Lou Sanders (born 1978 or 1979^[1]) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Since beginning her career in comedy, she has appeared regularly on panel shows and performed on Live at the Apollo. She also appeared as a sidekick on Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and was a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice.

Sanders grew up in Broadstairs, Kent with her mother and her stepfather, a history teacher. Her father was periodically present. She moved out at the age of 15;^[2] she later earned a degree in communication and cultural studies from London Metropolitan University.^[2]

Before beginning her career in comedy, Sanders worked in administrative roles, including as an executive PA and complaints handler at Ofcom.^[2][3] She took comedy classes from Logan Murray, and she was paid to write a comedic blog about The Apprentice.^[2]

As a live performer, Sanders performs regularly both in the UK and abroad. In 2018, her show Shame Pig was the joint winner of the Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe^[4] and she returned to the Festival in 2019 with her show Say Hello to Your New Step Mummy.^[5]

Sanders was the winner of the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019.^[6] She has also appeared on television shows including QI, Would I Lie to You?, Travel Man, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Hypothetical, The Russell Howard Hour, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Red Nose Day for Comic Relief, Russell Howard's Good News, Live at the Electric and Question Team. She has also acted in sitcoms including Aisling Bea's This Way Up and Karl Pilkington's Sick of It. She is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth. In 2019, she appeared on BBC Two's Live at the Apollo (series 15, episode 2).^[7] From February 2021, she has appeared in the Dave comedy panel show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable.

As a writer, Sanders wrote and starred in Elderflower which co-starred Sheila Reid, Tom Rosenthal and Mike Wozniak.^[8] She has also written for 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Stand Up for the Week and Miranda Hart. In 2023, she published a memoir, What’s That Lady Doing? False Starts and Happy Endings.^[9]

Sanders has been an occasional guest host on Elis James and John Robins on BBC Radio 5 Live.^[10] In February 2020, she started hosting a podcast called Cuddle Club.^[9] From April 2022 until September 2023, she hosted Taskmaster: The People's Podcast.^[11]

In 2024, Sanders appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice. She was paired with Brendyn Hatfield and was fifth to be eliminated.^[12]

Sanders is a teetotaler^[13] and vegan.^[14]