Richard Osman's health battles including 'incurable' condition and 'worst pain ever'
Richard Osman, known for his role on the telly show Pointless, has made a name for himself in the literary world. His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club became an instant best-seller when it was released in 2020.
Soon after its release, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment snapped up the film rights. The star-studded film, featuring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and David Tennant, hits the big screen today and will be available on Netflix next week.
The Thursday Murder Club centres around a group of pensioners who meet in their retirement home to solve murders as a hobby. However, they soon find themselves embroiled in a real-life murder case.
Christopher Columbus, the director, hailed the cast as the "finest he has worked with since Harry Potter". Despite Richard's soaring career, he has faced numerous challenges, including addiction, an "incurable condition", and a health scare he described as the "most painful thing".
Richard's lifelong battle with food addiction
The 54-year -ld has been open about his struggle with food addiction. During an appearance on Desert Island Discs, Richard described food addiction as a "tricky one" because, unlike alcohol, you can't simply quit it.
He explains that he's either "controlling" his struggle with addiction or "not controlling it", believing it emerged during his childhood years.
Richard revealed: "My addictive behaviour has always been food since I was incredibly young. [Food addiction] doesn't have any of the doomed glamour of drugs or alcohol but if an alcoholic came to my house they would be shocked to see that there are bottles of gin and bottles of wine completely untouched.
"If I came to your house and there were crisps and chocolate bars untouched in the fridge I'd be like 'What – how are they untouched?' if I'm going through an episode."
Speaking on the Rosebud podcast with former MP Gyles Brandreth, Richard revealed he frequently explores his addiction battles during therapy sessions.
He continued: "I talk to Bruce [Richard's therapist] about it all the time and he says, 'Well, you're always going to be an addict. You can't [stop being one] because you started when you were nine. You're not suddenly going to not be one.'".
Eye disorder that's like 'driving in dense fog'
Richard, from Billericay in Essex, was born with an incurable visual impairment he describes as "being in fog at all times". The condition, called nystagmus, causes him to experience involuntary eye movements.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 4, Richard described his vision as being in "soft focus", explaining that he has to "constantly move from left to right" and even struggles with reading autocues when appearing on Richard Osman's House of Games.
He said: "I see the world as if I was driving in dense fog, although I can't drive. I can see that there are things there, but everything is blurred.
"Nothing has sharp definition. Lights have huge halos that blind you. I've had it since birth so that's all I know."
Richard shared that his inability to read the blackboard at school sharpened his listening skills to an "unbelievably good" level. "I've learnt to maximise what I've got. I can't read an autocue, which means I have to be more reactive to what's going on," he told The i Paper.
Painful condition that's 'worse than childbirth'
Earlier this year, Richard revealed a painful condition that he described as 'worse than childbirth'. He was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after experiencing 'severe pain' during the night.
Richard was taken to Charing Cross Hospital where he was diagnosed with kidney stones.
Recounting his terrifying ordeal on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Richard said: "I've had quite the week of it. I woke up the other night in pain and I had a kidney stone.
"It is the single most painful thing that has ever happened to me. The doctors kept saying it's more painful than childbirth but I'm not sure I can buy that."
Despite the excruciating pain, Richard showered the medical team with praise: "It was unbelievably painful but thank you to everyone at Charing Cross Hospital who were so great. I was having liquid morphine and it didn't touch the sides."
Following the operation, he received guidance from medics to increase his water intake to help ward off stones in future, advice he's determined to follow: "That I can do, no major lifestyle changes, just drink more water."
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