Paul Hogan smokes a cigarette just days after revealing the shocking state of his health

Paul Hogan has been spotted puffing a cigarette just a day after revealing the shocking state of his health and how he is desperate to spend his final years in Australia.

The star, 83, spoke about his health concerns during an interview with A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw on Monday night.

He said he struggled with muscle wasting and dramatic weight loss after being diagnosed with retroperitoneal fibrosis, a rare condition in which inflammation and extensive scar tissue occur in the abdominal cavity.

The actor revealed that a benign growth has wrapped itself around the abdominal aorta and is pressing on his kidney.

A petite-looking Hogan, famous for his gritty performances in the hit Crocodile Dundee movies, was spotted walking through his Venice Beach, Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday.

Dressed in blue jeans, a flannel shirt, a leather jacket and New Balance sneakers, he crossed a quiet street.

Moments later, Hogan was seen in his black jeep with his son Chance, 24.

The Hollywood star grew up in Sydney’s Granville, but moved permanently to Los Angeles in 2005.

Hogan lives with Chance in a $3.5 million house in Venice Beach after selling a property nearby for $1,995 million in 2015, shortly after his divorce from his ex-wife and Crocodile Dundee co-star, Linda Kozlowski.

The sighting comes after Hogan said he desperately wants to spend his final years in Australia after his debilitating condition destroyed his health and left him too weak to perform basic tasks on his own.

He admitted to Grimshaw that the devastating impact on his health has left him longing to leave Los Angeles and return to the relative tranquility of his homeland.

He said: ‘[I’ve] have been better. I had a problem with the aorta in the kidney and the treatment resolved it, but it made me smaller.

“I…I’ve lost all my body fat and the muscles have shrunk and the strength hasn’t come back because it made me weak. I get Chance to open jars for me.’

He added: “A lot of my dieting friends hate me for it because I try to eat everything fat and fatty you can think of. Everything they shouldn’t have. I can’t gain an ounce.’

The actor was prescribed corticosteroids to curb his benign growth, but must now regain his strength after health anxiety has drastically altered his physique.

Hogan said the steroid treatment was worse than the disease.

‘They shrink your muscles and’ [they’re] would make you fat, but I got thinner and thinner and thinner,” Hogan revealed.

“I’m trying to gain some fat now… because you’re too cold if you don’t have body fat.”

Hogan now has a pacemaker fitted and says he is being “held together by a string” as he tries to work his way back to full health.

The Golden Globe winner said he always kept fit until he was 79 and admits he is lucky to have been healthy for so long.

‘I was still fit. I would still knock out most 40-year-olds,” he said.

“And then I turned 80 and it’s wonderful to say that ‘Being 80 is not for the faint of heart’ because things are starting to fall apart.”

While Hogan desperately wants to return home as his health deteriorates, he says he can’t leave son Chance alone in California.

“I’m not where I should be, but I can’t complain about anything,” he said.

“I’ve had such a gifted life. I’ve been through so many wonderful things that I didn’t deserve so I shouldn’t complain, but hey, ideally I’d rather be back in Sydney because I miss the rest of my family there.”