'You're only in this business if you've got an ego – and I have'

Comedian Jenny Eclair on her latest stand-up tour, forthcoming festive shows and her other top job as a devoted grandma

- KENZI DEVINE

Award-winning comedian Jenny Eclair is no stranger to the world of showbiz, but it was three years ago that she took on her favourite job to date - “Nanna” to her adorable grandson, Arlo. “Oh, he’s the light of my life. It’s not healthy, but I love it,” laughs 65-year-old Jenny of the tot, son of her only daughter Phoebe, as we sit down for an exclusive chat.

The doting grandmum, currently on tour with stand-up tour Jokes, Jokes, Jokes Live!, continues, “I am a big toddler fan. I dread him growing up. I can’t stop it but it’s going to break my heart! I have him every Tuesday, so on Wednesdays I’m f**ked, I’m a mess. My rule is that I never work Tuesdays now.”

Jenny shares her daughter with husband Geof Powell, whom she has been in a relationship with for almost four decades, but only married relatively recently, in 2017. The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony with just close family and friends in attendance.

And Jenny’s hilariously nonchalant about her big day. Asked whether she’s glad to have taken the leap, she immediately fires back, “Oh no. No, no, no,” accompanied with an assured shake of the head.

“Marriage is a stupid thing. It has to be done, though, because otherwise you die and all your money goes to the government,” she explains, matter-of-factly.

“Had I known that civil partnerships for heterosexual couples would be legal within a year after I got married, we’d have done that.

She and Geof do try and mark the day each year - when memory allows. “We celebrate our anniversary, when we remember! But we’re good at being nice to each other. It doesn’t need to be an anniversary - occasionally we do buy each other small things.”