DON'T BO AWAY!
Keith Lemon star Leigh Francis reveals reboot of iconic noughties TV show has been AXED – after filming new episode
Keith apologised for his show in 2020 when the Black Lives Matter movement went global
CONTROVERSIAL comedy Bo’ Selecta! has been axed for good after a rebooted version failed to get the green light.
Funnyman Leigh Francis today revealed he has shelved plans for the sketch show despite working on a new and rebranded pilot - 13 years after Channel 4 took it off air.
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The comedy legend spoke openly to fans about his life's work and upcoming projects while travelling to Stoke for the latest leg of his solo stage tour.
Speaking on Intsagram he said: "Keith Lemon is, well, I'll never kill any characters off. I don't ever kill any characters off.
"Apart from if it's one that someone is really upset by. Then you don't do it anymore, because you only d**k about to put smiles on people's faces."
Fans soon begged Leigh for an update on Bo' Selecta!, and the comedian dutifuly replied: "Bo’ Selecta!
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"The nearest you're going to get to that is if you're going to this tour.
"So if you are pining for a bit of rubber mask tom foolery, here it is, in tour format."
All 4 removed Bo Selecta episodes in 2020 following a backlash from celebrities such as Trisha Goddard and Craig David, who Leigh parodied using exaggerated latex masks.
But he raised hopes of the show coming back when he said Avid Merrion could be revived.
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Leigh in 2022: “Avid Merrion is wandering around somewhere.
"He’s a bit different though, he’s grown up. The Bear was in the pilot too. I don’t know if he’ll stick around, it’s all in the hands of the TV Gods.”
Leigh Francis tearfully apologises for playing black people in Bo Selecta
Leigh, known as Keith Lemon, suffered a few blows last year after his shows Celebrity Juice and The Fantastical Factory of Curious Craft were axed and his feud with Craig was reignited.
Leigh said: “I wish he wasn’t upset . . . we hugged it out and everything was all nice, so I don’t know.”
He later cleared up confusion after speculation Bo Selecta was coming back to screens.
Keith clarified last year: "Well it’s not a Bo’ Selecta! reboot, everyone keeps thinking it is. It wasn’t even called Bo’ Selecta!, it just had Masked Characters in, it were more about Merrion being a time traveller.’
He continued, talking about the pilot: "It was just a pilot but since then we’ve been developing new ways of doing things, like should he really be a time traveller, is that too much to imagine?"
Bo'Selecta! centred on obsessed fan Avid Merrion telling viewers an eclectic mix of celebrity stories, interviews and gossip - aided by the Bear and rubber masked celebrities.
And Leigh made a tearful apology to Craig, plus Mel B and Trisha, in June 2020 for the way he caricatured black celebrities.
Speaking in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement, the devastated star said on social media: "It’s been a weird few days, I’ve sat and thought about things and what I could post to try and help things.
"Back in 2002 I did a show called Bo Selecta, I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn’t think anything about it, people didn’t say anything, I’m not going to blame other people.
"Been talking to some people, I didn’t realise how offensive it was back then."
He added: "I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I’m a big fan of. I guess we’re all on a learning journey."
While promoting his book in 2022, Rewind singer Craig accused Keith's apology of being “insincere”.
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He said: “It comes at a time when George Floyd has been killed.
“To then have the Black Lives Matter movement, protests around the world . . . and then it comes at a time as a reaction — ‘I should say my piece’ for something that should never have gone there.”
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