Peter Kay makes rare public appearance for the first time in eight months

Peter Kay has been pictured for the first time in eight months as he attended the final performance of Nativity! The Musical in London on Sunday.

Nativity! director Debbie Isitt posted a photograph with herself alongside the private 46-year-old comedian to her Twitter account, remarking that his appearance with his family was a "lovely surprise".

"So lovely to see the brilliant comic genius Peter Kay and his lovely family @nativityuk tonight for our final show! What a lovely surprise for us all!" she wrote.

The Phoenix Nights creator had not been pictured in public since April of this year.

It comes as yesterday also saw a spokesperson for Kay criticising a Channel 5 documentary entitled Peter Kay Comedy Genius: In His Own Words.

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Ahead of the show's broadcast, a message posted on Kay's Twitter page read: "Very flattering of Channel 5 to commission the programme going out tonight, but just to let people known that 'Peter Kay: In His Own Words' has an incredibly misleading title, as it doesn't feature any new interviews with Peter and all the footage is completely historic.

"The title also gives the impression that Peter has been involved in the making of this documentary, which he hasn't. At all."

The show which aired last night saw various interviews with the comedian and his friends set alongside clips from his much-loved comedy programmes including Car Share and Phoenix Nights.

In December 2017, Kay cancelled all work commitments, including a live tour, citing "unforeseen family circumstances" as the reason behind the decision.