Comedian Leigh Francis has announced that for the first time in decades he is ditching his Keith Lemon alter ego for his first ever UK tour.
The 50-year-old Celebrity Juice star will embark on an 18-date tour entitled My First Time, which kicks off in Bath on March 6, 2024.
He will then visit Guildford, Bournemouth, London, Cambridge, Sheffield, Halifax, Salford, York, Glasgow, Hull, Bradford, Buxton, Newcastle, Nottingham, Liverpool, Birmingham before finishing in his home town of Leeds.
Famed for his sketch shows, Francis will be bringing his favourite chracters to life in a live environment for the very first time, including Bear and Avid Merrion as well as his Bo’ Selecta! take on David Dickinson, Ant and Dec and Myrtle.
Keith Lemon will also make an appearance, but it’s Francis who will take centre stage rather than the flamboyant presenter.
There’s no word, however, about whether the Back Then When podcast host will be reviving his controversial Craig David persona.
Speaking in a press release, Francis said: “Hey, really exciting news! Well exciting for me! I hope it’s exciting for you! Or at least provokes some sort of interest! I mean, just look how many exclamation marks there is in this quote! It’s definitely news with exciting intent!
“So what is this exciting news? I’m doing my first ever tour! Never done one before. It’s gonna have masks in it! The Bear, Avid Merrion, Amanda Holden’s Gran, not her actual gran but me playing her. I’ll also be playing Keith Lemon, I look just like him! It’s me doing all the characters I do that hopefully have the intent to provoke hilarity!
“So many exclamation marks, and the word ‘intent’ and ‘provoke’ twice! I’m excited! Come see me being other people live for the first time! It’ll be your first time and my first time! Hence the title of the tour My First Time! (There’s another exclamation mark) how exciting!”
