Jason Manford defends himself after Royal Variety Performance pan

Jason Manford took to social media to defend his 'tough gig' hosting the Royal Variety Perfomance for the first time on Sunday.

The comedian, 44, watched the show from home after it was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in November, in front of Prince William and Princess Catherine. 

But some fans on were less than impressed with Jason's hosting skills and claimed he was 'rehashing old material', while others declared they were 'switching off'. 

On X, one said: 'Can't believe Manford is rehashing all this stuff about his brother and class. Been doing this for years', to which Jason replied: 'Tough gig, I pulled out the gags that were going to see me through!'. 

While another attempted to insult the comedian by comparing him to a 's*** copy of Jimmy Tarbuck', he said: 'I love Tarby! What a compliment'.  

Someone else wrote: 'I preferred a different person doing it and think they would've been better just my opinion sorry'.

Only for Jason to cheekily hit back: 'I can't think of anyone better tbh, just my opinion sorry'. 

Replying to another comment: 'Switching off @Jason Manford on TV god he's dull', he said: 'Hahaa thanks for letting me know, Merry Christmas big fella'. 

But other viewers were a big fan of Jason's perfomance and the comedian was quick to thank them on social media. 

The Princess of Wales, 43, who announced she is in remission from cancer in January, was radiant as she walked the red carpet at Royal Albert Hall wearing a gorgeous, dark green velvet gown.

The Royal Variety Performance is airing tonight on ITV at 7pm as the countdown to Christmas continues, although it was filmed back in November.

Kate paired her delightfully festive dress with matching Manolo Blahnik pumps and diamond accessories from Cartier.

Prince William, who also looked dapper in evening dress, was spotted getting into the performance and belting out the national anthem to kick start the show. 

It comes after a rocky week for the Royal family after a damning trove of 300,000 documents from the so-called Epstein Files were released, including one that depicted Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, sprawling across the laps of five elegantly dressed women.

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Jessie J sung a new track titled 'I'll Never Know Why' off her forthcoming album, a an emotional tribute to her late bodyguard and close friend, Dave, who died by suicide years ago.

She came after Stephen Fry performed as his character Lady Bracknell from the 2025 West End production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, discussing all the etiquette dos and don't, such as playing music out loud on the bus.

He also went on to tease the Prince of Wales' about his beloved football club Aston Villa saying: 'Dinner jackets, which is the correct attire for events, dinners, and popping along to watch Aston Villa... lose'.

BBC Radio 4's Dead Ringers who impersonated a huge selection of celebrities' tonight most notably mocked President Trump and Keir Starmer, whose very name caused the audience to erupt with boos.  

Another spectacular performance celebrated the 40th anniversary of Les Miserables, who had a whopping 400 performers on stage.

Keeping in line with tradition, magician Harry Moulding finally took to the stage after winning the 2025 edition of Britain's Got Talent.

On top of this, Johannes Radebe showcased an extract from the award-winning musical Kinky Boots and America's Got Talent winners Adrian Stoica and his border collie Hurricane made their British debut with a special choreographed routine.

Early on in the show, Irish boyband Westlife performed some of their greatest hits, leaving fans delighted as Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan took to the stage. 

Sadly band member Mark Feehily was not there after he had to take a step back in February 2024 due to ill health.