Two audience members were removed from Peter Kay’s gig (Image: Getty Images)
has come under fire for allegedly making a cruel jibe about Lisa Riley, following an incident where two hecklers were removed from his Manchester show on Saturday night.
An early leaver from the highly anticipated comedy event claimed that the 51-year-old was “nasty and bitter” and said “his performance was poor”.
During the final dates of his Better Late Than Never Again! tour, the comedian reportedly became frustrated when two disruptive attendees persistently heckled him.
The situation escalated as one man repeatedly interrupted with Peter’s famous “garlic bread” catchphrase, while another woman was told to leave after shouting “we love you”.
As she was removed by security, Peter is said to have made a harsh joke about her size, likening her to ‘s Lisa Riley.
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The comedian reportedly made a joke about Lisa Riley (Image: ITV)
He reportedly shouted back: “Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.”
Lisa 48, renowned for playing Mandy Dingle in ITV’s , has been candid about her weight struggles over the years. The actress has impressively lost 12 stone after revamping her lifestyle and eating habits.
It is believed several others left the show prematurely, expressing disappointment with the performance despite having waited years to see the comedian live.
“The whole thing just feels very nasty and bitter,” one audience member told Mail Online. “His performance was poor but the way he dealt with one heckler and someone shouting ‘we love you’ was ridiculous.”
They added: “My friend and I left the show after that, half an hour early. Others left the show early too.”
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The comedian’s performance was branded “poor” (Image: PA)
Another audience member expressed their discontent to the publication, saying: “I’ve lost a lot of respect for Peter Kay after the way he treated the heckler at the end of his Manchester Feb 8 show. Having him removed by force by his entourage and cracking jokes about it over the three or four minutes it took. No manners. Huge waste of money.”
The audience member continued: “He did a blind person impression which was really offensive, made a lot of jokes about how he hasn’t had an erection for years after ‘sertraline 40mg’ and made other very rude jokes which isn’t what you’d expect.
“He also said Paddy McGuinness will do anything for a bit of money, called him deaf and then pulled apart his show about factories. I understand humour is subjective so it may just be a few people who didn’t appreciate the jokes last night.”
Peter Kay’s tour reportedly raked in a staggering £27million last year, making his Better Late Than Never series of dates one of the most globally successful tours of 2024.
Peter was crowned Britain’s highest-earning comedian last year (Image: ITV)
The comedian accumulated a total of £26,992,507 from his 35 performances, according to official tour revenue data from US analytics company Pollstar.
Only fellow comedian Michael McIntyre, 48, came close to matching the Bolton-born star among UK comics, earning £10,284,888.
With tickets priced at an average of £59.70, each show last year generated around £771k. The Phoenix Nights star’s success on tour surpassed revenues of many big names including Billie Eilish (£14.3m), Robbie Williams (£10.1m) and Lady Gaga (£10.4m).
He also outperformed international comedians Trevor Noah (£20.8m) and Kevin Hart (£17.2m) in terms of annual revenues. The Pollstar figures, highlighted in a special Year End 2024 Report for the music industry, disclose the box office earnings of the world’s top live entertainers, reports .
Peter’s staggering £34.6million fortune meant last year, beating the likes of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to secure the top spot on the stand-up rich list.
Express.co.uk has reached out to Peter Kay’s representatives for comment.