Bill Bailey struck by life-threatening illness that almost killed him

03 May 2024 , 18:45

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Bill Bailey describes the horror health scare as a 'wake up call' (Image: BBC / Chatterbox)

Bill Bailey may be a funnyman on screen but in real life he has a serious health condition that could prove fatal.

The 59-year-old star once had an asthma attack onstage which led him to give his wellbeing a major overhaul. Bill was performing at London 's Riverside Studios in preparation for an arena tour when he called out 'I'm having an asthma attack', running to his dressing room in search of his inhaler.

"I had not brought the inhaler on stage with me because it is bulky and shows in your pocket but I was feeling stressed because I was preparing to embark on my first tour of large international arenas," the comedian told the Daily Mail. "I sometimes introduce spontaneous physicality into my routine and I found myself leaping about the stage and noticed I was starting to wheeze."

Bill had a terrifying asthma attack onstage (Redferns)

Bill's inhaler calmed down his airways and while he was able to return to the stage to finish his stand-up show, the attack was a big wake-up call. "After that I decided enough was enough," he said. "I couldn't run the risk of that happening again on tour so I saw my GP and was referred to a specialist at St Thomas' Hospital in London. He ran some tests and concluded my lung capacity was quite low and he put me on different medication."

The incident in 2007 was transformative, with the comedian feeling much better on his new medication, with no wheezing or tightness across his chest. And the star, who recently hosted BBC Two's Bring The Drama reality show and is currently starring on Channel 4's Bill Bailey's Australian adventure, has good reason to be vigilant when comes to his asthma - when Bill was 16 he nearly drowned during an attack. His ordeal took place on a school trip to Austria when he was diving into a lake with friends, in an attempt to swim to the other side.

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"I suddenly felt that familiar feeling of tightness in my chest and realised, with horror, that I wasn't able to catch enough breath," said the presenter, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2020. "I started to flounder around and then I went under. I swallowed water and started to panic but thankfully a few of my friends noticed that I was in trouble and swam over to help me to shore."

Since then, the condition had a negative impact on Bill's life until his medication switch-up. "I was getting very worried about having attacks and I always avoided unplanned physical activity just in case I finished up not being able to breathe properly," he said. "It felt like living with a constant threat."

The star works out every day in a bid to keep healthy

The funnyman now uses three combination steroid inhalers to make sure he always has one close at hand. "Each time I went on stage, I literally had an inhaler perched next to the microphone, one by my guitar and another on the piano," he told the Mirror. "I was so scared of not being able to breathe again."

Bill makes sure to keep fit, saying: "I walk almost every day and when I have the time I love nothing more than putting my rucksack on and disappearing off on a hike. I also try to do stretches and sit-ups every day and to use my home treadmill daily."

"The cold will always be a trigger for my asthma," added the star, who lives in Hammersmith, West London with his wife Kristin and teenage son Dax. "I can't do much about the air we breathe either. When I'm touring on the coast or abroad, it's as if my lungs expand. I can breathe so freely and the air feels so much cleaner."

Watch Bill Bailey's Australian Adventure at 8pm on C4

Vikki White