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Leigh Francis has been blasted by another of his comedy victims, who claims the controversial comic went ‘too far’ with an outrageous death ‘gag.’
Chat show host Trisha Goddard and singer Craig David have previously slammed the Bo’ Selecta! creator, 52, for his offensive portrayals of the pair on his Channel 4 series.
Plus ex-TV host Melanie Sykes also hit out at Leigh for making personal remarks about her during an appearance on ITV series Through The Keyhole, which he hosted in the guise of another of his alter egos, Keith Lemon.
And now 10 years after the comic claimed he had passed away while appearing on ITV2’s Celebrity Juice, also in the guise of Lemon, singer Daniel Bedingfield has broken his silence and slated Leigh for the impact the viral gag had on his family.
The Gotta Get Thru This hitmaker, who was a showbiz recluse at the time, revealed many loved ones feared Leigh’s claim was true and the ‘joke’ caused much distress.
Daniel Bedingfield has slammed Leigh Francis who claimed he had passed away during an appearance on Celebrity Juice, speaking about the impact the viral gag had on his family (pictured April 2024)
In 2015, under the guise of Keith Lemon, Leigh started a rumour that Daniel had passed away, and until now, the singer had remained silent on his views about the controversial comic (pictured March 2025)
The joke was said on former ITV2 series Celebrity Juice, which starred Keith Lemon, Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton, before the show was cancelled in 2022
Daniel, who referred to Leigh by the name of another of his comic creations – Avid Merrion, accused the funnyman of taking great ‘delight’ in tricking the public he had passed away.
He said: ‘The delight in Avid Merrion telling people I was dead – f**k you, Avid Merrion.
‘All my friends called me saying, are you dead? Not cool, man.
‘He said I was dead as a human, it’s not cool bro. It’s too far.’
Speaking on the Nicky Byrne HQ podcast, Daniel, 45, added Leigh was part of a culture who enjoyed ‘taking down’ celebrities and lauded one of his other targets, 7 Days singer Craig, for speaking out about it.
He said: ‘There’s a delight in taking apart the people we respect in Britain, tearing people down. Craig’s been really open about that.’
Leigh’s gag went viral shortly after it was mentioned on Celebrity Juice, which was axed after 14 years in 2022.
Daniel became one of the most searched artists on Google in 2015, due to fans desperately trying to find out if Leigh’s claim was true.
Daniel, who referred to Leigh by the name of another of his comic creations – Avid Merrion, accused the funnyman of taking great ‘delight’ in tricking the public he had passed away (pictured July 2003)
Craig David has previously spoken out against Leigh, saying he relocated to America in a bid to escape the ‘reaction’ to his mocking, likening the abuse to childhood bullying (pictured April 2025)
The joke was particularly sensitive for Daniel given he nearly lost his life for real in 2004 following a near fatal car crash in New Zealand, which left him with serious head and neck injuries.
Leigh no longer performs as Keith Lemon, or any other of his characters, following a backlash in recent years.
The comedian, who now presents a drive time show on Virgin Radio as himself, issued an apology to both Trisha Goddard and Craig David after they criticised him for his ‘racist’ depictions on Bo’ Selecta!
Channel 4 have since removed all episodes of from their streaming platforms.
Speaking in 2020 in BBC2’s Newsnight, Trisha, 67, said: ‘A couple of times I bumped into Leigh, I couldn’t even talk to him I felt so sick.’
She also said Leigh had since ‘had a long talk’ with one of her daughters and had been ‘absolutely horrified’ to learn of the bullying she endured at school as a result of his portrayal.
And Craig, 44, told in 2023 he moved to America to escape the ‘reaction’ to his mocking, likening the abuse to childhood bullying.
He said: ‘It was very reminiscent of days at my school, when I was growing up, when I’d been bullied, not for long periods of time but just the experience of bullying.
‘Once you’ve experienced it, it’s like a trauma that sticks with you. Even then, it was that when the teacher’s there, you sort of lean in to that ‘everything’s OK’ and it’s a smile, and the guy’s holding you, he’s gripping you like ‘if you say anything it’s not just going to be here, it’s going to be outside the school gates.
‘And I felt that all over again with this, it was being ridiculed and bullied all over again on national TV. The fact that he was wearing a black rubber mask, I mean that throws open the whole thing of him blackfacing, which just wouldn’t be acceptable now.’
Singer Craig accused Leigh of ‘blackfacing’ and said his use of rubber masks in his comedy sketches would be ‘unacceptable’ today
Leigh made a public apology in 2020, expressing his regret at mimicking the black stars.
He said: ‘I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn’t think anything about it, people didn’t say anything, I’m not going to blame other people.
‘I’ve been talking to some people and I didn’t realise how offensive it was back then.
‘And I just wanna apologise and, you know, say sorry for any upset I caused.’
He added: ‘I guess we’re all on a learning journey.’
Former Big Breakfast presenter Sykes, 54, claimed Leigh’s offensive remarks about her while she made a guest appearance on Through The Keyhole left her ‘crying all night.’
Melanie Sykes told how she even complained to producers about the comments.
She said: ‘I went into the studio and I didn’t think Keith was going to be like he was on the other show that he does (Celebrity Juice) where it’s all sex and b*** jobs and talking about people’s a***holes and all that.
‘I sat there for a three-hour record and he did all of that stuff to me verbally to entertain the live audience – because it was never going to make the edit of the show, because it was a family, Saturday night show, so he used me to entertain the audience.
‘I had Jonathan Ross to my right and Jordan Banjo to my left and the first thing that Keith said to me, in character, was: ‘I bet your a***hole smells of flowers.’ It makes me want to cry right now because I was so caught in the headlights and wasn’t expecting it.’
She added: ‘It went from bad to worse, I kept thinking, what am I going to do? I can’t get up and storm out because it will be all over the newspapers that I’ve walked out and it will, of course, be my fault, everybody in the audience has a mobile phone so they could see.’
