We hear a lot about the Renaissance man, a man who can perhaps paint, draw, sculpt and philosophise, but we hear much less about the Renaissance woman. Perhaps Victoria Coren-Mitchell should be our blueprint for that. Starting off her career as an author, she’s traversed the worlds of writing, television, comedy and competitive poker playing, with an air of alarming ease. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about how Victoria Coren-Mitchell made it to where she is today, then you’re in luck. We’ve got a brief biography of her here, with everything you might need to know.
Early Years
The only daughter in the household, Victoria was born to Alan Coren, a journalist, and his wife, Anne Kasriel. She was brought up in an orthodox Jewish fashion in Cricklewood, North London. She shared her upbringing with her brother Giles Coren, who is a few years older than her. She attended a girls’ school and had a fairly unremarkable childhood. Her writing prowess began to show when she was just 14 and wrote into Just Seventeen magazine. She sent them a short story that she’d written and the magazine loved it so much that they published it. It was a couple of years later when she was published again, this time by the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper had been looking for young people to write for their weekend runs and Victoria contributed her first column on the subject of teenage life. This would be the start of a working relationship with the Daily Telegraph, in which she contributed to them over the course of several years.
Journalism and Writing
Spurred on by her early success getting published, Victoria found herself writing for a number of recognised newspapers, as well as in some more unusual places. It was during one of these more eccentric jobs that she met with Charlie Skelton. Alongside Charlie, Victoria tried to create the greatest erotic film ever made. The attempt was hilarious enough to inspire her book ‘Once More, with Feeling’, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time after all. Following this, she also co-authored a book with her brother Giles, called ‘An Introduction to Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks’. This book took the form of an anthology in which the two siblings unpicked their father’s best comic writing. As well as this, she’s also written a book called ‘Love’ for which the content is self-explanatory, and a book about poker, detailing her experiences playing the game – which brings us on to the next great love in Victoria’s life.
Poker
Victoria Coren-Mitchell, alongside other celebrities, is also known for her prowess at the poker table, which makes sense when you consider the logistical style of thinking that has made her name in both game shows and journalism. Whilst there are plenty of options to explore online for playing card and table games, Coren-Mitchell is most often found at in-person tournaments. It’s no surprise that she frequents them either, as she has a lot of titles to her name. She was the first woman to ever win an event at the European Poker Tour, and she went on to better this accolade when she won a second main event at the EPT, making her the first person ever to win two main events. As well as this, she was the first (and only) person to win both a professional televised tournament and a celebrity televised tournament.
Television
The only tower left to conquer for Victoria was television and, thanks to her skills at the poker table, she got a start commentating on poker events. She worked as a commentator and presenter on various poker shows, including Late Night Poker, The Poker Nations Cup, The World Poker Tour and plenty of others. As well as this work, she hosts her own game show, Only Connect, for the BBC, in which participants compete to solve fiendishly cryptic puzzles. She’s a regular panellist on comedy shows, including Would I Lie to You? and QI, and has made appearances as both a host and a panellist on Have I Got News For You. It would be fair to say that Victoria has had a fascinating and varied career, but that’s not to say that there isn’t more to see from her yet.