Comedian has revealed he thought he ‘was going to be sick on Lorraine’ during mental health struggle following his friend’s death in lockdown.
The 33-year-old presenter, who’s appeared on TV shows such as Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Live at the Apollo and 8 Out of Ten Cats, matter-of-factly discussed his mental health.
In an interview with , Joe referenced an anecdote about caring for his friend during lockdown, who was suffering from terminal bowel , and who subsequently died in 2020.
During the pandemic, Joe cared for his dying friend on his days off, who, for the last year of his life, could not eat or drink.
Speaking to the publication, he said that the association led him to get panic attacks where he thought he was going to be sick, once before he appeared on the live television programme Lorraine.
‘I started to sort of close myself off from the world, which was obviously the wrong thing to do,’ he shared.
‘Because what I’ve since discovered through therapy is to overcome those things, you have to do tons of it, and see that you’re OK.’
He added: ‘I had ‘an outbreak’ just before going on live TV. I thought I was going to be sick on Lorraine.
‘Which actually would have been amazing. Ten minutes of standup writing itself.’
Joe has also been open about his support for LGBTQ+ rights, and identifies as bisexual and pansexual, while also being a keen supporter of the trans community.
He said how he ‘thrives’, ‘exists’ and ‘has rights’ because ‘people before me fought for them’, adding that he believes it’s his duty to do ‘the same thing’ for the trans community.
In January, the entertainer went viral after he into the government handling of the Covid pandemic, which caused MPs to ‘panic’ after they thought it was real.
Speaking about the stunt, at the Government after his friend died in lockdown 2020 when MPs were allegedly breaking the rules.
Addressing the prank on Twitter, he wrote: ‘I write comedy sometimes as a way of using anger.’
‘I’m angry right now for probably the same reason many other people are angry.’
Referencing his friend who died, he said: ‘He had been ill for a number of years and towards the end I had helped as a part-time carer. I watched him slip away, gradually, over months, and all that comes with it.’
‘It’s a long story for another time.
‘But he died, at the start of lockdown, and I wasn’t there because I was following the rules, and we had a tiny insufficient funeral, because we were following the rules, and I drove his kids away from that funeral back to Birmingham without any sort of wake, because we were following the rules, and it felt unnatural and cruel and almost silly, but we did it because we followed the rules.
‘So I suppose like thousands of others with their own stories, I’m angry about that.’
