Ricky Tomlinson is charging £45 to say his famous 'The Royle Family' catchphrases.
Ricky Tomlinson
The 81-year-old actor is selling 60-second clips to fans on video messaging site Celebs VM, and even dresses up as his alter ego, Jim Royle, and recites his character's infamous lines, such as "My a***" and "Aye, aye Barb".
According to the Daily Star newspaper, Ricky dons family patriarch Jim's stained vest and thick-rimmed glasses when he records the personalised messages.
He reportedly told one fan: "Hello there, Claire. I think you need a good kick up the a***, to get your admin work sorted out ... some b*****journalist you are.
"Anyway, be nice and when all this COVID is over you can go for a lovely day out in your camper van."
Ricky is currently the top trending star on the video site, beating the likes of 'Coronation Street' stars William Roache (Ken Barlow), Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow) and Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw).
Ricky's money-making scheme comes after the BBC gave 'The Royle Family' a "discriminatory language" warning on the BBC iPlayer.
The beloved hit comedy - which ran from 1998 to 2012 - often sees Jim delivering old-fashioned insults, which the broadcaster decided to bring to viewers' attention.
In series two, episode three, he calls 'Changing Rooms' host Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen a "nancy boy".
And the description for the ep - which has still been made available on iPlayer - warns: "Contains discriminatory language which some viewers may find offensive."
However, not everyone is happy with the decision, with some being critical of the warning label even though the episode remains unedited.
Robin Aitken - a BBC worker for 25 years - ranted: "More wokeness. Combing archives to ensure shows are politically correct is sinister and laughable." And a viewer tweeted: "Just another nail in the coffin of this ridiculous broadcaster."
Idris Elba previously urged streaming platforms and TV channels not to censor or delete old TV shows, but instead run a content warning. He said: "To mock the truth, you have to know the truth. But to censor racist themes within a show, to pull it ... I think viewers should know that people made shows like this. "Commissioners and archive-holders pulling things they think are exceptionally tone-deaf at this time - fair enough and good for you. "But I think, moving forward, people should know that freedom of speech is accepted, but the audience should know what they're getting into."
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