Peter Kay: Thousands watch comic make live return at charity event

Thousands of comedy fans gave Peter Kay a standing ovation as he made his live return after several years away, with two quickly sold-out charity shows at the Manchester Apollo on Saturday.

"I've never in my life had a standing ovation when I came on," he joked. "I'm going to go away for four more years."

The Bolton comic was taking part in two Q&A sessions, called Doing it for Laura, at the 3,500 capacity venue.

It was to raise money for 20-year-old Laura Nuttall's brain cancer treatment.

The live gigs, which sold out within 30 minutes on release last week, marked a rare public appearance for one of the nation's best-loved comedians. And Kay said that getting back on stage was like "getting in a hot bath".

In late 2017, the Phoenix Nights star cancelled his tour and all future work projects due to "unforeseen family circumstances".

He returned the year after with the finale of his BBC TV show Car Share, but has not appeared live since.

'Eternally grateful'

This weekend's matinee and evening shows were staged in aid of Manchester University student Ms Nuttall, who was diagnosed with having an aggressive form of brain cancer - glioblastoma multiforme - in October 2018, during her first term at King's College London.

Brain scans showed six tumours, and she was told she had 12-18 months to live.

Since then, Ms Nuttall, who was in the audience on Saturday, has been undergoing immunotherapy in Germany as one of the few avenues of treatment available, alongside a costly complex cell vaccination programme, with each jab costing £27,000.

Laura Nuttall (left) with her mum Nicola and dad Mark ahead of Saturday's shows

At the Apollo, her sister Gracie introduced Kay and told the audience their family was "eternally grateful" to them for "potentially saving my sister's life".

Soon after her initial diagnosis, Laura's mum Nicola said the family received an unexpected call from Kay, who she had previously met nearly 20 years ago when working at Granada television.

"He just called up out of the blue and said, 'How can I help?'" she said previously.

Those in attendance on Saturday were required to provide either proof of having been double vaccinated, or a negative Covid test.

"People have been bringing them to the gate in bags," quipped Kay, about the lateral flow tests.

Answering questions submitted by fans, he revealed he had written two Christmas special episodes of one of his shows, Max and Paddy, with Paddy McGuinness, but that they had never got round to making them.

Peter Kay, pictured arriving at the Manchester Apollo, said he was "nervous" about his return to the stage

He also admitted he can no longer buy garlic bread from the supermarket, when quizzed about his famous catchphrase.

The first show, which ended as it started with a standing ovation, ran over by an hour, causing the evening crowd to queue in the rain for a later-than-advertised second instalment.

Many also paid way over the asking price after tickets had been snapped up by touts.

Fans queued outside the venue to see Kay's return

Official funds raised from the event will go mostly towards Ms Nuttall's treatment, but with some cash going to the Brain Tumour Charity.

She previously posted on her fundraising page: "I still can't quite believe this is really happening!"

Kay's only other public appearance in recent times was on Cat Deeley's BBC Radio 2 show this year to talk about his love of music, and in particular the Mamma Mia! musical.

He announced this week that a string of planned "dance-a-thons", which ended up being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, had now been rescheduled for 2022.