Too Hot To Handle: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Desiree Birch, Voice Of Lana The Virtual Host

The steamy, scandalous Netflix reality dating show Too Hot to Handle has officially been renewed for a fourth season after the success of the third season which was released in January. Viewers love watching the contestants fight temptation with a cash prize at stake. However, the most relatable part of the show is not any of the humans we see, but the virtual host of the show, Lana, which comes from a light-up cone that resembles some type of diffuser.

Unsurprisingly, the voice is not from the technology itself, but voiceover from the show’s only consistent cast member. Lana is voiced by comedian Desiree Burch, who has a fascinating history leading up to her voiceover host work on the show and continues to create interesting projects in-between seasons. Learn about the life of one of reality TV’s sassiest, funniest hosts.

She Is A Stand Up Comedian

Desiree has now hosted Too Hot to Handle for three seasons, but before ever voicing Lana, Desiree had a thriving stand-up comedy career.

According to desireeburch.com, Burch’s personal website, she was referred to as “a larger than life New Yorker who brought the roof down,” in The Independent and was recognized for her outstanding stand-up comedy in 2015 when she was awarded the Funny Women Stage Award. Her comedy stylings can be found on E4’s World’s Greatest Bodyshockers and NBC’s Before The Morning After as well as on Comedy Central.

She Studied At Yale

Though she doesn’t seem to namedrop her school in interviews, Desiree graduated from Yale with a B.A. in Theater Studies. Surely theater training helps her interact with cast members on Too Hot To Handle. 

Her website details some exciting details of her time spent there. She was mentored by Deb Margolin, a member of an experimental group called Split Britches. Her guidance helped Desiree form a love of experimental theater and performance art that remains present in her career.

She Was A Founding Member Of The New York Neo-Futurists

The Neo-Futurists are one of the most well-known experimental theatre ensembles with branches all around the country. While the first show and ensemble were located in Chicago, Desiree was a founding member of an entirely new cast in New York that began performing the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, in which performers try to get through 30 short plays in 60 minutes. The New York Neo-Futurists are still performing today.

She Has Written And Performed Two Solo Shows

Desiree is more than just a stand-up comedian, she is an all-around solo performer. She co-wrote a piece entitled Tar Baby that tells the story of race and minority experiences in America. She even took the piece to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015 where it won a Fringe First award for new writing (per WhatsOnStage).

Her other piece is a devised solo show called 52 Man Pickup that addresses self-discovery and sexuality as Desiree plays a series of card games with the audience.

She Used To Work As A Dominatrix

In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Desiree shares that she worked as a dominatrix in New York in her early twenties. She seems to have found humor in the experience, and says it was “always one of those things I wanted to say I’d done.” She is very quick to defend it as a job, emphasizing that it is real work, and shares that it can be really good money if you are specific about your brand.

She Is An Erotic Fiction Fan

Comfort in talking about her sexuality is a recurring theme in Desiree’s work, which may likely be why she is such an excellent host for a steamy couples show like Too Hot To Handle. When interviewed for London Calling, Desiree was asked about a tweet she shared about erotic fiction and she replied “I read a lot of erotic fiction…Language can be a great medium to express sex. That’s what interests me about erotica.”

She Lives In London

After being raised in L.A., attending Yale, and growing as an artist in NY, Desiree set sail for London in 2015. As her biography on her website puts it, she “exploded onto the UK comedy scene.” Her background and current location yet again make her a fitting virtual host for the popular American-British reality show. Since living in London, Desiree has appeared on Live From The BBC, Live From The Apollo, Taskmaster, and so much more.

She Is A Proud Cat Mom

Desiree recently appeared on Portland morning show AM Northwest and proudly boasted about her fur baby when given the chance. She has a cat named Sisko who she referred to as “the light of my life.”

She showed the interviewer the cat sitting on the window and said it was unusual for her cat to not be right in front of the camera anytime she was on camera. She then said the following statement that some fans may relate to: “I have a boyfriend and a cat and I feel like I’m good.”

She Met Her Boyfriend On An App During The Pandemic

As Lana, Desiree gets to help Too Hot To Handle couples, some of whom even stay together, and in real life, she is in a couple of her own. Like many people, Desiree took the opportunity during lockdown to check out dating apps and connected with her current boyfriend. She spoke on AM Northwest about him and shared their experience of getting to know each other. She recalls that they connected better because of having to drop everything and they started out with video messaging before they were comfortable in person.

She Has Her Own Web Series

Desiree has a new six-part web series called Profiles in Fatness that covers fat activism and issues that larger women face. The series includes conversations with experts on topics like societal norms, famous plus-size figures, the root of fatphobia, and common body myths. Desiree is incredibly passionate about body positivity and acknowledges the difference between her web series and Too Hot To Handle. She’s aware of the unpopular opinions about Too Hot To Handle but she says of the reality show, “a fat woman is getting paid on this and people watch it to hear her commentary.“

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