Leigh Francis, the comedian best known for his alter egos Keith Lemon and Avid Merrion, has revealed that a woman accidentally clawed his face during one of his DJ sets, leaving a grizzly scar. The Celebrity Juice host has found a lucrative second career as a festival DJ but admitted on TikTok that there are some hazards involved.
Incident at Sound Bites festival
In a video published on Sunday, 10 May, Francis explained that the incident occurred while he was DJing at the Sound Bites festival in Syon Park. He said: "I went into the crowd and someone was overcome with joy, so that was a nice feeling, and she went 'I love you' and put her hands towards my face and her thumbnail, which was quite long, did that." Francis then showed off a raw scratch running across his temple and dangerously close to his eye.
He joked: "I'm gonna go to bed now and dream of Star Wars figures and my wife," before adding, "Could've been worse, could've gone in my eye but yeah bit of a naughty one that, innit?"
Fan reactions
One concerned fan commented: "That's bonkers!" Another added: "Oh no! [This is] why I am not a fan of long nails." In a follow-up video, Francis, in the guise of Romanian celebrity stalker Merrion, included footage of the overzealous fan in the crowd before the incident. "This is the lady that claw my face with over-excitement!" he said in his Merrion voice, captioning the video: "This is where I get the war wound."
Background and past controversies
Francis has largely kept a low profile in recent years after clips from his older comedy sketches resurfaced amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. He subsequently apologised for his "offensive" portrayals of Black people on his early sketch show Bo' Selecta, which aired from 2002 to 2009 on Channel 4. The show featured Francis impersonating celebrities, including Black figures like Craig David and Trisha Goddard, while wearing large latex masks.
Goddard thanked Francis for the apology but revealed that it had led to a surge of online hatred directed at her. "Since Leigh made that apology, I've been subject to more vile abuse," she said. "I've had thousands and thousands of people saying the same thing. Leigh really sweetly talked to my daughter for a long time and he was horrified. No one forced him to; he chose to say sorry."
