Sandi Toksvig

Sandi Toksvig (born 3 May 1958) is a British-Danish comedian and TV presenter born in Copenhagen long resident in the UK.

Quotes

• [On men who take off their shirts in public.] There's an awful lot of lard out there. No woman would do that.
• [On teaching her children to have good manners.] It's mainly because I wanted to send them out in the world and have everybody like them.
• [On working in television in the early 1980s.] I can't remember the number of times I was told, 'Don't you worry about that, you pretty little thing.' Wow. I've got a first-class degree from Cambridge, but OK.
• I don't want anybody to say to me, 'I'm fine with it, I accept you.' You think, wow, thanks so much, because if you hadn't I would have killed myself.
  • "Sandi Toksvig minds her manners" The Herald (Glasgow, 19 October 2013)

• There are only two countries in the world where representatives of the state religion automatically get a seat in the legislature: the UK and Iran. Obviously, there are fundamental differences between the two countries and in the religious representatives’ views, but it is symbolic all the same. How can it be that our democratic system draws parallels with an Islamic theocracy?
  • "A seat in the House of Lords isn’t God-given. It’s time parliament ejected all the bishops" The Guardian (5 July 2023)
  • On proposals to remove the automatic right of 26 Church of England Bishops (known as the Lords Spiritual) to have seats in the House of Lords.

QI

Season N Episode 2 North Norse

• (Guests have been asked to say their favourite thing about Denmark).

Lucy Beaumont: My favourite thing to come out of Denmark is em Saga Norén the character.

Sandi Toksvig: Oh played by the genius eh Sofia Helin in The Bridge so the only trouble with that and I love the gift but she's Swedish...

(Audience laughs)

Lucy Beaumont: It's very similar though isn't it?

Sandi Toksvig: Yep. (Looks disgusted and then looks away)

(Jason Manford grimaces and makes cut gesture)

Rhod Gilbert: You're very particular about what's Danish and it doesn't really matter.

Sandi Toksvig: You do know there was a murder on that bridge don't you?