Lee Mack nearly cancelled ‘Not Going Out’ over alcohol advertising — here’s why

UK comedian Lee Mack nearly called time on his sitcom “Not Going Out” over drinks adverts played during the breaks.

(Photo: Amanda Benson/Flickr)

Mack, who is tee-total, said that he threatened to cancel his series because he didn’t want his work to be used “to sell booze.”

“I’m not opposed to the consumption of alcohol, he told Radio Times. “I’m opposed to my kids watching TV at seven o’clock and being told to bet and drink.

Mack said he was unhappy with how repeats were being shown on UKTV/Dave, which are “heavily sponsored by beer.”

“This is my life. I spend ten months a year doing this, and suddenly I feel like I’m a brewer’s marketing department, and my work is being used to sell booze.”

Mack, who is currently in the process of writing the script for the show’s ninth series, said that he told producers “unless that stops, we’re not going to make any more.”

“But it became complex. It turned out we were contractually obliged. So I said, ‘All right, we’ll move on. We’ll change the name of the show, we’ll make a new one.’”

luckily for “Not Going Out” fans, there was no need to pull the plug on the show as Dave “relented.”

The son of two pub-owners himself, Lee Mack gave up drinking in 2016, and is now an ambassador for Alcohol Concern.

“I just decided to pack it in,” Mack said. “I don’t miss it at all. It’s funny, because when you tell people you’ve stopped drinking, there’s an automatic reaction. People ask, ‘Was it a lifestyle choice or were you waking up in a skip?’”

Growing up, the comedian’s parents ran the old Centurion pub in Higher Croft Road, Blackburn. Though he considers himself a “normal drinker” before he ditched the booze, the comedian said he was tired of “the overkill of it in society, the way it’s thrust down our throats.”