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Comedy legend Mortimer has revealed he was taken to hospital on Saturday after struggling with his health.
The comedian, 63, underwent triple bypass surgery in 2015 when his heart was stopped for 32 minutes after discovering 95% of his arteries were blocked.
In Richard Herring’s podcast on Monday night at the Leicester Square Theatre, Bob said, “I’m not doing well. I’m not very healthy right now.’
‘I’m not doing well at the moment’: Comedian Bob Mortimer, 63, revealed he had a secret hospital visit over the weekend seven years after his triple heart bypass (stock image)
“I did a show last week, a fish show and it was only filming for two and a half days and I did it Tuesday, Wednesday and half of the Thursday and I was in the hospital on Saturday.
“Sorry I shouldn’t have said that, right? It’s a real downer.’
As reported by The sun, he added: ‘I think because I was a smoker and an incredibly fast runner and a very dramatic dancer and I stopped all of that in my younger years. I think I’m about 10 years ahead of myself in aging my body.’
In addition to his heart problems, Bob said he also struggles with rheumatoid arthritis.
Double act: Bob – famous part of Reeves and Mortimer’s double act – admitted: ‘I think I’m about 10 years ahead of myself in aging my body’ (pictured with Vic Reeves in 2018)
Bob said, ‘In my twenties I was struck by rheumatoid arthritis. I just woke up and it was like, “bang”.
“I’ve been off it since I was 34 and it came back 10 days ago. I’m very sorry to know if it will work. Yes, I may be fat, but actually I’m on steroids.
“Around 60, I like to be off and didn’t want anything else to happen. But it takes until you’re sixty to realize what you could have done.’
Health: The 60-year-old comedian underwent triple bypass surgery in 2015 after finding that 95% of his arteries were blocked (pictured in 2019)
In December 2020, Bob admitted he was afraid of the coronavirus pandemic would cut his life by two years.
Confesses to ditching his healthy lifestyle in lockdown, the Would I Lie To You? star said, ‘I didn’t exercise, I ate so much and drank so much. Lockdown probably cost two years of my life.’
The media personality also revealed that his festive plans will follow, as he told Radio Times: “It’s going to be a normal Christmas — that’s drink, then eat, then drink, then eat.”
Cute couple: The comic previously recalled the time around his surgery, when he also decided to tie the knot with long-term girlfriend Lisa Matthews
In the Christmas special Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, the TV star and his sidekick Paul Whitehouse, who also suffers from heart disease, discuss the importance of staying healthy.
Speaking of his problems, the presenter said: “I’ve honestly never talked about these things with any other person, woman or man. I’ve never found anyone willing to listen.’
The Fast Show star Paul, 64, added: ‘It’s made us a little bit more socially responsible and a little bit more aware of the people watching, rather than just some idiots milling around on a riverbank. We almost have to do something about men’s health.’
Awareness: In the Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas special, the TV star and Paul Whitehouse, who also suffers from heart disease, discussed the importance of health
The comic previously recalled the time around his surgery, when he also decided to tie the knot with long-term girlfriend Lisa Matthews.
Bob said at a press conference, “I found out on Thursday that I was going to have heart surgery, so I made a will on Friday.
‘[I] found out I couldn’t marry Lisa because you have to give 21 days notice. But my counselor said I was terribly ill, so the London registrar – I don’t live in London – gave me permission to get married on Monday.
“I got married at half past eight on Monday and at ten I had to go to the hospital for surgery.”
The intimate ceremony was attended by the newlyweds and their two sons – Harry, 22, and Tom, 21.