Peter Kay tucked into a tasty treat from a local bakery in Bolton on Wednesday – after opening up about his dramatic weight-loss for the first time.
The comedian, 52, surprised fans when he returned to the spotlight last year sporting a much slimmer frame following a five-year absence.
Since he has spoken out about many tough years of ‘trying everything’ amid his lifelong battle with binge eating.
Speaking about his new look for the first time in December, the funnyman revealed he’d tried everything from slimming groups, gym sessions to his mum’s Rosemary Conley keep fit videos in a desperate bid to get a grip on his weight.
And stepping out in his native Bolton this week he cut a low-key figure in an all-black ensemble and cap as he grabbed some essentials.
Peter – who is touring around the UK this year – added comfortable trainers to his look and headed back to his car after collecting the goods.
Peter Kay tucked into a tasty treat from a local bakery in Bolton on Wednesday – after opening up about his dramatic weight-loss for the first time
The comedian, 52, surprised fans when he returned to the spotlight last year sporting a much slimmer frame following a five-year absence
Speaking at an In Conversation With… event hosted by Sara Cox at The Lowry theatre in Salford, which aired on BBC Radio 2 in December, Peter said he had finally made the change over concerns for his health.
‘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: ‘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 bin liner 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.’
Peter is seen in 2006
Since he has spoken out about many tough years of ‘trying everything’ amid his lifelong battle with binge eating
Stepping out in Bolton this week he cut a low-key figure in an all-black ensemble and cap as he grabbed some essentials
Speaking about his new look for the first time in December, the funnyman revealed he’d tried everything from slimming groups, gym sessions to his mum’s Rosemary Conley keep fit videos in a desperate bid to get a grip on his weight
He said: ‘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’
Peter described how he lied about going to the toilet only to leave the screening to eat a hotdog: ‘I was doing really well with this diet, but I’m so bad with willpower’
He is pictured 2017
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.
Seen in 2006
He added that as he threw it into the bin he grabbed it back just before it hit the bin liner 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
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.’
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.
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.
Last month Peter left Cat Deeley stunned after he called her out for an interview habit in the middle of a live chat on This Morning – leaving fans thrilled.
The presenter, who co-hosts the ITV daytime series alongside Ben Shephard, was joined by the comedian to discuss his tour, Better Late Than Never.
Peter opened up on his decision to donate all the money made from the tour to a series of cancer charities as he sat down with Cat, 49, and Ben, 50.
He went on to list all of the 12 charities the money would go to on the tour, which has been extended for even more dates after first starting in 2022.
Among the charities listed were the Teenage Cancer Trust, Kidney Cancer UK, Blood Cancer UK, Bowel Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer UK.
But as the comic was listing of the names, written down on a piece of paper so he could remember their names, he let out a chuckle in Cat’s direction as he noticed she kept responding ‘yes’ to each charity name.
‘My tour has been on a while,’ he told the hosts. ‘I am doing extra shows and they are all for 12 charities which are, Children with Cancer UK, the Teenage Cancer Trust, Kidney Cancer UK, Blood Cancer UK, Bowel Cancer…
‘I’m not laughing at bowel cancer, it’s because she keeps saying, “yeah”.’
Looking embarrassed, Cat began to giggle and turned her face away, as Ben stepped in: ‘It’s called active listening, my wife does it and it drives me mad.’
He looked in good spirits on the low-key outing
Looking down the lens of the camera, Peter then joked: ‘Well, if you’ve got any issues with that and you want to ring up…?’ before continuing to list the charities.
Show viewers immediately took to X, formerly Twitter, to react to the moment, celebrating a guest had ‘finally called Cat out’ for the behaviour.
One penned: ‘At last someone has done it! Peter Kay calling out Cat Deeley on all her “yep… yeah…aha…um” while someone is trying to talk!’
A second added: ‘Not Peter Kay giving Cat a look to tell her to stop her “yep, yeah, uh huh” About time someone did!’
