The Road Again

‘I’m coming back to theatre to get money that I’m owed’

The comedian is On The Road Again for his next UK tour, which will include performing at the city’s Whitehall Theatre next year.

The entertainer today recalled a previous performance at the venue.

Speaking to the Tele ahead of his January 25 gig, he said: “I remember when they closed the Whitehall Theatre about 10 years ago and I was actually meant to be doing a gig there.

“I came up, saw that all the posters for the show were inside and they had barely sold any tickets.

“So, I still went, did the gig and I gave most of the money to the theatre, so you could say that I’m coming back to get the money I’m owed.”

The “Cheeky Chappie”, 64, has spent the last year celebrating four decades in show business but he’s hitting the road to do what he enjoys most.

He said: “I always love coming to Scotland. My father was Glaswegian and I always have a great rapport with the Scottish fans.

“I’m just back from going through my 40 years in show business, which was really going through my life from birth to death, which was OK, but now I’m going back to things that really annoy me, as this politically correct stuff is ridiculous now.

“I saw on Good Morning Britain the other day a woman saying that you’re not allowed to say ‘lady’ anymore and things like that. So, I’m now just trying to rile up the feminist lot.”

The comedy scene has changed significantly since Davidson burst on to our screens on New Faces in 1976.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the former Generation Game star and Big Brother winner is not a fan of the modern crop of stand-ups — and even had a run-in with one of Scotland’s most beloved comics.

He said: “People all want to go to see younger comics now, which doesn’t surprise me. I don’t do the scene. That’s either stadiums or little clubs for about £100 a night and I’m not that skint to start doing that.

“I don’t find the young guys funny. Kevin Bridges is really popular up this way, which I don’t understand.

“We once had an argument back stage when Ant and Dec were doing Britain’s Got Talent.

“Kevin was with his lovely mum and I said, ‘Your son’s doing very well’, but he came over and he wasn’t happy about something I said about his friend, Paul Sinha, to which I replied, ‘Oh, that ********’.

“We went back and forth, but we didn’t get into it too much — he’s too classy for that.”

Away from his vulgar brand of stand-up, Davidson is best known for his spell hosting Big Break alongside John Virgo.

Davidson’s TV appearances have been limited since winning Big Brother in 2013 and he says he’s accomplished all that he’d like to in the entertainment world.

He said: “People always ask about Big Break and I think there was some issue with litigation about who owned the idea or the rights to it or something like that.

“I don’t think they could bring it back in the format it used to have. It looks a bit dated now. I was talking to John Virgo the other day.

“We used to do about four shows a day and a lot of the time we’d just make it up as we went along.

“I’d knock back a large Scotch, he’d have a brandy or two and we would just go from there — it was brilliant.

“There’s not really anything that I want to do that I haven’t done already.

“Hopefully, people will come to the Whitehall Theatre.

“It’s a nice room and I’m sure it’ll be a good night.”

JIM Davidson is used to a frosty reception on occasion — but he wasn’t expecting to be locked out of his last Dundee gig.