JOHNNY Vegas spoke about the importance of the St Helens community and how delivering meals during the first lockdown helped him.

The Thatto Heath comedian and actor appeared on Good Morning Britain today, Monday, July 19 and spoke about being at Wembley for Saints' Challenge Cup win.

He also talked about the experience of assisting with food deliveries in the town during the dark days of the first lockdown.

Johnny firstly discussed appearing on Cooking With the Stars, under the tutelage of chef Rosemary Shrager, who was tasked with making the funnyman a restaurant-level chef.

Johnny appears in the programme, airing on Tuesday night, July 20 and spoke about the show with Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard.

Johnny was also quick to give a mention to Saints' Challenge Cup final triumph against Castleford at Wembley on Saturday.

St Helens Star:

Johnny at the Gerard pub before heading down to Wembley on Saturday

When asked by Ben if he was to be celebrating 'Freedom Day' Johnny said: "I wouldn't say I'm celebrating it, I'm another one who doesn't quite like the phrase.

"I had a big celebration at the weekend, St Helens won the Challenge Cup and they're going to be parading it on an open top bus tonight so I am going to go out and wave and show my support to them."

Johnny added: "It was absolutely phenomenal, everybody else was struggling to get a ticket, I got one last minute.

"I headed to Wembley, it was a phenomenal day with the fans from every club and everyone we met, a brilliant atmosphere. A bit of a wobble and some dodgy passing in the first half but we came good, we showed our class and it's just absolutely amazing, overwhelming.

"It's brilliant for the town, Saints women and Saints men have both lifted the cup and I cannot wait tonight to be out there and waving past from the Eccy Arms on the open top bus. The Eccy Arms being where we set up the shop for online workers during the first lockdown. It's going to be a special, poignant day"

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And Johnny spoke about the importance of the St Helens community and helping to deliver meals in the town during the first lockdown.

"I'm always very wary to say that, for me it was a dreadful time, it was a rough time, so many people lost to Covid and yet I felt kind of guilty because I hadn't had that amount of time back in my hometown with my community, getting out and meeting people and delivering and feeling like I was part of something far more important than showbiz, to be honest.

"So, in some respects, rather guiltily, I found it quite rewarding to say the least and see how well the community came together and across the board where we were, we just had to source things and do things for ourselves, whether it was PPE. Our local hospice was a day from closing and we managed to secure masks and gloves and just vital equipment."

On a more light-hearted note Johnny was also asked about how he has been coping with the warm weather, recommending cold showers.

"It closes your pores back up, I once had a shower outside which was very liberating in Vietnam. Even if you start with a warm shower and take it to cold, best thing ever. or like many pigs, go out and roll in mud!"