Nigel Ellacott was born in 1953 and grew up in Killay, Swansea, where as a boy he watched pantomimes at the Swansea Grand Theatre, first from the auditorium and later from backstage. He became a member of the Swansea Youth Theatre, making his first pantomime appearance there before going on to perform in theatres across the United Kingdom, from Nottingham and Newcastle to Llandudno and London.
Ellacott built a career spanning fifty consecutive pantomime seasons, becoming one of the most celebrated Dames in British theatre. From 1981 he formed a stage partnership with fellow performer Peter Robbins, and together they appeared as a pair of Ugly Sisters for twenty-eight years, in a partnership widely regarded as among the finest in the history of the genre. Their work was the subject of the Channel 4 documentary 'Pantoland', which followed them on a nationwide pantomime tour.
Beyond performing, Ellacott was also a skilled costume designer who created his own elaborate Dame outfits; a selection of his designs was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2017 as part of its National Collection of Performing Arts, alongside costumes by fellow Dames such as Danny La Rue and Stanley Baxter. He also ran the website Its-Behind-You.com, an archive dedicated to the history and magic of British pantomime. In 2021 he received the UK Pantomime Association's Outstanding Achievement Award.
Nigel Ellacott married fellow pantomime Dame Andrew Ryan in June 2024. He died in October 2024, in his fiftieth consecutive year performing in pantomime, following treatment for lung cancer.