Peter Kay has been blasted for a ‘harsh joke’ aimed at Lisa Riley, as two hecklers were reported to have been removed from his Manchester homecoming gig on Saturday night. An audience member who left the highly anticipated comedy show early claimed that the 51 year old comedian was “nasty and bitter” and delivered a “poor performance”.
Peter, who is currently on the final leg of his lucrative Better Late Than Never Again!tour, became increasingly frustrated during the Manchester show, according to reports, as two disruptive audience members continued to heckle him. The comedian’s frustration reportedly grew as one man in the crowd kept shouting his famous catchphrase “garlic bread”.
A female audience member was also asked to leave the show after she yelled “we love you”. As she was being escorted out by security, she was reportedly met with a cruel joke about her weight when Peter compared her to Emmerdale star Lisa Riley, reports the Mirror.
The woman was allegedly asked to leave the audience after she shouted: “We love you Peter Kay”. The comedian then reportedly retorted from the stage: “Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.”
Lisa, 48, best known for her role as Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap Emmerdale, has been candid about her own struggle with weight.
The actress has lost an impressive 12 stone in recent years after revamping her lifestyle and diet.
Following the turbulent comedy performance, others were reported to have exited early, expressing disappointment with the show despite having waited years to see the comedian live. An audience member shared with Mail Online: “The whole thing just feels very nasty and bitter.
“His performance was poor but the way he dealt with one heckler and someone shouting “we love you” was ridiculous. My friend and I left the show after that, half an hour early. Others left the show early too.”
Another attendee told the publication: “I’ve lost a lot of respect for Peter Kay after the way he treated the heckler at the end of his Manchester Feb 8 show. Having him removed by force by his entourage and cracking jokes about it over the three or four minutes it took. No manners. Huge waste of money.”
The audience member continued: “He did a blind person impression which was really offensive, made a lot of jokes about how he hasn’t had an erection for years after “sertraline 40mg” and made other very rude jokes which isn’t what you’d expect.
“He also said Paddy McGuinness will do anything for a bit of money, called him deaf and then pulled apart his show about factories. I understand humour is subjective so it may just be a few people who didn’t appreciate the jokes last night.”
Peter’s tour earned a massive £27million in 2023, with his Better Late Than Never series of performances ranking among the most globally successful tours of 2024.
The comedian raked in a staggering £26,992,507 from his 35 performances, as per official tour revenue data from US analytics firm Pollstar. Only fellow funnyman Michael McIntyre, 48, came close to matching the earnings of the Bolton-born star among UK comics, pocketing £10,284,888.
With tickets averaging at £59.70, each show last year pulled in around £771k. The Phoenix Nights star’s tour success outshone revenues of many big names including Billie Eilish (£14.3m), Robbie Williams (£10.1m) and Lady Gaga (£10.4m).
He also outdid international comedians Trevor Noah (£20.8m) and Kevin Hart (£17.2m) in terms of annual revenues. The Pollstar figures, spotlighted in a special Year End 2024 Report for the music industry, reveal the box office earnings of the world’s top live entertainers.
Last year, Peter was named Britain’s highest-earning comedian, with his jaw-dropping £34.6million fortune revealed. He surpassed the likes of The Office stars Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to clinch the top spot on the stand-up rich list.
Peter Kay and Lisa Riley’s representatives have been contacted for comment on this story.