Lee Evans has announced that he is retiring from comedy. Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Lee exclusively revealed that he will not continue working after his current tour ends.
When Jonathan asked Lee about his "game plan" once his Monsters tour closes, Lee replied, "This is it. Finished… It's the end."
Lee surprised Jonathan Ross with the news
The shocked chat show host paused before saying, "I wouldn’t have asked if I knew that was the answer. You're not going to tour anymore?"
"No," said Lee.
"I'm not doing anything. This is it. Yeah finished."
The Avonmouth-born star went on to explain that his decision followed the death of his manager Addison Cresswell, who also managed Jonathan, and his desire to spend more time with his wife Heather after many years of working.
"I started off cleaning toilets when I was a kid," he said. "And I've had loads of jobs and I just kept working and working and working and my dad always said to us 'you've got to work' so I’ve just continuously worked, done comedy, toured, but I've ignored, I think for far too long, my missus and I want to spend a lot more time with her."
Lee plans to spend more time with his wife of 30 years, Heather
"This is it, I ain't doing nothing I'm going to go and see my wife, I’m going to give her a big hug and say 'I am yours'," he added. "I know what’ll happen, in a week [she'll say] 'get out, you're getting on my nerves!' But I've said to her, 'look love, I'm really sorry that I'm always away.' I'm a nightmare to live with because I'm always working... I've just got to go and see my wife. I love her very, very much."
Looking to the future, Lee said that he can't wait to be more involved in his 20-year-old daughter Mollie's life. "I want to be there," he said. "Every single week I've been doing plays and I've always said to Little Mo [Mollie] 'I'm sorry Little Mo I can't go to the school play because I've got to do this work'. Now I can go 'Yeah let's go and see Little Mo, let's go and be with Hev [Heather] let's go and do the stuff that we never did when we were kids."