Leigh Francis

This is an accepted version of this page Leigh Izaak Francis (born 30 April 1973), who is often known by the name of a character he plays, Keith Lemon, is an English television presenter, comedian, actor, and writer.

[4] McCall landed Francis his first television role on Dom and Kirk's Nite O' Plenty, where he portrayed Bobby Stark, a man who gives tips on how to win over the ladies.

[5] Francis' second television role was as Barry Gibson, a music paparazzo, featured on the early series of Channel 4's Popworld.

Francis also starred as various characters, including Gibson, Keith Lemon and Avid Merrion in the series Whatever I Want, which aired late night on ITV in 2000.

[7] Francis had a cameo in Rocketman, the 2019 Elton John biopic, playing a shop worker named Pete.

[9] Francis continues to producing content for his YouTube,[10] where he posts sketches in the vein of Selecta and other characters.

[12] As of October 2024, he is starring in the West End Production of Back to the Future the Musical as Strickland at the London Adelphi Theatre.

[13] On 30 October 2002, at Allerton Castle, North Yorkshire, Francis married Jill Carter, a beauty therapist.

In an out-of-character interview with On: Yorkshire Magazine, Francis confirmed Avid Merrion's accent and dialects were inspired by his former tutor at Jacob Kramer College, Laimonis Mieriņš.