Comedian Jon Richardson says he is becoming a teacher

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Comedian Jon Richardson has revealed he has got a new job after training as a teacher.

In a video on Instagram, he told followers he had been taking a break from stand-up comedy, which "really made me want to carry on taking a break from stand-up".

And after rediscovering a diary entry he wrote at the age of 14 in which he predicted he would end up becoming a teacher, he said he had decided to give it a try.

Richardson is known for TV shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Meet the Richardsons, and for his Saturday morning show on Absolute Radio.

"I have a little bit of news," he said. "I've obviously been taking a little bit of a break from stand-up, and it's really made me want to carry on taking a break from stand-up.

"I've been thinking a lot about a diary entry that I found from 1997. I was 14 years old. It says, 'Although I would love to be a stand-up comedian, I'll probably end up being a teacher'. And I've been thinking a lot about that.

"I've loved being a comedian, it was absolutely the right choice, but I have decided it would have been nice to try the other option. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

"I've been doing some training. I've taken a teaching position.

"I will update you as and when I can, but that's all for me for now. Just to let you know that's where I've been."

The 42-year-old didn't give any more details about his new job and which age or subject he would teach.

He also didn't say whether he was planning to leave comedy and presenting behind for good.

He has been a fixture on the British comedy circuit and on TV panel shows for two decades, serving as a team captain on Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats from 2011-15, and on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown since it began in 2012.

In mockumentary sitcom Meet the Richardsons, which ran from 2020-24, he and wife Lucy Beaumont played "exaggerated versions of themselves" in a "fictional view of their life together". The couple announced their divorce last year.

He also hosts Jon Richardson and Friends charity comedy nights - the most recent taking place on 24 March, which he billed as "the first" in London, after previous events in Sheffield.