I used to work for a national charity that Peter Kay had supported in the past. Everyone working there hated him, he'd been a right pain to work with, never confirming the terms on which he'd donate any ticket proceeds which made it a right headache when promoting the partnership as you can't tell the public that a donation is going to charity without being really clear how much (and it's the charity on the hook). Would never sign an agreement to confirm the arrangement (again, an obligation on a charity working in this way). So when his agent approached us again and we went through this whole rigmarole again and were told to lump it as 'Peter doesn't sign anything' everyone was so pissed off as it was way more hassle than it was worth. Compared to celebs like Ed Sheeran and Greg James who were absolutely lovely to work with. So yeah, he's a douche.
I could believe that it's health reasons, and the press couldn't reveal that due to health info being so strictly protected under GDPR. But it could be the health of a family member, not necessarily him.