A father has hit back at comedian Peter Kay for making an inappropriate remark about his daughter during a live performance, likening her to Emmerdale star Lisa Riley. Myar Curran, 25, attended Kay’s show at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday and shouted, ‘We love you, Peter,’ to express her admiration. Instead of a warm response, she was escorted out by security. As she was being removed from the 23,000-seat venue, the Peter, 51, called out, ‘Go on, off you go Lisa Riley,’ which sparked laughter from the crowd. Ms. Curran, who works as a care assistant, was deeply upset by the comment and believes she was unfairly singled out due to her appearance.
Her father, Michael Curran, 64, spoke out against the incident, telling MailOnline: ‘'There's no excuse to talk to a lady like that, she wasn't doing anything wrong. (Kay) was out of order, he hurt her feelings.". Michael added: "It was a very emotional night for all of us, but what happened just ruined it. I could understand if Myar had said something abusive, but all she was doing was telling Peter we loved him.".
Michael had spent £250 on tickets for what was meant to be a meaningful family outing, particularly following the recent passing of his wife. A driver from Kendal, Cumbria, Mr. Curran hopes the comedian will recognize the mishandling of the situation and learn from it. Myar also told the publication: "He asked the audience what they thought – at that stage it just felt like part of the show. We were a few rows back from the man who got thrown out. So after that I just called out 'We love you Peter'. It's true, we did love him, he was my favourite comedian.
"I was so excited to see him live for the first time, even though it was also really sad that my mum couldn't be there too. I was trying to show him some love as a fan of his. But for some reason he got annoyed with me as well and asked the audience whether I should be kicked out as well. Then he called out 'Off you go Lisa Riley'. People have said it wasn't anything to do with my weight – but if I was skinny he wouldn't have said it.
Elsewhere during the evening, another attendee is alleged to have repeatedly shouted "garlic bread," referencing Peter's famous catchphrase, prompting the comedian to call security for their removal. Recounting the moment, one 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.".
Peter has since shared his account of the events in a statement on Instagram. In a lengthy post, he wrote: "At the show on Saturday night, February 8, in Manchester, I had two hecklers disrupting from the very start. “I did my best to address the situation and made light of it as any comedian would, but unfortunately their interruptions continued. “I then tried to ignore them, hoping they’d settle down, but when the disruption persisted into the second half of the show, I asked the audience around them if they were being bothered by the noise.
“They all shouted ‘yes’ and when I asked for a show of hands at least 40 people raised theirs. At that point I had no choice but to take action. The lady who was escorted out did bear a striking resemblance to Lisa Riley, though I don’t see how that’s an insult. “This was only the second and third time I’ve had to ask someone to leave during my 114 shows over the past three years of this tour. As a comedian, you never want to eject anyone, but when repeated disruptions make it impossible to continue, it’s important to consider the experience of the rest of the audience, who’ve paid to see a show without interruption.”.
