Richard Osman's health woes from 'incurable' condition to emergency surgery

Richard Osman became a household name on the TV show Pointless before branching out into the world of books. His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club became an instant best-seller when it was released in 2020. The rights for a film version were subsequently snapped up by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment not long after.

The movie, starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and David Tennant, releases in cinemas today before arriving on Netflix next week.The Thursday Murder Club follows a group of retirees who gather together in the retirement home to solve murders for fun. However the unsuspecting sleuths soon find themselves at the centre of a real case. Director Christopher Columbus called the film's cast the "finest he has worked with since Harry Potter". But while Richard's career has taken off, he has battled a host of issues, including addiction, an "incurable condition" and a health scare he described as the "most painful thing".

Richard Osman's life-long food addiction

The 54-year-old has spoken candidly about his struggle with food addiction. When appearing on Desert Island Discs Richard said a food addiction is a "tricky one" because, unlike alcohol, you cannot give it up.

He says he is either "controlling" his battle against addiction or "not controlling it", noting that he believes it developed at an early age. Richard said: "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."

On the Rosebud podcast with former MP Gyles Brandreth, Richard said he regularly discusses his struggles with addiction in therapy. He added: ""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.'"

Incurable eye condition that's like 'being in fog at all times'

Richard, from Billericay in Essex, was born with an incurable eye condition that he says is like "being in fog at all times". Known as nystagmus, it means he suffers with uncontrolled eye movements.

When appearing on BBC Radio 4, Richard explained the world appears in "soft focus". He says it means he has to "constantly move from left to right" and even struggles with reading autocues when 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 said his inability to read the blackboard at school honed 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 he was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after being struck by 'severe pain' in the night. Richard was taken to Charing Cross Hospital where it was discovered he had kidney stones.

Sharing details of his frightening episode 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."

In spite of the agony, Richard heaped praises on the medical team: "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."

Post-surgery, he was counselled by medics to drink more water to help prevent stones in the future, a piece of advice he's eager to heed: "That I can do, no major lifestyle changes, just drink more water."