Entertainment
Peter Kay ‘donates £14,000 to children’s charity for Christmas’ to represent every sold out ticket at first O2 London gig-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The star reportedly announced the generous guesture while dressed as Santa.
The comic reportedly made the annoucement on stage on Friday (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Comedian Peter Kay is said to have made a generous Christmas gesture by donating £14,000 to a children’s charity, representing £1 for every fan at his London O2 Arena show.
The Car Share star, who has embarked on a blockbuster comedy tour of the UK – his first for 12 years – was apparently struck by the festive spirit on Friday night and decided to make the incredible donation.
Kicking off his first London show of the multi-year tour, which also includes the first residency at the O2 Arena in its 15-year history, Peter revealed his plan at one of his last shows before Christmas.
While reportedly dressed in a full Santa costume, the 49-year-old told the enthusiastic crowd: ‘I think Christmas is about doing good things for other people so we’re gonna take a pound off each of you.
‘I’m going to put it in a children’s charity and I was looking at my phone on the way down and I found one called Action for Children.’
‘They do a Secret Santa and it seems really lovely. There’s 14,000 people here, so if I take a pound that’s £14,000 for children on your behalf. So thanks!’ he added, according to The Mirror.
Peter linked the action to Christmas, as he prepared to break from his new tour until January (Picture: Getty)
A spokesperson for the charity told the publication that the ‘amazing donation’ would be able to help them ‘support our frontline workers who are helping struggling families’.
Peter has added further dates to his mammoth Better Late Than Never Tour on several occasions due to huge demand as he made his live comedy comeback.
He had previously cancelled his tour in 2017 due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances’ and had largely kept away from the spotlight in the intervening years.
The comedian, dressed for the season in 2005, is said to have dressed as Santa on Friday (Picture: Ken McKay/Shutterstock)
His 2010 tour became the highest-selling comedy tour of all time after selling 1.2 million tickets, and it looks like Peter is following in those record-breaking footsteps once more.
Grabbing headlines all over again already, Peter was moved to tears by the crowd on his tour’s opening night in Manchester at the start of December.
He has also lamented that Jimmy Saville was in the (Is This The Way To) Amarillo music video back in 2005 at a recent gig, one of his other popular and high-profile fundraising moves alongside original singer Tony Christie.
Saville – who was found to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders following his death – has been edited out of the video for any TV broadcasts since 2012.
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The song raised money for Comic Relief and was number one for a whopping seven weeks.
The stand-up icon has been left overwhelmed by the response to his tour, describing his first set of gigs as ‘incredible’ and ‘such a happy experience.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Peter Kay’s rep for comment.
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