Peter Kay has shared his mum initial reaction - and worry - after seeing his tour announcement on TV which he joked 'cost a fortune'. The comedian has made the rare radio appearance after he thrilled fans by announcing his first stand-up tour in 12 years.
The huge new UK comedy tour is to open with two nights at Manchester's AO Arena in December before Peter heads off across the county with dates all over the UK and Ireland announced for throughout 2023. He had returned to the spotlight earlier this year for a series of Dance for Life charity gigs but this'll be the first time he goes solo to perform brand new material to his loyal following.
Speaking to Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show on Wednesday (November 9), Bolton's very own superstar got off to a comical start, tucking into some of the presenter's 'emergency snacks' before sharing his mum's reaction to his tour announcement. The big news was revealed during the first break of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here's launch on Sunday night (November 6).
READ MORE: Peter Kay fans can get early access to new tour tickets including Manchester show - here's how
"My mum rang on Sunday night after that advert went on and said, 'how many night's you doing?'" Peter explained, turning to an Irish accent to represent his mum, Deirdre, who hails from Coalisland in Co Tyrone. "'You're doing 11,'" he says she pondered before Peter told he was doing 'more than 11' and addressing confusion in the ad that he's doing two - which just so happens to be on home turf in Manchester.
"'Peter, that's a lot of nights,'" Peter says his mum told him before he replied in a typical son moment; "It's a tour!" But here next question stumped him. "'How are you going to get home from Manchester?'" he said she asked. "I said, 'I'm going to drive,' and she said, 'You're driving yourself? Oh Peter!'"
The comedian added: "I thought, I'm 49 not nine... I can drive home." Peter, who has been wowing fans at tiny studio gig in Salford, also spoke about how he felt seeing the advert for the first time as he sat down to watch it in anticipation. "Please tell me you were sat there waiting, with the family, for it to come on?" Zoe said.
To which Peter replied: "Yeah, and it got to 29 minutes past nine and I'm thinking, 'They've not had a commercial break yet! This has cost a fortune to put this one.'" As Zoe laughed, he quipped: "Luckily 02 paid!" He shared how it was his idea to put it on during I'm A Celeb as it would 'take people by surprise'.
But Peter actually ended up getting a surprise of his own. "I could not get over... I was lying in bed with Susan [his wife] on Monday night because I had a show, a practice, and Huw Edwards was on the news with a picture of me behind him. He was doing the Queen's funeral and he's talking about me!
"I'm going, 'I'm on the news! The main news! This is ridiculous.' I thought it's got to be a slow news day, hasn't it?" He then added: "I couldn't believe that. Unbelievable!" He then shared his amazement that the BBC broadcaster shared his plans to get tickets. But he rejected Zoe's claims that he 'broke the internet' as fans rushed to get more information and 'crashed' his website. "I think that's just a PR thing," he admitted.
Peter’s 2010 tour still officially ranks with the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest-selling comedy tour of all time which played to over 1.2m people. And he has announced tickets will be priced at £35 in his bid to help with the cost of living crisis - the same price as his previous tour. Tickets for Peter Kay’s nationwide tour go on sale Saturday 12th November at 10am
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