Lisa Riley has reacted to reports that Peter Kay likened a heckler to her, insisting she’s “not offended”.

The Bolton comedian was performing his Manchester gig on Saturday night when a woman was removed by security guards after shouting “We love you Peter”. Kay is said to have likened her to Riley as she was being taken out.

The audience member has said she is “annoyed and upset” about the comments.

“To go to a show and feel like you’re having the mick taken out of you because of your weight, I was just a bit shocked,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

“The whole arena was laughing, I think they thought it was part of the show but there was a nastiness to his voice. It was like he was trying to get the crowd against me – it just wasn’t nice, to be honest.”

Riley, 48, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and also fronted You’ve Been Framed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Appearing to respond to her impromptu mention during the show, Riley posted a picture on Instagram on Monday which read: “Keep calm and laugh”. She added the message: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!!!”

She then followed it up on Tuesday with a post on Instagram which said: “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”.

Kay was also understood to have thrown two men out of the same gig after one repeatedly shouted “garlic bread,” which is one of Kay’s catchphrases.

Kay told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he had taken action against hecklers as they were ruining the show for others, and it was “no longer fair” to the other audience members.

In response to his likening of one audience member to Riley, he said in a statement to the show: “I didn’t realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley, I didn’t realise that was an insult”.

One audience member told the Manchester Evening News that Kay had “shouted” at the hecklers for “a good three to five minutes” during the show.

They said the audience was mixed in their reaction: “Some couldn’t believe it and were obviously annoyed and others were laughing, either thinking it was part of the show or going along with it.”

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Kay, 51, who has been performing his record-breaking Better Late Than Never Again tour since 2022, recently performed his 100th show at the AO Arena – the same venue the three hecklers were expelled from.

Tickets to watch the show start at £35, but go up to about £350 for top-notch seats.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Kay for comment.

Kay is currently scheduled to perform his tour into spring 2026.

The deaths of a British couple in rural France could be linked to a “problem from the past or somewhere far away,” according to a local mayor.

Andrew Searle, 62, and Dawn Searle, 56, are reported to have been found dead by a German friend, who lives nearby, after Mr Searle didn’t arrive for one of their regular dog walks.

The couple moved to the hamlet of Les Pesquies around a decade ago and were married in 2023 in the nearby town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, by the mayor Jean-Sebastien Orcibal, who is also their neighbour.

Speaking to Sky News from the town hall in which he conducted the couple’s wedding ceremony, he said: “It doesn’t seem like the problem comes from here because when we knew them and saw them living here they were very happy, very friendly and didn’t seem to have any problems.

“The problem seems to come from the past or somewhere far away.

“It’s an isolated act, it’s very independent. It doesn’t say that it’s a very dangerous territory, in fact, it’s very peaceful and that’s why probably Andy and Dawn chose to live here, because it’s very peaceful.

“Now, did their past come back and get them? That’s another story. That’s totally different from where we are. It could’ve happened anywhere.”

Investigators are reportedly looking at whether the British couple was killed during a burglary, but all lines of inquiry – including murder-suicide or potential links to Mr Searle’s previous work as an organised crime financial investigator in the UK – are open.

A LinkedIn profile in his name says he retired in 2015 after working for Barclays and Standard Life, and was “enjoying life in rural France”.

His page talks about “over 20 years experience specialising in Financial Crime Prevention (AML, Fraud and Anti-Bribery) with a high profile in the industry and an extensive network of contacts”.

Neighbours described them as a happy couple, who have fully integrated into rural French life and hold an annual party for villagers.

Ms Searle’s hairdresser said she was due to see her for her monthly appointment next week and would also regularly see her at their Pilates class.

“She was really a very alive woman, she would come and bring some positive energy when she arrived in the room. She was a ball of positive energy,” she said.

She said Ms Searle would talk a lot about her children, who she would visit without her husband.

Ms Searle’s son, the country musician and former Hollyoaks star Callum Kerr, said in an Instagram statement on Saturday that he and his sister Amanda Kerr and Mr Searle’s two children, Tom and Ella Searle, were grieving.

“She was always very joyful and happy,” the hairdresser said.

“She didn’t talk about any financial problems, I don’t think she has financial problems.

“She would say, ‘with Andy we did this, we did that’. She didn’t seem to have a problem with her husband.

“It’s really shocking and difficult to understand.”

Ms Searle’s body was reportedly found outside their home with a head injury, with jewellery found scattered nearby, while Mr Searle’s body was discovered inside the house hanged and gagged, according to local media.

But the reports have not been officially confirmed.

The public prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller, who is leading the investigation, previously said that while both “died violent deaths… all hypotheses remain open”.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the local authorities.”

Warren Gatland is leaving his role as Wales rugby head coach with immediate effect.

The 61-year-old was in charge of the national team between 2007 and 2019, before returning to the post in 2022.

He is Wales‘s longest-serving head coach and arguably the most successful in the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) history, with a gate at Cardiff‘s Principality Stadium renamed “Gatland’s Gate” in honour of him in 2019.

But pressure has been growing on Gatland amid a record string of defeats for his Welsh side – 14 losses in a row.

The WRU confirmed on Tuesday that Gatland will be replaced by Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt on an interim basis.

The team had a disappointing autumn international series, including losing to Fiji at home in Cardiff for the first time.

The team also suffered the indignity of picking up the wooden spoon in last year’s Six Nations championship for the first time since 2003, and are yet to win a game at this year’s tournament.

Wales failed to score in this year’s opening match, losing to France 43-0, before going on to lose to Italy 22-15 on Saturday.

Gatland returned to Welsh rugby union after succeeding fellow New Zealander Wayne Pivac as Wales head coach.

He also served as head coach for three British and Irish Lions tours in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

In his original stint as Wales head coach, Gatland oversaw four Six Nations victories – including three grand slams, when Wales won every game they played.

Gatland reached out to WRU chief executive Abi Tierney on Monday to discuss his future.

Ms Tierney said Gatland and the union agreed that making the change now – part way through the Six Nations championship – was “in the best interests of the Wales squad”.

She said the WRU was grateful to Gatland “for all he has done for the game in Wales”.

“He remains our longest-serving and most decorated head coach in terms of the silverware he has won,” she added.

‘Time for a change’

Gatland thanked the WRU for “affording [him] the time and resource to try to turn things around for this 2025 tournament”.

“We have worked hard, we have a talented young squad that is developing and have been desperate to turn potential into results but now is the right time for a change,” he added.

Sherratt will oversee Wales for the rest of the tournament, before a permanent replacement is named ahead of fixtures in Japan in the summer.

Speaking ahead of this year’s Six Nations championship, Gatland told critics to “write us off at your peril”.

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Gatland is not the first departure from the WRU in recent months, after the WRU’s executive director of rugby quit in December.

When he stepped down, Nigel Walker said it was “right” that he was “judged on performances on the pitch”.

He said: “Both of our senior teams have found the last 12 months extremely difficult and therefore I believe now is the right time for me to step down”.