09/09/2026
Hi everybody, important news / info, as always I like to be up front and honest with you......
Don’t think it will come as news or a shock to anyone that Roy has been struggling for the past few months with his left hip / mobility.
As you know, I had to reschedule shows from mid August in Melton Mowbray, Babbacombe and Weston-super-Mare as Roy had a fall and literally couldn’t walk without a walking aid, Roy’s specialists at that time took scans and x-rays and we were hoping that the problem could be resolved through steroid injections and medication.
The steroids and medication did give Roy a little relief enabling him to perform at Blackpool late August and last Saturday at Skegness , but after the Skegness show Sunday and Monday morning Roy was in agony, his hip kept giving way, in hindsight he probably shouldn’t have done the Blackpool Skegness shows but Roy insisted on doing the shows as he didn’t want to let his fans down.
We got Roy an emergency out of hours appointment on Monday evening with his specialist, where they took more x-rays, scans and re-examined, these revealed that basically Roy’s hip is a lot worse than first thought and crumbling, meaning without an immediate operation / replacement it would deteriorate ending up with Roy more than likely confined to a wheelchair !!! 😰👎
The specialist was that concerned he has rushed things through and programmed Roy for a pre-op tomorrow morning, with the actual operation taking place a week on Thursday 17th of September.
Obviously nobody saw this coming but leaves me no other option than I will have to cancel and reschedule all upcoming shows, so after a lengthy discussion with Roy specialist , his realistic recommendation is Roy will need 8 weeks recovery time after he has had the operation before he can work again 😰
Therefore the following shows will have to be cancelled and rescheduled......
Sept 2026
17th Great Yarmouth
18th Peterborough
26th Blackpool
Oct 2026
2nd Dunstable
9th Stevenage
10th Northampton
17th Port sunlight
24th Blackpool
Nov 2026
7th Grimsby
We plan for the first shows back after the operation (obviously if there are no complications) to be Royal Court Theatre Bacup 12th November 2026, Montgomery halls Wath upon dearne 13th November 2026 then all shows as they appear on the web site will happen and the tour will be back to normal.
I hope you can understand, although I know there will be a lot of disappointment, that when I was told it’s an immediate operation or a wheelchair for Roy, the decision was one of the easiest I’ve ever had to make, better Roy has 8 weeks off now and comes back stronger than ever than it being the end of Chubby which it would have been !!!!
All dates will be rescheduled to the following below, may I take this opportunity to thank all the venues managements for the professional, caring, understanding way they have taken this news and dealt with the situation, all tickets will be valid for the new rescheduled dates, we really hope you will be able to attend, if not obviously a full refund will be given, venues / box office ticketing teams will be in touch over the next few days, please be patient as there are obviously a lot of people to contact.
Friday 5th Feb 2027
Cresset Theatre Peterbrough
Saturday 20th March 2027
Deco Theatre Northampton
Friday 30th July 2027
Gladstone Theatre Port Sunlight
Friday 17th Sept 2027
Britannia Pier Great Yarmouth
Friday 8th Oct 2027
Grove theatre Dunstable
Saturday 9th Oct 2027
Gordon Craig Theatre Stevenage
Friday 10th March 2028
Auditorium Grimsby
For Blackpool Shows, Roy will be doing his usual one a month shows at the North Pier between April and October 2027 (march, April, May, June, July dates on web site already, August, September, October will be on by the start of next week ) tickets can be exchanged for your preferred show.
Thank you all in advance for the thousands of messages of support and well wishes I’m sure you will be sending, Roy has already said he will be sending a personal video message on Facebook to you all with an update after he has had the operation and had a few days to recover 👍
To finish with, as I’m sure you’ll be wondering what the future holds, Roy’s specialist assures me that after this hip replacement (there’s nothing else left to replace ha ha ) that Roy will be back to full mobility and bouncing around on stage again for at least a couple more years !!! 👍👍
You're not getting rid of Chubby yet !!!
Ritch.
