Matt Lucas has revealed a health diagnosis, speaking about it publicly for the first time.
The comedian, actor and author is best known for creating and starring in Little Britain and Come Fly With Me alongside David Walliams.
He has also appeared in Doctor Who, Les Misérables and The Great British Bake Off, while more recently building a successful career as a children’s author.
Speaking to BBC Radio 2 presenter Romesh Ranganathan, Mr Lucas shared the diagnosis for the first time while discussing how he balances different aspects of his life and career.
The comedian, who is set to appear in the latest series of Channel 4’s Taskmaster, said: “I’ve never, ever spoken about this publicly, but I’m autistic, and so I enjoy periods of being very sociable, like you are in the theatre, and then I also enjoy those periods of solitude where I can just write on my own.”
Mr Ranganathan then asked: “Do you find that you need to recharge each battery, like you’re kind of flitting between those two things?”
Mr Lucas replied: “Yeah, and so on my days off, you know you do theatre six days a week, and on my day off, apart from resting and resting my voice and all of that, on my day off I like not to see people and give them a break from me, but just to have that recharge time is quite important to me.”
Back in 2023, Mr Lucas made a tea-time visit to Mostly Books in Abingdon’s Stert Street to meet his fans and sign copies of The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas.
Mr Lucas has followed in the footsteps of his former Little Britain partner David Walliams by writing a children’s story.
He told the Oxford Mail: “It’s been a very busy day.”
Before arriving at the bookshop the comedian had been due to speak to pupils at Larkmead School in Faringdon Road.
