has revealed he’s endured a ‘very unhealthy’ year after suffering from health issues.
The 64-year-old comedian said he had been, having first had the condition in his 20s. This year, he suffered from shingles – a skin infection that causes a painful rash and is caused by the varicella-zoster virus which is the same virus that causes chickenpox.
The presenter opened up during a conversation with fellow comedian duringan episode of their show Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
Bob explained: ‘It’s been a very, very, very unhealthy year for me Paul with my shingles… And you know what – it was worse than my heart period.
‘The muscles I’ve lost, I’ve lost… But other ones can compensate for it, you know what I mean?’
He added: ‘I can make the other muscles stronger but I have a terrible feeling I’m never going to be able to run again and you know that I used to like to run Paul.’
Speaking about his former diagnosis to , he said: ‘In my mid-20s I got struck down with rheumatoid arthritis. I just woke up and it was like, “bang.”
‘I have been free of it since I have been 34 and it came back 10 days ago. It is really sad for me to know whether it will go. Yes I might be fat but actually, I am on steroids.’
After his health scares, Bob said he had wanted to overhaul his lifestyle because he felt ‘like a brush with mortality.’
He added: ‘I did some things after the operation that I wouldn’t have done before. It felt like a brush with mortality. I realised that you are counting down the years.’
After previously working as a solicitor, Bob pursued a career as a stand-up comedian after meeting Vic Reeves.
The pair shot to fame with comedy panel show Shooting Stars in the 90s and have starred in several other programmes together, including House of Fools.
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
