, the girl next to me agrees \u2013 out loud.<\/p>\n

Today, sitting in a London pub and, appropriately, drinking a glass of white wine, McNally says at one point: \u2018My whole schtick is taking the p**s out of lads.\u2019 The sort of man McNally takes aim at is, normally, hapless \u2013 rather than the angry manosphere kind that everyone is currently talking about. (Though McNally thought the recent Louis Theroux documentary on the subject was fantastic.) And the quite small number of (straight) men who come to her shows find it funny. \u2018They know I don\u2019t mean half the s**t I\u2019m saying. I love lads!\u2019 But she did once have to ask a man, sitting in the front row, to please stop scowling and unfold his arms.<\/p>\n

After our interview she will fly to Dublin, perform Pinotphile again the following day, and for the four nights after that. By December, when the tour ends, she will have played a total of 151 shows (Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras tour had 149) across Europe, America and Australia, sold out London\u2019s Hammersmith Apollo ten times and become the first Irishwoman to headline Dublin\u2019s 10,000-seat 3Arena \u2013 twice.<\/p>\n

In person, she is thoughtful and funny, happy to be \u2018booked and busy\u2019. But, \u2018at the moment, I am doing all of this for my present self,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019m on the hamster wheel, and I hope that at some stage I have the sense to step off it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Joanne <\/p>\n

Joanne wears: top, Fenwick x Greggs. Earrings, necklace and bracelets, Giovanni Raspini. Rings throughout, Joanne\u2019s own. Tights, Heist. Shoes, Terry de Havilland<\/p>\n

McNally was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, and adopted when she was three months old by a couple called Pat and Frank from Dublin. Pat was a nurse, Frank a draughtsman (McNally also has a younger adopted brother, Conor).<\/p>\n

She always knew she was adopted. \u2018I\u2019ve met other people who are adopted, who have always struggled with it. I never have. I really never have. Now, maybe I\u2019ve buried it. Or maybe I handle it by tap dancing and looking for validation on stage. I don\u2019t know.\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally was a loud child in a happy but quiet home. \u2018My mum says I came out tap dancing. She was like, \u201cWe just didn\u2019t know what to do with you.\u201d\u2019 To make sense of her performing streak, she imagined her birth parents were from \u2018this showbiz dynasty\u2019. But when she met each of them in her 20s and 30s, she found they were \u2018really nice, very normal people\u2019. A young, unmarried couple who had got pregnant accidentally then separated.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t talk much about her birth mother (who\u2019d rather remain private) but does discuss Kevin, her biological dad. He left Ireland for Australia, where he married and had four sons. Kevin flew from Melbourne to Dublin to meet McNally for the first time at a pub in 2018, and, today, \u2018we\u2019re kind of slowly building and integrating into each other\u2019s lives\u2019. One of his sons, Finbar, has moved to London and he and McNally recently went out for dinner. A few years ago, when McNally was less famous, she did some gigs in Australia. She wasn\u2019t shifting many tickets, \u2018but I did a show [in Melbourne] and I couldn\u2019t figure out why it was selling. Kevin, it transpired, was sending his friends and family the link.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her adopted father Frank died, after a long illness and then a heart attack, when McNally was 15. Today, she is truly close to her mother Pat. \u2018I\u2019m probably a bit too reliant on her,\u2019 she says. \u2018I live in constant fear of her impending death. I\u2019m always trying to get her to do squats.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Joanne <\/p>\n

Joanne wears: coat, Ducie. Jacket, Marella. Hat, Jess Collett Milliner. Earrings, necklace and bracelets, Giovanni Raspini. Tights, Calzedonia. Suki the chihuahua wears: scarf, model\u2019s own<\/p>\n

Pat\u2019s advice before McNally started Pinotphile? \u2018This is going to crash and burn.\u2019 Pat\u2019s initial reaction to the show itself? \u2018I liked your costume.\u2019 Pat\u2019s response when McNally complained, on the European leg, that she wasn\u2019t selling many tickets in Bergen? \u2018Well, sure, how would it sell \u2013 we don\u2019t know anyone in Bergen!\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally came late to the comedy circuit. By her mid 20s, she was living in Dublin, working in PR, and developing a terrible case of bulimia. \u2018I\u2019d say I always had it. I\u2019d say it was always going to be something I slipped into. I was kind of a larger kid. I was self-conscious. I was tall\u2026 And I was competitive. I wanted to be good at something\u2026 so I decided I was going to be really good at being skinny.\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally has spoken about low moments during this period: how she slept in her office to hide her vomiting from her flatmates, and how, by her early 30s, she had to quit her job, become an outpatient at a clinic and move in with her mother.<\/p>\n

Today, she recalls when she finally realised she had to change. Her therapist asked her to \u2018bring me the benefits\u2019 of bulimia. McNally said men would find her more attractive. The therapist reminded her she\u2019d been dumped. McNally said her work would take her more seriously. The therapist reminded her she\u2019d had to quit her job. \u2018So I was racking my brain and [I said] a woman [at a bar] told me I look great. I\u2019m doing this for her.\u2019 The therapist asked McNally if she even remembered this woman\u2019s name. McNally did not.<\/p>\n

\"Tracksuit, <\/p>\n

Tracksuit, House of Sunny. Necklace, Roxanne First. Bracelets, Giovanni Raspini. Shot at The Abbeville, theabbeville.co.uk<\/p>\n

She is \u2018really concerned\u2019 how being thin is now fashionable \u2013 \u2018I honestly thought it had gone\u2019 \u2013 and I wonder if that\u2019s stressful for someone who\u2019s had an eating disorder. McNally says no. \u2018Because I\u2019m so out of that now. And I think [for me] it was locked into youth as well.\u2019 Later, she thinks more about this and says: \u2018It takes a long time to shift [an eating disorder]. And, you know, it\u2019s always kind of there in a way. I think in some ways I\u2019m incredibly resilient. But in other ways, there\u2019s a bit of fragility there. But that\u2019s probably the same for all of us.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was in 2014, at the age of 30, that she made \u2018a mad pivot\u2019 into standup and by 2017 had written Bite Me, a show about bulimia. That got her noticed and signed by Off The Kerb, the same UK comedy agency that represents Alan Carr, Michael McIntyre, Katherine Ryan and Jonathan Ross. (Today, McNally also has agents in Ireland and America.)<\/p>\n

She moved to London in 2018 with no money, lived in hostel dorms and took a lot of Megabuses to various British cities to perform. At a certain point in this stint, she went for a drink with Vogue Williams, the Irish presenter who\u2019d been a friend in Dublin. Williams invited her to move into the basement of the home she shared with her husband, the podcaster Spencer Matthews, and their newborn son.<\/p>\n

\"McNally <\/p>\n

McNally and Vogue Williams had been friends in Dublin and reconnected in London<\/p>\n

It was a \u2018nice basement\u2019, she clarifies today. McNally had her own kitchen and bathroom; \u2018I honestly don\u2019t even know if Spencer knew I was in there.\u2019 Matthews \u2013 who was first known as being the resident \u2018villain\u2019 on Made In Chelsea \u2013 is \u2018so lovely. And he was very kind to me during lockdown, when I\u2019d no money. He was, like, \u201cCan I help? Is there anything you need?\u201d And, you know, obviously I took it all and never paid him back!\u2019 She does a massive laugh. \u2018No, he\u2019s a very kind person. And he\u2019s mad about Vogue. They have a lovely marriage.\u2019 (McNally is now godmother to the couple\u2019s three-year-old son Otto. \u2018It\u2019s a running gag how awful a godmother I am.\u2019 She jokes about hoping the \u2018if both parents die, the godparent takes the child\u2019 thing is an urban myth. \u2018Spencer and Vogue: please fly separately.\u2019)<\/p>\n

After six months she left the basement and moved into flatshares, including the aforementioned mushroom dwelling. In 2021, Williams suggested they start a podcast. The title was because one of McNally\u2019s therapists did in fact ghost her, and the format was simple: sprawling chatter between two funny friends. Within months it had more than a million listeners \u2013 and, after years of gigging, McNally went mainstream.<\/p>\n

She has said that most men find her stand-up funny, but her comedy style has \u2018definitely made dating harder\u2019. \u2018Is it very welcoming? Probably not.\u2019<\/p>\n

Between 2022 and 2024, McNally had a partner (called Alan) but she\u2019s now single. Last October, a man from Hinge asked her on a date \u2013 McNally agreed but said she didn\u2019t have a free evening until December. On the day itself, she woke at 5am for a photoshoot and was so knackered by evening she cancelled. (She\u2019s not on dating apps now: \u2018I\u2019d refer to myself as almost problematically independent at this stage.\u2019)<\/p>\n

\"McNally <\/p>\n

McNally says she still relies heavily on the counsel of her adoptive mother, Pat<\/p>\n

McNally feels aware that singleness is something people now associate with her. She once went out with a man who, when she broke up with him, said: \u2018Well, of course, it\u2019s kind of bad for your brand now to be in a relationship.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You don\u2019t want to make your whole identity that you\u2019re a single woman,\u2019 she says. \u2018But, in the same breath, it does colour a lot of your life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Does she want a relationship? \u2018I change like the weather.\u2019 At this specific second of our conversation, the answer is no. \u2018I\u2019ve no interest in dating.\u2019 And, \u2018I won\u2019t get married unless I have a lobotomy.\u2019 But there\u2019s a longer answer, too. \u2018I\u2019m under no illusions of the work and the compromise that go into relationships. But don\u2019t get me wrong, there are times where you\u2019re sitting in the flat all week, you\u2019ve nothing to do, no one to meet and see, and you\u2019re like, god, a boyfriend would be really handy right now.\u2019<\/p>\n

GET PALLY WITH MCNALLY\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Who was your childhood crush?<\/p>\n

Any man twice my age with a blond undercut, wearing a set of dog tags.<\/p>\n

Who is your current crush?<\/p>\n

Any man with a mullet on an e-scooter.<\/p>\n

How many unread emails do you have?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know because I don\u2019t want to know. But it resembles a full-blown mobile phone number.<\/p>\n

Sauvignon or pinot?<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ve made my feelings very clear on this issue\u2026 Pinot is the honey of the gods and I\u2019d go into battle for it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on your bedside table?<\/p>\n

Lamps, books, meds, leaky pens, empty gratitude journals, earrings, human ears.<\/p>\n

Biggest ick?<\/p>\n

Headbands with penises on them, and foldable bicycles.<\/p>\n

Go-to karaoke song?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t engage with karaoke – I never have. I can\u2019t bear the eye contact.<\/p>\n

Who should play you in a film?<\/p>\n

Cheryl Cole, maybe, if she\u2019s up for it. Julia Roberts? Anyone hotter than me.<\/p>\n

Last thing you remember losing?<\/p>\n

I lose everything, so I had to retrain as a Buddhist for my mental health and now I understand nothing really belongs to me. So, technically, I never \u2018lose\u2019 anything and those AirPods are on their own journey.<\/p>\n

What do you eat for breakfast?<\/p>\n

Eggs. I\u2019m brainwashed to think If I don\u2019t get 16 kilos of protein a day I\u2019ll get muscle atrophy, waste away and die.<\/p>\n

Best brand of crisps?<\/p>\n

Sour Cream & Onion Pringles. I also like to pair a pinot with a bag of prawn Giant Wotsits. It\u2019s Michelin.<\/p>\n

Top song on Spotify Wrapped?<\/p>\n

Vogue Williams\u2019 Good Girls.<\/p>\n

Tell us a joke?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know any, sadly\u2026<\/p>\n

<!- – ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/lifestyle\/none\/article\/other\/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->\n<\/p>\n

She continues. \u2018When you\u2019re living with somebody, their energy is in the room with you. You hear their shower in the morning. Maybe they\u2019ve got the radio on. There\u2019s life in the house. Living on your own, you don\u2019t have that.\u2019 That, she\u2019d like. \u2018Passive socialising is the dream.\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally also thinks she might want a child. \u2018I\u2019ve lived this life now for ten years and I love it, and there\u2019s always fresh goals to work towards \u2013 but I would like something in my life with a heartbeat.\u2019<\/p>\n

She froze her eggs when she was 38 and, today, \u2018like it or not, the clock is ticking\u2019. If she does have a child, it would likely be with her gay friend Ross. He\u2019s keen to co-parent and has \u2018great hair and great teeth\u2019. It wouldn\u2019t be with a future boyfriend because she doesn\u2019t think that would be logistically possible. (\u2018The time it would take me to meet a man and make him fall in love with me \u2013 that\u2019s at least six months.\u2019) Nor does she think a \u2018[sperm] donor would suit me, because I travel a lot for work and want someone else to be invested in the child\u2019.<\/p>\n

The tricky thing is, when? McNally has become so successful in the past five years, and she\u2019s worried about stopping. \u2018When I think about maybe having a child, I mean, what can I do? I can\u2019t. I\u2019ve got an American tour in October. I can\u2019t do that.\u2019 And, \u2018that\u2019s a conversation I have with myself regularly. I\u2019m like, are you gonna wake up at 50 and think: \u201cWell, I never had a child but thank god I sold 200 tickets in Salt Lake City\u201d?\u2019<\/p>\n

When I ask what she\u2019ll do when the Pinotphile tour ends, McNally says have a long bath. \u2018But if I could box [having a] baby off, I\u2019d be delighted with myself.\u2019 She pauses. \u2018I just pray I have the sense to do it. I just enjoy my job so much.\u2019<\/p>\n

I can see why she enjoys her job. At the end of the show I saw in Dublin, she did a bow, got out her phone and filmed the audience who were, by then, on their feet \u2013 clapping, cheering and dancing. She said, \u2018Bye girls!\u2019 \u2013 because the crowd really was mostly girls \u2013 and walked into the wings, and there was another huge cheer. \u2018Did you like it?!\u2019 the women next to me asked, shouting because it was so loud. I said I loved it. \u2018So did we!\u2019<\/p>\n

McNally will move into her new house soon. I ask what she\u2019ll do on her first night? \u2018Play music, bop around, drink a bottle of white and have a fag out the window,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018And I might give myself a little pat on the back. Never too big a pat on the back \u2013 I\u2019m not big into sentimentality \u2013 but, yes, I might give myself a little pat on the back.\u2019<\/p>\n

Joanne McNally tours throughout 2026, for tickets visit joannemcnally.com<\/p>\n

Hair: Louis Byrne at Premier Hair and Make-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Make-up: Jesse Walker using Tatcha.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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