Trivia

Portrayed himself in an interview for the first time on The Frank Skinner Show (1995) on December 9th 2004.

Francis confirmed that Avid Merrion's name, accent and dialect were inspired by his former teacher at the Leeds College of Art, Laimonis Mierins. He also pointed out that Merrion is a mis-spelling of Mierins and is nothing to do with the Merrion Centre in Leeds as many people assume.

Is very good friends with Davina McCall who 'discovered' him and got him regular appearances on MTV. This kick-started his TV career.

Won the 1997 Best Newcomer Award in the 13th Annual British Academy of Adult Movies and Entertainment for his performance in Baker's Dozen and also in Red and Ready.