Peter Kay opened up about his dramatic weight loss, reflecting on years of “trying everything” to get his health under control after a lifelong struggle with binge eating.
The comedian, 52, surprised fans when he returned to the spotlight last year looking noticeably slimmer, following a five-year break from public life.
Speaking at an In Conversation With… event hosted by Sara Cox at The Lowry in Salford, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Monday, he revealed the extent of his attempts to lose weight.
“I tried everything. Good God in heaven,” he said. “I mean, you go to flaming weight-loss groups and stuff like that. I joined Slimming World and WeightWatchers. I did all of them.”
He recalled the moment he realised how deeply ingrained his binge-eating habits were.
While watching a film with his wife, Susan, he slipped out under the pretence of going to the toilet, only to buy a hotdog.
'I was doing really well with this diet, but I'm so bad with willpower,” he shared. “I had this hotdog and I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in, ironically, a framed poster for Babe.
“I thought, look at you - what are you doing? You're doing really well on this diet, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Kay admitted that even after throwing the hotdog in the bin, he retrieved it before it hit the liner and ate it anyway.
He added that the roots of his unhealthy eating stretched back to childhood, recalling how his mother would bring pies to his primary school for him to eat.
In the special, recorded in September, he revealed he spent “the first 48 years of my life” trying to lose weight.
The comedy star revealed his unhealthy eating habits began in childhood, recalling how his mother would bring pies into his primary school for him to eat: “Everyone would be queueing up and the dinner ladies would be like, ‘Your mum’s been in with a pie.’”
“She used to hide the biscuits in our house, but I knew where she’d hid them.
“I used to have me mates round for a brew and I’d reach inside the tumble drier and get a packet of digestives out, like it was normal.”
Last week, Kay acknowledged his recent dramatic weight loss during a rare television appearance.
He looked significantly slimmer during an appearance on The One Show on Thursday while promoting his 2026 Peter Kay Live, Better Late Than Never tour.
Fans declared that he looked totally unrecognisable, with one even joking on social media: “Who shrunk Peter Kay?”
The stand-up comic addressed his new look during an appearance on Good Morning Britain with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shepard.
The camera flashed up a photo of Kay looking heavier on the cover of his 2026 tour poster as he discussed the upcoming shows.
“Oh, here we go!” Kay remarked as he looked at the image, before quipping: “Lost some weight since that happened.”
Kay revealed he started doing aerobics at his local leisure centre, where Paddy McGuinness was a fitness instructor and gave him classes.
He famously stepped back from the spotlight in 2017 after cancelling a planned tour due to “unforeseen family circumstances.”
He returned in August 2021 for two charity shows and in 2022 announced his first arena tour in 12 years.
His Better Late Than Never tour, which included a record-breaking monthly residency at London’s 02 Arena running from December 2024 to July 2025, continues until April 2026.
