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Lee Evans stuns onlookers as retired comedian makes first public appearance with wife in five years  

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Lee Evans and his wife Heather Nudds enjoyed a rare outing together in London on Tuesday as the couple made their first joint public appearance in five years.

The 59-year-old retired star was spotted strolling through Covent Garden with his partner ahead of a dinner reservation at the area’s The Delaunay restaurant.

Despite keeping his distance from the limelight in recent years, the stand-up comedian appeared to be in great spirits as he lifted his arm and waved to excited onlookers.

The actor looked dapper in a stone-grey two-piece suit that he wore over a bright baby blue button-down shirt.

He sported a pocket square that same colour as his underlayer in his jacket and covered his eyes with a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses.

Lee dressed his ensemble down with his footwear and chose to walk around in a pair grey canvas trainers with brown laces.

Heather matched her husband’s vibe in a cream-coloured blazer and white and brown patterned maxi dress that featured a slit up the side.

She elevated her height in some pale pink block heels and carried her belonging in a padded handbag that co-ordinated with the colour of her shoes.

The British actor was last seen in public back in 2021 when he went for a lonesome bike ride in Essex.

Leaving fans shocked, in 2014 the figure announced his retirement from showbiz so that he could spend more time with his wife and daughter Mollie.

He told Jonathan Ross on his chat show at the time: ‘I don’t know, I’ve come to a junction in my life where – please forgive me it sounds very narcissistic – I’ve done musicals and plays and films and stand up and you sort of get to a point where you go “I don’t know what else to do next”.

‘I want to go and see my wife, she deserves my time, I’ve been working solidly. I am knackered. This is it…

‘Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything.

‘My dad always said to me, “You have got to work” so I constantly worked and did comedy tours. I think I have ignored for far too long my missus, and I want to spend a lot more time with her.’

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MORE : Lee Evans spotted for first time in two years after retiring from comedy as he heads on a jog

MORE : Lee Evans spotted in rare public appearance after quitting comedy as he rides electric bike in Essex

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Lee Evans: The world famous comedian's quiet life with his wife and daughter in Billericay, Essex

The comedian has rarely been seen in the public eye since 2017

• 16:08, 29 MAY 2022
• Updated 16:14, 29 MAY 2022

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Comedian and Hollywood film star Lee Evans turned 58 earlier this year. The beloved star rose to fame as a stand-up comic, before appearing in hit Hollywood films including Mousetrap, The Magic Roundabout and There's Something About Mary.

However, following a shock retirement announcement in 2014 , Lee has since devoted his time to family life in Billericay in Essex - but has still made the odd appearance in the spotlight. Fans and stars from the world of entertainment were shocked when Lee announced his retirement from stand-up comedy in 2014.

During an appearance on the Jonathan Ross show, the host asked Lee how many more tours fans could look forward to seeing in the future - however, the answer was not what Jonathan was expecting to hear. After saying that his career was "finished" and this his 2014 tour was "the end", Lee gave an emotional revelation that the decision had followed the death of his long term manager Addison Cresswell.

Read more: Where is Lee Evans now? The legendary Billericay comedian who has turned his back on fame and fortune

Lee chose to retire from comedy to spend more time with his wife Heather Nudds, who he has been married to since September 22, 1984. Originally meeting as teenagers, Lee said that he had spotted Heather on a bus one day, before coincidentally meeting her two weeks later.

"Her mum was dying, and I saw her go by on her way to hospital," said Lee to The Guardian. And I was talking to a mate in the street, and I said, 'Who's that?' And he went, 'I dunno.' She looked distraught. "And about two weeks later, I met her coincidentally when I went to see this band play - and we got on really well. I made her laugh, I think."

The couple have since been together for more than 38 years and currently live in Billericay. The comedian regularly referenced Heather during his stand-up tours - from discussing shopping trips, to holidays and his home life with audiences around the world.

However despite sharing comedic insights into his personal life, Lee has often gushed about his wife during interviews, describing her to Time Out London as "f*****g lovely, she’s beautiful." Lee and Heather also have one daughter called Mollie, who was born in 1993.

After studying at The Ringling College of Art and Design, Mollie has since stepped into a creative career path of her own, becoming an illustrator and online content creator.

After stepping away from the limelight, Lee Evans has made rare public appearances at film events such as the premiere of Kenny in Liverpool in 2017. He also came out of retirement briefly to star in a charity production of Harold Pinter's Wither Would You Go with fellow comedian Jack Whitehall in the same year, but this was his last onstage performance.

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Lee Evans to retire from comedy circuit to spend more time with family

Comedian says death of manager at 53 also influenced decision, and that last date on Monsters tour will be final performance

Brian Logan on Lee Evans: who else can do what he does?

Comedian Lee Evans is to retire from the comedy circuit when his present tour ends. The 50-year-old, who is one of Britain’s most successful standups, said he was leaving the world of comedy to spend more time with his wife and daughter.

Evans added his decision had been influenced by the death of his manager Addison Cresswell, who died unexpectedly, aged 53

Speaking on the Jonathan Ross show, which will air on Saturday, Evans said he was “knackered” and confirmed that once he had performed the last date on his Monsters arena tour, “this is it. Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything”.

The comedian said he was “deadly serious” about the decision to leave the exhausting comedy circuit and dedicate his time to his family. “I started off cleaning toilets when I was a kid and I’ve had loads of jobs and I just kept working and working and working,” he said.

“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.

“I’m a nightmare to live with because I’m always working. I’ve come to a junction in my life where – please forgive me it sounds very narcissistic – I’ve done musicals and plays and films and standup and you sort of get to a point where you go ‘I don’t know what else to do next’.”

Evans rose to fame in the 1990s with his slapstick observational comedy. His 2011 Roadrunner world comedy tour grossed £12.9m, making him one of Britain’s highest earning standups. He broke into films, with roles in the comedy There’s Something About Mary and the sci-fi film The Fifth Element. However, his Monsters tour received mixed and often damning reviews, with the Guardian giving it two stars and saying the show had an air of “suppressed desperation and fatigue”.

The comedian also told Ross about how the death of Cresswell, who managed him throughout his career and was one of the most influential people in British comedy, had affected him.

“He was a great bloke,” said Evans. “All I have ever done is work and Addison always used to put his arm around me and say, ‘Don’t worry, I will look after you. It is OK ’… And at every gig I did he used to get me round the neck and he’d say ‘Lee, this is your Wembley!’.

“Then one day, we played Wembley and he knocked on my dressing room and he said ‘Lee, this is your Wembley’ and I went ‘Addison, this is Wembley!’ and he went ‘Oh yeah, we’re at Wembley, how about that!’ So I started off with him, I was just a kid … I’ve known him since I was a kid.”

The final show in his tour will be at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on Sunday 30 November.

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Comedian Lee Evans seen for first time in two years after ditching showbiz

It is the first time Evans has been seen in public since he briefly came out of retirement in 2018 to star in a charity theatre production

• 18:25, 24 Sep 2020

Comedian Lee Evans has been spotted in public for the first time in two years after he quit life in the spotlight.

A rare glimpse of the 56-year-old funnyman was caught in Essex on Thursday.

The joker was spied out for a run in a disguising pair of wrap around sunglasses and baseball cap.

Lee sported an orange Under Armour T-shirt, grey long-sleeved top and pair of black joggers as he stepped out for some exercise.

It is the first time Evans has been seen in public since he briefly came out of retirement in 2018 to star in Pinter Three at London's Harold Pinter Theatre opposite Martin Freeman, James Norton and Jack Whitehall in the play Wither Would You Go?.

The comedian and actor, who has been one of Britain's best loved entertainers since bursting onto the scene in the early 90s, retired from showbiz in November 2014 and has been living the quiet life ever since.

Lee stepped away explaining he wanted to spend more time with his wife Heather Nudds and their daughter Mollie.

He announced his plans to retire while finishing up his Monsters UK tour.

The comedian made the revelation on Jonathan Ross's ITV chatshow, when Ross asked him: "You are a remarkable force of comedy. Are you feeling it in your body? How long will you carry on?"

Evans, who has been married to Heather for 37 years, replied at the time: "I am 50. I am frigging knackered. This is it. Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything."

Evans, who was one of Britain's highest selling stand-ups, said the death of his manager Addison Creswell from a heart attack aged 53 the previous year was one of the reasons behind him quitting.

He said: "Well my manager died last year. All I have ever done is work and Addison always used to put his arm around me and say, 'Don't worry, I will look after you. It is OK'.

"My dad always said to me, 'You have got to work' so I constantly worked and did comedy tours. And I think I have ignored for far too long my missus.

"And I want to spend a lot more time with her. I am going to go and see my wife, be home and say ‘I’m yours’.

"I know what will happen. In a week it will be 'Get out. You are getting on my nerves'. But I am deadly serious. I have said to her ‘I am really sorry. I am always away’.

“Every single week I have been doing plays. I have had to say to my little Mo (daughter Mollie) ‘I cant go to the school play as I have got to do this work.’

"But now I can be with little Mo and do the things that we never did when we were kids."

Lee was known for his anarchic brand of observational comedy played at a furious physical pace.

He enjoyed enormous success in stand-up with his 2011 Roadrunner tour grossing £12.9million alone.

In 2008, his 'Big' tour DVD became the highest selling Christmas DVD in the UK, selling over 1m copies.

He went on to enjoy a career in hit films too, starring in the likes of Mouse Hunt, There's Something About Mary and The Fifth Element before retiring from the limelight.

Despite looking fit and healthy out on his run, Lee’s retirement has not been free from heartbreak as the stand-up star lost his dad and fellow comedian Dave Evans in June 2019.

His death left Lee and the comedy world shaken, as he revealed he got his strong work ethic from his dad.

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Lee evans live: the different planet tour.

1996 Directed by Tom Poole

On the 6th February 1996 the lovable and breathtakingly brilliant physical comedian Lee Evans opened his Different Planet Tour at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. The show sold out its entire 8 week run. Following his West End run Lee took the show on a 114 date tour during which he played to over 200,000 people, covered 4,500 miles in 63 different towns, returning again to the West End for one more magical performance.

Director Director

Producer producer, writer writer, executive producers exec. producers.

Helen Parker Addison Cresswell Bill Tennant

Little Mo Films Ltd. Universal Pictures

Alternative Titles

Lee Evans Live - The Different Planet Tour, Lee Evans Different Planet Tour

Releases by Date

01 jan 1996, releases by country.

77 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

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Review by Will_Glitch ★★★½

He's got too many specials for me to think of anything to say anymore. He's just a legend, let's leave it at that

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Lee Evans. Were you there?

• 2018 Oct 25 Dec 08 2018 London, The Harold Pinter Theatre Keith Allen (2), Tom Edden, Lee Evans, Tamsin Greig, Meera Syal, Penelope Wilton …
• Oct 10 2018 London, The Harold Pinter Theatre Tom Hiddleston, Kit Harington, Simon Russell Beale, Jon Snow, Jade Anouka, Kristin Scott Thomas, Frances De La Tour, Felicity Kendal, Indira Varma, Zawe Ashton, Gawn Grainger, Forbes Masson, Sheila Hancock, Lee Evans, David Suchet, Tamsin Greig, Paapa Essiedu, John Simm, Patrick Marber, Russell Tovey, Gary Kemp, Lia Williams …
• Oct 22 2017 London, The Harold Pinter Theatre Jay Abdo, Martin Freeman, Lee Evans, James Norton, Jack Whitehall, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Bertie Carvel, Wunmi Mosaku, Olivia Williams …
• Nov 30 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 29 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 28 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 27 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 26 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 25 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans
• Nov 24 2014 Utilita Arena Cardiff Lee Evans

Lee Evans image © Ray Burminston

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