Phoenix Nights star Ted Robbins will be returning to stage once more, over a decade on from when he collapsed and was clinically dead during a live show in 2015
Ted Robbins will return to stage after his on-stage collapse(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Ted Robbins, who is best known for playing Den Perry in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, is set to return to stage once more.
This comes 11 years after he collapsed to the floor during a solo sketch at the opening night of the Phoenix Nights Live tour in January 2015 in Manchester and had to be resuscitated.
The comedian and actor, 70, is now set to headline The Don Banks Afternoon Variety Show on 1 July at Darwen Library Theatre in Lancashire and has said he is hopeful there will be a “happier outcome”.
“It’s a smaller audience… but hopefully with a happier outcome,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire. He previously had to have his ribs cracked so that the an off-duty cardiothoracic doctor and paramedic – who were in the audience for his show – could resuscitate him after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
“Without them, “I’d have been a gone-r in minutes,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire. “I was due to have surgery for a faulty heart valve, which was caused when I was 11 and had rheumatic fever, which left a scar on it.”
“The surgeon had let me get on the stage because I said I really wanted to do the show. I got up and I did get a few laughs and I just remember thinking ‘ooh, think I’ll lie down'”, he reflected.
Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights show ran from 2001 until 2002 for two seasons, with Ted playing the main villain of the show, Den Perry. Ted’s character was the owner of rival club The Banana Grove, who disrupts Brian Potter’s (Kay) dream to make The Phoenix Club become the most popular in Bolton .
13 years after the last episode of the series aired, a 2015 stage show saw the original cast of the programme reunited, with profits going to Comic Relief. This was the show which saw Ted collapse. Members of the audience were asked to leave the venue shortly after his collapse.
Speaking to The Mirror shortly after the incident, Ted said he was clinically dead for 15 minutes, and his daughter and wife – Judy and Molly – were in the audience watching the whole ordeal unfold.
“I still find it hard to talk about, especially because of what Judy and Molly went through watching me. It must’ve been far worse for them than it was for me.
“I was clinically dead. The paramedic said the chances of making a recovery like mine were just 8%. He told me: ‘Ted, you are walking rocking horse s***!’”
Larger-than-life Ted dropped 3st during his recovery saying that his broken ribs and fractured sternum took time to heal, “What’s a few broken ribs, eh? I’m lucky to be here,” he quipped.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
