Melanie Bracewell
New Zealand comedian and scriptwriter (born 1995)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melanie Rita Bracewell[1] (born 19 July 1995) is a New Zealand comedian, actress, and scriptwriter. In 2018, Bracewell won New Zealand's Billy T Award. She has hosted The Cheap Seats on Network 10 in Australia since its debut in 2021, and was a contestant on the fourth series of Taskmaster NZ.
Melanie Bracewell | |
|---|---|
Bracewell at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe | |
| Born | 19 July 1995 Beach Haven, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Employer | MediaWorks New Zealand |
| Awards | Billy T Award (2018) |
| Notable work | The Cheap Seats |
| Relatives |
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| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Medium |
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| Website | melaniebracewell |
Early life and education
Bracewell was born on 19 July 1995.[2] She grew up in Beach Haven in Auckland's North Shore, and is a niece of Test cricketers John Bracewell and Brendon Bracewell.[3]
Bracewell attended Birkenhead College,[4] serving as deputy head girl,[5] then studied Communication and Media Studies at the University of Auckland.[6][self-published source?]
Bracewell became interested in comedy as a child and, as a teenager, wrote a comedic blog.[7][8]
Career
Bracewell worked as producer of the breakfast show on Radio Hauraki and appeared as a contestant on the Australian TV quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention?[8][9] She co-hosts the Australian comedy television show The Cheap Seats alongside Tim McDonald.
In 2019, Bracewell began writing for the TV show The Project in New Zealand.[8] She has also written for the series Wellington Paranormal.[10]
In 2020, Bracewell received international coverage when videos and photos of her impersonating Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern went viral. Ardern responded with: "You do my makeup better than I do."[11] Bracewell and Ardern later met and posted a TikTok video while Bracewell was dressed as Ardern.[12][13]
In 2020, Bracewell starred as Karen in The Eggplant,[14][15] a New Zealand teen drama crime-comedy series released to TVNZ OnDemand and YouTube.[16][17]
Bracewell appeared on the panel show Patriot Brains in 2021.
In 2023, Bracewell and Ray O'Leary hosted one episode of the podcast Bananapod before it went into hiatus.[18] O'Leary later revealed that the podcast was a task for Taskmaster NZ, which is why no further podcasts were released.[19]
In September 2025, Bracewell appeared as a contestant on the UK gameshow Richard Osman's House of Games, finishing 2nd in each of the 5 episodes as well as overall. [20]
Controversy
In 2019, Bracewell shared a screenshot on her Twitter account of a sexually explicit message which she said had come unprompted from someone in the Reddit cricketing community. A Reddit user later found a post from Bracewell in a subreddit soliciting sexual messages. A moderator from the Reddit cricketing community then contacted Bracewell asking her for details of who sent her the private message. She subsequently apologised and admitted her post was a joke. After her apology, she received criticism on social media with some accusing her of lying about sexual harassment and stereotyping Indians.[21][22]
Recognition
In 2014, Bracewell won 7 Days Comedy Apprentice; the following year she won the Raw Comedy Quest and in 2016 won Best Auckland Newcomer at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.[23]
In 2018, Bracewell received the Billy T Award for the country's best emerging comedian.[24][7] The same year she won Breakthrough Comedian of the Year at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards.[25]
In 2019, she was short-listed for the Kevin Smith Memorial Cup for Outstanding Artist Achievement, Best Female Comedian and Bizarre Moment of the Year at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards.[26]