“Blue Lights” actor, comedian, and author Andi Osho has manifested a fascinatingly creative life through re-invention and self-belief and is now sharing all she knows by becoming a creative coach.

In addition to Blue Lights, Andi Osho has enjoyed an impressive screen acting career, with standout roles in I May Destroy You, Sex Education, Line of Duty, Good Omens, The Sandman and Shazam.

Outside of acting, Andi is also a bestselling author, having published three novels with HQ (HarperCollins), Asking for a Friend (2021), Tough Crowd (2023) and Most Wanted (2026), making her one of the UK’s most multi-faceted and versatile creative talents.

Andi Osho’s debut novel is a story of sisterhood, friendship and love

Talking exclusively to Melan Magazine, the “Blue Lights” actress discusses her character’s role in the fourth season of the BBC Police drama, her experience as a best-selling author and coach and how she’s embracing social media to document her menopause journey.

On Blue Lights

London East End born and bred, Andi Osho has played Sandra Cliff in Blue Lights since the first season aired in 2023. In the first season of the BBC drama, Sandra loses her husband, Gerry, which shapes the direction of the subsequent seasons. Osho sat down with us to share what people can expect from season four of Blue Lights, Andi says: “The story has been tracking the new recruits, and so we see them now sort of pushed to their limit. They’re exhausted, jaded, and still dealing with really complex situations out on the street, while people in higher departments are doing deals behind closed doors and working in the grey areas of policing. For Sandra, in the middle of all of that, she’s trying to keep it together, still mourning the loss of her husband, trying to move on, but she’s kind of drawn back to it because the trial of one of the people that was present when Gerry was murdered, has finally come round. She’s committed to being there for them. That’s going to be a really tough thing for her to witness.”

Sharing what it feels like to have been part of Blue Lights for four years, Andi says: “It’s a privilege to be with the show for that amount of time; to have the writers trust you and develop a character with you for you. Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who write Blue Lights, have always been generous in collaborating with the cast about certain things. They speak with us before writing just to see what ideas we might have about where a character goes. And sometimes ideas are incorporated. Sometimes they’re not, but it’s great to feel like you are part of the process and part of how the show develops.”

On juggling her different interests

In addition to acting, Andi is a comedian, author, and more recently, a creative coach. Sharing how she has leaned into so many creative disciplines, the creative says: “It’s scary at first, but eventually, you decide whether you want to do that thing or not, and whether the fear stops you or fuels you. The rush of trying something new is always exhilarating, but then at some point it gets difficult, and/or not difficult. You realise you reach the limit of your natural ability, and you have to knuckle down and do the work to get good at something … or you set it down, which I’ve also done.”

On her writing journey

When it comes to writing books, Andi says: “I always wanted to write since I was a kid, but I never thought about being a published author. I think I might have written a page and then given up. Then an opportunity came around. An agent who’d been really patiently encouraging me to look at writing kept circling back to me every couple of years. I’d sort of fob him off until I was finally back in the UK [from the US]. When I was back, he [said], “I’m going to set up some meetings, [so] write up your idea. So, I did. I was lucky that there was some interest. In the end, I was taken on by an imprint of HarperCollins called HQ Stories, and it went from there. When I started that conversation with the agent, he said publishers were looking for funny women with strong opinions, and I was doing stand-up at the time. There are lots of different ways in, and that happened to be mine because of the stand-up comedy that I was doing.”

Andi Osho opens up on getting started in comedy and writing her new book

On being an entrepreneur

Andi says her experience in the US helped her to have a more entrepreneurial aspect to her creativity: “I found in the States that entertainment is very much a business, whereas by comparison, the UK felt a bit more like a cottage industry. I learned to take a more business mindset toward my work if I wanted to progress it, and that didn’t mean being less of an artist or creative. It just meant having more of a sense of the financing, structures, how things are produced and how to leverage things. A lot of creatives in the States have that mindset, especially comedians, because they’re essentially entrepreneurs.”

On setting up her creative coaching business

Sharing what drove her to launch her creative coaching business, Andi said: “I’ve realised on my journey how much of a difference coaching has made to me. I hope I’ve picked up some things along the way that will be of value to new writers. But more than anything, I’m driven by wanting to inspire people to know they can do this because sometimes people want to commit something to the page but don’t know where to start. The creative coaching is really about saying, ‘You have everything you need. You’ve got an idea, and that’s it. I can help you not only bring it to fruition but also equip you with the confidence to do it yourself.’ My goal is [to enable] creative self-sufficiency for the people I work with, rather than making them dependent on me.”

On the advice she would give a Black woman in midlife

Andi says she would tell a midlife Black woman wanting to try out their creativity: “Just do it. A lot of the time, what we’re concerned about isn’t concerned about us. We’re worried that ‘what will my friends say?’ ‘What will the public say?’ So often it’s irrelevant, or those folks forget it. Or you succeed, and they say, “Wow, what a great choice! You’re so good at it.” If it really feels like a heart-motivated thing, I say just do it because at the end of the day, there are very few things that can’t be undone. If you decide to leave an industry you’re in to pursue something else and it doesn’t work out; you can go back. Say you worked in finance and decide you want to become a painter. If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to finance. People still have money problems, so they still need your help, or investments still need to happen. There’s really nothing to lose, especially if you can do it alongside what you’re already doing. You can low-key do it and see how it feels before it’s announced as well.”

On being a content creator

Speaking on how she uses content creation for her creativity, Andi says: “Wherever you put your attention in the world is what you believe the world is. So, if you focus on what’s wrong with it, you think the world is scary and horrible. Whereas if you look at what’s positive, you won’t see a misrepresentation; you’ll be more optimised to the positive. I think social media is exactly the same. I used to follow lots of news outlets and things like that, and I realised how miserable and anxious they made me. So, I unfollowed loads of accounts so I could curate my experience of the world, which makes it easier to consume what’s on social media.

“He didn’t even say goodbye…” Andi Osho on her father’s absence in her life

In terms of output, I like it because as a creative, or an actor, you’re often waiting for opportunities. You’re waiting for a casting director to ask you to audition. [But] with social media, I make my video, post it, and you get an immediate response. Especially if you’re trying to build something, you’re looking for feedback on how effective it was and how much it connected with people. In that respect, I really like social media, and I think women of my age are probably going to start to really enjoy it because of that removal of gatekeepers.”

On being an advocate for Black women in menopause

Discussing her motivations for sharing menopause content online, Andi said: “[It was about] Going into perimenopause and not knowing, just being broadsided by the experience. All women are saying that. I think when people imagine a menopausal woman, they picture a white woman, and actually, it happens to [Black women] too and sometimes with more severe symptoms and possibly starting earlier as well. I wanted to make sure that, by speaking about it, I was keeping Black women in the conversation. What really heartens me is seeing a lot of Black women commenting about what I’m talking about. We need to feel recognised, acknowledged and seen for what is, essentially, a very challenging health experience to go through.”

Where to watch: Catch Blue Lights on BBC iPlayer if you are in the UK, or on BritBox if you are in the United States.

Written by Maxine Harrison

The post Andi Osho: “The rush of trying something new is always exhilarating” first appeared on Melan Magazine.