Bob Mortimer has revealed he was unable to walk for half of the newest series of his show Gone Fishing after he contracted shingles.
Series seven of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, which follows Bob and fellow comedian Paul Whitehouse embark on a fishing adventure around the UK, kicked off on Sunday in Rocklands Mere, Norfolk.
But Bob, 65, has admitted filming nearly didn’t happen after he was left with wasted muscles after a six-month bout of shingles and had to be taken by wheelchair to several of the locations.
Shingles is a painful condition caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone can get it, but it’s most common in older people.
‘I wasn’t very well and it made it a bit of a struggle but, as always, Paul looked after me and pulled me through. For half of the season, I couldn’t walk so it was very challenging at times. When we were in Trent, I was being taken from a wheelchair to the top of the bank. You never see that but you never see me on my feet either,’ he told The Mirror.
Bob Mortimer has revealed he was unable to walk for half of the newest series of his show Gone Fishing after he contracted shingles
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing follows Bob and his fellow comedian Paul Whitehouse (pictured left and right respectively) embark on a fishing adventure around the UK
‘I just tried to get some muscle back, or get some to grow a bit stronger. I’m 80% back and, by the end of the series, I was reasonably sprightly. The first two episodes are the greatest of Gone Fishing that have ever been made. I think they’re magnificent.
‘Paul and I are just getting better and better at it, which sounds boastful. I think we know what the show is now and what people like, I love this series.’
Just like the previous series, Bob is in charge of the food and accommodation. He says his favourite meal this time is hotdogs in a flask eaten waterside in Norfolk in the first episode.
The BBC2 show was born in 2018 when Paul lured Bob to the riverbank following a triple heart bypass.
Bob underwent triple heart bypass surgery in 2015 when his heart was stopped for 32 minutes after discovering that 95 per cent of his arteries were blocked.
In June, it was announced BBC Factual had commissioned an eighth series of the series.
Paul said: ‘I can’t wait to get back to Gone Fishing with that other bloke in tow,’ with Bob adding: ‘I’m looking forward to visiting old haunts from my younger years as Paul and I will be travelling back in time for this series, going to fish in places which shaped our lives.
BBC Commissioning Editor Patrick McMahon said: ‘We’re so happy to welcome Paul and Bob back for another slice of fishing, friendship and riverbank philosophy.
‘Following their adventures and spending time in their company is always a treat, and this series promises to be the most personal and pleasurable yet’.
While waiting for fish to take the bait in some of the most picturesque landscapes, the lifelong friends share personal and hilarious stories from romantic encounters to health woes
‘Following their adventures and spending time in their company is always a treat, and this series promises to be the most personal and pleasurable yet’.
Executive Producer, Lisa Clark, added: ‘I’m so delighted we can continue to showcase our beautiful country in the company of Paul, Bob and Ted of course.
There’s so much more to explore for both man and beast with plenty of muck for Ted to roll in and Bob to fall over, while Paul quietly concentrates on the fishing in hand.’
Back in December, Bob revealed his ‘terrible’ fear he will never run again after the ‘worst health year’ of his life.
The comedian, who struggles with rheumatoid arthritis, was told by doctors he has lost 20% of muscle function after contracting shingles.
‘It was the worst health year of my life to be honest and you know what, it was worse than my heart period,’ he said on the show previously.
‘At the moment the consultant saying I’m heading for 80% muscle recovery in my leg and she said ‘you’ll just have to see what that means for you.
‘The muscles I’ve lost, I’ve lost… But other ones can compensate for it, you know what I mean?
‘I can make the other muscles stronger but I have a terrible feeling I’m never going to be able to run again and you know that I used to like to run Paul.’
Bob has been open about his health in the past and has candidly spoken about his triple heart bypass surgery and struggles with arthritis.
In December 2020, Bob admitted he feared the coronavirus pandemic would cut his life short by two years.
Confessing he ditched his healthy lifestyle in lockdown, he said: ‘I’ve done no exercise, I’ve eaten so much and drunk so much booze. Lockdown has probably taken two years off of my life.’
The comedian previously spoke about his struggles with rheumatoid arthritis.
Bob said: ‘In my mid-twenties I got struck down with rheumatoid arthritis. I just woke up and it was like, ‘bang’.
‘I have been free of it since I have been 34 and it came back 10 days ago. It is really sad for me to know whether it will go. Yes I might be fat but actually I am on steroids.
‘At around 60 I like turned off and did not want anything different to happen. But it takes until you are 60 to realise all the things you could have done.’
The seventh series of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing airs each Sunday at 9pm on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer.
