...an actual goat, after theme park names an animal after him

James Acaster has racked up plenty of acclaim over his career… but now he has been afforded more unusual honour – having a goat named after him.

Wicksteed Park in his Kettering hometown has named a six-month-old Anglo-Nubian goat James Acaster, after the comedian selected the animal which best reflected his demeanour.

Megan Wright, head of sales and marketing at the park. , said: ‘We were delighted that James was able to help out when we needed a name for our new attraction. He might have been expecting a rollercoaster - but our new farmyard is proving very popular and James (the goat) is the star attraction.’

Acaster previously worked at the park and recreated it in meringue during his disastrous appearance on The Great British Bake Off in 2019.  

He said: ‘Growing up in Kettering all the way through to working at Wicksteed Park and later becoming a comedian, I always knew one thing. I wanted someone to name a goat after me. Thank you for this gift.’

The story was covered in the Northamptonshire Telegraph yesterday, under a familiar byline: Nish Kumar. 

He and Josh Widdicombe are working in some of Britain’s local newspapers for a new six-part series for Sky entitled Hold the Front Page, billed as ‘an eye-opening look at some of Britain’s amazing local communities through the lens of their local newspaper’.

In Northamptonshire, they have also covered the removal of 40,000 bees from a chimney using a ‘bee vacuum’, while Widdicombe met some ‘magnet fishers’ who retrieve metal items from rivers and canals.

Published: 1 Sep 2022