Nick Mohammed

Nicholas George Mohammed^[1] was born in Leeds, England.^[2] His mother was a Cyprus-born general practitioner and his Trinidad-born father worked in law.^[3]

Mohammed was educated at Abbey Grange High School in Leeds. He turned down an offer to study at the University of Cambridge and instead chose to study for a BSc in geophysics at Durham University,^[4] where he was a member of St Aidan's College^[5] and played violin in the university orchestra.^[6] He auditioned for the Durham Revue twice but failed to get in, and instead frequented the local comedy circuit.^[7]

After graduating from Durham in 2003, Mohammed began studying for a PhD in seismology at the Bullard Laboratories and Magdalene College, Cambridge.^[6] He did not complete a doctorate, after dropping out to pursue comedy.^[8] Whilst in Cambridge, he successfully auditioned for the Cambridge Footlights.^[9][10]

From ages 16 to 30, Mohammed worked as a closeup magician for hotels and weddings.^[11]

Mohammed featured in the second series of BBC One's Reggie Perrin and was a co-presenter in BBC Three comedy series The King Is Dead alongside Simon Bird and Katy Wix.^[12] He made guest appearances in Pete & Dud: The Lost Sketches, Miranda,^[12] How Not to Live Your Life and Life's Too Short,^[12] and appeared in Series 2 Episode 4 of the BBC Radio 4 musical comedy show Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section.^[12]

Following his Radio 4 debut (Quarters), Mohammed had a second series Nick Mohammed in Bits.^[13] He was a cast member of BAFTA-nominated CBBC sketch show Sorry, I've Got No Head, and supported Angelos Epithemiou (as one of his radio show characters, Mr Swallow) on his 2010 national tour.^[12] He had a supporting role in all three series of the E4 comedy Drifters.^[12]

Mohammed is known for his character Mr Swallow, a megalomaniac magician.^[14] He created the character's voice and attitude after his English teacher in secondary school who spoke in the same high-pitched Northern voice Mr Swallow does, and the name coming from the fact she would swallow a lot in between sentences.^[15][14][16] He first developed the character while in Cambridge Footlights.^[2]

Mohammed developed The Mr Swallow Show for BBC Television and wrote and starred in an original comedy-drama Magic for Channel 4 as part of the Coming Up Scheme. He appeared in CBBC show Hank Zipzer as Mr. Love. He made a guest appearance in the final episode of series 1 and first episode of series 2 of Uncle.^[12] In 2015, he joined the cast of ITV comedy The Job Lot. He wrote and starred in two series of 'Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed', a comedy set in a police station, for BBC Radio 4.^[17]

In 2018, he voiced Piglet in the Disney film Christopher Robin. Also in 2018, it was announced that he would collaborate on a new comedy series titled Intelligence with David Schwimmer for Sky One.^[18] In 2019, Mohammed appeared in the second series of Stath Lets Flats.^[12] From 2020 to 2023, he played Nathan "Nate" Shelley in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, which ran for three seasons on Apple TV+.^[12] In 2023, Mohammed starred as a policeman in the film Maggie Moore(s), alongside Jon Hamm and Tina Fey.^[19] He was a contestant on the 17th series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster, which launched in March 2024.^[20]

In 2025, he appeared in the fifth season of Apple TV+'s Slow Horses as Mayor Zafar Jaffrey. Also in 2025, he starred in the action comedy film Deep Cover alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom.^[21] In 2024, Mohammed opened A Christmas Carol (ish) at @sohoplace in London's West End for a Christmas run. The show was a re-telling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol with Mr Swallow as the protagonist, also starring Martha Howe-Douglas, David Elms, and Kieran Hodgson. He originally developed the show at Soho Theatre in 2022.^[22][23]

In 2025, he toured the UK as Mr Swallow in new live show, Show Pony with dates extended into 2026.^[24] He also appeared as a contestant on The Celebrity Traitors, about which he said, "this is the first thing I've ever done as myself".^[25] He made it to the final as faithful alongside David Olusoga, before losing out to traitor Alan Carr.^[26]

Mohammed was in the 2025 Big Fat Quiz of the Year special, and was on the same team as Jonathan Ross; their team won.^[27][28]

He has been announced as the host of the 2026 Laurence Olivier Awards, to be held at the Royal Albert Hall on 12 April 2026.^[29]

Mohammed learned the violin as a child and played in his university orchestra at St Aidan’s College at Durham University.^[30] There he met his wife, Becca, whom he married in 2014.^[31][32] They have three children.^[33][34]

Mohammed moved to Richmond, London in 2014, and lived there for nearly a decade before moving on.^[14][2] His eldest son, Finn, has an eidetic memory, which was showcased when they both appeared on an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.^[16][35]

Mohammed is allergic to fish and seafood.^[36]