Peter Kay has shared a heartbreaking health update on Billy Connolly, saying he is 'not so good', as he battles Parkinson's disease.

The comedian, 82, was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2013 and retired five years later.

In a new interview at the Lyric theater, Peter, 52, said: 'I still keep in touch with Billy Connolly now and he's not so good now, but he would still message and that.

'I think a lot of comedians in this country would not be doing what they did if it weren't for him. I think so much of it is influenced by him, heavily. Amazing.'

Billy has largely stayed out of the limelight but most recently made a rare appearance last month to accept an award. 

He was guest of honour at the Key West Film Festival in Florida and left the crowd in fits of laughter after accepting the award for artistic excellence.

Supporting himself with a walking stick and wearing tight-fitting blue trousers, Sir Billy stood up as actor Steve Buscemi passed him the blue-coloured award shaped like a water droplet.

And in an emotional moment, he told the crowd around him: ‘I walk with a stick because I suffer from a horrible illness.

'It’s a joy to live among you and it’s a joy to be among you tonight. I don’t often do this kind of thing but it’s smashing.

‘I have to thank you for this award. I don’t know what it is, it’s a blue thing. It’s a joy and it will go beside my other prizes.’

Last year, Billy issued a health update in which he said being sick feels 'strange'.

He told GB News in February: 'Being unwell is strange. Everybody else is OK and you've got this thing that's wrong... you're out of step.'

Billy revealed he has suffered 'serious falls' as the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease worsen.

In an interview, conducted by his wife Pamela Stephenson, he admitted his balance is getting worse – causing him to suffer what she described as 'a couple of serious falls'.

The Glaswegian explained how the disease was creeping up on him, saying: 'It's very difficult to see the progression exactly, because a lot of things come and go.

'Recently I've noticed a deterioration in my balance. That was never such a problem before, but in the last year that has come and it has stayed.

'For some reason, I thought it would go away, because a lot of symptoms have come and gone away... just to defy the symptom spotters. The shaking has reappeared.'

Nicknamed the Big Yin, Billy worked as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards before starting a career as a folk singer. 

When he discovered that the audience enjoyed his banter between songs more than the songs themselves he swapped to comedy.

Throughout the 1970s, his anarchic and expletive-laden humour catapulted him to global fame.

He later starred in a string of films and presented a long list of TV shows.