She was inspired by comedians Victoria Wood and Jo Brand as a child. Eventually, after failing in school, a series of menial jobs and a period of alcohol abuse, she took the plunge into stand-up comedy, basing much of her material on her own life. She presented the TV series Gaytime TV in 1998-99 (she has known she was a lesbian since the age of 10), and wrote and acted in the widely panned sitcom Rhona for BBC2 in 2000. She also won a bronze medal in swimming in the 1998 Gay Games.