Lisa Riley has reacted to reports Peter Kay made a “derogatory” joke at her expense during a recent comedy show.
The Bolton comic, 51, was performing in Manchester earlier this week when he had two people ejected for heckling him after being left with “no option”.
According to reports, Kay was left frustrated when a man repeatedly shouted his catchphrase “garlic bread” as he delivered jokes as part of his Better Late Than Never Again tour at the AO Arena.
An audience member claimed that, as security escorted the man out, a woman shouted, “We love you, Peter” – after which the comedian asked security to remove her also.
They told Manchester Evening News that, as she was leaving the premises, he referred to her as former Emmerdale star and You’ve Been Framed presenter Lisa Riley, which they took to be a “derogatory” comment about her weight.
After Riley made headlines, she shared a post on her Instagram page, which suggested that she saw the funny side to the situation.
Riley shared an image that read: “Keep calm and laugh,” adding as a caption: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!”
In a follow-up post on Tuesday (11 February), she categorically told her followers she was “not offended”, saying she “loves” Kay “to pieces”.
“Please draw a line under this now,” she wrote. “I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine.”
However, the attendee who spoke to the Manchester Evening News was left unimpressed by Kay’s alleged actions, claiming that he also directed his ire at a group of people who raised their hands when Kay asked if he should eject the woman.
“He then proceeded to shout at them for a good three to five minutes,” they said. “The audience were mixed – some couldn’t believe it and were obviously annoyed – and others were laughing, either thinking it was part of the show or going along with it.”
They continued: “It was out of order, he was clearly annoyed at something. There was no need to escalate the situation to that extreme.”
The Independent has contacted Kay for comment.
Another attendee wrote on X/Twitter: “I’ve lost a lot of respect for Peter Kay after the way he treated the heckler at the end of his Manchester 8 Feb show, having him removed by force by his entourage, and cracking jokes bout it over the 3-4 mins it took. No manners. Huge waste of money.”
Elsewhere, one fan said that the comedian “killed the atmosphere in the arena”, and branded his actions “completely inappropriate and unacceptable”.
Kay’s tour is set to run for 12 months, a record-breaking 100 dates of which are set to take place at the A0 Arena.
In a statement about the tour, the comedian previously said: “It’s been wonderful doing what I love most, stand-up comedy.
“Laughter is more important than ever in these challenging times and with the cost of living still at an all-time high, ticket prices for the new dates will start from £35.”
