Keiran Lee is coming home.
Two decades after moving from England to the United States to sign an exclusive contract with Brazzers, the award-winning performer is moving back to the U.K. this week along with his wife, fellow performer Kirsten Price, and their three children.
On Sunday night, Brazzers threw a surprise party to celebrate Lee and wish him the best for the next chapter of his life and career.
The party was held in a private room at Ye Olde King’s Head, an English pub in Santa Monica. Guests noshed on traditional British cuisine, with many enjoying fish and chips alongside a gin martini while waiting for the man of the hour to arrive.
Lee, wearing a cream-colored shirt and dark slacks, showed up roughly 45 minutes after everyone else, accompanied by Price.
“Fucking hell!” he exclaimed upon seeing so many of his friends and colleagues, then made the rounds, greeting female co-stars with a polite peck on the cheek and offering bro hugs to the men.
In attendance were fellow male stars Manuel Ferrara, Isiah Maxwell, Mick Blue, Toni Ribas and Girthmaster — wearing a black cast on his right arm — as well as Liam Riley from “Pillow Talk with Ryan.”
Lee admitted that he’d had an inkling that he might be seeing some old friends at the restaurant, though he had no idea how many colleagues would turn out to see him off.
“As cocky and as arrogant as I might seem on social media or on camera, stuff like this absolutely petrifies me!” he said. “I walk in and I get the sweats under my arms straight away.”
Ferrara told XBIZ that he’s known Lee for close to 20 years.
“A director friend of mine was shooting with him in Europe,” Ferrara recalled. “He sent me a message saying, ‘Hey, this guy is coming to America. He’s a great performer and you should meet him.’ So we met and became friends.”
Maxwell credited Lee with showing him the ropes and helping him make a living for himself in the industry.
“He has really helped me in so many ways,” Maxwell affirmed. “I know he’s excited to head back home, but I hope he visits us way more often than he needs to.”
Also present was director Ricky Greenwood, who recalled meeting Lee at a party long before they finally managed to work together.
“He doesn’t like to do features,” Greenwood noted. “I tried to convince him for years to do a feature, and he finally did one for me in June called ‘Deadly Vows.’ He plays a gangster, and it was very fun to finally have a chance to work with him.”
Alexis Fawx recalled sharing the screen with Lee in her very first Brazzers scene.
“I adore Keiran like a brother or a best friend,” she told XBIZ. “My favorite thing about him is the back-and-forth banter we share. He always makes me laugh, which puts me at ease. He’s a true gentleman and he has a really big heart.”
Talent agent Mark Spiegler has known Lee since the performer first got to town, as Lee frequently works with Spiegler’s roster of talent.
“I’ll always remember when he stole Lisa Ann’s phone and started tweeting from it, writing things like, ‘I shit myself,’” Spiegler said. “You’ve got to be careful around Keiran!”
Brazzers lead producer Leah Lexis first worked with Lee more than a decade ago, back when she was a performer.
“I’ll miss his jokes,” she said. “He creates this environment of ‘Don’t take life too seriously, just have a good time.’ And he creates that just by being himself — a good-hearted guy. If you’re on set and you’re worried about something or super stressed out, he’ll lighten the mood.”
Indeed, Lee is known for his sense of humor, among other things.
“He and I have always made a lot of ‘Mom jokes’ to each other, both in private and in public,” said Ferrara. “I made a box cover once with his mom surrounded by a bunch of guys, and he stole a picture of my mother off my fridge, made a mask of her face and put it on a girl with a bunch of dicks around her. What’s funny is that fans thought we had a beef, so they’d come after us, even though we’re really friends.”
In an exclusive interview, Lee explained why he is moving to the U.K.
“I’ve been here 18 years, and I feel like I’ve accomplished everything I can in America,” he told XBIZ. “I’ve got a beautiful wife and three children — my eldest is 10 and we’ve got twins who are 7 — and we felt like we had to make the move before they enter middle school, so it was either now or never.
“I’m also very close to my mum, and she’s not getting any younger, so I want to be there,” he added. “Plus, my wife’s mother just moved from Boston to Dublin a few years ago, so everyone’s on that side of the pond, and we found the perfect spot to build the perfect house, so everything aligned for us.”
Price remembered meeting her future husband on her 29th birthday, during a small dinner with her girlfriends at Geisha House. One of her friends was dating Danny Mountain, who brought Lee along. Lee gave Price a bottle of champagne and his number, but the two performers texted for nearly four months before they went on a date and “banged it out,” as she put it.
Price confessed that she will miss the Mexican food scene of Los Angeles, as well as its gorgeous weather, but said she is excited about being closer to her family and getting the opportunity to travel more.
“I’m also grateful just to be getting out of America while I still can, with my rights intact,” she confided.
Lee predicted that he would likely be back in the States come January, both for work and awards season. For now, however, he is looking forward to expanding Brazzers’ presence overseas.
“The beauty of it is that Brazzers already has a big base out there in Europe,” he said. “I want to expand that even more by shooting in Prague, Budapest, Italy, Germany and Spain. There are a lot of talented performers out there who don’t have an agency and never found a focal point for the industry where they live. I want to be that focal point in the U.K. and expand the U.K. industry so it’s on par with places like America and Budapest.
“Gal Ritchie is an amazing performer, and if you go back further, there are so many great English performers,” Lee added. “They just need that platform, and I think Brazzers is the place to be. I’ve been with them for 18 years, and they’ve supported me in everything, including this move. I probably wouldn’t have done it without them, but they gave me the push to do it and I plan to expand the brand over there even more.
“I’ve already set up talent testing in London, where we’re going to have two locations,” Lee noted. “In England, everybody’s spread out all over the country, so we established central points where people can test, and that will allow them to go to Budapest or maybe even America. That way, they’re already using our standard of testing and they know the procedures, so it’s not a big shock to them when they come to the big stage of America.”
A Brazzers rep also enthused about Lee’s big move.
“We are thrilled to continue our exclusive partnership with Keiran Lee as he returns to the U.K.,” said the rep. “He is a tremendous asset to the Brazzers brand, and we are eager to explore new collaborations with talent across the U.K. and Europe. We have plenty of exciting projects in the works.”
While Lee admitted that he’ll miss the beautiful SoCal weather, and isn’t looking forward to the gloomy climate of England — “It’ll probably rain 300-plus days a year,” he lamented — he still takes comfort in knowing that he will only be a five-hour plane ride away from the sunny beaches of Dubai.
Besides spending time with his mother, Lee said, he’s excited to take his sons to watch football matches. He has season tickets to Derby County’s games, both home and away.
“It’s something that I never experienced when I was younger with my father, and something I’ve always wanted to do with my boys,” he shared. “Now I have the opportunity to do it. I’ve planned the whole move around the start of the season!
“Well, that and the Oasis tour,” added Lee, who will be taking in one of the band’s upcoming London shows.
Lee credited his wife, whom he called “amazing,” with doing most of the packing and filling a shipping container with their belongings.
“I have been on it,” confirmed Price. “You have no idea.”
While saying goodbye to his longtime home has been hard for Lee, it hasn’t been nearly as hard as saying goodbye to his crew of roughly 14 years. He shot as many scenes as he could with them before leaving for England, including one with Cubbi Thompson.
“I wanted to make sure they had plenty of work beforehand, because they’re brilliant people and my biggest concern was making sure they’d be okay,” said Lee. “Peggy, Brian, Mark — everyone has been unbelievable. If I could pick them up and take them with me, I would.”
Lee summed up his feelings in an Instagram post this week.
“After 18 incredible years in America, it’s time for me to head home — back to the U.K., back to where it all started,” he wrote. “But before I go, I just want to take a moment to reflect and say thank you. When I first landed in America, I had no idea what was ahead. I came with a dream, a suitcase, and not much else — but what I found was something I’ll carry with me forever. The friendships, the laughter, the challenges, the wins (and a few losses), but most of all my beautiful, amazing, sexy wife and family.”
Lee proceeded to thank Brazzers for the company’s longtime support.
“What can I say? You believed in me and stood by me — through the chaos, the growth, the good times and a few little hiccups. This isn’t a retirement speech — it’s a relaunch. I’m heading back to the U.K., teaming up with KG DiSanto and partner in crime Danny D, and we’ve got one goal: to help make Brazzers bigger, bolder and cheekier than ever.
“So while I may be swapping In-N-Out for Greggs and sunshine for rain, the show goes on,” the post concludes. “America — thanks for the madness, the memories, and the magic. You’ve been bloody brilliant. See you on the other side.”
