Joe Lycett says he will not visit Qatar for Travel Man – Yahoo News
Joe Lycett has said he has no plans to visit Qatar for his TV show Travel Man.
The comedian was a vocal critic of the gulf state and their anti-gay laws during the FIFA World Cup which the country hosted.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Lycett said: “Well I don’t suppose I’ll be doing Travel Man in Qatar any time soon.”
Read more: Piers Morgan slams Joe Lycett as ‘hypocrite’ for performing in Qatar
He added: “It doesn’t matter though, I’ll find somewhere else, because I’m happy anywhere.”
In Qatar it is illegal to be gay, something Lycett looked to raise attention around during the World Cup.
Lycett pledged to shred £10,000 in protest of David Beckham’s ambassadorial deal with the country that sees him promote Qatar.
It later turned out the shredding was a stunt with Lycett instead destroying Beckham’s famous Attitude (a gay magazine) cover and donated the £10,000 to charity.
Lycett has previously performed in Qatar back in 2015 for which he was accused of being a “hypocrite”.
In reply, he said: “I did two gigs in Doha in 2015 and kept it entirely secret by writing about it in my book and mentioning it in multiple interviews including with the NY Times!”
He added: “If you’re interested, I was paid a few hundred quid (not by Qatar but by UK promoters) but it was 2015 and that went a lot further back then. I reckon that if a popular comedian from those days (eg Shane Ritchie) had shredded a few hundred quid to persuade me not to go, it would have made a difference.”
Travel Man airs on Channel 4 and was previously hosted by Richard Ayoade before Lycett took over beginning with season 10.
Some of the countries he has travelled to include Iceland, Spain and Belgium.
Watch below: Joe Lycett defends Qatar shows after his David Beckham criticism