The comedian appeared alongside Paul Whitehouse On Friday’s episode (September 1), where he explained how their show, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, came about as a method of recuperation following his triple heart bypass surgery in 2015.
Asked by host Roman Kemp how the health benefits of nature sparked the series, Mortimer replied: “Yeah I wasn’t very well.”
“I’m never very well. It’s been a long time since I was very well,” he laughed. “So Paul took me fishing to get me out the doldrums after heart operations. And that’s how it all started.”
“He was very vulnerable at the time and I thought, ‘I could manipulate this into a show,’’’ Whitehouse joked. “You think I’m joking, don’t you? Look at the dead eyes.”
Mortimer underwent triple heart bypass surgery after it was discovered that “95 per cent” of his arteries were blocked (via the Guardian).
In an interview with the Big Issue in 2018, the comedian said: “My doctor told me that I would have had a heart attack on stage. He looked at my tour schedule and said I would most likely have gone down in Southampton.
I don’t watch the show but I am glad to hear it might be helping him, although does mention that he went straight from filming an episode to hospital, so perhaps making it into telly has made a relaxing pastime stressful.