Peter Kay broke his silence after getting three hecklers removed from his ‘Better Late Than Never... Again!’ Manchester gig at the AO Arena. The comedian, 51, said the hecklers were spoiling the show for the rest of the attendees, claiming there comes a point where 'it's no longer fair' to the rest of the crowd when he has to deal with hecklers. He also defended himself after calling a woman Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley before kicking her out of the arena.
"'I didn't realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley, I didn't realise that was an insult," he said to ITV's Good Morning Britain. One attendee had 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 making a remark comparing her to actress Lisa Riley from the long-running soap. After she yelled out, the comedian shouted back at her from stage: "Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.".
His decision to remove the hecklers irked a few fans, who called his actions "nasty and bitter". Some attendees took issue with certain jokes, including an impression of a blind person and topics 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." One audience member told the publication: "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.".
If you can't see the poll, click here. Following the comment he made comparing the woman to Lisa, the actress took to her Instagram page to share a cryptic post. Lisa, who has spoken openly about her weight loss journey after losing an incredible 12 stone in recent years, shared a positivity quote about 'seeing the good in life'. It read: "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses." Captioning the quote, Lisa wrote: "See the good in life….before you ALWAYS jump to the negative….its such a simpler way to live for sure #grateful #gratitude #nomoaning #think.".
On Tuesday morning, the soap star spoke out on the situation and reassured fans she was 'never offended' by the joke and said she 'loves Peter Kay'. In an Instagram Story, she wrote: "PLEASE [praying hands emojis] draw a line under this now, I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine.". Phillip Peters, the man who yelled out 'garlic bread', spoke out after he and his son were removed from the venue. He said: "I just can’t understand it, all I said was 'garlic bread'... I was there with my son and they dragged us out like ragged dolls.".
The warehouse driver claimed he received a warm reception for his comment, including from the comedian himself, but when he chanted the catchphrase the comedian soon lost his patience with Phillip, who was given tickets to the show as a Christmas present. He added: "In the first half of the show, I shouted out 'garlic bread' and they zoomed in on the camera on me. And I put my thumbs up and thought everything was okay. I got no warning or anything, people around us were laughing and joking. Then in the second half of the show I said it again, 'garlic bread', and that’s when the security guards came over to me and said 'you are going to have to leave - Peter Kay doesn’t like people shouting out'.".
