Ejected Peter Kay fan says comedian’s Lisa Riley jibe made her ‘cry’
The woman who was compared to Lisa Riley by Peter Kay at the comedian’s recent gig in Manchester has responded after the star had her ejected for shouting “we love you”.
The comedian was criticised by fans attending his tour on Saturday (8 February) after he had two people removed for disrupting the show.
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. Kay went on to refer to this woman as Lisa Riley, which audience members took to be a “derogatory” comment about her weight.
The woman in question, Myar Curran has since spoken to the Manchester Evening News and admitted the jibe from Kay did upset her.
“We bought these tickets ages ago so we’ve been waiting years for this,” Myar told the publication. “We were so looking forward to it. I lost my mum a couple of years ago and she was supposed to come to the show so it was something that was going to be very special to us.”
“I do feel he was on about my weight,” the 25-year-old said. “I know Lisa Riley has lost a lot of weight and looks great but she used to be a bit bigger. I didn’t used to be this big, I have put a bit of weight on, I’ve had a child.”
“I’m self-conscious about that so 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” added Myar, who had travelled from Scotland for the show.
“I’m annoyed and upset about it. 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.”
“I did have a cry about it after I got to the hotel room. I was just so upset. It was just a very rubbish situation. My whole family was disgusted by it.”
A video obtained by MailOnline reportedly shows Kay telling his his security team to “knock the f*** out” of the initial heckler and to “drag him out by his pubes”.
As the heckler was escorted out of the venue, Kay is said to have added: “Garlic dead, that's what they'll have now. Garlic dead. Brain him! Brain him. He's not happy. He's not laughing now is he?”
Kay then set his sights on Curran, who had shouted her “love” for Kay as he complained about the original heckler.
MailOnline reports Kay as saying: “Oh Christ almighty. Bloody hell. I love Saturdays. Is he gone now? Alright, love I've heard you. Take her out and all while you're up there will you? Take her out.
“Go on, you've missed the ending and everything, what a shame with your f***ing big gob drinking de-icer. Out you go. Go on, Lisa Riley, f*** off. Go on. Out you pop flower, go on. See ya.”
Following backlash to his comment, Kay told Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (11 February): “I didn’t realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley. I didn’t realise that was an insult.”
Car Share star Kay, who reportedly said he was “enjoying” the power of having people thrown out of the gig, said in a statement shared with the ITV show: “There comes a point when dealing with repeated hecklers simply isn’t enough. It’s not something you ever want to do but it becomes a point when it’s no longer fair to everyone around.”
Hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls said that Kay “felt he had no option but to remove the hecklers as they were spoiling the show”.
Riley, who portrayed Mandy Dingle on Emmerdale between 1995 and 2001, 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.”
The Independent has contacted Kay for comment.
