Peter Kay announces monthly residency at London's O2 Arena

Comedian Peter Kay has revealed he will perform a monthly residency at London's O2 arena, starting on 16 December until 18 November 2023.

Kay has been absent from the spotlight since cancelling his 2017 tour due to "unforeseen family circumstances".

"I thought we should've called it the Peter Who? tour," he told BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball breakfast show on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old added that he couldn't believe the original tour announcement - made during the commercial break of the first episode of the new series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! on Sunday - had made headline news.

"I should only be on the news if I'm dead, not on tour!" he joked.

He thanked fans and said he was "overwhelmed" by the reaction.

Kay will come the first comedian to be given his own residency at the O2, which has a capacity of 20,000.

"There's basically been me and Prince who have done it and look what happened to him," joked Kay, referencing the star's death in 2016.

"Michael Jackson, he was another, he was supposed to do 50 nights… I got his shows."

Kay said he felt the interest in the new arena dates, which begin on 2 December at the Manchester AO Arena, was down to the fact ticket prices start at £35 - the same price as they were during his 2010 tour.

"You've got to meet people half-way, it's bad times, plus that's why people need a laugh," he said.

"I think that's why it was on the news because it was something happy for once and not doom and gloom.

"I thought it was a nice thing, a bit like when they used to have panda at the end of Newsround with John Craven."

The dates will mark Kay's first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling stand-up tour of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.

Kay has kept a low profile in recent years. He notably returned to the stage in August 2021 for two special charity events to raise money for Laura Nuttall, a then 20-year-old with an aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.

There was also a brief return in January 2021 when he appeared on BBC Radio 2 for a conversation with Cat Deeley - who was filling in after Graham Norton left the station - about his love of music, mixtapes and the musical Mamma Mia.

He also made a surprise appearance at a charity screening of his series Car Share in 2018.

In Sunday's surprise advert for his new tour, Kay was seen carrying a rolled-up carpet into a house while confirming to nearby fans he will return to stand-up comedy next month.

The advert concluded with the fans asking Kay whether he had finally bought his mother a bungalow - a reference to the comic's previous Mum Wants A Bungalow tour. Kay replied that he had, explaining that his mother now wanted a new carpet to go in it.

Tickets go on sale at 1000 GMT on Saturday 12 November.