Babatunde Aléshé once gave up his stand-up career for a normal job.
Babatunde Aleshe got a normal job for two years before becoming famous
The 37-year-old comedian - who is now known for appearing on 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' and 'Celebrity Gogglebox' - went through a rough patch some years ago where he decided to give up his dreams of stardom and working at TfL until his wife Leonie persuaded him to give comedy another go.
Speaking on the 'Wonderbox' podcast, he told host Russell Howard: "I'd had enough. I was working on stage and it got to the point where I thought 'I don't want this anymore' and so I walked away, I really did. For two years, I just had a regular job. I didn't do anything comedy-wise, and my wife was like 'Are you really gonna just gonna sit home and not perform?' I was like 'Yeah!' and she was like 'Nah, you are a stand-up. You're always or coming up with bits, just go and do what you love'.
" And that was it. But I knew I would always come back. I was working at TfL."
The TV star explained that because he was relatively well-known, some of his colleagues at Transport for London were surprised to see him there and reflected that everything changed for him once he got management on board.
"Everyone at work knew who I was, especially the black people, they knew. They'd be like 'What the hell?' and I'd say that I was just working, taking care of my wife.
"Management, though, I'll be real. The thing is, I was always funny but I had no guidance. And I'm not business savvy - I don't know how to get from A to B. All I know is that I'm just funny but there's a structure to how you go about stand-up and I never knew it. I just needed someone to explain it to me. "
Tagged in Russell Howard