Comedian Kay cancels marathon tour
Star expressed his sincerest apologies on Twitter citing ‘unforeseen family circumstances’
Peter Kay, the comedian, has cancelled his first live stand-up tour in eight years, citing “unforeseen family circumstances”. Kay had been due to begin a tour of the UK and Ireland in April next year, playing about 100 dates on a tour that would have been on course to break ticket sales records.
PETER KAY has cancelled his first live stand-up tour in eight years, citing “unforeseen family circumstances”.
The comedian had been due to begin a record-breaking tour of the UK and Ireland in April next year, playing about 100 dates.
However, in a statement posted on his Twitter account yesterday, Kay said: “Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my forthcoming work projects. This unfortunately includes my forthcoming stand-up tour, Dance for Life shows and any outstanding live work commitments.
“My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taken lightly and I’m sure you’ll understand my family must always come first. I’ve always endeavoured to protect my family’s privacy from the media. I hope that the media and the public will continue to respect our privacy at this time. Once again, I’m very sorry.”
Kay’s 2010 tour made the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest-selling comedy tour of all time, after he played to more than 1.2 million people.
The new tour was due to run into 2019. The Dance for Life shows, in aid of Cancer Research UK, were due to take place from January to March. All ticketholders will be refunded.
Initially, Kay announced 26 tour dates but added more due to enor- mous demand One venue alone, Leeds First Direct Arena, sold 118,000 seats in a single day. He was booked to play 16 shows in Manchester. Explaining why he was touring again, after working on the BBC comedy Car Share, Kay said earlier this year: “I really miss it.
“I know how lucky I am to be making television series and have really loved these past few years working on Car Share, but I miss doing stand-up.
“As terrifying as it is, when it works there’s nothing more fun and exciting.”
The Bolton-born comic, who is married with a teenage son, is fiercely private and rarely gives interviews.
In 2010, he told Time Out that he left long gaps between tours because family time is so important to him. He said: “When my son was born I just thought: I want to be around him. A lot of famous people I chatted to said they regretted missing the time with the family because of chasing the money. So I decided to give touring a break.” ♦ Robbie Williams has revealed brain abnormalities put him in intensive care for a week which caused him to cancel tour dates in September.
The 43-year-old singer told The Sun he fell ill in Zurich in September and had to call a doctor backstage when his arm went numb and he began suffering from a headache. He then spent two months recovering in Los Angeles.