Peter Kay, 52, Shares ‘Shameful’ Moment of Realizing His Binge Eating Struggle

Peter Kay has said he spent the ‘first 48 years of his life’ trying to lose weight as he spoke in a rare personal interview on Monday about the ‘shameful’ moment he knew he had a problem with binge eating.

The comedian, 52, shocked fans when he emerged back into the spotlight in 2024 after a five-year absence from public life looking much slimmer than he used to.

And now speaking at an In Conversation With… event hosted by Sara Cox at The Lowry theatre in Salford Peter addressed his weight loss for the first time.

Asked directly if he had ever tried to lose weight he responded: ‘Only for the first 48 years of my life. Yeah I had to, eventually, because you start thinking about your health and things like that, don’t you? 

‘I tried everything. Good God in heaven. I mean, you go to flaming weight-loss groups and stuff like that. I joined Slimming World and WeightWatchers. I did all of them.’

He also reflected on the key moment that made him realise he had a binge eating problem after sneaking out of the cinema where he was watching a film with his wife Susan.

Peter described how he lied about going to the toilet only to leave the screening to eat a hotdog.

He said, according to The Sun: ‘I was doing really well with this diet, but I’m so bad with willpower. I had this hotdog and I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in, ironically, a framed poster for Babe.

‘I thought, look at you – what are you doing? You’re doing really well on this diet, you should be ashamed of yourself.’

He added that as he threw it into the bin he grabbed it back just before it hit the binliner and still ate it.

Peter went on to explain that his bad eating habits date back to when he was a child – with his mother bringing him in pies to primary school for him to eat. 

The star devastated fans in 2017 when he announced that he would be cancelling his long-awaited comeback tour due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances.’

The comedian then noticeably retreated from the spotlight for five years following the cancellation.

At the time speculation was rife among fans about the reason for his absence, with Peter’s social media also plunged into silence until March 2018, when he return to announce a charity screening of Peter Kay’s Car Share.

The event was held to raise money for The Lily Foundation, which helps children with mitochondrial ­disease, and in a post on his blog, Peter detailed how he had ‘first hand’ experience of the charity’s work. 

Peter then completely disappeared from public life for a year, and reportedly relocated to Tipperary, Ireland, where locals claimed he seemed determined to fly under the radar.

At the time, one resident told The Sun: ‘Peter clearly wanted to keep a low profile and did everything he could to avoid attracting attention to himself while staying here.  

You’d never see him in the local pubs or restaurants, and he always seemed to be alone. Most people only ever saw him passing through.’ 

The resident added that while Peter was determined to keep a low profile, his expensive Range Rover somewhat gave the game away.

In November 2017, Peter briefly touched on his second property in Ireland, saying on The Late Late Show: ‘I don’t talk about it because I don’t want it to get robbed. We’ve had a house here for 12 years.

‘We come here all the time. Whenever there’s a school holiday, really. We give Christmas a miss because the house is freezing. It takes ages to warm up.’

Peter Kay’s Car Share was awarded the Best Comedy Gong at the National Television Awards in 2019, but he failed to attend the ceremony, leaving co-star Sian Gibson to collect the gong on their behalf.

Handing Sian the prize, Peter’s former Phoenix Nights co-star Paddy McGuinness joked: ‘Where is he? Where is he?’, prompting her to say he was ‘watching from home with a cup of tea.’

Sian went onto hint that she and Peter were already planning more projects together, after Car Share came to an end in 2018.

In April 2019, Peter resurfaced for the first time in many months, making a surprise appearance at a screening of Car Share at Blackpool Opera House, which raised £34,000 for The Lily Foundation.

While visiting the beachside town, Peter also posed for a snap with fans riding the tram on the coast.

In December of that year, Peter also attended the Peter Pan pantomime in Crewe and Nativity! The Musical in London, posing for a snap with director Debbie Isitt.

‘So lovely to see the brilliant comic genius Peter Kay and his lovely family @nativityuk tonight for our final show!’ she wrote on social media. ‘What a lovely surprise for us all.’ 

In February 2020, Peter announced his return to the stage with six Dance For Life shows, but they were sadly postponed due to the Covid pandemic.

The funnyman did make a short return to TV in April 2020 for BBC’s Big Night In Special, as part of a reworked version of his iconic music video for (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.

He then went onto perform two sold-out Dance For Life shows to raise money for Laura Nuttall, 21, who had an aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme. She sadly died in May 2023.

In November 2022, Peter then delighted the nation by announcing he would be returning to touring for the first time in 12 years, including a monthly residency at London’s O2 Arena.

Taking to the stage for his first night in Manchester, Peter was moved to tears as he received a standing ovation from the audience that lasted several minutes.

Struggling to compose himself following the reaction, Peter told the crowd: ‘Oh Jesus look at me, I mean what’s that all about… how am I supposed to do bloody comedy now?’

‘Lovely Manchester you made me cry… where did it come from, all that emotion?’

Peter shocked fans after appearing in a rare photograph as he performed his stand-up show in May last year. 

And the comic spoke of his own appearance, saying: ‘See how much weight Peter Kay has lost.’