Meet Corinne Grant

If I wasn’t a comedian I’d be a nurse (and not a very good one). I like to believe that I’ve saved lives by ditching my nursing training and becoming a comedian.

My earliest memory of being funny was doing a sketch at school camp when I was ten. The whole joke revolved around me wearing a moustache and saying I worked at a tyre shop called “Mo-Repairs”. Problem was, I found the whole thing so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to get the punchline out.

I’m a big believer in chocolate!

When I’m in need of a time-out I sit in the bath with a good book (and, occasionally, a three-course meal). I love eating in the bath. Breakfast, lunch, dinner; I’ll set up a whole picnic in the bathroom and stay there for hours.

My most amazing realisation came while writing Lessons in Letting Go: Confessions of a Hoarder (Allen & Unwin, $29.99). We all hoard much more than physical stuff. Memories, old hurts, harms and slights; we hoard in our minds things that do us no good at all. And to truly let go of the stuff, you have to learn to let go of everything else first.

I’m much more resilient than I believed myself to be. I’d built up a story in my head that I was a meek and mild little girl who couldn’t cope with life. When I finally went through all of my stuff and threw out the detritus, I discovered a successful, intelligent woman buried underneath it all. It’s amazing the stories we tell ourselves, and how much they can limit us – if we let them.

I realised I had a problem with hoarding when I found an old wisdom tooth in a little plastic envelope, sitting in a drawer that was supposed to be for stationery. I’m hoping it was my tooth.

Learning to forgive is about acceptance and at least trying to understand someone else’s behaviour. The only person who is truly hurt by your anger towards another is yourself. Learn to let go of that, and the world becomes a much easier place to live.

People would be surprised to know I can’t ride a bike! I can ride in a straight line on a flat suface, but add a gradient or corner and I’m buggered.

I keep myself looking good by running. I do it because I love the sense of freedom I get from putting on my runners and shooting out the door. I believe in focusing on having a healthy body, not necessarily a “good-looking” body.

My never-fail cooking tip is order takeaway!