The Sunday Times Magazine • 7parent focuses your mind. You’re responsible for
another human. I’ve had this very fortunate life where
I’ve been able to work and travel and do lots of amazing
things, but Dax has given me purpose.Dax
I grew up in London but we spent a lot of time in
Indonesia. We quite regularly went to Bali; I think my
parents had an affinity with the place and had a lot of
friends there. So we’d spend a few months in London,
with all my friends, and then, over Christmas or
summer, we’d go out there and surf, or trek in the
jungle. I loved it. We’ve also always been very
outdoorsy, I suppose because Dad always was. Lots
of quad biking, mountain biking, lots of activity.
Growing up, the house was always full of my parents’
friends, comedians like Sean Lock, Mark Lamarr, Kevin
Eldon, Alan Davies. I’d watch them riffing on each other
and riffing on me, everyone constantly funny. When
I got to school I remember being a bit surprised that
people weren’t quite on it as much. Dad’s comedy has
rubbed off on me a lot, but I liked a lot of the American
comics too: Norm Macdonald, Louis CK, Bill Hicks.
Fortunately Dad’s fame has always stayed at a quite
comfortable level. He’s on the telly but he’s not a
superstar, not mega-famous. My friends were never
really too bothered. Occasionally some of their parents
did take an interest, but it never got in the way.
When he did Strictly, however, that was different. It
was the first time we had paparazzi outside the house,
and there was a lot of activity online.I have to say I never expected him to do so well on it.
He had been asked to do it before, and it was a long-
running joke that he’d only do it if he could do it in
character. They’d ask “Which character?” and he’d say
“Abu Hamza.” When he did finally agree to do it, and as
himself, we just thought it’d be a laugh. And then he won.
To be honest I’m quite a private individual, so I didn’t,
not like it [the increased exposure to publicity], but I
wasn’t particularly a fan of it either. There was one
article that did a deep dive on my life — how old I am,
which school I went to — and I was, like, “OK, this is
getting scary now.” I didn’t like that.
I have a massive, varying spectrum of things I might
want to do with my life. I might want to do something
practical — I’m an avid scuba diver — but I might want
to do something completely different, like economics.
I also play the guitar as a hobby and I do enjoy stand-up.
Sometimes I think I could do maybe ten minutes,
I could do an act, but really it’s only a fleeting ambition.
I think if I had the same aspirations as Dad I’d be quite
worried because it would be daunting, but I don’t want
to follow in his exact footsteps.
Dad is uncontroversial, no scandals, nothing crazy.
The worst you can say about him is you don’t like his
comedy. He gets lots of letters from fans, positive ones,
and I often read them. They’re nice, so that’s good nInterview by Nick Duerden
Photographs by Paul Stuart
Bill Bailey’s En Route to Normal tour begins tonight in
Plymouth. For tickets and tour dates, visit billbailey.co.ukSTRANGE HABITS
Bill on Dax
He eats so much,
just devours food.
We keep putting it
in the fridge and it
keeps disappearing.
He must need the
caloriesDax on Bill
He has a problem
with spatial
awareness, and is
always banging his
elbows on doorsJON ATTENBOROUGH FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE, C4, GETTY IMAGES