Why Peter Kay had a feud with his former sitcom co-star for 10 years

Peter Kay is without a doubt one of the most popular UK comedians working today, so it might come as a shock to many that he was feuding with another funnyman for a decade. Kay is best known for his stand-up series and TV shows, including That Peter Kay Thing, Peter Kay’s Car Share, Cradle to Grave, and more. Fans of the BAFTA Award winner will also remember the spin-off sitcom Phoenix Nights, which ran from 2001 to 2002.

Phoenix Nights is why Peter Kay’s feud began with a certain English actor, Dave Spikey. Like Kay, Spikey is also a comedian and writer, and is best known for his work on Phoenix Nights, along with fan-favorites 8 Out of 10 Cats, Bullseye, and Chain Letters.

According to a recent report from the Mirror, Kay and Spikey had a falling out after the show concluded, as Spikey reportedly wanted to keep Phoenix Nights going for a third season. Apparently, Spikey was also allegedly upset over who got more credit for the show — as he and Kay were both writers on it — which led to their feud starting.

Spikey has spoken out on the shock he felt when Kay was nominated for an award for his work on Phoenix Nights, but the other writers had not been included. Per the Mirror, here’s what Spikey said to the Manchester Evening News in 2010:

"“[Peter Kay] rang me and Neil Fitzmaurice, the other writer on Phoenix Nights, and said we’d been nominated for a Writers Guild Of Great Britain award. We thought it was fantastic, only for it to go away and for us to discover that actually we hadn’t been nominated, it was only Peter. And you think, ‘well, he’s probably not going to accept that because of all the work we did’. There were three writers. If you’re talking about the person who sat down at the end and collated everything and wrote it, then that was Peter. If that’s how you qualify, by putting the words on the paper, then so be it.”"

Although it seems like the feud was a bit one-sided, Spikey and Kay did not speak for a full 10 years before finally reconciling for another exciting project in 2015. This is when they came together to do the Phoenix Nights live tours for Comic Relief. According to the Comic Relief site, their 16 shows raised over £5 million for the UK charity. Talk about a good reason to end a decade-long feud!

Spikey admitted it was “awkward” to come together again, but recalled their reconciliation with warm words (per the Mirror):

"“We hadn’t spoken for over ten years and it had been 12 years since we filmed the last Phoenix Nights. Life had moved on. I always hoped we’d get back together but the longer things went on, the less likely it was. It was nice to hear from Peter. We’d obviously grown apart but within a few moments in the rehearsal room in Wakefield the years just faded away and it was like we’d never been away.”"

Fans of Phoenix Nights are no doubt relieved to know Peter Kay and Dave Spikey are no longer on bad terms. Spikey is likely still bitter that the show came to a close after just two seasons, but that’s just something he’ll have to live with. Check out a clip from the Phoenix Nights live show for charity here: