Peter Kay showed his lighter side as he was seen leaving rehearsals for his tour.
The comedian, 51, looked well as he headed back to his bus at the O2 Arena in London after practicing his comeback show.
Peter opted for a smart black jacket and jeans, teamed with a black cap as he exited the arena after rehearsals for his monthly residency at the London hotspot.
Peter has become the first artist in the world to get a monthly residency at the arena in North Greenwich, south-east London, and has upcoming dates at the venue until July 2025.
The star first began his tour in 2022, after taking a five-year break from the spotlight due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances.’
Although Peter has never shed light on what triggered a lengthy career break, his triumphant return to the stage after 12 years has seen him comically divulge a medical nightmare and open up about the death of a relative.
Peter Kay, 51, showed off his weight loss as he was seen for the first time in a year, after completing rehearsals for his show at London’s O2 Arena
The comedian looked well as he headed back to his tour bus after preparing for his show at London’s O2 Arena
Peter has delighted fans with his return to stand-up comedy, and has been displaying his slimmed-down physique (pictured in 2017)
Touching on his health on the opening night of his tour in 2022, Kay described the indignities of a recent kidney stones operation – an experience which went from bad to worse when an anaesthetist asked him for a selfie.
As male members of the audience were left uncontrollably laughing and wincing at the same time, it also marked the closest time the public has ever got to any explanation of Kay’s exile from the limelight.
Peter shocked fans after appearing in a rare photograph as he performed his stand-up show in May last year.
And the comic said: ‘See how much weight Peter Kay has lost.’
Before announcing the new tour, Peter had disappeared from public life, before releasing a statement in December 2017 to say he was returning to the limelight.
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.
Peter opted for a smart black jacket and jeans, teamed with a black cap as he exited the arena after rehearsals for his monthly residency at the London hotspot
Peter has become the first artist in the world to get a monthly residency at the arena in North Greenwich, south-east London, and has upcoming dates at the venue until July 2025
The star first began his tour in 2021, after taking a five-year break from the spotlight due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances’
Although Peter has never shed light on what triggered a lengthy career break, his triumphant return to the stage after 12 years has seen seen him comically divulge a medical nightmare
Peter shocked fans after appearing in a rare photograph as he performed his stand-up show in May last year
Touching on his health on the opening night of his tour in 2021, Kay described the indignities of a recent kidney stones operation
Before announcing the new tour, Peter had disappeared from public life, before releasing a statement in December 2017 to say he was returning to the limelight
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.
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
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’
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
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?’
