Leigh Francis, also known as Keith Lemon, appeared on Friday’s Loose Women to talk about his new autobiography book Leigh, Myself and I, which was released earlier this month

Leigh Francis got emotional as he spoke about his new autobiography book Leigh, Myself and I.

The comedian, 51, also known as Keith Lemon, was on the hit ITV show to talk about his memoir, which was released earlier this month.

Host, Kaye Adams, said: “You speak very personally in this book about some really difficult things” to which Leigh admitted: “It is quite serious, there’s depth in there” although he quickly added that there is “some funny stuff” in the book too.

Linda Robson then said: “Your dad died at a very young age didn’t he?” to which Leigh replied: “He was 47 and the weirdest thing is I’m older than my dad, that’s a weird feeling. When I was doing the audio book, the audio book was the hardest thing I’ve ever done…”

Leigh Francis got emotional as he spoke about his new autobiography book Leigh, Myself and I(Image: ITV)

He added: “There’s a sound producer there, that you don’t know and you’re crying in front of him. I was crying and he said: ‘Do you want to stop?’ and I said: ‘No, just keep going.’”

Asked at what part of the book he was crying reading out, he said: “My dad! When you’re writing it, I remember tearing up writing it, but saying it outloud and reading it, it was horrific I felt.”

Asked how old he was he when his father tragically passed away, Leigh said: “I was 21! God, it’s getting serious isn’t it, this is very serious. Don’t, I’ll start crying” to which the panel supported him.

Elsewhere on Friday’s episode, Loose Women turned awkward just minutes into the show as Kaye asked why her co-stars were fighting.

The comedian, 51, also known as Keith Lemon, was on the hit ITV show to talk about his memoir, which was released earlier this month

As the episode opened on Friday, Kaye, 61, said: “What, are we fighting already girls?” to which co-star Frankie Bridge replied pointing at Linda: “She’s doing things behind my back!” which prompted an “ooh” reaction from the studio.

Linda, 66, quickly blamed the situation on someone else, believed to be one of the show producers, replying: “Mattie told me to pull faces behind her back, thanks Mattie!” with Kaye, 61, quickly moving things along as she announced: “Welcome to Loose Women everyone! It’s Friday!”

It comes as Leigh revealed the reason Celebrity Juice was axed earlier this month – insisting that “nothing is acceptable any more”.

The comedian hosted the show as his outrageous alter-ego Keith Lemon but claims it was cancelled because the innuendos and racy games it featured are no longer acceptable for today’s audience.

“Just as fashion and flared trousers have come back round however many times, comedy tastes change. Now, nothing is acceptable any more – we had ‘the rules were the rules’ in past times, and they’re different now, so of course there are things back then that you wouldn’t do any more,” Leigh said.

Elsewhere on Friday’s episode, Loose Women turned awkward just minutes into the show as Kaye asked why her co-stars were fighting

“You don’t set out to offend anyone, you just set out to make people laugh, but for me, now when I come up with an idea, it has to be a straight one, with just a bit of silliness. Quite a lot of comedians are now presenting straight shows, entertainment programmes that are funny, just maybe not as funny as a sketch show,” he continued to The Sun.

Leigh admitted that he believed it was a “shame” for viewers but said that they had to change with the playing field and stick to the rules of the time. He also explained that Keith was inspired by a childhood friend with the same name but the pal soon grew tired of the character.

He said: “I said I would give him a shout out on TV, so I gave him a character.” The comedian went on to say that for a while, his pal liked it but eventually got sick of having to explain it to people. His friend went on to carry round a black and white photo of the pair of them together to explain how he knew him.

“It had his name, and then the hair came from a man on holiday with bad Anthea Turner hair, and then there was the ‘tache that was added, and finally the hats, which I only wore to meet Pharrell Williams at the Brits,” Leigh said. “With Keith, it’s because I liked to have a good time, but Keith . . . he didn’t know where to draw the line. I always say if my Keith had been a real person, he’d be dead now – he was all fun, fun, fun.”