Kelly: I was Mr Light Entertainment but I won’t be on TV again
FORMER Stars In Their Eyes host Matthew Kelly says he will never work on television again.
The 70- year- old, who reportedly turned down the chance to appear on Strictly this year, switched to the stage after being cleared of historical abuse allegations in 2003, which he had strenuously denied.
He quit the hit Saturday- night show the following year, after presenting it for 11 years.
Promoting his new theatre production Sleepless, Matthew said: “My time with [ TV] has gone. Of course.”
He added that there were too many repeats of his old show, in which members of the public imitated pop stars.
He said: “They have run all of the Stars In Their Eyes on Challenge and channels like Dave.
Changes
“The viewers know who the contestants are going to be now. It is like, ‘ We know who you were going to be... and you weren’t any good’.”
Matthew, who lives apart from his wife Sarah for much of the year, as he works in London and tours the UK while she stays at home in Cheshire, also spoke of what it was like turning 70 during lockdown in May.
He said: “Of course I got drunk. Are you nuts? We have all drunk too much in lockdown.
“Nobody got me anything as nobody was there. I just got loads of cards and loads of calls.
“There were a few people around but normally I don’t celebrate anything. I just usually go ‘ That’s that’ and on to the 80th.”
He added: “I love getting older. Turning 50 I thought was no man’s land but it was fantastic.
“Sixty was a big one. When I turned 65 I became an orphan and a pensioner in the same year, and then on we go.
“Eighty? Bring it on! Life changes. That is what it is all about. This year has gone very quickly. You know what they say: ‘ If you want something done, ask a busy man’.”
Asked what he thinks of TV today, he said: “Well, I suppose we’ve had a great chance to watch things that we missed the first time around.
“Hasn’t TV always been like that – repetitive? It does not bother me. I watch anything.
“I find it comforting, like the Teletubbies. I like repetitive things. I only have Freeview. I love Britain’s Got Talent, too. I am devoted to it.
“I love Ant and Dec, yeah fantastic. I worked with them a lot and they are good guys who have never changed.”
But he added: “I’m not big on game shows. My view on television has always been the same.
“If you like it, watch it. If you don’t – watch something else.” Matthew, who was born in Urmston, Lancs, and has two adult children, says he knew he wanted to act from the age of six.
His first job was making custard pies for Mr Pastry in Rhyl in the summer of 1967, but he also starred in variety shows.
By 1974, he was in the Everyman rep company, which included Pete Postlethwaite and Julie Walters.
And in the 1980s Matthew was given his “Mr Light Entertainment” tag thanks to hosting stints on Game For A Laugh followed by You Bet! and Stars In Their Eyes in 1993.
His return to stage acting has gone well, and he won an Olivier award in 2004 for his portrayal of Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men at the Savoy Theatre.
Matthew now tours with a couple of productions every year.
He said: “I have always worked a lot, but I have to, it’s who I am. That’s the great thing about being an actor, you never have to retire.”