Leigh Francis: 'Nothing is acceptable any more'

Leigh Francis says 'Celebrity Juice' was axed because "nothing is acceptable any more".

The 51-year-old comedian hosted the show as his outrageous alter-ego Keith Lemon but claims it was cancelled because the innuendos and racy games it featured are no longer acceptable for today's audience.

He told The Sun: "Just as fashion and flared trousers have come back round however many times, comedy tastes change.

“Now, nothing is acceptable any more — we had ‘the rules were the rules’ in past times, and they’re ­different now, so of course there are things back then that you wouldn’t do any more.

“You don’t set out to offend anyone, you just set out to make people laugh, but for me, now when I come up with an idea, it has to be a straight one, with just a bit of silliness.

“Quite a lot of comedians are now presenting straight shows, entertainment programmes that are funny, just maybe not as funny as a sketch show.

"And I think it’s a shame for the viewers who still want to see the comedy stuff that we made back in the day, even when we’ve got to change with the playing field and stick to the rules of the time.”

Leigh also revealed Keith was inspired by a childhood friend with the same name but the pal soon grew tired of the character.

He said: "I said I would give him a shout out on TV, so I gave him a character.

"For a while, I think the real Keith liked it, but then he got sick of explaining it to people, to the point he would carry around this black and white photo in his wallet of us together to explain he knew me.

"It had his name, and then the hair came from a man on holiday with bad Anthea Turner hair, and then there was the ’tache that was added, and finally the hats, which I only wore to meet Pharrell Williams at the Brits.

"With Keith, it’s because I liked to have a good time, but Keith . . . he didn’t know where to draw the line.

"I always say if my Keith had been a real person, he’d be dead now — he was all fun, fun, fun."