6 • The Sunday Times Magazine
Bill
Dax’s name came from a conversation with a friend on
a rafting trip in central Indonesia. She’d just had a child
and had a name for him: Dax. We were intrigued by it,
me and my wife, Kris. I researched it and found that it’s
actually an old French name, and the name of a spa
town in southwest France. I later found out that it’s also
the name of a character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,
a parasitic slug.
Dax is an only child. We would have managed with
one more, but it didn’t happen. I was an only child and
I’m fine, so we were fine with just one too. I was a very
hands-on father and wanted to be, not just to share the
load but to bond with the baby. I loved it.
We live in west London and it has always been a noisy
household, lots of animals, several dogs and parrots.
But Dax could always sleep through anything, and we
realised that was a huge advantage early on as, because
of my work, we travelled a lot when he was younger.
I remember us being on a plane once, a 12-hour flight,
Dax set up in his little bassinet. All the other passengers
were rolling their eyes, expecting the worst, but he
slept right through.
I always liked having the family with me on the road.
When Dax was older I’d invite him on stage at the end
of a show. Kris got him a suit just like mine and he’d
come out and take a bow. Audiences would love it, and
he would too. We carried on doing it for years until he
became a teenager and a little more self-conscious.
If you google me now, his face comes up a lot. I used
to take him to film premieres — he did enjoy the red
carpet — but it’s only now that he’s older that he’s a bit
embarrassed about quite how many pictures there are.
He’s, like, “Oh God, why?”
But he’d always do great PR for me. I’d pick him and
his mates up from school in the car, and I’d hear him in
the back saying: “Do you know Bill Bailey?” His mates
would say no, and he’d say: “Yeah, you should check
him out, he’s really good.”
We talk a lot, lots of long conversations about all sorts:
politics, woke culture, history. I’m a Labour supporter,
always have been, but I sense he’s more sceptical about
all political parties. We talk about completely different
systems of organising things. He’ll say: “We probably
don’t need this. Perhaps there’s another way?”
His upbringing has given him a love of comedy —
there were always comedians in the house — and he’s
very discerning. He watches a huge amount of it and is
quite sharp himself, very good with a one-liner.
Over the past year he’s got very much into his fitness,
he goes to the gym, jujitsu, wrestling, a bit of MMA
[mixed martial arts]. It has meant quite a physical
transformation. He has gone from lanky beanpole to
quite ripped, and carries himself much more confidently.
When I did Strictly last year I think at first he was
concerned about the amount of attention. But he just
wished me good luck and hoped that my inherent
clumsiness wouldn’t let me down. I’m sure the
costumes I had to wear did embarrass him, but he
responded mostly really well, especially when I won.
Dax has always been very good at school but what has
happened with the pandemic has thrown him a little bit
off his stride. He spent years studying for his GCSEs,
and when that didn’t happen it was a huge anticlimax,
a kind of “What was the point of all that?” So now he
has to knuckle down for his A-levels and I feel for him.
Dax came along into our lives just as I was becoming
quite successful, but it was the perfect time. Being a“I’m sure the costumes I had to
wear on Strictly did embarrass
him, but he responded really well”
Bill & Dax Bailey
The comedian and his only son on jungle treks, one-liners and the Strictly rollercoaster
Main: Bill, 56, and
Dax, 18, at the
family home in
west London.
Right: together in
London in 2012RELATIVE VALUES