8 Out of 10 Cats star Jason Manford, 43, has opened up about a worrying moment during a recent live show.
Jason has been busy at the Manchester Opera House this year for the third time in a row, performing as Prince Charming in the Cinderella pantomime. While he’s well used to the play by now, his show on December 21 didn’t go to plan after a medical emergency knocked the performance off track.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan mentioned the scary moment. They wrote: “Brilliant panto tonight as always this amazing cast always deliver @JasonManford @realbennickless @myradubois despite the medical emergency the show continued and never disappoints. Same time again next year of course.”
Jason responded to the fan, clarifying that someone in the audience needed care. “She was a difficult night with the medical emergency but front of house staff & paramedics dealt with it so well,” he wrote. “Thoughts are with the poorly person, hope you’re on the mend. Thanks to great crowd for sticking with us after 45 minutes of silence!”
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Phil Tragen)Other audience members weighed in on the interruption, and make it clear that the cast and crew handled the situation as well as they could. “The show was class and we all just hope whoever the emergency was for is ok. See you next year,” one person wrote, with another echoing: “Was still a fab evening. The cast did a great job of getting everyone back in the flow which to be honest, I didn’t think would happen and wondered if we should leave. Best wishes to the poorly lady and her family.”
This isn’t the only time Jason’s live shows have taken an unexpected turn recently. Back in September, he admitted that he mixed up his pills and accidentally took a Zopiclone - a nonbenzodiazepine used to treat difficulty sleeping - half an hour before performing at The Queen's Hall, Hexham, when he’d intended to take an anti-anxiety pill.
Jason warned his followers on X: "Always check medicine labels kids! I thought I was taking an anti-anxiety tablet 30 minutes before my first gig, but it was in fact a sleeping tablet! One of the most laid back gigs I’ve ever performed! And now the second!"
With panto season drawing to a close, Jason is moving on to his next major project. The BBC star is set to host the National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals for the fourth year in a row.
Jason will take to the stage in Manchester once again to present a fantastic - and free - event that will showcase over 10 musicals in one night. The show at Manchester's AO Arena on January 27 will include musical performances from West End and UK touring shows, including Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell The Musical, Mean Girls, Calamity Jane, Dear Evan Hanson, Here & Now – The Official Steps Musical, and brand new Disney’s Hercules. And Jason, for one, can't wait.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror he said: "It's always spectacular. It's certainly a show that you would never get to see anywhere else. So it's a real one off... This is the biggest show of it's kind; probably in the world I would say."
Jason added that the show is a great way to dispel the myth that theatre has to be expensive. "Theatre can often be seen as expensive and elitist," he said. "The great thing about what the National Lottery does is it makes theatre accessible to everybody, and that's what's important about it. That's why I'm involved."
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