Riddle as Peter Kay cancels €50m tour
COMEDIAN Peter Kay cancelled his first tour in eight years yesterday due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances’.
He had been due to perform 112 shows between next April and March 2019 at cities including Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
Nearly two million tickets priced between €45 and €65 had been sold, with some changing hands for €2,000 on resale sites
The Have Gags, Will Travel tour was expected to bring in €50million.
But father-of-two Kay, 44, who has a holiday home in Ireland and who appeared on the Late Late Showlast month to promote the tour, said in a statement: ‘Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects.
‘My sincerest apologies: The decision has not been taken lightly and I’m sure you’ll understand my family must always come first.’
Fans who bought tickets will be refunded from their original point of purchase.
One of Britain and Ireland’s bestloved comedians, Kay has starred in Phoenix Nights, Car Share and Cradle To Grave on TV, as well as topping the charts with a series of charity singles, including (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.
His 2010 show The Tour That Didn’t Tour was watched by 1.2 million fans, setting a Guinness World Record for a comedy tour.
Kay has amassed a fortune estimated at €57million but family has always been a priority.
He has gone to great lengths to ensure he spends time with his wife Susan, 46, and sons Charlie, 13, and 10-year-old Finley.
During the 2010 tour he flew back to his £900,000 home in Bolton, near where he grew up, rather than stay in hotels. He said it was because he wanted to do the school run.
He added: ‘Being a dad is just brilliant and fantastic. You can’t put it into words what it’s like.
‘I’ve met so many older actors and comedians who’ve told me they wished they’d spent as much time with their kids as they did chasing the money.
‘I didn’t want to be away for weeks on end. I would have regretted being stuck in London on the phone to my family every night saying, “I’ll be home soon”.
‘That would have outweighed any joy I had doing the show.
‘I like to be low-profile and keep my head down. I still go up to the Co-op Late Shop for a bottle of Tizer. Staying in Bolton has been hugely important for me. Every street is a memory or a story for me. This is my home.’
Kay has never made any secret of priorities, observing that ‘sometimes your work can become your life and real life can take a back seat – for me, it’s the other way round. Where I live, and my family, are my life.’
Announcing his 2018 tour, Kay admitted he missed live stand-up and could not wait to return.
‘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,’ he said.
‘As terrifying as it is, when it works there’s nothing more fun and exciting.
‘Plus, a lot has happened in the last eight years. I can’t wait to get back up on stage.’
Last month, on the Jonathan Ross Show, Kay promised: ‘It’s ideal for the old mum and dad, nan and grandad, very clean. I do a family show.’
News that the tour has been cancelled brought disappointment – and concern – to his legions of fans. One, Saira Khan tweeted: ‘Gutted about Peter Kay cancelling his tour, I had bought tickets – but more importantly I hope he and his family are OK. Family always comes first.’
The comedian will still be on TV screens in the new year. The BBC yesterday confirmed the final two episodes of the second series of Peter Kay’s Car Share have already been filmed.
The BBC1 comedy, which centres around two colleagues, supermarket manager (Kay) and his promotions manager (Sian Gibson) who have to travel to work together due to a company scheme, pulls in an average of 5.6million viewers.
‘My family must always come first’