Television Giedroyc met
Sue Perkins while they were students at the
University of Cambridge and members of the
Footlights comedy club.
Mel and Sue were short-listed for the
Daily Express Best Newcomers Award at the
Edinburgh Festival in 1993. Their first presenting roles saw them host a lunchtime show on
Channel 4 called
Light Lunch (and the early evening version,
Late Lunch). In 1996, she appeared with Perkins in four episodes of the
BBC One sketch comedy series
French and Saunders. In 1999, Giedroyc appeared with Perkins in one episode of
Gimme Gimme Gimme, playing a receptionist at a hotel. She was also a presenter on Channel 4's
RI:SE. She narrated
Celebrity Driving School in 2003. Some other ventures include being a contestant on the 2005 series of
The Games, co-starring in the 2005 BBC One sitcom
Blessed and co-presenting ''
Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show on ITV. Giedroyc was in one episode of The Vicar of Dibley''. Giedroyc was the sixth student to be voted out of
Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and was a celebrity judge on the 2007 edition of
Making Your Mind Up along with
John Barrowman. She starred as one of the presenters in the show
Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision! at the
Edinburgh Fringe and subsequently in the West End at the
Novello Theatre. Giedroyc played the Fairy Liquid in a production of
Jack and the Beanstalk at London's Barbican theatre in December 2007. She appeared in a children's sketch show for the BBC ''
Sorry, I've Got No Head. In 2010, Giedroyc was a celebrity guest team captain on What Do Kids Know?'' with
Rufus Hound,
Joe Swash and
Sara Cox on
Watch and also appeared in the first episode of series two of
Miranda Hart's self-titled sitcom
Miranda as a life coach. Giedroyc was a panellist on the
Channel 5 programme
The Wright Stuff in 2007, 2008 and in February 2010. She plays Mrs V, the owner of the Y café, in CBBC programme
Sadie J and is also the voice of Mist in
Mist: Sheepdog Tales, shown on Channel 5's morning show
Milkshake!. Giedroyc was reunited with Sue Perkins in 2010 to host the cookery competition
The Great British Bake Off, on
BBC Two from 16 August 2010. Later, in an apparently syndicated newspaper interview, Giedroyc admitted that she did the show just for the money, informing readers that she had nearly gone bankrupt. The show moved to BBC One for its
fifth series and has won numerous awards. In 2012 and 2013, Giedroyc hosted two special charity series for
Sport Relief and
Comic Relief featuring celebrities who took part for charity. In 2014, she guest hosted an episode of
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and in 2015, one episode of
The Great Comic Relief Bake Off. In March 2014, Giedroyc presented
Collectaholics, a factual mini-series for BBC Two. From May 2014, Giedroyc presented one series of the Channel 4 programme
Draw It!, based upon and developed by the makers of the
mobile app Draw Something. In May 2014, Giedroyc and
clinical psychologist Dr Jennifer Wild presented a one-off show for BBC One called
Vertigo Road Trip about people who have a fear of heights. Reviewing the programme, in
The Psychologist, Petrina Cox described it as "an engaging and valuable education for the general public about the nature of anxiety disorders such as specific phobias. It is sure to reduce stigma, inspire hope and encourage people to seek evidence-based treatments... " On 12 November 2014, Giedroyc guest hosted an episode of
The One Show with
Alex Jones. In 2015, Giedroyc narrated eight-part BBC One series
Now You See It. A second series aired in 2016. In January 2015, Giedroyc and Perkins were given their own daytime chat show on ITV. The show, called
Mel and Sue aired for 30 episodes, every weekday at 4pm. In August 2015, it was announced that
Mel and Sue had not been re-commissioned. Giedroyc and
Matt Baker began co-hosting four-part BBC One series
The Gift in February 2015.
The Gift returned for a second series in 2017. Giedroyc hosted the
Sky1 primetime game show
Relatively Clever, which began on 3 April 2015. In May 2015, Giedroyc joined
Scott Mills in commentating the semi-finals of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2015 for the
United Kingdom. It was broadcast on
BBC Three. In December 2015, Giedroyc performed as Frau Schmidt in
The Sound of Music Live (2015) which was broadcast on ITV. In 2016, she presented the first episode of
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off. Since 2016, Giedroyc has presented the
Eurovision You Decide programme. In September 2016, Love Productions announced that a three-year deal had been agreed to broadcast
The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4, instead of the BBC, from 2017. Giedroyc and Perkins announced that they would not be continuing with the show on its new network.
Mary Berry later announced she was also leaving
Bake Off on the same day that fellow judge
Paul Hollywood separately announced he would be staying with the show. In 2017, Giedroyc co-presented the Saturday night BBC show
Let It Shine – including three live shows – alongside
Graham Norton. The judges were
Gary Barlow,
Martin Kemp and
Dannii Minogue. She narrated
The Secret Chef for ITV and co-presented ''
Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief'' alongside Sue Perkins on BBC One. Also in 2017, Giedroyc competed in the fourth series of
Taskmaster against
Lolly Adefope,
Hugh Dennis,
Noel Fielding and
Joe Lycett. Since June 2017, Giedroyc has presented Saturday night entertainment series
Pitch Battle for BBC One. She also presents the daily BBC Two game show
Letterbox, having hosted 45 episodes (15 for series one, 30 for series two) since 2017. On 23 July 2017, it was confirmed that Giedroyc and Perkins would host a new version of
The Generation Game for BBC One. In November 2017, she co-presented
Children in Need for the first time. In December 2017, she hosted an episode of
Have I Got News for You and was host again in 2022 and 2024. In May 2018, Giedroyc was the spokesperson for the United Kingdom as part of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable began airing on
Dave in February 2021. It invites three celebrity guests along to Mel's confessional each week to find out who's committed sins that are so bad that they should be declared 'unforgivable'. On 13 May 2023, Giedroyc was UK co-commentator at the Eurovision Song Contest final, alongside Graham Norton. In a reference to the 2014 Polish Eurovision entry "
My Słowianie" and to Giedroyc's own Polish heritage, she appeared as a Polish milkmaid, suggestively churning butter behind host
Hannah Waddingham, as Waddingham introduced
Armenia's performance after the intermission. In late 2024, Giedroyc became the host of the British version of the Mattel-produced American game show
Pictionary. The broadcast started on 23 December 2024 on ITV with Christmas specials and was followed by the regular series in early 2025. In 2025, Giedroyc participated in the
sixth series of The Masked Singer as "Teeth". She was eliminated in the fifth episode. In August 2025, Giedroyc was announced as a contestant on the upcoming second series of
LOL: Last One Laughing UK, set to air in 2026.
Radio Giedroyc appeared in the 1994 Radio 4 comedy series
The Skivers with Nick Golson and Tim de Jongh. In July 2000, Giedroyc appeared as a contestant on
The 99p Challenge, a radio show hosted by Sue Perkins. In August 2010, Giedroyc appeared on the
Dave Gorman show on
Absolute Radio as one of his co-hosts, standing in for
Danielle Ward, and has also appeared on series 4 to 7 of ''
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! on BBC Radio 4. From 2 April 2011, with the rebranding of Radio 7 as Radio 4 extra, Giedroyc presented The 4 O'Clock Show'', a magazine show including items designed to entertain and inform children. On 6 September 2014, Giedroyc co-hosted with
Lee Mack on his
BBC Radio 2 Saturday morning show. From 16 April 2016, she started presenting a Saturday lunchtime show on
Magic Radio from 1pm until 3pm. On 13 November 2024, it was announced that Giedroyc would start presenting a request show on Magic Radio on Sunday mornings from January 2025. In 2025, Giedroyc presented The Magic Request Show.
Podcasting In 2025, Giedroyc launched a podcast
Mel and Sue Should Know by Now on Audible with Perkins. Also in 2025 she took over from
Kathy Burke as host of ''Where There's a Will There's a Wake''.
Other work In November 2014, Giedroyc was a part of
Gareth Malone's
All Star Choir, singing the opening solo in the choir's cover version of "
Wake Me Up" to raise money for the
BBC's
Children in Need. On 3 and 10 November 2014, a two-part documentary about the choir was broadcast by
BBC One. On 16 November, the single entered the
UK Singles Chart at Number One. Giedroyc appeared in
The Rocky Horror Show Live which was simulcast live to cinemas across the United Kingdom and Europe from London's Playhouse Theatre on 17 September 2015 in the role of Third Narrator. Giedroyc presented the
Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour from 22 January until 14 February 2016. Giedroyc appeared in the 2018 West End Revival of the
Stephen Sondheim musical
Company, playing the role of Sarah. Giedroyc played
Beatrice in the 2018
Rose Theatre production of
Shakespeare's
Much Ado About Nothing. On 23 November 2021, it was announced that Giedroyc would dance with
Neil Jones in the
2021 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. Giedroyc played the parts of Mrs Edwards (wife of the custodian of the
Crown Jewels) and of a '
Lady of the Bedchamber' to King
Charles II, in
The Crown Jewels, a play written by screenwriter
Simon Nye and performed at the
Garrick Theatre in
London in 2023, about
Colonel Blood's theft of the jewels in 1671. The part of Blood was played by
Aidan McArdle,
Al Murray played the king, and the cast also included
Neil Morrissey. In February 2024, Giedroyc played the part of Irene, Brian's mum in the world premiere of the musical
Starter for Ten, based on the novel and film at the
Bristol Old Vic. She reprised the role in the September 2025 revival in Bristol before transferring to the
Birmingham Rep. ==Personal life==