Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley on his Royal Variety Performance
BGT winner Lost Voice Guy, aka comic Lee Ridley, on his joy at performing for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
The Royal Variety Performance Tuesday / ITV / 7.30Pm
Comedian Lee Ridley, best known as Lost Voice Guy, shot to fame earlier this year after being crowned the champion of Britain’s Got Talent, winning the votes, and hearts, of the nation with his hilarious stand-up routines.
Since then, Lee’s life has been a whirlwind, and this week he gets to perform for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the London Palladium in this year’s Royal Variety Performance, one of his prizes for winning BGT.
Lee, 37, who has a neurological form of cerebral palsy and uses a textto-speech app to communicate, tells TV Times why it’s a dream come true…
BGT Did you watch The Royal Variety Performance as a child?
Yes, we always watched it together as a family when I was little. A lot of my heroes have performed at the London Palladium, so it’s amazing to be following in their footsteps.
Can you give us any hints about what your routine will involve?
It will be cheeky, mischievous and, most of all, funny. There may be one or two jokes especially for the Duke and Duchess! I can’t wait to meet them. They’re definitely the coolest Royals at the moment. I just hope they like my jokes or I might end up in the Tower of London!
Take That, Rick Astley and the legendary Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo are also performing this year. Who are you most excited about meeting? I’m looking forward to meeting Take That. I’m secretly hoping they’ll let me be the new Robbie Williams and we can have a No.1 hit together. I’ve got a great singing voice, after all! And
I’m excited about meeting comedian Greg Davies, who’s hosting the evening. I’ve always loved his stand-up.
How nervous will you be on stage? It’s going to be nerve-racking. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be performing in front of the Royal Family. It’s been a great year for me and this is going to be the icing on the cake. I just hope I don’t hit the wrong button and swear in front of Harry and Meghan.
Have the Britain’s Got Talent judges, Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, given you any tips? Yes, I got invited to Simon’s Summer party and David came to see my show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He’s given me some good advice about my comedy career, which I’m very grateful for.
Has winning Britain’s Got Talent completely changed your life? Massively! Winning the show has opened a lot of doors for me. I’m going on a big UK tour next year and I’m writing a book called I’m Only in It for the Parking, which has always been a dream of mine. Next year is going to be even busier – I’m writing another series of my Radio 4 sitcom Ability. I just hope my batteries don’t run out in between all of that.
What do people say to you when they see you out and about?
I get recognised a lot, especially in my home city of Newcastle. Mostly it’s people asking for selfies and congratulating me on my success. I’m really flattered by it all – it’s lovely that people want to chat and I appreciate everyone’s support. I said I’d get a new Geordie accent for my tablet if I won BGT, but I haven’t yet. I still sound like a posh version of Robocop!
Lee’s UK tour starts at London’s Soho Theatre on 23 January 2019 and runs until 30 April 2019. See lostvoiceguy.com/gigs for details