Lisa Riley shares true feelings after Peter Kay's controversial joke at gig
Peter Kay has caused some controversy after throwing several rowdy audience members out of his Manchester gig and comparing one of them to Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley before she was escorted out by security.
Lisa Riley has defended Peter Kay and insists she is not "offended" after he compared a rowdy audience member to the Emmerdale star before kicking her out of the show.
The 51-year-old comedian had three hecklers thrown out of his 'Better Late Than... Never!' at Manchester's AO Arena over the weekend.
Peter has defended his actions on Good Morning Britain, insisting that it comes to a point where "it's no longer fair" to the rest of the crowd to listen to the disruptive fans.
He also justified his comment where he compared the woman to Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley before she was escorted out of the arena.
Peter threw an audience member out of his gig after comparing her to the Emmerdale actress (Image: Getty Images)
Lisa has now addressed the situation and shared her true feelings on Peter's joke.
Taking to Instagram, the 48-year-old Emmerdale star wrote: "Please draw a line under this now, I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine."
The Mandy Dingle star also shared a snap of the famous quote "keep calm and laugh" and wrote: "It's a laugh, it's funny."
Peter broke his silence on the controversy on Good Morning Britain where he insisted he had not intended the comparison between the audience member and Lisa to come off as offensive.
He said: " I didn't realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley. I didn't realise that was an insult."
Lisa has spoken out in Peter's defence (Image: Instagram)
The comedian explained what had led to the situation with the woman in question expressing admiration by shouting “we love you”.
However, after she shouted out she was asked to leave with Peter making a remark that compared her to actress Lisa from the long-running soap.
After she yelled out, the comedian shouted back at her from stage: "Go on, off you go Lisa Riley."
Another audience member was also removed after repeatedly shouting "garlic bread" in reference to Peter's famous catchphrase, prompting the comedian to call security for their removal too.
Phillip Peters, the man who was forced to leave, spoke out after he and his son were taken out of the venue.
He said: "I just can’t understand it, all I said was 'garlic bread'... I was there with my son and they dragged us out like ragged dolls."
Lisa Riley (Image: Getty Images)
The warehouse driver claims he received a warm response to his comment, including from Peter himself but when he chanted the catchphrase once more, the comedian lost his patience.
He added: "In the first half of the show, I shouted out 'garlic bread' and they zoomed in on the camera on me. And I put my thumbs up and thought everything was okay. I got no warning or anything, people around us were laughing and joking.
"Then in the second half of the show I said it again, 'garlic bread', and that’s when the security guards came over to me and said 'you are going to have to leave - Peter Kay doesn’t like people shouting out'."
Peter's harsh decision to remove hecklers has angered other fans who branded his actions "nasty and bitter".
Some have also taken issue with certain jokes including an impression of a blind person and crude topics such as erections.
One fan told MailOnline : "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."
Another echoed: "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."
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Following his comment about the Lisa Riley comparison, the actress took to her Instagram page to share a cryptic post before clearing her feelings up.
Lisa, who has been very open about her weight loss journey after shedding an incredible 12 stone in recent years, shared a positivity quote about 'seeing the good in life'.
It read: "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses." Captioning the quote, Lisa wrote: "See the good in life….before you ALWAYS jump to the negative….its such a simpler way to live for sure #grateful #gratitude #nomoaning #think."
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