Comedian and actor Miles Jupp, 44, has recalled how the terrifying seizure he suffered on the set of his latest TV role led to his diagnosis with a brain tumour.
The actor, who starred in TV hits Rev, Balamory and The Thick Of It alongside 2023 film blockbusters Harry Potter and Napoleon, was filming ITV drama Trigger Point in August 2021 when he suffered a seizure.
‘I was filming something, which was very lucky because it meant I was in a city and there were regular medics. I just knew something was very wrong,” he told Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe The hell of parenthood podcast.
‘I just knew it to the extent that the runner said to me, “You look very dizzy” and I just said to him, “I need a doctor.”
Comedian and actor Miles Jupp recalls how the terrifying seizure he suffered on the set of his latest TV role led to a brain tumor diagnosis
‘Finally there was a sort of explosion in the vision, like a kaleidoscope, and then I remember the ground coming towards me very quickly and you are in and out of consciousness for a while.”
He recalled not feeling scared at the time, but after being rushed to hospital and having a scanThat was as terrifying as you can imagine.”
Miles explained how his wife Rachel, with whom he shares five children, was on the bus with their children when a producer at Trigger Point called her.
‘He had to call my wife and say your husband loves you very much, but he is in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.and she was with the children. So she just said, “Look, Dad’s not doing so well, he’s probably going to be fine.”
Miles underwent surgery to remove the benign tumor a few weeks after the attack, but he admits the period between diagnosis and surgery was uneventful as he and his family “tried to move on.”
Six weeks after the operation he returned to work, filming one day a week with his good friend Frankie Boyle for his weekly show New Old Order.
“One of the things a surgeon said is, ‘You get back to normal by living a normal life as quickly as possible,’” Miles explained, adding that getting back into the daily routine with his children has helped his recovery tremendously.
“So basically, things like people needing you are good because you’re playing yourself.”
The actor, who starred in TV hits Rev, Balamory and The Thick Of It, was filming ITV drama Trigger Point in August 2021 when he suffered a seizure (pictured in the show)
Miles underwent surgery to remove the benign tumor a few weeks after the attack and was back to work six weeks later (pictured June 2023)
‘It was very nice to be able to take the children straight to school when they got home.’
Miles also returned to work on Trigger Point, reprising the scene filmed an hour before his attack, an experience he describes as “really surreal.”
He described how in the original scene I “blinked a lot”and I thought, “Gosh, I wonder if that’s a symptom.”
Miles’ experience is the subject of his latest stand-up show On I Bang, which is currently touring the UK.
His Balamory co-star Kim Tserkezie, 50, had a lovely reunion with Miles when he brought his show to her home city of Newcastle this week.
Post a photo on X/Twitter, Kim said, “I love this man so much! Happy to catch up with the fantastic Miles Jupp. He is currently on tour. Go see him if you can.”