Comedian, actress and TV presenter Ellie Taylor is gearing up for a two-month stand-up comedy tour around the country.

The wife and mother-of-two, who is currently filming Bake Off: The Professionals, which she co-hosts, will be visiting two Kent theatres as part of the 18-date tour, Palavering.

Ellie, who is coming to Tunbridge Wells and Ramsgate this spring, will be squeezing in as much time as possible with her husband, the Australian TV reporter Phil Black, and their two children, which leaves no time for relaxation.

“I would love to relax, but there’s no capacity – there aren’t enough days in the week,” says Ellie. “If I’m not working, I’m in full-time mum mode, so time for myself is very precious and rare.”

The new tour, which kicks off in April, will mark the first time Ellie has been on the road for around four years.

“It’s a stock-take of what I’ve been up to in life,” says the Essex-born comic. “It’s a new stage for me. I’ve got another baby, I’ve turned 41, I’ve got an air fryer with two drawers – it’s all changed.”

“So it’s talking about that point of early mid-life where everything seems very serious and tricky and full-on, and trying to find the fun within all that.

“It’ll be lovely to get back out on the road and do live comedy again, and get a chance to wang on about my life in front of a group of people. It’s probably a bit like therapy, which I don’t have time for either. So that’s what it is – I’m doubling up.”

Ellie started her career in the 2010s, appearing on ITV’s Show Me the Funny and Mock the Week.

In 2020, Ellie starred in Apple TV’s Emmy Award-winning series Ted Lasso and, in 2022, she joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing. She reached the tenth week of the dance competition with her partner, Johannes Radebe.

However, after taking a break from stand-up, Ellie is now returning to the stage with her new tour, which starts in Portsmouth.

“I’m a big fan of really silly stuff,” she says. “And I love when I get to the stage with my show where I know it really well, and then I can be a bit more free and silly and whimsical. I really enjoy that bit where I get to be more playful because people say you forget to play when you grow up.

“As a stand-up, you’re so lucky that you get to muck around and behave like a child. That’s probably why I like playing with my kids so much, because I’m in my element – they’re very up for improv.”

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Ellie Taylor will be at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on Thursday, May 15 and the Granville Theatre in Ramsgate on Friday, May 16. You can book tickets online here.

The tour begins in Portsmouth on Thursday, April 3 and will finish in Cardiff on Sunday, May 25.