Peter Kay O2 residency: London tour dates explained and when tickets go on sale for 2022 and 2023 shows

Whilst joining Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, comedian Peter Kay, who is preparing to launch his first tour in 12 years, revealed that he will be performing a monthly residency at London’s O2 arena.

Kay, who has been mostly absent from the spotlight since he cancelled his 2017 tour due to “unforeseen family circumstances”, said that he thought his new tour should have been called the “Peter Who? tour”.

This is everything you need to know.

What did he say about the residency?

During the Radio 2 show with Ball, Kay confirmed that he would be performing a monthly residency at London’s O2 Arena, beginning on 16 December 2022 and running until 18 November 2023. Kay will become the first comedian to be given his own residency at the venue in Greenwich, which boasts a capacity of 20,000 audience members.

“There’s basically been me and Prince who have done it and look what happened to him,” Kay joked, referring to the singer’s death in 2016.

He added: “Michael Jackson, he was another, he was supposed to do 50 nights… I got his shows.”

Discussing the prices of his tickets, which start at £35, Kay said that they were the same price as they were during his 2010.

He said: “You’ve got to meet people half way, it’s bad times, plus people need a laugh. 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.”

When is Peter Kay going on tour?

The 49-year-old comedian, who has been largely absent from the public eye for the last four years, is set to embark on an arena tour starting this December and running until August 2023. It will be his first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling run of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.

His comeback was announced during an advertisement break in the series launch of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on ITV.

Kay said: “It’s good to get back to what I love doing best, stand-up comedy, and if there’s ever a time people need a laugh it’s now. And with the cost of living at an all-time high, ticket prices are starting from £35 – the same price they were on my previous tour in 2010.”

Kay will begin his tour on December 2 at the Manchester AO Arena before visiting locations including Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Belfast, Newcastle, Glasgow and Dublin. His run will end on August 11 2023 at the Sheffield Utilita Arena.

His full list of venues and dates goes as follows:

• 2 and 3 December 2022, AO Arena, Manchester
• 16 December 2022, The O2 Arena, London
• 17 December 2022, Utilita Arena, Birmingham
• 6 and 7 January 2023, M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
• 20 January 2023, First Direct Arena, Leeds
• 21 January 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 17 February 2023, Utilita Arena, Sheffield 
• 18 February 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 23 and 24 February 2023, SSE Arena, Belfast
• 9 and 10 March 2023, Utilita Arena, Newcastle
• 22 March 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 23 March 2023, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
• 6 and 7 April 2023, 3Arena, Dublin
• 22 April 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 5 and 6 May 2023, OVO Hydro, Glasgow 
• 19 May 2023, First Direct Arena, Leeds
• 20 May 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 3 June 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 16 and 17 June 2023, Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
• 14 and 15 July 2023, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham 
• 29 July 2023, The O2 Arena, London
• 11 August 2023, Utilita Arena, Sheffield
• 30 August, 9 and 17 October, 18 November 2023, The O2 Arena, London 

General tickets for Kay’s upcoming tour go on sale on Saturday 12 November at 10am - you can get your tickets via Ticketmaster.