Paddy McGuinness, the host of Take Me Out and former Top Gear presenter, brought his first stand-up tour in eight years to The London Palladium.
Paddy McGuinness, best known as the host of Take Me Out, brought his stand-up tour Nearly There to The London Palladium on Friday 14 March 2025.
McGuinness was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, in 1973. At Mount St Joseph High School he became close friends with Peter Kay. He then spent seven years at Horwich Leisure Centre as a manager, lifeguard and fitness instructor.
Kay brought him into That Peter Kay Thing in 2000. His breakthrough came the next year as the bouncer Paddy in the Channel 4 sitcom Phoenix Nights, followed by its spin-off, Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere.
He presented that ITV dating show from 2010 to 2019, then co-presented the BBC’s Top Gear from 2019 to 2022. Before this tour he had written and performed four stand-up shows, the last of them Daddy McGuinness in 2015 and 2016.
Nearly There was his first tour since then. It ran to 40 dates across 2024 and 2025, and the Palladium was its London date.