Victoria Coren Mitchell

Victoria Elizabeth Coren was born in Hammersmith, West London,{{Cite web |date=14 May 2013 |title=Victoria Coren's new moniker unveiled |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/victoria-corens-new-moniker-unveiled-8615629.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619195518/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/victoria-corens-new-moniker-unveiled-8615629.html |archive-date=19 June 2013 |access-date=23 May 2013 |website=London Evening Standard}}{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Deborah |date=17 August 2019 |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell: smart, sharp, witty. Just like her quiz show, Only Connect |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/victoria-coren-mitchell-smart-sharp-witty-just-like-her-quiz-show-only-connect-rx0dwh9v6 |access-date=26 October 2019 |website=The Times |url-access=subscription}} on 18 August 1972,{{cn|date=April 2025}} the only daughter of the humorist and journalist Alan Coren and Anne Kasriel. Her parents had been brought up in Orthodox Jewish households but distanced themselves from their faith.{{Cite web |last=Cailler |first=Adam |year=2016 |title=Judaism Gives Giles Plenty Of Food For Thought |url=https://www.jewishtelegraph.com/prof_342.html |access-date=13 November 2021 |website=jewishtelegraph.com}}{{Cite web |date=20 October 2007 |title=Alan Coren |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-coren-395092.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-coren-395092.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |website=The Independent}} She grew up in Cricklewood, North West London, with her elder brother, journalist Giles Coren.{{Cite web |last=Coren |first=Giles |date=5 December 2013 |title=Giles Coren: I married my wife for Christmas |url=http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/december-2013/a-giles-coren-christmas |work=Tatler |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516113709/http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/december-2013/a-giles-coren-christmas |archive-date=16 May 2016}} She is related to Canadian journalist Michael Coren.{{Cite web |last=Coren |first=Michael |date=5 December 2013 |title=Canada: A rogue state? Hardly |url=http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/12/05/canada-a-rogue-state-hardly |website=Ottawa Sun}}

Coren attended independent girls' schools between the ages of five and 18,{{Cite web |date=17 September 2009 |first=Simon |last=Round |title=Interview: Victoria Coren |url=https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/interview-victoria-coren-1.11349 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404173740/https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/interview-victoria-coren-1.11349 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=9 September 2023 |work=The Jewish Chronicle}} including St Paul's Girls' School,{{Cite web |last=Waugh |first=Paul |date=13 November 2017 |title=Exclusive: St Paul's Girls' School Reveals Former Pupils Have Alleged 'Sexual Abuse' |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/st-pauls-girls-school-former-pupils-allege-sexual-abuse-after-metoo-campaign_uk_5a0a1bdbe4b0b17ffcdfc0e3 |access-date=27 April 2019 |website=HuffPost UK}} and read English at St John's College, Oxford.{{Cite news |last=Tufnell |first=Nicholas |date=13 November 2011 |title=Interview: Victoria Coren |url=http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/story_type/site_trail_story/victoria-coren/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111060510/http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/interviews/0012147-victoria-coren.html |archive-date=11 November 2014 |access-date=13 November 2021 |work=The Cambridge Student}}{{Cite web |date=14 December 2018 |title=In Conversation with Victoria Coren Mitchell |url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/news/in-conversation-victoria-coren-mitchell/ |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=St John's College |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell |url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/alumni/alumni-spotlight/victoria-coren-mitchell/ |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=St John's College |language=en}} She recalls not fitting in to the culture at St Paul's, stating, "My parents sent me to a very posh school in West London. I was not like the girls there. They were elegant, goyishe west Londoners – they knew things I didn’t".

At the age of 14, Coren had a short story published under a pseudonym in Just Seventeen magazine.{{Cite news |last=Coren |first=Victoria |date=19 March 2012 |title=Girls' mags are not sexy, but sweet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/18/victoria-coren-teenage-girls-magazines-great |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204042742/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/18/victoria-coren-teenage-girls-magazines-great |archive-date=4 February 2014 |access-date=21 March 2012 |work=The Observer}} She won a competition in The Daily Telegraph to write a column about teenage life for its "Weekend" section, which she continued writing during her own teenage years. During a Channel 4 broadcast, she explained that one Telegraph reader had written to her, criticising her column and had used a very great number of swear words, all in Latin.{{Cite web |title=8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown: Series 10 Episode 1 – All 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/8-out-of-10-cats-does-countdown/on-demand/63885-005 |access-date=7 October 2022 |website=Channel4.com}}

Her books include Love 16{{Cite book |last=Coren |first=Victoria |title=Love 16 |publisher=Ebury Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0712-63012-2}} and Once More, with Feeling, about her attempt (with co-author Charlie Skelton) to make "the greatest porn film ever".{{Cite book |last1=Coren |first1=Victoria |title=Once More, with Feeling |last2=Skelton |first2=Charlie |author-link2=Charlie Skelton |publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2010 |isbn=978-1841-15437-4}} Their jobs reviewing porn films for the Erotic Review led them to believe that most of what they were watching was terrible and that they could make better films themselves.{{Cite web |last=Coren |first=Victoria |date=19 August 2002 |title=I made a porn film for my 30th |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/i-made-a-porn-film-for-my-30th-6302157.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617064237/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/i-made-a-porn-film-for-my-30th-6302157.html |archive-date=17 June 2012 |access-date=4 May 2013 |website=London Evening Standard}}{{Cite news |last=Carpenter |first=Louise |date=10 August 2002 |title=Proud to be pornographers |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3581266/Proud-to-be-pornographers.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312082026/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3581266/Proud-to-be-pornographers.html |archive-date=12 March 2014 |access-date=18 September 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}

She adapted the newspaper columns of John Diamond into a play called A Lump in my Throat, which was performed during the 2000 Edinburgh Festival at the Assembly Rooms,{{Cite news |last=Sands |first=Sarah |date=25 August 2000 |title=You've got to laugh – haven't you? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4254287/Youve-got-to-laugh-havent-you.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141604/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4254287/Youve-got-to-laugh-havent-you.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=2 June 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph}} the Grace Theatre and the New End Theatre in London, before she adapted it again for a BBC Two docudrama with Neil Pearson, broadcast in 2001.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Victoria and Giles Coren wrote an introduction to Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks, an anthology of the best comic writing by their father Alan, published by Canongate in October 2008.{{Cite book |last1=Coren |first1=Alan |title=Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks |last2=Coren |first2=Giles |last3=Coren |first3=Victoria |publisher=Canongate |year=2009 |isbn=978-1847-67320-6}}

Her poker memoir For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker{{Cite book|last=Coren|first=Victoria|title=For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker|publisher=Canongate|location=Edinburgh|year=2009}} (the subtitle changed to Confessions of a Player when released in paperback in 2011){{Cite web|title=For richer, for poorer : confessions of a player|website=WorldCat|url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/703843298|year=2011|access-date=2024-06-30}} was published in September 2009, and was well reviewed in The Times{{Cite web |last=Frankel |first=Martha |date=19 September 2009 |title=For Richer For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6839678.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809081732/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6839678.ece |archive-date=9 August 2011 |access-date=13 November 2021 |website=The Times}} and The Observer.{{Cite news |last=Docx |first=Edward |date=27 September 2009 |title=For Richer, for Poorer by Victoria Coren |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/for-richer-for-poorer-coren |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204042359/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/for-richer-for-poorer-coren |archive-date=4 February 2014 |access-date=21 March 2012 |work=The Observer}}

She writes questions for Only Connect under the pseudonym "Geri Wiley", a nod to Ronnie Barker's "Gerald Wiley".{{Cite web |last=Colvile |first=Robert |date=28 June 2024 |title=What connects me, a Green, a Labour MP and an Islamic activist? |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/only-connect-comment-green-party-labour-party-islamic-activist-xl9tvkl5q |website=TheTimes.com}}

In 2007, after the death of her father, having put a notice in The Times inviting those who knew him to attend a service, she was warned by a friend that a "gang of serial funeral crashers" based in the south of England were checking death notices to find funerals and memorial services to crash for their own enjoyment. After receiving some suspicious email replies to her notice, she instigated a hoax to trap the group. She created "Sir William Ormerod" and placed a death notice. A week later, she placed another notice in The Times "in the guise of his grieving boyfriend Peter" for his memorial service "followed by a drinks reception". She reported that the group duly claimed to have known Ormerod and applied for tickets.{{Cite news |last=Coren |first=Victoria |date=12 December 2008 |title=Victoria Coren: My dad's memorial service was going so well. Then the ghouls turned up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/21/celebrity-victoria-coren |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204040301/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/21/celebrity-victoria-coren |archive-date=4 February 2014 |access-date=21 March 2012 |work=The Observer}}{{Cite web |date=24 December 2008 |title=Wily Daughter Outs 'Funeral Crashing' Group Who Tried To Attend Dad's Memorial – CityNews Toronto |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2008/12/24/wily-daughter-outs-funeral-crashing-group-who-tried-to-attend-dads-memorial/ |access-date=14 November 2020 |website=toronto.citynews.ca}}

After first suggesting holding the memorial service and putting laxative in the canapés, she got a friend to telephone the ringleader (a serial fraudster and ex-magistrate){{Cite web |last=Coren |first=Victoria |date=21 March 2010 |title=Return of the Jolley gang |url=http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/return_of_the_jolley_gang |access-date=17 June 2019 |publisher=Victoria Coren}} to let it be known that she knew who they were and that he was not welcome; however, she let the others in the gang come to her father's service, "gave them a drink and sent them on their way".{{Cite web |title=Chain Reaction – Series 11 – 3. Ian Hislop interviews Victoria Coren-Mitchell – BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b072my2p |website=BBC.co.uk}} She has written articles in the Observer and The Guardian about her experience.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Coren Mitchell was the first woman to win an event on the European Poker Tour, the first player to win both a televised professional tournament (EPT London 2006) and a televised celebrity tournament (Celebrity Poker Club 2005), and the first player to win two European Poker Tour Main Events (EPT London 2006 and EPT Sanremo 2014). She frequently plays Texas hold 'em at the Victoria Casino in London's Edgware Road. As a commentator/presenter she has presented William Hill Poker Grand Prix 2 (Sky Sports){{Cite web |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell |url=https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/victoria-coren-mitchell |access-date=28 October 2022 |publisher=Curtis Brown}} and Late Night Poker and The Poker Nations Cup for Channel 4, and World Poker Tour for ITV2; and has commentated on The Monte Carlo EPT, Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (Channel 4), Ultimate Poker Challenge (Channel 5).{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/biography |access-date=28 October 2022 |publisher=Victoria Coren Mitchell}}

During her poker career, she has become a close friend of The Hendon Mob and mixes weekly home games with frequent visits to two regular casinos. She appeared in five episodes of Late Night Poker, although she never made it to a series grand final. However, in Late Night Poker's spin-off Celebrity Poker Club, she defeated Willie Thorne to win the series two grand final before joining Jesse May as the commentator in series three. In the 2003 Hold-Em 100 tournament in London, she was a guest dealer for the final table.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

On 24 September 2006, she won the main event of the European Poker Tour London, earning a prize of £500,000 and defeating Australian professional Emad Tahtouh.{{Cite web |title=European Poker Tour – EPT London, No Limit Hold'em – EPT Main Event |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=24051 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105134929/http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=24051 |archive-date=5 November 2012 |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=TheHendonMob.com |language=en}} On 20 November 2011 she finished second in the International Federation of Poker's inaugural The Table World Championship, eventually losing heads-up with 29-year-old Spaniard Raul Mestre. She received $100,000 for second place, $10,000 of which she donated to Age UK. In April 2014 she won the main event of the European Poker Tour San Remo, earning €476,100 and becoming the first player to have won two EPT titles.{{Cite news |last=Op de Woerd |first=Frank |date=20 April 2014 |title=Vicky Coren-Mitchell Wins Sanremo Main Event To Become First Two-Time EPT Champion |url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2014/04/victoria-vicky-coren-mitchell-sanremo-two-time-champion-ept-18095.htm |access-date=13 November 2021 |work=Pokernews.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Halliday |first=Josh |date=21 April 2014 |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell makes poker history with San Remo victory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/apr/21/victoria-coren-mitchell-poker-history-san-remo |work=The Guardian}} {{As of|2021}} her total live tournament winnings exceed $2,500,000, making her the 14th best-earning female live poker player ever.{{Cite web |title=Women's All Time Money List |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/137/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=TheHendonMob.com |language=en}}

She has been a member of Team PokerStars Pro,{{Cite web |title=Victoria Coren |url=http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/victoria-coren/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107155859/http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/victoria-coren/ |archive-date=7 November 2014 |access-date=20 April 2014 |publisher=Team PokerStars Pro}} but in November 2014 she removed her endorsement a few hours after PokerStars had announced they were starting an online casino. She said she was uncomfortable about potential addiction by vulnerable people to a site where the odds are in favour of the operator, and did not want to be associated with such an operation.{{Cite web |last=Coren Mitchell |first=Victoria |date=26 November 2014 |title=Goodbye Team Pro |url=http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/goodbye_team_pro |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129201012/http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/goodbye_team_pro |archive-date=29 November 2014 |access-date=26 November 2014 |publisher=Coren Mitchell's blog}}

She has said that she regularly stays up until 6{{nbsp}}am, "Smoking and drinking and gambling. But I like cooking and gardening too, which makes me sound like a very strange mix of an old lady and teenage boy." When asked about this in 2012, she stated: "It is still true. I'll grow up one day, but not quite yet."{{Cite web |last=Carswell |first=Sue |date=19 April 2011 |title=Vicky Coren, the Royal wedding and cucumber sandwiches |url=http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2011/vicky-coren-the-royal-wedding-and-cucumb-080618.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314170012/http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2011/vicky-coren-the-royal-wedding-and-cucumb-080618.html |archive-date=14 March 2012 |access-date=21 March 2012 |publisher=PokerStarsBlog.com}}

Coren Mitchell was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2016.{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Earl |date=21 May 2016 |title=Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Debbie Burkhead Earn 2016 Induction into Women in Poker Hall of Fame – Poker News Daily |url=http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/victoria-coren-mitchell-debbie-burkhead-earn-2016-induction-into-women-in-poker-hall-of-fame-28457/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808035102/https://www.pokernewsdaily.com/victoria-coren-mitchell-debbie-burkhead-earn-2016-induction-into-women-in-poker-hall-of-fame-28457/ |archive-date=8 August 2017}}

On 20 March 2012, Coren announced her engagement to actor and comedian David Mitchell.{{Cite news |date=March 20, 2012 |title=David Mitchell and Victoria Coren: Engagement Announcement |url=http://announcements.thetimes.co.uk/celebration/timesonline-uk/celebrations-announcement.aspx?n=david-mitchell&aid=156588611 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711215113/http://announcements.thetimes.co.uk/celebration/timesonline-uk/celebrations-announcement.aspx?n=david-mitchell&aid=156588611 |archive-date=11 July 2012 |access-date=21 March 2012 |work=The Times}}{{Cite news |date=20 March 2012 |title=David Mitchell and Victoria Coren announce engagement |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17449465 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320182658/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17449465 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=21 March 2012 |work=BBC News}} According to David, they first met at a film premiere in 2007, and had a short-lived series of dates, but only began dating properly three years later.{{Cite news |last=Freeman |first=Hadley |date=19 October 2012 |title=David Mitchell: goodbye lonely nerd |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/19/david-mitchell-victoria-coren-engagement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108004404/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/19/david-mitchell-victoria-coren-engagement |archive-date=8 January 2014 |access-date=21 October 2012 |work=The Guardian}} The couple married in November 2012, in North London, and their daughter was born in May 2015.{{Cite web |last=Eames |first=Tom |date=22 May 2015 |title=David Mitchell and Victoria Coren have a baby girl: 'We're extremely happy and sleepy' |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a648852/david-mitchell-and-victoria-coren-have-a-baby-girl-were-extremely-happy-and-sleepy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527001002/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a648852/david-mitchell-and-victoria-coren-have-a-baby-girl-were-extremely-happy-and-sleepy.html |archive-date=27 May 2015 |access-date=2 June 2015 |publisher=Digital Spy}}{{Cite web |last=Hodges |first=Michael |date=19 September 2018 |title=Upstart Crow's David Mitchell on Shakespeare – and watching Only Connect with his wife |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-09-19/david-mitchell-victoria-coren-mitchell-interview-upstart-crow-only-connect-shakespeare/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105170840/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-09-19/david-mitchell-victoria-coren-mitchell-interview-upstart-crow-only-connect-shakespeare/ |archive-date=5 November 2019 |access-date=13 November 2021 |website=Radio Times}} In November 2023, Coren announced on Twitter that she had given birth to her second child in late October.{{Cite web |last=Coren Mitchell |first=Victoria |date=1 November 2023 |title= Many people are assuming my tweet yesterday was a Halloween costume. Not at all; last week I had a baby and nothing currently fits me except cloaks. Luckily, Only Connect is a pre-record. Happy All Saints Day! ❤️ |url=https://x.com/VictoriaCoren/status/1719751398399541273?s=20|publisher=@VictoriaCoren|website=X}}{{Cite news |date=2 November 2023 |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell announces birth of second child |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67296329 |access-date=2 November 2023 |work=BBC News}}

In April 2012, she reported that she was terrified of flying. In August 2012, she confirmed on Twitter that the therapist she had been seeing to address her fear had been killed in a plane crash.{{Cite web |title=Victoria Coren Mitchell on Twitter: "@yellowyell It wasn't a joke...." / Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/VictoriaCoren/status/239821600709558274 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426133416/https://twitter.com/VictoriaCoren/status/239821600709558274 |archive-date=26 April 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Coren |first=Victoria |date=5 April 2012 |title=Fear of flying |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/fear-of-flying-7435742.html |access-date=10 May 2022 |newspaper=Evening Standard}}

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Category:1972 births

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Victoria

Category:English columnists

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