Mo Gilligan - Fatherhood Is A Gift I Didn’t Know I Needed

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Sony Music

Society & Culture

4.7 • 9.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mo Gilligan started out working in retail (think Jo Malone and Levi’s) but quit in 2018 when his online comedy videos went viral. The leap paid off - sell-out tours across the UK, a late-night entertainment show on Channel 4 and his own breakout format The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, which earned him the first of three BAFTA wins. Netflix specials, world tours, primetime TV and a podcast soon followed. Now in 2026, Gilligan is launching the biggest year of his career to date with a global tour, a major new partnership with Netflix and a feature documentary which will offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the 37-year-old at the top of his game. In this episode, Mo opens up about being a dad to his six-month-old daughter and two-year-old son, the pressure of representing the Black British community in stand-up and the debt that shadowed him for years. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 03:51 Retail Experience and Its Influence 06:11 Audience Interaction and Respect 09:13 School Struggles and Dyslexia 18:14 Family, Fatherhood and Financial Lessons 25:19 The Standup Struggle 26:37 Credit Card Chaos 31:12 The Viral Breakthrough 33:35 Touring Triumphs and Tribulations 36:04 Code Switching and Representation 39:43 Handling Success and Praise 45:51 Family and Future Plans 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: I really wanna make people feel cool. I think it’s the nicest feeling ever. Knowing that I am my children’s universe... That is such a gift that I didn’t know I needed to have. I find it hard to listen to praise about myself. I find it very, very hard... I'm always trying to move on to the next one. 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Get Mo’s tour tickets here: mogilligan.com/mo-live Mo’s new Netflix show is available to watch now: Mo Gilligan - In the Moment Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ 📚 WANT MORE? Ashley Walters - on growing up fast, struggling with self-destruction and how accountability, therapy and fatherhood helped him rebuild his life and career. Fun fact: Ashley and Mo both went to the same school and had the same inspirational drama teacher! swap.fm/l/ksDRiLDV1iOXHRTTsdJ5 Miranda Hart - on public embarrassment, private anxiety and chronic illness. Plus: how learning to accept herself became her greatest success swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu Fern Brady - another stand-up who has experienced the precariousness of the industry and battled debt early in her working life swap.fm/l/cmeompBv7EHK20enmwbS 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Elizabeth and Mo answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to How to Fail. This is the podcast that believes a fail is simply a first
0:06.0	attempt in learning. Before we get onto this episode, please do remember to like, subscribe and
0:11.9	follow so that you never miss a single conversation. But it was only until probably I think
0:16.8	I left school at like 16. I was like, oh, this thing is called dyslexia. I find it hard to listen to
0:23.8	praise about myself. I find it very, very hard. How bad did it get this debt spiral?
0:33.7	This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. Lately, I've been counting down the days to spring.
0:40.6	That moment when you start craving some sunshine, I always get like this after winter.
0:46.2	Last spring, my producer Hannah took a trip to Dubrovnik and stayed in an Airbnb with the most
0:51.0	stunning little balcony overlooking the sea. She showed me photos and I've
0:55.1	been dreaming about it ever since. One of the things I really love about staying in an Airbnb
1:01.0	is how it opens up off the beaten track parts of the world you might never otherwise experience.
1:07.0	I'm currently dreaming up a week in Greece next spring, and I've been amazed by the stunning
1:12.0	Airbnbs I'm finding on little remote Greek islands. I keep imagining myself diving into the sea
1:18.5	first thing in the morning, coming back to read with the doors wide open, maybe going for a hike
1:23.6	if I'm feeling ambitious, and ending the day with a drink as the sun sets over the Aegean.
1:29.0	There's something really freeing about knowing you can explore places like this with Airbnb,
1:34.5	places you might never have considered that just feel more personal and unexpected.
1:39.8	All this planning makes spring feel a little closer.
1:43.6	This episode is brought to you by our friends at Wild Nutrition.
1:48.0	I've been dealing with that classic winter skin dilemma, dryness, dullness, and honestly
1:52.9	feeling like my skin care just isn't quite delivering like it should.
1:57.2	But since taking Wild Nutrition's collagen 500 plus, I've seen such a difference in firmness,
	...

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