Celebrity Traitors star Joe Lycett has put £100 behind the bar at two Welsh pubs. The comedian made the promise during the finale of his Channel 4 show, Live from the Lycett Arms, which aired on Friday, October 9.
The two Welsh venues benefiting from the gesture are The Butcher's Arms in Pontsticill, near Merthyr Tydfil, and Stage and Stem in Cardiff's Roath neighbourhood. They are among 30 pubs across the UK that will receive the £100 bar tab this Friday, October 16.
Final Show Promise
Lycett, who is currently part of The Celebrity Traitors line-up on BBC One, hosted his live Friday night show over six weeks. The series welcomed celebrity guests and drinkers, and beamed in pubs from around the UK live to the "studio" - an east London pub named The Lycett Arms.
Closing his final show last Friday, Lycett encouraged viewers to support their local pub. He said: "There are pubs up and down the country ready to welcome you." He added: "There are 45,000 pubs in the UK; go and give them some love. Next Friday, I’ll be putting a little bit of money behind the bar in all the pubs you’ve just seen. I hope you can have a drink on me."
Pub Reaction
Andrew Owen of The Butcher's Arms in Pontsticill confirmed that Lycett has indeed put £100 behind the bar of the pub, and said appearing on the live show was "great fun".
Owen told WalesOnline: "We had our own celebrity guests in the Vicky McClure and her husband Jonny were here and joined in with the fun as well as loads of supporters and regulars. Joe and his team really work hard to help and promote pubs in the UK so this TAB initiative is a great idea."
Industry Context
Billed as a "love letter to the British pub", Live from the Lycett Arms is frequented by a cast of regulars, old friends and strangers all welcomed by Joe and his weekly celebrity pub manager. Each week The Lycett Arms twinned with a different pub from across the UK, celebrating what is special about Britain’s locals. The comic also had to apply for a licence to sell and serve alcohol.
The move comes as industry data released earlier this week forecasts that Britain is to lose one pub a day in 2026. Experts at the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said they expect the closures to be at the expense of around 5,000 job losses across the industry.
Pub operators have linked the latest raft of closures to the high tax burden and regulatory costs affecting the sector, despite recent business rates discounts for pubs. New data from the BBPA showed that 295 British pubs shut their doors by the end of September since the start of the year. England saw 226 pubs close in total over the period, while 64 shut their doors in Scotland and five closed in Wales. The trade body estimated that around 360 pubs will permanently shut their doors by the end of the year.
Back in 2020, Lycett popped up in Cardiff with podcaster Jamie Laing, who is best known for starring on Made in Chelsea, on Woodville Road to film for the Channel 4 series Joe Lycett's Got Your Back. The consumer rights/comedy series investigates complaints made by members of the public. As part of the show, Joe and Jamie were targeting letting agent CPS Homes, which offers houses and flats to students in Cardiff.
