A COMEDIAN beat dozens of others to the punch in a radio competition, winning herself the opportunity to co-host a show with funny man Justin Lee Collins.

Cerys Nelmes, 36, of Wotton-under-Edge, topped the competition in May this year giving her the opportunity to become a permanent feature on Fubar Radio.

Fubar is a subscription based radio service, which allows it to bypass the regulations of regular FM radio.

Fubar Radio launched its “Fu Factor” competition at the end of April this year, asking those who thought they had what it takes to submit a demonstration of their work.

Miss Nelmes submitted a feature of her own creation called Tinder Tales, in which she tells amusing stories of her experiences with the popular dating app.

After making it onto the shortlist of 15 people, Miss Nelmes and others were asked to come on air for a try-out. She had her hour long trial on May 22.

She said: “It was just to see how we came across on air and how we worked alongside Justin.

“Some of the performers just didn’t click, and you could tell there wasn’t the chemistry there for it to work.

“When I went on it was very clear that there was chemistry, possibly because he’s from the West Country and also started out as a comedian.”

To her amazement, Miss Nelmes was offered the position live on the air. She has since co-hosted the show eight times.

She continued: “It’s been amazing. I used to watch Justin when he did the Bring Back series and The Friday Night Project, so it’s a great experience to be working with him.

“The whole thing has been really good, and has given me the opportunity to meet so many interesting and amazing people.

“It’s frightening to be going into comedy full-time, but also very exciting, and this experience has given me so much help.”

Miss Nelmes will take a break from radio throughout August to take her comedy show to the Edinburgh Fringe.

For more information visit www.cerysnelmes.com.

To subscribe to Fubar Radio please visit www.fubarradio.com.