Philippa Perry

Philippa, Lady Perry
Born
Philippa Fairclough

(1957-11-01) 1 November 1957 (age 69)
Warrington, Cheshire, England
EducationMiddlesex Polytechnic
OccupationArtist
Employer(s)Samaritans
The School of Life
Psychologies
SpouseGrayson Perry
ChildrenFlo Perry

Philippa, Lady Perry (née Fairclough; born 1 November 1957), is an English psychotherapist, artist, writer, television presenter and personality. She has written the graphic novel Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy (2010) books How to Stay Sane (2012), The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) (2019), The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *(and maybe a few you don't) (2023) and the crime novel Shrink Solves Murder (2026).

Early life

Lady Perry was born in Warrington, Cheshire. Her mother's family owned a cotton mill and her father inherited a civil engineering company and a farm. She was educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls and at a Swiss finishing school where she learnt to ski.

Perry worked as a litigation clerk, an enquiry agent, and at McDonald's. She went to Middlesex Polytechnic where she gained a degree in Fine Art as a mature student.

Work

In 1985, Perry trained and volunteered for the British and Irish mental health charity Samaritans, after which she trained as a psychotherapist, and was a member of the UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners. Perry worked in the mental health field for 20 years, 10 in private practice, before being published. From 2010 she spent time on the faculty of The School of Life, but she subsequently discontinued this.

Perry had a regular column about psychotherapy in Psychologies women's magazine for two years. In September 2013 she became Red Magazine's agony aunt. She also works as a freelance journalist specialising in psychology and was an occasional presenter for The Culture Show on BBC Two. Perry has presented various documentaries including: Sex, Lies and Lovebites: The Agony Aunt Story (BBC Four); Being Bipolar (Channel 4); The Truth About Children Who Lie (BBC Radio 4); How to be a Surrealist (BBC 4); and The Great British Sex Survey (Channel 4).

In 2010 the academic publisher Palgrave Macmillan published Perry's book, Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy. It is a graphic novel that tells a tale of a psychotherapist and her client, from both their perspectives. Underneath the graphic novel boxes, Perry takes the position of commentator and provides footnotes on what might be going on between them and what theories the therapist is drawing on or should be drawing on. There is an afterword by Andrew Samuels.[citation needed] The book was positively reviewed by newspapers and academic journals.

Perry appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in November 2019. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A swarm of fruit flies".

In 2019, Perry and her family appeared on Channel 4's 2019 Celebrity Gogglebox Stand Up To Cancer special. In 2021, Perry appeared on the Celebrity Great British Bake Off special, also for Stand Up to Cancer.

In 2020, Perry co-presented Grayson's Art Club with her husband. The series had over a million viewers a week. It ran to a third series.

In 2023, Perry was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by her alma mater, Middlesex University.

Perry is a monthly agony aunt for Red magazine and, between June 2021 and 2025, wrote for The Observer, until its sale to Tortoise Media. Perry joined other former Observer writers in moving to the online publication The Nerve. In 2026, she released the crime novel Shrink Solves Murder.

Books

Personal life

She is married to the artist Sir Grayson Perry, and they have a daughter, Flo Perry, born in 1992. The Perrys live in London. She has often been asked what it is like being married to a transvestite and says, "Being the wife of a trannie is great, he always makes me look fantastic". When asked the same question by a Buckingham Palace press officer when the Perrys went to a reception there in 2005, she said, "As obsessions go, it's better than football".

References

  1. ↑ Facebook page, accessed 9 November 2020
  2. 1 2 3 Cooke, Rachel (18 April 2010). "I love Susie Orbach and Harvey Pekar comics – so I wrote Couch Fiction, a comic book about psychotherapy". The Observer. London. p. 13.
  3. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Philippa Perry". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Randall, L. (30 April 2010). "Interview: Philippa Perry - Writer". The Scotsman. Edinburgh.
  5. ↑ "About us". School of Life. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Faculty". The School of Life Global. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Perry, Philippa (16 May 2012). "Twitter chat: your mother and you". Psychologies Magazine. Lagardère Active.
  8. 1 2 Gilchrist, Hannah (2 September 2013). "Tell us your dilemmas". Red (magazine). Hearst.
  9. ↑ Philippa Perry (presenter) (6 May 2016). Sex Lies and Lovebites (Television). BBC Four. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Philippa Perry (presenter) (4 March 2015). Being BiPolar (Television). Channel 4. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Dean, Will (4 March 2015). "Being Bipolar, TV review: At last, a hug that isn't a telly moment,". The Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  12. ↑ Philippa Perry (presenter) (23 August 2016). The Truth About Children Who Lie (Television). BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Hodges, Michael. "Who is Philippa Perry? The Psychotherapist explains How to Be a Surrealist and what it's like living with artist Grayson Perry, the newly crowned television presenter of the year". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Kent, Sarah (4 April 2017). "How To Be a Surrealist with Philippa Perry, review - 'exhilarating'". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Philippa Perry (presenter) and Goedele Liekens (presenter) (25 February 2016). The Great British Sex Survey (Television). Channel 4. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  16. ↑ "Philippa Perry: I want to show people the truth about doing therapy". Penguin. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  17. 1 2 Law, Katie (26 November 2020). "Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy by Philippa Perry illustrated by Flo Perry review: a gem". The Standard. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  18. 1 2 Peters, Sarah (1 September 2010). "Couch fiction: a graphic tale of psychotherapy, by Philippa Perry/art by Junko Graat". European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling. The Relational in Psychotherapy and Counselling – Cutting Edge or Cliché?. 12 (3): 279–280. doi:10.1080/13642537.2010.516070. ISSN 1364-2537.
  19. 1 2 Goss, Stephen (1 February 2011). "Couch fiction: a graphic tale of psychotherapy". British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 39 (1): 108–110. doi:10.1080/03069885.2011.532353. ISSN 0306-9885.
  20. ↑ "Gallery 14 - Room Six". qi.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Celebrity Gogglebox 2019: Grayson Perry and family to join Stand Up To Cancer". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  22. ↑ Julians, Joe. "Who is Philippa Perry? Great Celebrity Bake Off 2021 contestant". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  23. ↑ Judah, Hettie (27 April 2020). "I had not expected to be so moved by Grayson's Art Club". The i Paper. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  24. ↑ Armitstead, Claire (14 February 2021). "Grayson and Philippa Perry: 'Fantasy isn't all unicorns and rainbows – it's a refuge'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  25. ↑ Grayson Perry [@Alan_Measles] (4 December 2020). "Thanks so much for all the lovely comments. Let's hope the show can open soon. Art Club will be back in the new year ❤️" (Tweet). – via Twitter.
  26. ↑ Gorny, Liz (18 January 2022). "Grab your brushes, Grayson's Art Club returns (again) with new submission themes". It's Nice That. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  27. ↑ "Former Croft girl awarded honorary doctorate degree for achievements in psychotherapy". Warrington Worldwide. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  28. ↑ Perry, Philippa. "Ask Philippa: meet the Observer's brilliant new agony aunt". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Our team". The Nerve. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  30. ↑ Tobitt, Charlotte (26 September 2025). "Former Observer big-hitters launch new title with redundancy payouts". Press Gazette. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  31. 1 2 Rinne, Leanne (2 June 2026). "Psychotherapist Philippa Perry releases Shrink Solves Murder novel". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  32. 1 2 Wilson, Laura (15 May 2026). "The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  33. 1 2 Dougary, Ginny. "Philippa Perry talks the "cosy crime" renaissance and husband Grayson Perry". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  34. ↑ Page, Benedicte (6 April 2011). "Alain de Botton launches series of 'philosophical' self-help books". The Guardian. London.
  35. ↑ "Philippa Perry: The most important thing for parents to know". Financial Times. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  36. ↑ Benn, Melissa (10 April 2019). "Philippa Perry's wise and tender advice for the modern parent". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 5 December 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  37. ↑ Rentzenbrink, Cathy. "Review: The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry — how not to be a perfect parent". The Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  38. ↑ Edemariam, Aida (10 July 2019). "The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry review – how to raise your kids". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  39. ↑ Demolder, Kate (11 November 2023). "The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read: A non-judgmental understanding of how we, as humans, work". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  40. ↑ Harries, Rhiannon (8 May 2010). "How We Met: Philippa & Grayson Perry". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  41. ↑ Berens, Jessica (20 September 2003). "Frock tactics". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  42. ↑ Wynne Jones, Ros (13 December 2003). "Grayson Perry on cross dressing and happiness as "Britain's pre-eminent transvestite"". Daily Mirror.
  43. ↑ Macdonald, Marianne (16 February 2005). "Just a sweet transvestite". Daily Telegraph. London.