Jason Manford has revealed he was stuck on the runway at Manchester Airport for hours in a holiday nightmare.
The comedian, 43, was due to take off on Thursday morning for a trip with 15 friends but their plans were delayed.
Taking to social media, James shared an unhappy-looking selfie as he sat on the plane past his departure time.
He wrote: ‘Padel holiday with 15 pals being scuppered by the bad weather at Manchester airport! Still sat on the runway for this 9.30am flight.’
Manchester Airport stopped all flights again Thursday morning due to heavy snow with departures and arrivals thrown into chaos as teams worked to clear the runways.
Both runways were closed for nearly an hour from about 9am with passengers delayed, stuck on planes or diverted to other airports amid ‘significant levels of snow’.
Jason Manford has revealed he was stuck on the runway at Manchester Airport for hours in a holiday nightmare
Manchester Airport stopped all flights again Thursday morning due to heavy snow with departures and arrivals thrown into chaos as teams worked to clear the runways
The airport later said in an update: ‘Our runways are now open but as a result of the earlier closure, some departures and arrivals may still experience delays.’
The closure marked the fourth time in five days that Manchester had temporarily shut its runways due to the snow which has caused travel chaos across Britain this week.
Passengers were warned to expect disruption to flights, with at least 14 departures and five arrivals scheduled to operate at the airport today having been cancelled.
The airport also closed both runways on Tuesday between 2am and 5am, on Monday between 6.30am and 7.15am, and Sunday between 6.15am and 9.45am.
England shivered through its coldest night of winter so far as temperatures at Shap in Cumbria dropped to -11.2C (11.8F) early this morning, while the UK minimum for today was -12.4C (9.7F) at Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands.
It comes after Jason reflected on his experience as a single parent following his split from his first wife, Catherine.
The presenter appeared on Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, where he spoke about the adjustments he had to make after the breakdown of his first marriage.
Now married to producer Lucy Dyke, Jason candidly shared how he had to ‘learn all these things my ex-wife had done’ while co-parenting their children.
Passengers wait at Manchester Airport today after both runways were shut due to heavy snow
Snow blankets Manchester city centre this morning as the wintry weather continues
Jason married Catherine in October 2007, and they had four children together before separating.
During the podcast, the group discussed how much time parents spend with their children, noting that by the time a child turns twelve, parents have spent 60% of the total time they will ever spend with them.
Reflecting on his own experience, Jason said: ‘I found myself for a long time, certainly early on in my, my big children’s childhood where, I watch back at old videos and stuff, where, the way I describe it was, I was there, but I wasn’t present.’
When Jessie asked, ‘When did you switch?’ Jason replied, ‘I think I heard the sixteen summers phrase and just…[makes a vomit noise].’
He continued: ‘I also went through a divorce and I suddenly became, you know, when I had them we had like a 50/50 with the kids there, and suddenly like ‘right what do I?’
‘I’ve just been working all the time and suddenly I had to learn all these new things that my ex-wife had done.
‘I remember having to go to like, I went to the local hairdressers, and was like ‘can you show me how to do girls’ hair?’ because I had not done it.’
Lennie then asked, ‘So you can do a French braid?’ Jason responded, ‘I can do a little ballet bun on occasion.’
It comes after Jason reflected on his experience as a single parent following his split from his first wife, Catherine (pictured)
Jason is the parent to six children, he shares twin daughters and a daughter and son with Catherine and a girl and boy, with current wife Lucy
Jason likes to keep his children out of the spotlight (Pictured December 2023)
In 2012, Jason poignantly acknowledged that his relationship with Catherine ‘disintegrated’ because he didn’t give her enough ‘care and time’.
The comedian admitted their union didn’t get the attention it deserved because he was too focused on work and providing for his children.
He said to the Mirror: ‘My first marriage really disintegrated on my theory of, “I don’t want my children to have the childhood I had”.
‘So I was out working all of the time and I didn’t put the care and time into that relationship that it deserved and needed.’
Jason – who was raised in a council house in relative poverty – continued: ‘It’s only now I’m starting to realise, “Oh, I’m not giving the children the childhood I had”, which is good in one thing but bad in another.
‘Because I got to spend so much time [with my parents] and we had laughs with my parents.’
Jason is the parent to six children. He shares twin daughters and a daughter and son with Catherine and a girl and boy, with current wife Lucy.
The star tied the knot with Lucy in a ceremony in Manchester in 2017.
Lucy also works in TV as a producer and has worked on Black Mirror, The Split and Ripper Street as well as many more shows.