Peter Kay had two hecklers chucked out of his Manchester homecoming gig on Saturday night with one audience member telling MailOnline they walked out early because he was 'nasty and bitter' and ‘his performance was poor'.
The comedian, 51, who is currently on his £27million Better Late Than Never Again! tour, was furious that one man kept shouting out his catchphrase 'garlic bread'.
A woman who yelled 'we love you' was also ejected and apparently met with a riposte about her weight when he compared her to Emmerdale star Lisa Riley, witnesses claimed.
There was also a blind person impression and a joke about erections and depression that offended fans.
One person at the gig said: 'Was embarrassing, the guy only shouted garlic bread and the woman just shouted we love you Peter. Waited 20 years to see him and was disappointed.' Another said: 'We were sat in front of the guy. He shouted garlic bread about four times, as a professional comedian, he [Kay] should have handled the situation better, the woman only said she loved him! They weren’t heckling or swearing'.
Mr Kay was playing the Manchester AO arena on Saturday night in a show branded 'chaotic' afterwards. It is just 12 miles from his home town of Bolton.
The audience has recounted the 'nasty and bitter' moment both a male and female member of the audience were escorted out the venue. Others said they left early.
One man was removed for repeatedly shouting out 'garlic bread' - a nod to Peter's famous and much-loved catchphrase from Phoenix Nights that was also a fixture of his stand-up show.
Then a woman was also then asked to leave after she shouted out: 'We love you Peter Kay'.
The comedian shouted back at her: 'Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.' Lisa is best known for portraying Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap Emmerdale and has been open about her own battle with weight, shedding 12 stone in recent years.
It came after Peter Kay was pictured ahead of the tour having lost a great deal of weight himself.
Peter Kay was pictured looking slimmer while heading to his tour bus while leaving London's o2 arena in January. His performance in Manchester on Saturday night has sparked a row with some leaving early
Peter Kay fans were left outraged after the 'nasty and bitter' moment he threw out hecklers with a Lisa Riley jibe as they slammed the comedian's 'offensive' impression of a blind person at Manchester show on Saturday evening (pictured 2017)
While one man was removed for repeatedly shouting out 'garlic bread', a woman was also then asked to leave after she shouted out 'We love you Peter Kay' as the comedian shouted back: 'Go on, off you go Lisa Riley' (Lisa pictured in August 2024)
The funnyman also made a range of offensive and uncomfortable jokes including a blind person impression and saying he hadn't had an erection for years after 'sertroline 40mg'
A source also confirmed to MailOnline that the funnyman also made a range of offensive and uncomfortable jokes including a blind person impression and saying he hadn't had an erection for years after 'sertraline 40mg'. Sertraline is an anti-depressant widely prescribed on the NHS.
Describing the performance as 'chaotic' they admitted they went as far as to leave after witnessing the uncomfortable ordeal with the heckler.
Leaving the show early, the source expressed their shock as they explained how the man was removed after repeatedly shouting 'garlic bread'.
The comedian appeared to have lost his sense of humour when one jolly audience member during his Manchester gig shouted ‘garlic bread’ from the crowd’ after Kay asked them about ideas for a theme tune.
Kay’s well-known bit about ordering garlic bread on holiday is so famous that he admitted a few years ago people would shout ‘garlic bread’ at him while he walked down a street.
Initially Kay joked around asking ‘how is that a theme tune’ but by the second time the audience member shouted out ‘garlic bread’ he blasted a warning that the individual ‘better not shout again’.
Following the interval, the audience member shouted ‘garlic bread’ for the third time, causing Kay to stop his joke mid-way.
He then had all the arena lights turned on, pulled up a chair on stage and directed his security to remove the man as well as his friends, a source told MailOnline.
As the men were escorted out of the arena, a woman behind them shouted ‘we love you Peter’ to which he asked, ‘had a drink have we?’
The 52-year-old funnyman then instructed the security team to also remove the woman from the crowd before telling her ‘go on, off you go Lisa Riley’, in reference to the Emmerdale actress and comedian.
One woman who attended the event on Saturday said at this point other audience members started to get up from their seats and leave.
She told MailOnline: ‘The whole thing just feels very nasty and bitter. His performance was poor but the way he dealt with one heckler and someone shouting “we love you” was ridiculous.
‘My friend and I left the show after that, half an hour early. Others left the show early too.’
Peter looked markedly slimmer in January
Describing the performance as 'chaotic' they admitted they went as far as to leave after witnessing the uncomfortable ordeal with the heckler (pictured 2017)
Another individual who attended the Manchester leg of his mammoth comeback tour on Saturday wrote online: ‘I’ve lost a lot of respect for Peter Kay after the way he treated the heckler at the end of his Manchester Feb 8 show.
‘Having him removed by force by his entourage and cracking jokes about it over the three or four minutes it took.
‘No manners. Huge waste of money.’
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, added that the performance seemed ‘very chaotic’ and at some points was ‘offensive’.
‘He did a blind person impression which was really offensive, made a lot of jokes about how he hasn’t had an erection for years after “sertraline 40mg” and made other very rude jokes which isn’t what you’d expect,’ the woman said.
‘He also said Paddy McGuiness will do anything for a bit of money, called him deaf and then pulled apart his show about factories.
‘I understand humour is subjective so it may just be a few people who didn’t appreciate the jokes last night.’
Kay has been out of the spotlight for almost five years before kicking off his residency at the O2 in London in December.
Taking to Twitter after the show, one enraged fan wrote: ' I’ve lost a lot of respect for @peterkay_co_uk'
Others described the ordeal as 'harsh' and 'embarrassing'
Some fans at the Manchester gig on Saturday vented their fury on social media.
One audience member who was sat near the ejected hecklers said: 'We were sat close by and they weren’t annoying at all.
'Just a couple of people having a laugh and showing their support. Massively embarrassing from Peter Kay, very very harsh and showed his true colours'.
Meanwhile other's described the interaction as uncomfortable as they wrote: 'Yes it was weird, getting security in. The lady was very harshly treated'.
A third said: 'Yes it ruined it for us as well. We felt really uncomfortable. Peter Kay pushed it then threw him out. Ruined it'.
MailOnline have contacted Peter Kay's representatives for comment.
Meanwhile Peter topped the 2024 rich list thanks to his residency tour, which is estimated to have generated an impressive revenue of £27million.
The Better Late Than Never tour came up trumps, beating Michael McIntyre's £10.3million revenue.
Tickets to the comic's gig cost an average of £59.70 in comparison to Michael's £43.35 tickets.
Peter announced 21 new dates in November 2024, kicking off in February 2025 and will finish his show in February 2026.
Pete Kay Live originally kicked off in December 2022 and the new dates will see him visit 16 cities over the course of a year.
The new tour which will run in 2025 and 2026 will include his first dates at Aberdeen P&J Live, Brighton Centre, Bournemouth International Centre and Isle of Man Villa Marina.
Peter has already broken records during the tour after selling out 45 dates at London's O2 Arena, the only artist to do so in the world.
The funnyman also performed a record 100 shows at the Manchester AO Arena - breaking all attendance and performance records.