An "appalled" ‘Celebrity Juice’ audience member has slammed Keith Lemon for not cancelling filming when he felt ill.
The 46-year-old star- whose real name is Leigh Francis – was all dressed up and greeting members of the public who had arrived to watch the show being taped at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood on Monday (16.03.20) but warned them he wouldn’t be offering physical contact as he felt under the weather with aches and a fever.
Although filming was abruptly cancelled in the wake of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s advice on helping to stop the spread of coronavirus, one would-be audience member thinks the plug should have been pulled much earlier in the day.
Keith reportedly told fans: "I probably won’t give you a high five in case I give you what I’ve got.
"I’m just a bit dizzy and, as I say, achey and got a little cough but not worth talking about. I’m just really tired. I keep getting hot and cold."
The audience member told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: "Keith casually announced he had a fever of 38 degrees but soldiered on.
"He had close contact with some members of the audience and very close contact with his colleagues.
"We were appalled he came in to film with a very large studio audience, some of whom have severe health problems such as myself, and some were elderly."
As the audience left, Keith – who had been checked over my medics before filming was due to begin – apologised to fans and admitted he was ill but had wanted to "soldier on".
As the audience departed, a coughing Lemon apologised — saying he knew he was running a fever and high temperature of 38C but wanted to "soldier on".
Joel Dommett had been booked to appear on the panel and admitted the abrupt cancellation of filming made for a very "weird evening".
He posted: "What a weird evening – went to record @celebjuiceofficial – then the audience were told to go home after Boris’ speech.
"Having serious logistic based conversations while dressed as @billieeilish was one of the strangest things I’ve ever been involved in. Stay safe everyone – keep washing your bits."
Keith Lemon slammed by audience member
