Spent

Michelle de Swarte - from catwalks to comedy clubs

Michelle de Swarte shares her journey from hosting a fashion TV show to conquering the comedy scene, reflecting on the challenges of balancing acting and stand-up, her creative process, and how her personal experiences have shaped her unique comedic style.

Spent, which is written by and stars Michelle de Swarte as an international model fallen on hard times, back home in Brixton, is interested in life close to how it's actually lived. Explaining the material indulgences that have led to her bankruptcy, she says: "You've got to spend the poverty out of your system."

There are some good lines and ideas here, and De Swarte sparkles with watchability, but some of the situations feel overfamiliar, the humour not quite as sharp as it needs to be, and the minor characters a little caricatured. There is genuine talent, though, and perhaps it will reveal its full dimensions as the series unfolds.

Tired of Fleabag-style comedy dramas which aren't funny? Try Spent

This BBC2 show about an ageing, spendthrift supermodel will make you laugh.

Spent star Michelle de Swarte: How I went from modelling to homelessness

The Londoner went from living in a women's shelter as a teenager to becoming an international catwalk model, before moving to the States, running out of cash, sofa surfing and turning to stand-up. Now, she's made a TV show loosely based on her life. Here, she tells all to Ellie Harrison.

Spent star Michelle de Swarte: "Someone had to tell me I was homeless - I was in such denial"

The writer and actor's new BBC Two comedy series Spent, about a former top model who becomes homeless, has its roots in her real life.

Spent review

This must be the most unlikeable lead character in TV history.

Spent review

Michelle De Swarte has already been building up an impressive head of celebrity steam with appearances in the Katherine Ryan comedy The Duchess and in her own horror comedy vehicle The Baby. But it's her new series Spent that is really going to establish this assertive Londoner as a comic force to be reckoned with.

Spent review

Michelle de Swarte's sitcom is disappointing.

Spent review

BBC comedy chefs have said they want to make more laugh-out-loud comedies and fewer semi-autobiographical comedy-dramas. And watching Spent you can understand why, as it falls into that familiar gap of being neither consistently funny enough nor emotionally compelling enough to fulfil either side of the equation.