A comedy legend said he had “the best time” at a Blackburn school – even if he did get some playful boos from some young Blackburn Rovers supporters.

Actor, writer and comedian Matt Lucas, known for work on sketch comedy series Little Britain and hosting the Great British Bake Off, came to Westholme School recently.

Matt read an excerpt from his musical novel The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas, which was published in September, sharing his inspiration behind the book with students.  

More than 400 students, from 10 schools across Blackburn, welcomed Matt with applause as he arrived on stage in the Croston Theatre at the Meins Road independent school. 

“I love spending time with family at Christmas,” said Matt.

“I thought about all the people who find Christmas difficult and are missing someone at this time of year and this is the situation the character, Leo, finds himself him.” 

Lancashire Telegraph: Matt Lucas (middle) at Westholme SchoolMatt Lucas (middle) at Westholme School (Image: Westholme School)

While he had a great time, Matt did receive a few boos from Blackburn Rovers fans after admitting he was an Arsenal fan.

Matt said: “I had the best time at Westholme meeting all the students from Blackburn – even if I received a few boos from the Blackburn Rovers supporters when I shared my love for Arsenal!

“It was great to meet lots of young budding writers and performers, and I was blown away by their creative ideas. My advice to students is to dream big and never give up.”

Matt talked about how losing his hair at age six to alopecia shaped his life.

The comedian told the audience how he turned this adversity into something positive by putting himself in the limelight throughout his career. 

The youngsters enjoyed a question and answer session between Matt and Hannah Penny from the book’s publisher Farshore, talking about everything from his lockdown ‘thank you baked potato’ song, his love of roast potatoes and why Matt decided to write a musical novel. 

The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas has more tha 20 songs, accessed through QR codes throughout the book so readers can sing-along as they read-along.

The crowd enjoyed an interactive sing song, performing one of the book’s songs ‘There’s No Day Quite Like Christmas Day’ as well as inventing a new lyric for Jingle Bells.

During his visit, he also signed books for each of the students before posing for photographs. 

Louise Cowan, assistant head at Westholme, said: “Christmas came early to our Croston Theatre as our Westholme Prep students and visiting schools welcomed celebrity royalty Matt Lucas. 

“The excitement was palpable from start to finish around our Senior site. His visit was entertaining from start to finish, as he engaged and inspired with snippets from his brilliant novel The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas and wider, worldly advice. 

“This was one author visit that will certainly go down in Westholme's centenary history!”