Who is Lisa Makin? All about Lenny Henry's partner as comedian quits as host of Comic Relief

British comedian Lenny Henry has been dating Lisa Makin for more than a decade.

On January 31, 2024, he announced that he would be stepping down as Comic Relief's host after nearly 40 years. He is all set to enjoy one last curtain call as the fundraising comedy show will take centre stage on BBC's Red Nose Day in March.

Lenny Henry, who was anointed a knight in 2015, co-founded Comic Relief in 1985 as a means of raising donations to tackle poverty and provide food, healthcare and safe shelter for people in the UK and around the world. The annual event lines up a star-studded cast to help secure donations, collecting over £1.5 billion since its inception.

Lisa Makin, a high-profile theatre producer and casting director, has been in a relationship with Lenny Henry since 2011.

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Lisa Makin met Lenny Henry through mutual friends

Lisa Makin, aged 60, was named one of the 20 most powerful women in British theatre by Harper's Bazaar magazine in 2009, as per the Daily Mail.

According to her IMDb profile, Lisa Makin's TV credits as a casting director include Peaches, Mine All Mine, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky and No Masks, to name a few.

Lisa Makin was also accredited as Head of Casting and Associate Director for the Royal Court Theatre for twenty years, involved in productions of King Hedley II, Pressure, The Country and Other Desert Cities. On her LinkedIn page, she is also stated as the Creative Producer at Sonia Friedman Productions.

According to British Theatre Guide, Lisa Makin joined Chichester Festival Theatre's team of associates as a Creative Producer in 2014. Jonathan Church, Artistic Director at Chichester, said,

"We have long admired Lisa's work and find it incredibly exciting that she is coming to work with Chichester, just as our capital project RENEW nears completion and our focus returns to creating full-scale festivals with our theatre fully restored and improved."

Not much information is known about Lisa Makin's personal life. Her relationship with Lenny Henry is kept away from the limelight, though Henry told the Mirror that he was happy about his new relationship in 2012.

"It's different and it's nice. Life changes and life moves on. It's like one chapter closes and another opens. It's good and it's on the upswing - and that's fantastic," he said.

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Lenny Henry is all set to host Comic Relief for one last time

Lenny Henry is set to go out with a bang as he prepares himself to host Comic Relief for the last time amid a fantastic lineup of celebrities that include Alex Jones, Alison Hammond, Davina McCall, Gemma Collins, Dame Joan Collins, Jonathan Bailey, Nick Grimshaw, Rosie Jones and Simon Cowell.

According to BBC, there will be a pre-show, Comic Relief - Live at The London Palladium, on February 26, "to celebrate and say thank you to Sir Lenny" as comedians such as Aisling Bea, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Joel Dommett, Mawaan Rizwan, Rosie Jones and Sara Pascoe gather for "a wild and wonderful one-off evening of live comedy".

Speaking about his decision to step down as host, Lenny Henry told BBC:

"As life president of Comic Relief, I'm excited to see some new and familiar faces come forward now to present the big night and lead us into the next chapter."

Comic Relief will be broadcast on BBC One on March 15, 2024.