Lee Evans has announced that he is planning to retire at the end of his current Monsters tour. Evans was being interviewed by Jonathan Ross for his Saturday night ITV1 chat show and said that he wanted to spend more time with his family. "I am 50. I am frigging knackered. This is it. Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything.”

Evans has recently talked about suffering from depression despite his huge success. His current Monsters tour has been a massive sell-out but the reviews have not been the best of his career. Many critics pointed to the growing credibility gap between his everyman schtick and his superstardom.

The last twelve months have also seen the sudden death of his long-time agent Addison Cresswell. Talking to Ross, who was also represented by Cresswell, Evans said: “My manager died last year. All I have ever done is work and Addison always used to put his arm around me and say, 'Don't worry, I will look after you. It is OK’.”

Evans went on to explain that he wanted to spend more time with his wife Heather and daughter Mo: "I know what will happen. In a week it will be 'Get out. You are getting on my nerves'. But I am deadly serious. I have said to her "I am really sorry. I am always away…Every single week I have been doing plays. I have had to say to my little Mo 'I can’t go to the school play as I have got to do this work'.”