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Leigh Francis (born May 30, 1974 in Morley, Leeds) is an English comedian.

Francis was "discovered" by television presenter Davina McCall, who got him regular appearances on MTV UK. This kick-started his television career. One of his first roles on TV was in the guise of a character Bobby Stark, who gave tips with the ladies on Dom (Dominik Diamond) and Kirk's (Kirk Ewing) big night in, on Paramount TV. Bobby claimed to seduce women using Scotch and Bru, the combination of IRN BRU and Scotch Eggs.

In postmodern fashion, Leigh Francis conducts nearly every interview and arrives at every celebrity function in his character guise of Avid Merrion. The character's surname was taken from a shopping centre in Leeds, the Merrion Centre. He attended Harrington High School (latterly Farnley Park High) in Leeds, near his home in Old Farnley.

He is rarely seen without being in character, and many have trouble understanding that Avid Merrion is a fictional creation and so Francis' name means very little in popular discourse. He did conduct an interview as himself for The Frank Skinner Show and also appeared as himself on Celebrity Big Brothers Big Mouth with Russell Brand on Channel 4.

Francis also plays many other celebrities, using comical masks and inappropriate accents, in sketches in his series Bo' Selecta!. His focus changed to character of "The Bear" (a rude puppet bear) rather than Avid Merrion, as part of the new series A Bear's Tail. This follows the first use of Francis' real name at the head of the titles for the 2004 Christmas special.

Avid Merrion, Leigh's fictional character creation, is most famously known from the British television comedy sketch show, Bo' Selecta! as a Celebrity Stalker.

Born in the small town of Arachnipus near Transylvania, Romania to a father who was a Dracula impersonator, Avid grew up to be the "number one super fan, here in the world". He came to England because of "something to do with the police".^{[citation needed]}

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Merrion lived in his London flat for a long time with his dead mother slouched in one cupboard and Craig Phillips from TV's Big Brother chained up in another. His only other friend was Ozzey, a refugee who used to operate a T-Shirt printing business in the flat beneath Avid's. Avid claims, in a distinct eastern-European accent, "I don't know what he is!".^{[citation needed]}

With his slurred and broken English, ginger mullet, peculiar sexual fetishes and obsession with showbiz figureheads, he made one scary stalker of celebrities. He famously wears a neck brace, allegedly due to an encounter with Liza Tarbuck which resulted in her punching him in the throat.^{[citation needed]}

Merrion won the 1997 Best Newcomer Award in the 13th Annual British Academy of Adult Movies and Entertainment for his performances in Baker's Dozen and Red and Ready.^{[citation needed]}

Avid spends most of his time harassing celebrities at functions such as book signings or movie premiers. He doesn't see it as harassment though but rather affectionate worship. Due to his hanging around at these events, he became noticed by the media during the third series of Big Brother on Channel 4 after he repeatedly attempted to break into the house to get closer to his television heroes.^{[citation needed]}

After this, he was allowed to play his own part in the comedy series Bo' Selecta!. By the third season of this show, his newly elevated status in pop culture allowed him to talk one-on-one with celebrities rather than stalking them so his spots on Bo' Selecta! were transformed into his own chat show.^{[citation needed]}

In the series Avid and his Wife/Sister Sasha own a hotel called the Merrion Hotel. There really is a Merrion Hotel in Leeds, close to the shopping centre which gives the character his name.^{[citation needed]}

Avid has appeared on many other TV shows including Big Brother's Little Brother and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.^{[citation needed]}

Keith Lemon is a recurring character in Bo' Selecta! and guest starred in the spin-off series A Bear's Tail.

Keith Lemon is a failed business man who was most successful in 1993 according to an episode of A Bear's Tail.

Keith first appeared as an 'Easter Egg' for the DVD of the first series of Bo' Selecta! It was a short mockumentary in which Keith tries to "Teach blokes out there, who can't get a bird, how to get a bird, or in other words, go Two's on a bastard". In the end, his plan failed, and he blamed Tess Daly (his date), saying that she was a lesbian. Keith was not seen in the second series, but he made a re-appearance in the third series of Bo' Selecta! when Avid Merrion got his own talk show and needed an agent. Keith's face was never seen because Avid wanted him to be like "that guy out of Home Improvement, him who looks through the fence whose face you never see".

Keith finally showed his face in A Bear's Tail, the spin-off of Bo' Selecta starring The Bear. Mrs. Hennerson, who adopted the Bear was constantly irritated by Keith who fancied her. Mrs. Hennerson's husband did not appear in the series, but she did have a boyfriend called Richard Head. Richard didn't like Keith and considered him a threat. Keith also took a liking to Mrs. Hennerson's daughter, Lillian.

In Bo! in the USA Keith is currently staying at the Merrion Hotel and constantly tries to impress female celebrities staying there. He also tried to get the Italian Fashion Model Fabio Lanzoni to help him advertise his new market idea, Securipole, to try and get back into business.

Keith recently grew his hair, it has been left grown for the rest of Bo! in the USA.

Keith presented Big Brother's Big Mouth from 19th June to 22nd June, with his mother as a guest in the audience each episode (Leigh Francis's real mother). He announced on the 22nd's show that early next year will see a new series based on him, Keith Lemon's Gap Year. The series will be broadcasted in February 2008, guests include comedian Patrick Mcguiness as Kieth Lemons cousin. Keith was also interviewed by Fearne Cotton on The Xtra Factor on 10th November 2007.

• Bo' Selecta Bo' Selecta Website
• Leigh Francis on Myspace Leigh Francis Myspace page
• Leigh Francis at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Bo' Selecta!
Characters	Avid Merrion · The Bear · Celebrity characters · Craig Phillips · Dave Ian McCall · Keith Lemon · Ozzy · Sacha Merrion · Ralph · Carlito
Other	A Bear's Tail · Bingo wings · Leigh Francis · Shamone · Bo! in the USA