Peter Kay has joked that he deliberately avoids Paddy McGuinness's professional work, despite their long-standing friendship. The comedians, who have known each other since nursery school in the 1970s, appeared together on McGuinness's BBC Radio 2 programme, where Kay made a light-hearted prediction about his friend's broadcasting future.
During the show, Kay quipped that their conversation would attract OFCOM complaints, adding: "This is why I stay away from all of your professional work." McGuinness, who joined Radio 2 in 2024, responded by humming the theme tune to their sitcom Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, with Kay joining in. The pair met at Mount St Joseph High School in Farnworth and later collaborated on That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, and Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere.
Kay also reflected on a recent appearance on Scott Mills's show, revealing he had asked producers not to share clips on social media. McGuinness noted that, for his own programme, a camera phone had been set up in the corner of the room to film Kay's visit. The exchange came after Kay announced an additional 21 dates for his ongoing stand-up tour, extending it to August next year.
In a separate interview on Capital Breakfast, Kay disclosed that he had declined an offer from Netflix to stream Phoenix Nights, after learning the platform wanted to add a trigger warning. He said the show, about Brian Potter's attempts to run a working men's club, "is not very politically correct now". Kay had previously stepped back from public life in 2017, returning in 2022 with his Better Late Than Never tour.
