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Leigh Francis' My First Time tour: Where is he performing and how to get tickets

The star of Celebrity Juice and Bo' Selecta is going out on the road on his first ever live stand-up tour.

Albertina Lloyd
·Contributor
Updated ·4-min read
Leigh Francis attends the special screening of Lucasfilm's
Leigh Francis aka Keith Lemon has announced his first ever live comedy tour. (Getty Images for Disney)

Leigh Francis has announced he is hitting the road with his first ever live tour in March 2024.

The 50-year-old star of Celebrity Juice and Bo' Selecta! will appear as a selection of his comedy alter-egos on stage as part of his My First Time tour of the UK in March and April next year.

Francis said: "Hey, really exciting news! Well exciting for me! I hope it's exciting for you! Or at least provokes some sort of interest! I mean, just look how many exclamation marks there is in this quote! It's definitely news with exciting intent!

"So what is this exciting news? I'm doing my first ever tour! Never done one before. It's gonna have masks in it! The Bear, Avid Merrion, Amanda Holden's Gran, not her actual gran but me playing her.

"I'll also be playing Keith Lemon, I look just like him! It's me doing all the characters I do that hopefully have the intent to provoke hilarity! So many exclamation marks, and the word 'intent' and 'provoke' twice! I'm excited!

"Come see ME being other people LIVE for the first time! It'll be your first time and my first time! Hence the title of the tour My First Time! (There's another exclamation mark) how exciting!"

Leigh Francis aka Keith Lemon, winner of the Entertainment Performance award for
Leigh Francis has said he will appear as himself on the live stage tour. (Getty Images)

Buy tickets now

The Through The Keyhole presenter will begin the tour on Wednesday, 6 March, 2024 in Bath and finish in his home town of Leeds on Saturday, 6 April.

Francis will perform live on stage as his alter-egos Avid Merion, Keith Lemon and many others but also as himself at 18 venues around the UK including the London Palladium as well as in Sheffield, York, Glasgow, Hull, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and Newcastle.

Tickets go on pre-sale at 10am on Thursday, 22 June at 10am GMT. Sign up for the pre-sale closes at 5pm on Wednesday, 21 June 2023.

Amanda Holden and Leigh Francis as her 'Gran' Myrtle (Channel 4)
Amanda Holden and Leigh Francis as her 'Gran' Myrtle (Channel 4)

Francis rose to fame with his late night alternative sketch show Bo' Selecta on Channel 4 in 2002. It ran over fives series until 2009 including a US spin-off.

In 2020 he issued an apology to Craig David, Spice Girl Mel B and Trisha Goddard for his impressions of them on the comedy show, which saw him don prosthetic make-up in parody sketches about celebrities.

Francis also said: "Back in 2002, I did a show called Bo' Selecta, I portrayed many Black people. Back then I didn't think anything about it, people didn't say anything- I'm not going to blame other people. I've been talking to some people. I didn't realise how offensive it was back then.

"I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I'm a big fan of. I guess we're all on a learning journey."

Avid Merion arriving at UK Radioaid, Capital Radio, Leicester Square, London. All the commercial radio stations teamed up for one day to join forces with a joint all day broadcast in aid of the Tsunami Appeal. Doug Peters/allactiondigital.com
Leigh Francis rose to fame as celebrity stalker alter-ego Avid Merion. (Alamy)

He gained more mainstream success as Keith Lemon, hosting late night gameshow Celebrity Juice on ITV.

The show came to an end last year after 26 series.

The comic has been married to wife Jill for 21 years and they have two daughters, Matilda and Dolly.

He has confessed that he finds it harder to be crude since becoming a parent, saying: "I don't like it now, if I'm honest. I did like it because I was young and edgy. But now I'm old and a bit tired. Especially now.

Read more: Lorraine Kelly slams 'cruel' and 'distasteful' portrayal of her in Bo' Selecta!

"I'm a bit more pure now because I've got children. When I do the school run and parents look at you with filthy eyes, like 'You bad man!' it's sort of embarrassing."

See the full list of Leigh Francis My First Time Live Tour 2024 dates below:

  • 6th March, Bath - Forum

  • 7th March, Guildford - G Live

  • 8th March, Bournemouth - Pavilion Theatre

  • 9th March, London - Palladium

  • 14th March, Cambridge - Corn Exchange

  • 15th March, Sheffield - City Hall

  • 16th March, Halifax - Victoria Theatre

  • 17th March, Salford - The Lowry

  • 20th March, York - Barbican

  • 21st March, Glasgow - Royal Concert Hall

  • 22nd March, Hull - City Hall

  • 23rd March, Bradford - St George's Hall

  • 24th March, Buxton - Opera House

  • 28th March, Newcastle - Tyne Theatre

  • 29th March, Nottingham - Royal Concert Hall

  • 30th March, Liverpool - Philharmonic

  • 31st March, Birmingham - Symphony Hall

  • 6th April, Leeds - Grand Theatre & Opera House

Watch: John Barnes defends comedian Leigh Francis

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