Award-winning comedian Shazia Mirza will take on hosting duties at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.

The Birmingham born-and-raised comic will be on hand to introduce some of the countries as their athletes parade around Alexander Stadium in her home town tonight, live on BBC1 from 8pm. 30,000 people are expected to be inside the stadium, with many millions more watching around the globe.

Shazia is currently on her UK stand up tour Coconut which was nominated for ‘Best Stand Up Tour’ in Channel 4’s National Comedy Awards, tickets available here. 

This summer she will take Coconut to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the full run ever yday from 3rd-28th August, 7.40pm at the Gilded Balloon.

She has recently performed at the Hay Literary Festival as well as the Comedy Cellar in Las Vegas.

She has previously performed stand-up shows in Europe, US, Asia and the Far East and is also a winner of the prestigious PPA Awards; ‘Columnist of the Year’ for her writing in The New Statesman.

Shazia’s TV appearances include; ‘Pilgrimage, The Road To The Scottish Isles’ (BBC), ‘QI’ (BBC), ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’ (ITV), ‘Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains’ (Comedy Central), ‘Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls’ (C4), ‘Sorry I didn’t Know’ (ITV), ‘House Of Games’ (BBC), ‘Travel Man’ (C4), Top Gear (BBC), ‘The One Show’ (BBC), ‘The Complaints Department’ (Comedy Central), ‘Celebrities v Child Genius’ (C4), ‘Celebs In Solitary’ (C5), ‘Loose Women’ (ITV), ‘The Late Late Show’ (RTE) ‘Have I got News for You’ (BBC) and ‘The Wright Stuff’/’Jeremy Vine’ (C5) as well as the ever popular ‘F*** Off, I’m a Hairy Woman’ (BBC).

Comedian Joe Lycett is also involved in the opening ceremony, although his precise role has not been revealed yet. Earlier today he tweeted: "A warm welcome to all the athletes coming to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games. Let me recommend a luxury spa where you can relax and unwind after your training - it’s on the Smallbrook Queensway and it’s called Snobs"