Paddy McGuinness's first outing on the road to tellydom was in a series of six one off episodes in Channel 4's The Comedy Lab. He appeared as Terry, a work-shy employee in The Services alongside Peter Kay which aired in 1998.
In 2000 he got the part as Paddy the doorman in That Peter Kay Thing. He appeared in the episode entitled "The Club" which led to the massive spin off series Phoenix Nights and Phoenix Nights Series 2.
Paddy then went on to co-write with Peter Kay, the eagerly anticipated spin off to Phoenix Nights: Max and Paddy: The Road To Nowhere. This followed the adventures of the two Phoenix doormen (Max and Paddy) and what they got up to on their travels around the country.
Max and Paddy’s Power of Two, which featured the 2 characters performing in their very own work out video was subsequently released on DVD and became the fastest selling fitness video ever!
On top of this, Paddy and other Phoenix Nights cast members toured the country with their hilarious live comedy show, The Jumping On The Bandwagon Tour.
This led Paddy to embark on his first ever solo stand-up tour, The Dark Side. Paddy performed 108 dates, entertaining audiences across the UK with his sell out show in 2005. The DVD Paddy McGuinness: Live was subsequently released and was the best selling comedy stand-up DVD at the time.
Paddy has filmed shows for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky 1 and Channel 5, including game shows and chat shows.
In 2006 he wrote his first solo comedy short The Unknown Stuntman which he also starred in and was also a popular guest presenter on the Paul O’Grady Show.
In 2007, Paddy presented Raiders of the Lost Archive on ITV1, a show in which he and his guests (including Bruce Forsyth, Chris Tarrant and Michael Parkinson) watched TV shows they had appeared in years ago, which they had previously thought lost. Paddy was the face and writer of the Greggs’ TV commercials for two years.
His next venture included a Christmas DVD (Paddy McGuinness: All-Star Balls Ups) containing footballing gaffs and howlers, featuring guest appearances by Chris Kamara, Paul Merson, Graham Taylor, Alan McInally, Ian Rush, Jason McAteer, John Aldridge, Mark Lawrenson and Phil Thompson. It went straight to No1 in the sports DVD chart.
In 2008 Paddy appeared in the new Leigh Francis comedy for ITV Keith Lemon’s Gap Year as well as numerous comedy shows including Eight Out of Ten Cats, Law of the Playground, Would I Lie To You, The Paul O’Grady Show, Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong, Lily Allen and Friends and Gordon Ramsay’s F Word as a celebrity chef.
Paddy went back on the road in 2008 for another hugely successful sell out tour Paddy McGuinness Plus You! Live, playing to audiences throughout the UK.
Paddy has now filmed two series of Rory and Paddy’s Great British Adventure with Rory McGrath for Channel 5, which saw them travel the length and breadth of the UK in a small camper van, taking part in a whole host of unusual but quintessentially British events.
He appeared with Leigh Francis' alter ego Keith Lemon as runners up in the final for Let’s Dance For Comic Relief dancing to (I've Had) The Time of My Life.
Paddy began 2010 hosting the hugely popular ITV1 Saturday night prime time dating show Take Me Out. He has also taken part in Robbie Williams’ team in the star studded charity football game Socceraid at Old Trafford, alongside stars such as Mike Myers and Zinedine Zidane, hosted the Britain’s Got Talent tour and co-hosted ITV1’s This Morning over the summer.
Paddy McGuinness My Guide to the North (and Scotland and Wales, oh and other less important places i.e. the South) is now available in hardback.
The tenth series of the massively popular ITV 1 Take Me Out has seen Paddy firmly establish himself as mainstream primetime TV talent.
