Peter Kay ‘earned £1m’ last year despite making just one public appearance

Stand-up comedian has largely stayed out of the public eye since 2018

Peter Kay made £1m between 2019 and 2020 despite making just one public appearance, reports have claimed.

The comedian’s earnings came to light as his production company, Good Night Vienna Productions, filed shareholder funds amounting to £24.8m in March. It is £1m more than the previous year.

Kay’s earnings bump stemmed from TV royalties from his shows, which include Car Share and Phoenix Nights, according to The Daily Mail.

The actor, writer and stand-up has otherwise made just one presumably unpaid public appearance since 2018, when he appeared on the BBC fundraiser The Big Night-In in April.

Kay, who otherwise had stayed out of the public eye since the final episode of Car Share, was seen sat in the sunshine wearing glasses and a hat and eating an ice lolly.

He introduced a new version of charity single “Amarillo”, which stormed to the top of the charts in 2005 after it appeared during that year’s Comic Relief celebrations.

Kay also contributed a sketch script to a book celebrating NHS workers in August. The sketch, inspired by Car Share, saw Kay’s character on the show revealing he had undergone a brain scan after experiencing a cancer scare.

Kay’s most recent public appearance came on the BBC’s Big Night-In in April (BBC)

The sketch appeared in the book 100 Stories to Say Thank You, which also included contributions from Emma Thompson and Dermot O’Leary.