BBC comedy legend forced to quit the stage midway through performance after falling ill
A BRITISH comedy legend was forced to pull out of a theatre performance mid-way through the show over health concerns.
Little Britain star Matt Lucas was performing on stage in Australia when he fell ill on stage.
The 51-year-old had to leave the theatre on Wednesday night when his voice began to fail him.
Matt is starring as Monsieur Thénardier in Les Miserables.
He was replaced by a fellow actor during the second half of the performance in Sydney.
He updated fans in a post on Instagram on Friday, saying his disappearance was related to his voice.
Matt said: "I've been having a magical time in Les Misérables in arenas across Sydney and Melbourne.
"In over 30 years, I've never had to bow out of a performance, but tonight, as I was singing Master Of The House, I could feel my voice deserting me."
He continued: "So if Thénardier looked very different in act two, that was because the amazing Connor James took over.
"I am now in bed resting up, and I hope to be back on stage soon."
Most read in Showbiz
Matt shot to fame with David Walliams with their hit show Little Britain over 20 years ago, and now they are working together again.
The two comedians revealed earlier this year that they would be unleasing their very first podcast together called, Making A Scene.
They have since released regular episodes, some featuring interviews with big names including Simon Pegg, and Daisy May Cooper.
Matt and David met at the National Youth Theatre in the early 90s and quickly bonded over their love of comedy and impressions.
One of their first collaborations was on Rock Profile, which started in 1999.
After other TV parts they finally made it big in 2003 with Little Britain, with the show running until 2009.
They also came together to write and star in Come Fly With Me, which ran from 2010 until 2011.
The pair stopped working with each other in 2011, amid reports the friendship became strained.
Matt wrote in his autobiography about how tensions rose between the pair in 2005 during their epic Little Britain Live tour, leading to a spectacular fight backstage one night.
Much to fans' delight the comedy duo reunited in 2019 after an eight-year feud, announcing that they were planning a "huge TV comeback".
Matt and David finally started to work together again in 2019, creating a one-off special episode of Little Britain called Little Brexit which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, where the show started in 2000.
In 2019, the comedy duo were pictured together at the theatre, and in 2020, Matt revealed that the pair are friends again.
Matt said: “I do get asked about Little Britain a lot but what I can say is that David and I are the very best of friends and we speak or exchange messages every single day."
Read More on The Sun
And he admitted that modern tech helped them keep in touch.
He added that the pair "make each other laugh all the time".
