Frank Skinner is to give his TV career a break to perform his first national stand-up tour for nine years.

The comic says that ‘anyone can be a chatshow host’ and wants to perform live to prove he can still cut it as a stand-up.

He also revealed he is working on a novel – having signed a book deal to deliver a manuscript by July next year.

Skinner told actors’ newspaper The Stage: ‘People keep coming up to me on the street and asking when I’m going to do stand-up again.

‘I’ve been doing television for a while and it might be time for a change. Anyone can be a chat show host. You could take some Big Brother contestant, put them in the chair and they’d be okay.

‘You wouldn’t put them on a 72-date tour though. That’s a real skill.’

Skinner’s last stand-up tour was in 1997, when he played more than 100 dates, including one at Battersea Power Station.

A spokesman for Skinner confirmed that he was planning a return to the stage after nine straight series of the talk show, but could not elaborate further.

His book follows his bestselling autobiography, which was published in 2002.