The Life of Leigh Francis
By Natalie
Childhood
As a Teenager Francis attended Farnley Park High School, formerly Harrington High School in Leeds. He later studied at the Leeds collage of art and received a qualification in graphic design.
Before making his major television stardom, he was Founded and persuaded by television presenter Davina McCall, performing in-role stand up comedy in a Southern comedy club. McCall landed Francis his first television role on Dom and Kirks Nite O Plenty, where he played Bobby Stark, a man who gives tips on how to win over the ladies. The series aired on Paramount TV from January to July 1996. Francis' second television role was as Barry Gibson, a music Paparozzo, featured on the early series of Channel 4's Popworld. Francis also starred as Different characters, including Gibson, Keith Lemon and Avid Merrion in the series Whatever I want, which aired late night on ITV in 2000.
Career
His major TV Debut occurred when Channel 4 offered him a £250,000 deal to produce a series based around his portrayal of television characters, such as his previous roles as Bobby Stark and Barry Gibson, and in 2002, Bo' Selecta! was born. The series featured Francis portraying a series of celebrities by wearing face masks to impersonate them, as well as portraying the main, non-celebrity character, Avid Merrion. The programme lasted for five series, airing between 2002 and 2006, however, the last two series were only loosely based on the original three. Season 4 was subtitled A Bears Tail, and was based around another of his characters, The Bear. Season 5 returned to Avid Merrion and was called Bo in the USA.
Following the ending of Bo' Selecta!, Francis took one of the series characters, Keith Lemon, and created a brand new show, Keith Lemon's Brilliant World Tour, which aired on ITV2 in April 2008. The show was a success, and Amazing. Francis created another new show featuring Lemon, Celebrity Juice, which has aired eight series to onwards. Lemon also co-hosted Sing if you Can with Stacy Soloman, and since 7 April 2012 he has hosted his new show Keith Lemon's LemonAid on ITV1. In November 2011, it was revealed that Lemon would make his feature film debut in Keith Lemon the Film, which Came out in cinemas on 24th August 2012 which recieved negative reviews.