Comedian Peter Kay faced criticism after ejecting audience members for heckling during his ‘Better Late Than Never... Again!’ show in Manchester over the weekend. One attendee is alleged to have repeatedly shouted "garlic bread," referencing Peter's famous catchphrase, prompting the comedian to call security for their removal. Another audience member who expressed admiration by shouting “we love you”, was also asked to leave, with Peter reportedly making a remark comparing her to actress Lisa Riley.
Some fans described Peter's actions as "nasty and bitter," leading them to exit the show early. Additionally, attendees took issue with certain jokes, including an impression of a blind person and topic such as erections. One attendee told MailOnline : "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 woman, who wished to stay anonymous, added: " ‘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. 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.".
Despite the controversy, Peter's tour continues across the UK and Ireland, with shows scheduled into 2026. It comes after it was revealed that Peter's tour raked in a whopping £27million last year. His Better Late Than Never string of dates has been named one of the most globally successful tours of 2024. The comedian amassed a total of £26,992,507 from his 35 performances, according to official tour revenue data from US analytics company Pollstar. Only fellow comedian Michael McIntyre, 48, came close to matching the Bolton-born star among UK comics, earning £10,284,888.
With tickets priced at an average of £59.70, each show last year generated around £771k. The Phoenix Nights star's success on tour surpassed revenues of many big names including Billie Eilish (£14.3m), Robbie Williams (£10.1m) and Lady Gaga (£10.4m). He also outperformed international comedians Trevor Noah (£20.8m) and Kevin Hart (£17.2m) in terms of annual revenues. The Pollstar figures, highlighted in a special Year End 2024 Report for the music industry, disclose the box office earnings of the world's top live entertainers.
Last year, Peter was crowned Britain's highest-earning comedian, with his staggering £34.6million fortune unveiled. He outstripped the likes of The Office stars Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to secure the top spot on the stand-up rich list. Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
