Lisa Riley breaks her silence on Peter Kay joke as she reveals what she REALLY thinks of his controversial gag
LISA Riley has broken her silence after Peter Kay made a controversial joke about her at his Manchester gig.
The popular comic, 51, likened a heckler to the Emmerdale actress after suggesting she’d had too much to drink.
After instructing security to remove the woman, he said: “Have a drink, have we?
“Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.”
Lisa is now nine years sober after admitting to drinking two bottles of wine a night – with the screen star previously confessing she “drowned her feelings in alcohol” following her mother’s death.
Today she addressed the fallout on Instagram, writing: “Please draw a line under this now, I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine.”
Yesterday she shared a picture of the quote “Keep calm and laugh” on her grid and added: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!”
Peter has also spoken out and insisted he had no intention of offending Lisa.
In a statement to Good Morning Britain, he said: “I didn’t realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley, I didn’t realise that was an insult.
“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.”
At the same show, warehouse worker Philip Peters, 54, and his son, 26, were forcibly removed by security for repeatedly yelling Peter’s “garlic bread” catchphrase.
Mr Peters, who was gifted his £155 ticket for Christmas from his 17-year-old daughter, complained that they were treated “like terrorists” as security guards dragged them out of the venue.
He told the Mail: “It was me who shouted out ‘garlic bread’. I was there with my son and they dragged us out like ragged dolls and I am now covered in bruises. A lot of people just stood up and walked out when they saw how we were dragged out.
“If we had done anything wrong the police would have arrested us, I just can’t understand it, all I said was garlic bread. That’s my favourite joke of his.
“I have loved Peter Kay forever. I watched him on Car Share, I watch him on TikTok all the time and I’ve always wanted to see him live. I’ve loved watching him.”
Stand-up Kay, 51, previously said he’s “too embarrassed” to buy garlic bread at the supermarket – after the snack became the punchline to one of his best-loved jokes.
Some gig-goers have called the Bolton-born star’s ejection of the heckling pair “nasty and bitter”.