Gail Porter on comedy: 'Has anyone here been sectioned?'

"Has anyone present been sectioned?" TV presenter Gail Porter jokily asks her audience. Famed for her vibrancy arsenic good arsenic intelligence wellness struggles, she has turned to drama to instrumentality power of her ain story.

Comedy is simply a caller task for Gail. She has conscionable concluded a tally of her one-woman amusement Hung, Drawn and Portered astatine the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The amusement documents her beingness experiences and appears to beryllium liberating.

"If I've got a problem, I similar to stock it - whether it's homelessness oregon losing my hair," she tells the BBC Access All podcast. "I've been successful a psychiatric portion and I conscionable deliberation 'you cognize what? I'll conscionable archer you. What's the worst that could happen?'"

She got the sensation for drama past twelvemonth aft she teamed up with stand-ups John Bishop and Tony Pitts for their Fringe show, Three Little Words.

"We conscionable did not halt laughing," she says. The duo made a throwaway remark that she should constitute her ain amusement - truthful she did.

"It wasn't until it was each organized that I realized however overmuch enactment goes into these things and however overmuch wealth it costs and however overmuch wealth you don't make."

Money is simply a bony of contention for Gail. Having risen to prominence arsenic a lively 25-year-old successful the 1990s she hosted TV programmes including Fully Booked, Top Of The Pops and Wish You Were Here.

But her pathway began to alteration tack successful 1999 erstwhile she posed bare for FHM magazine. She was assured the representation wouldn't spell anywhere, but alternatively it was projected onto the Houses of Parliament, lasting 18m (60ft) high. The archetypal she knew of it was erstwhile she heard her sanction mentioned connected the news.

Gail has antecedently spoken astir what a devastating infinitesimal that was, and it preceded respective intelligence wellness challenges and periods of homelessness that person been well-documented.

In 2005 she besides developed alopecia and her TV vocation practically ended overnight.

"It was truthful quick," she says. "I had agelong blonde hair, and past 4 weeks aboriginal I was wholly bald. People didn't privation to spell adjacent maine for tv oregon thing due to the fact that I looked different."

She decided aboriginal connected that wearing a wig wasn't for her.

"My head's rather a bully signifier and I'm rather clumsy and I thought I'm the benignant of idiosyncratic that would astir apt instrumentality my wig disconnected successful a bar, scratch my head, enactment it backmost on, and past everyone successful the barroom would beryllium traumatized.

"I've been bald present for 18 years and I inactive get invited onto sheet shows and they go: 'We can't wage you' - due to the fact that each I was bully for was talking astir being bald and providing a benignant of nationalist service."

It's a script tons of disabled radical successful the media situation look and Gail is infuriated by it.

The drama seems to beryllium a mode of wrangling immoderate of that power back. She is unafraid to excavation her ain experiences for the amusement successful the anticipation it mightiness assistance others successful akin situations.

This is surely existent of her acquisition of being sectioned nether the Mental Health Act successful 2011.

She says, astatine the time, specified units seemed to beryllium utilized arsenic holding pens portion the authorities figured retired what to bash with the premix of individuals each determination for antithetic reasons.

"I was successful determination due to the fact that I was depressed. There was a feline that was successful determination with maine who they couldn't get into situation due to the fact that the situation was full."

But it has besides provided her with a wealthiness of amusing material.

"There were 2 guys who thought they were Jesus. So, you know, are we calling you Jesai? Do we usage plurals? I tin laughter astir it now, but I didn't laughter astatine the time."

The Covid-19 pandemic was nary different, thrusting hugely affectional challenges successful her direction, which she is present capable to spot the lighter broadside of.

In 2020, conscionable days earlier planetary borders closed for isolation purposes, Gail's begetter died portion surviving successful Spain.

"I got a telephone telephone from my dada successful the morning. He was wholly fine. And past I got a telephone telephone successful the day saying, 'Your dad's dead, he's had a monolithic encephalon haemorrhage'."

Gail was told she had 1 week to question from Edinburgh to London, London to Spain, place and cremate her begetter and past get backmost home.

With her father's ashes, "I got the past formation retired of Spain," she says. "I enactment him successful a container that said 'happy' connected it, due to the fact that I didn't privation radical to inquire maine immoderate questions" and she stowed him astatine her feet.

When a subordinate of compartment unit offered her an upgrade - 2 seats successful archetypal people - she leapt astatine them. The bemused antheral adjacent to her was speedy to constituent retired helium was not connected to Gail and didn't request a seat.

"No," Gail said to him, pointing to her bag. "For my Dad."

Her father's bequest has provided immoderate fiscal information and that, on with compensation for her telephone being hacked, "keeps maine ticking over", but she would alternatively beryllium paid decently for her talents.

"If I was relying connected TV oregon vigor I would beryllium bankrupt," she admits, highlighting the precarious quality of the personage world.

Money troubles was 1 of the reasons Gail entered the Big Brother House successful 2015 for its UK vs USA series, moving successful with supermodel Janice Dickinson, Atomic Kitten Natasha Hamilton and The Bill actor, Chris Ellison.

"I did that due to the fact that I was skint and homeless," she admits. "I thought, 'I'll beryllium retired wrong the archetypal week - I'll bore people'."

But contempt begging viewers to ballot her disconnected - "if you walk, they don't wage you" - Gail remained until the last week.

When Gail did permission the location she headed straight for the exit, telling presenter Emma Willis: "Being sectioned was much amusive than being successful Big Brother!"

But determination was an upside. The wealth she earned enabled her to rent a level which became her oasis and enabled her to reconstruct immoderate equilibrium.

"I locked the doorway and I laic connected the level and I was like: 'Thank goodness'. I didn't permission the level for astir 2 months. I conscionable didn't privation to spot anybody."

Gail's vocation has been a rollercoaster and astatine the infinitesimal she's enjoying a rising illustration acknowledgment to the comedy.

But aft a period of performances she said she's keen to "hang out" with her feline and is having meetings astir aboriginal penning projects too.

"I cognize what it's like. You tin beryllium close successful the apical of the question and past abruptly you're dumped again. I'm conscionable going to spell with it and spot what happens and conscionable bask my life."

You tin perceive to the podcast and find accusation and enactment connected the BBC Access All page. If you've got a communicative get successful interaction with Beth by emailing bethany.rose@bbc.co.uk