Noel Fielding’s path from noughties wild child to Bake Off host has been one of the most extraordinary – and strange – showbiz transformations of recent times.
But there are concerns that the Mighty Boosh star’s years of fast living have caught up with him with the actor and comedian looking exhausted in his last Instagram post on January 1.
Noel, 51, well known for his drug-taking past and partying with Amy Winehouse, Courtney Love, Pete Doherty, Russell Brand and many more stars, has abruptly pulled out of filming for his comedy series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin due to ill health.
And he is due to start filming series 16 of the Great British Bake Off for Channel 4, but that could be in doubt with the star reportedly in France.
It is yet another twist in his career, which has won him a cult following but has also come with a great deal of controversy.
His Dick Turpin for Apple TV project appears to have been axed mid-production with litigation against him and the streaming giant rumoured over his sudden departure.
‘Noel has said that he can’t film any more and so there was no choice but to stop’, a source has claimed. While his spokesperson confirmed to : ‘We are saddened by the decision to cease production but we cannot make any further comment on this matter.’
It has been reported that Noel didn’t return to the Dick Turpin set after Christmas and has not been seen in public since.
Born in London, Noel went to art college in Croydon, and then Buckinghamshire, before edging into comedy.
On the bill of his first-ever stand-up gig in the 1990s was Phill Jupitus, whom he would later work with on the pop quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Soon after hitting the stand-up circuit, Noel met Julian Barrett. They created The Mighty Boosh in 1998, the surreal comedy about zookeepers Howard Moon (Julian) and Vince Noir (Noel), which both men are best-known for.
The Boosh stage acts evolved into a radio show, three TV series and sell-out nationwide stage tours.
Fielding became a good friend of fellow eccentric Russell Brand, the controversial comic turned Christian who is spending more time in the US supporting Donald Trump.
It is not known if they remain close, with the Crown Prosecution Service currently considering whether Brand should be charged with historical sex offences.
Both shared the same dress sense and called themselves ‘The Goth Detectives’ in a benefit comedy gig to raise cash for addiction charities.
In 2023 Lily Allen accused Brand, Fielding and Jonathan Ross of making ‘horrendous’ lewd jokes made at her expense on a Channel 4 panel show.
Discussing her appearance on the 2007 Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which went viral after rape allegations surfaced against Brand, she said Jonathan Ross called her called ‘the only sexually attractive young lady’ on the show, allegedly declaring: ‘And then Lily may go home with her dress still on.’
Fielding replied: ‘How dare you – we’re not rapists.’
Jimmy Carr then asked Mr Fielding why he was wearing a cape ‘if [he] wasn’t a rapist’, to which he replied it was a Jack the Ripper cape and said ‘He wasn’t a rapist’.
Ms Allen told Grazia: ‘I was on a chat show with Russell Brand and Noel Fielding and Jonathan Ross. And there are comments, I think, about me being raped or something. And I laugh along with it. In retrospect, that’s really horrendous’.
A year later Brand quit the BBC due to his comments about Andrew Sachs granddaughter.
Noel hit headlines when he was spotted kissing Pixie Geldof in a club when she was 16 and still at school and he was 33.
A source told the DailyMail: ‘Pixie was knocking back pints like a pro and boasting about her drunken antics the night before.
‘She was desperate for Noel to turn up and, when he finally did, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
‘He has a bit of a reputation but that’s all part of the appeal. She was totally smitten. They were cuddled up in a corner kissing for most of the night.’
According to The Sun, Noel said at the time: ‘When I first met her I had no idea who she was and that she was so young.
‘It caused a lot of problems because her dad wanted to kill me obviously.’
The star also had hepatitis during his time at college and couldn’t drink for six months.
Noel told the Times in 2009: ‘I just carried on not drinking for years. I used to be able to enjoy myself with just nothing. I’d stay up till four in the morning, with everyone else being drunk. Just make a bit of effort and get used to it. It’s good actually.’
Noel has also been open about his colourful exploits earlier in his career. He later admitted: ‘I took too many drugs and was hanging out with the wrong people.’
The star explained he was constantly being offered drugs and girls as he said he would often be out until 7am in the morning.
Noel quit drugs in 2006, saying: ‘I thought, ‘This is too much for my head, I won’t come back from this’.’
Since leaving that lifestyle behind he has been in a long term relationship with radio DJ Lliana Bird and the pair share two daughters Dali and Iggy.
Lliana, who is the founder of charity Choose Love, and Noel live in a leafy north London suburb.
The Boosh split up after their last tour in 2009, but Noel and Julian are still friends, and haven’t ruled out working together again.
Also an artist, Noel has had two exhibitions at, appropriately enough, a cake shop in London’s Soho. Maison Bertaux has also hosted art exhibitions in its upstairs tearooms by Timothy Spall and Harry Hill.
With his flamboyant style, he looks more like a rock star, and counts musicians among his circle of friends. In fact, it was his friend Sergio Pizzorno from the rock band Kasabian who got Noel hooked on Bake Off.
‘I watched it back to back, and really enjoyed it’, he said when he joined the show.
Fielding specialises in a ‘trippy’ brand of comedy, with a foul mouth and a flamboyant style that includes capes, heeled boots and eye-liner.
He has also admitted extravagant drug-taking. In a 2009 interview with the News of the World, he said he had tried cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, magic mushrooms and acid.
He said: ‘I went mad for a year. I started partying way too much, not doing any work. I took too many drugs and was hanging out with the wrong people. It was all a bit hedonistic.’
The comedian has calmed down in recent years, cutting back on alcohol and playing lots of tennis.
If Fielding is to be believed, he came to Bake Off with a distinct lack of cooking credentials.
In 2014, when he was a team captain on BBC quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks, he joked: ‘The two things I can’t stand are food and time.’
He has also admitted to having a ‘beautiful kitchen’ with almost nothing in it.
But then when he got the Bake Off job he declared that Bake Off was one of his ‘favourite’ shows, adding: ‘I’ve always loved brightly coloured cakes and Sandi Toksvig so this is a dream come true for me.’
As well as Bake Off, he has also tried to maintain his acting career.
But earlier this week his comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin has reportedly been axed mid-production.
The Great British Bake Off star, 51, played the lead role of the legendary highwayman in the multi-million show which had its first series on Apple TV last spring.
But when filming was set to resume for the second series after the Christmas holidays, cast and crew received the devastating news that it would not be happening.
A TV insider told The Sun: ‘They were understandably bewildered and infuriated by the bombshell because millions of pounds, months of planning and hours of work.
‘It now effectively means that they are all out of work and looking for new jobs, but they still haven’t had a full explanation.’
The comedy series sees Noel play the infamous highwayman who lived from 1705 to 1739, in a fictional take on his life.
Along with his gang of loveable rogues, Dick experiences the highs and lows of celebrity, and does what he can to escape the clutches of the Thief Taker General.
It’s written and created by Claire Downes, Stuart Lane, Ian Jarvis of The Outlaws and The Job Lot, with Noel and Jeremy Dyson of League Of Gentleman as script consultants.
The cast also includes Tamsin Greig, Hugh Bonneville and Greg Davies, and will begin streaming on the service March 1.