Peter Kay breaks silence after comparing heckler to Lisa Riley

Peter Kay has said it was not “an insult” to liken a heckler to Lisa Riley at his show last weekend.

The Bolton comedian was performing his Manchester gig on Saturday night when a woman was removed by security guards after constant heckling, including shouting “We love you Peter”.

Kay is said to have likened her to the Emmerdale actress as she was being taken out.

In a statement posted to Instagram, the 51-year-old said he did his “best to address the situation”, and “made light of it as any comedian would”.

He wrote: “I then tried to ignore them, hoping they’d settle down, but when the disruption persisted into the second half of the show, I asked the audience around them if they were being bothered by the noise.”

He said they all shouted “yes”, and when he asked for a show of hands, around 40 people responded by raising theirs.

“At that point I had no choice but to take action,” he wrote.

“The lady who was escorted out did bear a striking resemblance to Lisa Riley, though I don’t see how that’s an insult.

“As a comedian, you never want to eject anyone, but when repeated disruptions make it impossible to continue, it’s important to consider the experience of the rest of the audience, who’ve paid to see a show without interruption.”

The audience member has said she was “annoyed and upset” about the comments.

Lisa Riley, meanwhile, has insisted she’s “not offended”.

“To go to a show and feel like you’re having the mick taken out of you because of your weight, I was just a bit shocked,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

“The whole arena was laughing, I think they thought it was part of the show but there was a nastiness to his voice. It was like he was trying to get the crowd against me – it just wasn’t nice, to be honest.”

Riley, 48, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and also fronted You’ve Been Framed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Appearing to respond to her impromptu mention during the show, Riley posted a picture on Instagram on Monday which read: “Keep calm and laugh”. She added the message: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!!!”

She then followed it up on Tuesday with a post on Instagram which said: “Please draw a line under this now. I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine”.

Kay was also understood to have thrown two men out of the same gig after one repeatedly shouted “garlic bread,” which is one of Kay’s catchphrases.

Kay told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he had taken action against hecklers as they were ruining the show for others, and it was “no longer fair” to the other audience members.

One audience member told the Manchester Evening News that Kay had “shouted” at the hecklers for “a good three to five minutes” during the show.

They said the audience was mixed in their reaction: “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.”

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Kay, who has been performing his record-breaking Better Late Than Never Again tour since 2022, recently performed his 100th show at the AO Arena – the same venue the three hecklers were expelled from.

Tickets to watch the show start at £35, but go up to about £350 for top-notch seats.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Kay for comment.

Kay is currently scheduled to perform his tour into spring 2026.