Jon Richardson has revealed that taking a break from comedy made him realise he didn’t want to return to it – and has now taken up a new role away from TV stardom

Jon Richardson has stunned fans with the news that he’s quitting comedy to take up a completely different career. The star has been a mainstay on the stand-up and TV circuits for years, but is now choosing a far more normal life.

Celebrity Gogglebox star Jon, 42, shared the update on Instagram today, filming himself wrapped up warm as he took a walk and spoke to the camera. Jon shared: “I just thought I’d give you a little update. I don’t really do social media updates, and I’ll tell you why – because I don’t think anyone cares. But I have a little bit of news. I’ve obviously been taking a little bit of a break from stand-up and it’s really made me… want to carry on taking a break from stand-up.”

Jon shared that when he was younger he juggled between being a comedian or a teacher – and is now ditching stand-up to ‘try the other option’(Image: UKTV/Youtube)

He added: “I’ve been thinking a lot about a diary entry that I found from 1997.” An excerpt of his old diary then popped on screen, as the BBC Radio 6 star explained: “It’s this one. I was 14 years old, it says although I would love to be a stand-up comedian, I’ll probably end up being a teacher. And I’ve been thinking a lot about that.”

In a bombshell moment, Jon revealed: “I’ve loved being a comedian, it was absolutely the right choice. But I’ve decided it would’ve been nice to try the other option, so that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”

He then surprisingly shared that he’d already accepted a teaching job, stating: “I’ve been doing some training, I’ve taken a teaching position. I will update you as and when I can. but that’s all from me for now, just to let you know where I’ve been. I’ll keep you posted.”

This isn’t the only major change in John’s life, after he announced his divorce from wife Lucy Beaumont last April. John and Lucy tied the knot in April 2015, and share eight-year-old daughter Elsie.

Jon referred back to a diary entry from 1997 about teaching, and explained that he’d accepted a teaching position after training during his time away(Image: jonrichardsoncomedian/Instagram)

The news came as a shock to fans, as the duo had become a massive power couple after starring in their own show, Meet The Richardsons, which came out in 2020.

At the time of their break-up, a joint statement read: “We have jointly and amicably made the difficult decision to divorce and go our separate ways.

“As our only priority is managing this difficult transition for our daughter, we would ask that our privacy is respected at this sensitive time to protect her well-being. We will be making no further comment. Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont.”

The duo appears to have settled their divorce, after Jon gave Lucy a £1.625 million payout for her shares in a company in which they were both listed as directors – the couple had built a huge fortune of £6 million together before their romantic and business partnership came to an end.