Christopher Biggins Is Retiring From Panto

We’ve got some sad news to share, as stage legend Christopher Biggins has announced that he’s retiring from panto next year.

OH YES HE IS - And we’re gutted.

Copyright [Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]

Christopher has been doing panto for 40 years, but has decided that it’s time to bow out.

Revealing the sad news to The Sun, he said: “Last year was so exhausting I’m going to have a sabbatical this year, then I’m going to go back and finish the year after.

“That’s going to be my last one.”

Christopher’s panto career started in 1965, when he starred as a rat in a production of Dick Whittington at Wiltshire’s Salisbury Playhouse.

Christopher as Widow Twankey in 2009. Copyright [Matt Cardy/Getty Images]

The one panto season he’s missed since starting was in 2007, when he was a bit busy being crowned King of the I’m A Celebrity jungle.

He’s well-loved for his roles as the likes of Aladdin’s Widow Twankey, Cinderella’s Buttons and Robinson Crusoe’s Mrs Crusoe, as well as his non-panto roles, such as those in Porridge and the original Poldark.