Magazine

Rowan Pelling

Rowan was brought up in a pub, went to a school for daughters of missionaries and was once an elf at Hamley's Christmas Grotto. She worked as Ian Hislop's PA at Private Eye before setting up the Erotic Review magazine, which she edited for eight years.

She now writes a weekly comment column for the Daily Telegraph and is the Daily Mail's sex columnist, advising middle England about such bracing topics as Brazilian waxes. She does the odd bit of broadcasting, has been a Man Booker Prize judge, is a patron of the Cambridge Wordfest, and is the editor of The Decadent Handbook. She is stuck halfway through a memoir about her days at Erotic Towers and will do almost anything not to finish it including stand-up comedy.

Rowan is still raising funds for Children in Crisis with the support of women's network Ladies at E11even.

Here is what Rowan had to say after completing (and winning) the challenge:

"I spent the whole week before the Challenge having anxiety dreams where I was sitting exams in my old school hall, but hadn’t done a stitch of preparation. The terror was mounting. But on the night itself the atmosphere was so warm and the audience so cheerful (and well-lubricated) that I relaxed when the first laughs happened. I was a bit anxious about the obscenity potential of my set, so tried to keep things as clean as they can be when you’re talking about spanking, orgies and filthy posh girls.. Blimey, it’s a blast of oxygen to the soul when people laugh at your jokes – I felt a Ready Brek glow afterwards. Winning the pink, shiny vase of triumph, following an audience vote, was the rich butter icing on the cake. I haven’t felt so happy since I won a Blue Peter badge aged 12."

Read Rowan's article in the Telegraph about the Challenge HERE and watch her 'best bits' here: