He’s a man of many talents, a comedian, presenter, actor and former semi-professional footballer.
And now John Bishop is adding another string to his bow as he tackles his upcoming comedy tour, Back At It, on the back of a motorbike to help him focus before shows.
The 57-year-old recently took up the sport and will ditch the usual tour bus option and travel between his UK and Ireland shows in 2024 and 2025 on his BMW R 1300 GS TE.
He said: ‘I’ve always fancied the idea of a motorbike because I’ve always liked cycling.
‘I suppose I’ve got some awareness of being on the road on two wheels but the difference is now every time I look at somebody cycling they don’t look like they’re having as much fun as I am on a motorbike.’
John Bishop is adding another string to his bow as he tackles his upcoming comedy tour, Back At It, on the back of a motorbike to help him focus before shows
The 57-year-old recently took up the sport and will ditch the usual tour bus option and travel between his UK and Ireland shows in 2024 and 2025 on his BMW R 1300 GS TE
Bishop has been married to his wife Melanie since 1993.
The father-of-three explained that it was after his father-in-law, John, died in 2020 and left him a scooter that he found his passion for motorbikes.
The Would I Lie to You star said: ‘Last summer I went over to France to collect it and drive it to Spain. That was the first time I’d ridden a bike and it took a few days.
‘I stopped at this hotel and these two fellas came in and they just happened to have BMW motorbikes and I just thought that looks like the proper way of doing it.’
The Skins actor has just started the Irish leg of his Back At It tour and scheduled many of the shows so he could travel along the Wild Atlantic Way – a 2,5000km driving route around the coast of Ireland that passes through nine counties.
The Have I Got News For You panellist said: ‘Now it’s become my mode of touring where and when I can. It really helps you focus on the show because you’re not on your phone on the way to the gig.
‘When I come to London for work, I come on the bike.’
Bishop moved down to Sussex, near the South Downs, just before lockdown and the pandemic made it hard to meet people but he met the Downton Abbey star, Hugh Bonneville, at a COVID testing centre and the pair struck up an unlikely friendship.
Bishop is pictured here with his wife Melanie, who he has been married to since 1993
He continued: ‘I’ve been to London quite a few times but I have to remember that the bike is not a scooter and remind myself that I can’t be nipping in between cars because the motorbike has got wing mirrors.
‘Growing up, my dad said: ‘No, you can’t ride a motorbike, you can learn how to drive a car because you can’t fall off a car’.
‘But even now I’m 57 and my dad still says, ‘I don’t like you on that bike.’
‘But It gives you a whole new perspective – obviously, you’ve got to be aware of the dangers – but the reality is that I’ve discovered a whole new culture that I knew nothing about.
‘There’s a whole world that I’m finding out about, it’s a hobby that I would never have even considered had I not been left the scooter, ridden it across Europe and met those fellas with their BMW bikes.’
