Inside Jimmy Carr’s private life — from stunning wife and son with a billionaire-inspired name

All you need to know about the Last One Laughing presenter’s life away from the cameras

Jimmy Carr has been entertaining us for decades with shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and the comedian will soon be back on our screens with Last One Laughing.

Away from the stage, Jimmy is a loving family man, having been with his partner, Karoline Copping, since 2001. The couple have even welcomed their own child, with the pair choosing a unique name for their bundle of joy.

Partner

Jimmy is in a relationship with Karoline Copping. Canadian-born Karoline is a former commissioning editor for Channel 5, and they met at a television interview during auditions in 2001. She is credited on two of Jimmy’s recorded projects: Jimmy Carr Live and Jimmy Carr: In Concert.

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The couple became an item in 2001

Reportedly, their initial meeting didn’t go well, with Karoline writing that she thought the comedian was a “misogynist”. Speaking to The Guardian in 2008, Jimmy confessed he was immediately swept away, saying Karoline was “attractive”. However, she thought differently, with Jimmy saying: “She went away and wrote a note saying, ‘He’s got one joke, he’s very misogynistic and he’s rubbish.’”

The pair later met at a gig, where the comedian asked her out, and she accepted. Despite being an item since 2001, the couple have never married, with Jimmy saying in the same interview: “People ask why we’re not married, but it’s just not something that I’d like to talk about. Karoline is a wonderful girl, and it upsets her, and I’m not prepared to do it.“

Children

The couple secretly welcomed a baby son back in 2019, and Jimmy confirmed his little boy’s unusual moniker. The 52-year-old told The Radio Times that his son had been named Rockefeller – inspired by both the American billionaire business magnate John D. Rockefeller – “though also with a hint of Chris Rock, the greatest ever comedian.”

Asked if he thought fatherhood had softened him, Jimmy replied: “It could be a bit of a gear shift, because of the kind of comedy I do. But so far, I’m still telling the same jokes, I’ve got the same sense of humour. We’ll see because I’m sure I’m going to be writing a lot of material about him. In fact, I think he might be tax-deductible.”

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Jimmy and Karoline have kept their son out of the spotlight

Speaking in 2021 on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s podcast, Parenting Hell, Jimmy revealed that Karoline had to undergo an emergency caesarean section during Rockefeller’s birth. “It was a terrifying morning because it was an emergency C-section,” he told the comedians.

“And when they say ’emergency,’ then you sort of take the guy to one side and go, ‘What do you mean, emergency? What’s the worst-case scenario?’ And then they explain. Like, oh no, that is legit frightening.

© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Jimmy spoke of the ‘terrifying’ experience of his son’s birth

“We were very well taken care of, it was great. I don’t mind the gore and the guts of the thing, so I was sort of at the business end as they sliced her open. It was unbelievable.”