Peter Kay Cancels Comeback Over ‘Family Circumstances’

British comedian Peter Kay was forced to cancel his first standup tour in eight years, as well as upcoming shows of his charity project Dance For Life, “due to unforeseen family circumstances.”  

Shirlaine Forrest / Getty Images – Peter Kay
Comedian Peter Kay gives a speech on the terror attacks and introducing headliner Noel Gallagher during the ‘We Are Manchester’ benefit concert at Manchester Arena Sept. 9.

The standup tour was supposed to start with two shows at Birmingham’s Genting Arena, April 21-22, and continue visiting the UK’s and Ireland’s major arenas through to 2019, closing with a double date at Liverpool’s Echo Arena, March 18-19, 2019.

Kay was scheduled to perform four times in a row at both Manchester Arena, June 4-9 as well as London’s O2, Sept. 13-20.

It would have marked Kay’s first UK standup tour in eight years. According to tour promoter SJM Concerts, his 2010 tour, seen by more than 1.2 million people, still holds the Guinness world record of biggest selling comedy tour of all time.

Things looked promising for the 2018-19 comeback as well. After announcing the tour, it became the UK’s top Google trend and entered Twitter’s top 3 trending topics within hours.

“The official tour video also amassed over 1.1m views and over 50,000 likes, shares and comments within two hours on Peter Kay’s Facebook page alone,” SJM Concerts said at the time.

Kay’s upcoming Dance For Life shows are canceled as well.

Dance For Life is a charity project, which sees Kay take on the role of DJ, playing dance tracks from the past four decades. Attendees are encouraged to donate money for cancer research.

This is Kay’s full statement: “Due to unforeseen family circumstances I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects. This unfortunately includes my upcoming stand-up tour, Dance For Life shows and any outstanding live work commitments.

“My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taking lightly and I’m sure you’ll understand my family must always come first. I’ve always endeavored to protect my family’s privacy from the media. I hope the media and the public will continue to respect our privacy at this time. Once again I’m very sorry.”

SJM Concerts said holders of tickets for Peter Kay’s Live Arena Tour as well as Dance For Live shows will be refunded from their original point of purchase, which is also where any specific ticket queries should be directed to.