Peter Kay's tears for Victoria Wood as he breaks down at losing heroes to cancer
Peter Kay might be one of the most treasured comics of our time, but the Bolton funnyman has always had an eye on the legends who have gone before him.
The comedian's new book TV: Big Adventures of Life on the Small Screen, is packed full of hilarious anecdotes about Peter's encounters with the UK's most treasured stars.
The book charts Peter's career from winning Channel 4 talent show So You Think You're funny? in 1997 to his various roles on 00s television before taking a step back from the limelight.
Peter has kept a lower profile in recent years but 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. He also organised Dance For Life parties to raise money for Cancer Research.
In a poignant moment of the book, Peter gets candid as he opens up about losing some of his comedy heroes to cancer.
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Peter Kay returned from his break from the limelight to raise money for cancer charities with his Dance For Life shows (GETTY)He writes: “I was so shocked and devastated when Victoria Wood died. It still grieves me to even type those words.
“I still can’t believe it and still can’t face watching any of her series yet. It’s too hard. F***ing cancer. I hope I live to see a cure for it in my lifetime. Then, a few weeks after Victoria Wood, we lost Caroline Aherne, also to cancer. Awful, no other way to put it.
“Two hugely talented people that made so many of us laugh. I’m telling you, soak up the comedians while they’re still here, these clowns that light up our lives, because when they’re gone, they’re gone. People are always surprised at the void they leave.”
Victoria Wood was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in late 2015, but kept her illness largely private. She died on 20 April 2016 at her Highgate home, in the presence of her children and former husband.
In her her authorised biography, Let’s Do It, Victoria revealed that she quit directing BBC ’s Loving Miss Hatto for a year of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and ops on a malignant lymph node and cancer in the 'tummy area'.
"It didn't feel that ominous. It was like 'uh-oh, it's cancer'. It looks like it's going to be OK but we just have to get through it.." she said at the time.
Victoria Wood died of cancer in 2016 (BBC)
Peter Kay's new book T.V: Big Adventures on the Small ScreenCaroline Aherne tragically died at the age of 52 from lung cancer. Like Wood, she had decided to keep the news secret from the world.
The much-loved actress and comedian was alone at her home in Timperley, Cheshire when she died in 2016 - with only a few of her close friends and family realising how sick she was.
Before her death, Caroline had asked her comedy partner Craig Cash - who she starred alongside in the Royle Family - to step in for her as the voiceover on Gogglebox.
Not wanting to let down the viewers when she was unwell, brave Caroline asked Craig if he would take her place when she was unwell when she was first diagnosed with cancer.
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Caroline Aherne with her comedy partner and co-star Craig Cash (BBC)“In November 2013, when she was gravely ill with cancer, Caroline asked if I’d narrate Gogglebox when she wasn’t up to it,” he told Radio Times. "Of course, I said yes; it was a very sad time and I wanted to do right by her and by the programme.
"Caroline was well and then unwell, well and unwell, so I filled in whenever she needed me to."
While Caroline took time off to receive treatment for the disease, Craig filled in as a relief host until she was strong enough to come back.
Caroline carried on entertaining the nation as the Gogglebox voiceover and took on future roles. But sadly the cancer returned and Caroline told a handful of her closest friends she had between three and 12 months to live. Just two months later, Caroline sadly passed away.
* T.V: Big Adventures On The Small Screen by Peter Kay is published by HarperCollins and is out now and is available to buy from Amazon.
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