Comedian Lee Evans, 57, seen publicly for the first time in almost a year as he goes for a bike ride in Essex… after retiring from showbiz to be with his family
Lee Evans was seen publicly for the first time in almost a year on Wednesday as he headed for a bike ride in Essex, seven years after retiring from showbiz.
The comedian, 57, cut a casual figure in a black polo shirt and dark grey trousers as he enjoyed a ride on his electric bike in the rare sighting.
Lee shocked fans in 2014 when he announced he was retiring from stand-up comedy to more spend time with his wife Heather Nudds and their daughter Mollie.
Rare sighting: Lee Evans was seen publicly for the first time in almost a year on Wednesday as he headed for a bike ride in Essex, seven years after retiring from showbiz
The star looked content and relaxed as he got in a spot of exercise on his bike, adding a blue cap, black trainers and sunglasses to his sporty look.
Lee was also not wearing his wedding ring during his solo outing.
The MouseHunt actor was last seen publicly when he went on a run in Essex in September last year, days after his 37th wedding anniversary.
Out and about: The comedian, 57, cut a casual figure in a black polo shirt and dark grey trousers as he enjoyed a ride on his electric bike in the rare sighting
The life and career of Lee Evans
1964: Lee is born in Bristol to Irish mother Shirley and Welsh father Dave
1975: The family move to Essex
Late 1970s: Lee moves to Yorkshire and becomes a drummer in punk rock band The Forgotten Five
1981: Lee meets Heather at a fairground in Billericay
1983: The couple tie the knot
1990s: Lee soars to fame with his energetic performances.
1993: He won the Perrier Comedy Award for his work at the Edinburgh Festival
1995: Lee makes his acting debut in Funny Bones and stars in The Fifth Element and Mouse Hunt two years later
2004: He makes his stage debut in Endgame and The Producers
2005: Lee broke the world record for a solo act performing to the biggest comedy audience – 10,108 people at Manchester Arena
2008: During his Big tour he performed to over 500,000 people on 59 dates. The DVD of the tour sold 1m copies
2011: His record-breaking 67 date UK Roadrunner tour sells 911,000 DVDs and 733,000 tickets. The tour nets £12.9m
2014: Lee announces his retirement
The recent outing marks the first time Lee has been seen in public, except for last year’s run, for quite some time.
The comedian briefly came out of retirement in 2018 to appear in the play Pinter Three while he appeared in the play Wither Would You Go? the year before.
Also in 2017, he walked the red carpet at the film premiere of the movie Kenny in Liverpool, however this is what his time in the spotlight has been limited to.
Lee confirmed his retirement from stand-up comedy during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2014.
On the show, he told Jonathan that the death of his manager, Addison Cresswell, had ‘put things in perspective’.
He said: ‘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”.’
He added: ‘I want to go and see my wife, she deserves my time, I’ve been working solidly.’
Ross asked how long he planned to carry on in his job, to which he replied: ‘I am knackered. This is it…
‘Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything.’
Lee went on: ‘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 okay”…
‘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.’
According to The Richest, Lee has a net worth of around £5.6m.
His tours regularly broke records, with his Big tour in 2008 seeing the star perform to over 500,000 people on 59 dates. The DVD of the tour sold 1million copies.
His love: The comedian announced his retirement from stand-up comedy in 2014, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife Heather Nudds and their daughter Mollie (the couple, pictured in 2011)
Reason: Lee said of his retirement: ‘I want to go and see my wife, she deserves my time, I’ve been working solidly’ (pictured on the Jonathan Ross show in 2014)
In 2011, his record-breaking 67 date UK Roadrunner tour sold 911,000 DVDs and 733,000 tickets.
The tour netted an eye-popping £12.9million.
He also starred in a host of movies, including mega hit The Fifth Element and There’s Something About Mary.
Success: His tours regularly broke records, with his Big tour in 2008 seeing the star perform to over 500,000 people on 59 dates. The DVD of the tour sold 1million copies (pictured in 2008)
Long career: Lee had a highly-successful long-running career spanning over 25 years (pictured on The Hippodrome Show in 1989)
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