Michael Ball has opened up on his three-year battle with chronic pain that left him needing crutches.
The English singer and presenter, 63, suffered a severed ligament in his leg, with the pain becoming so debilitating he relied on crutches.
Michael was appearing in the musical production of Les Misérables in Australia at the time, spanning eight weeks.
Doctors advised him he needed a hip replacement and that he should return to the UK for surgery - however, Michael 'didn't want to let anybody down'.
He explained: 'I went for physio and it wasn't getting any better. I had a cortisone injection, which helped, but after two days I was in agony and really limping.
'They took me for an MRI scan and the doctor said the ligament was completely ruptured and severed ,and I'd got bone-on- bone on the joint and that my hip had to be replaced. He said, "You must be in a really severe amount of pain".'
Michael Ball has opened up on his three-year battle with chronic pain that left the 63-year-old needing crutches
Going against medical advice, Michael continued working, though the pain became so bad bosses had to make special adjustments.
He continued to tell The Mirror: 'I had to have a crutch to get me to the side of the stage and I used the pain for my character.
'They cut the bits where I had to go up and down a barricade. I just got my head down and ploughed through it, but it was soul-destroying. I couldn’t enjoy anything really.'
Once his tour ended, Michael flew home and received a full hip replacement, which he now calls a 'game-changer'.
It also prompted him to overhaul his life, with the singer now going to the gym 'at least' once a week as he 'dips his toes in'.
Michael made his West End debut In 1985, where he was cast as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of Les Misérables.
He has twice won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Earlier this month Michael .
Timothée, 30, sparked backlash after making the controversial remarks during an hour-long Variety/CNN Town Hall with his Interstellar 'father' Matthew McConaughey on February 24.
Speaking about his hopes cinemas are able to survive, he said: 'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera. Things where it's like, "Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore".'
Attempting to backtrack slightly, the Oscar contender added: 'All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there... I just lost 14 cents in viewership. Damn, I just took shots for no reason.'
Timothée's comments have not been well received well across the industry and Michael who is renowned for his versatile baritone voice in musical theatre, is the latest star to weigh in on the controversial remark.
He suffered a severed ligament in his leg, with the pain so debilitating he relied on crutches. Michael was appearing in the musical production of Les Misérables in Australia at the time, spanning eight weeks
Speaking to Gaby Roslin on her Magic Radio show, Michael, 63, said: 'The human race have been dancing and singing since we could walk, since we came out of the primordial swamp, it ain't going anywhere.
'Dancers go out and leave their hearts and quite a bit of blood on the dancefloor because they love it and the audience absolutely are entranced, and for someone to diss that.
'And the training and dedication for opera is extraordinary, the musicality, the skill. And it wouldn't be going if people didn't enjoy it and didn't want to see it and get something from it.'
After the clip from Michael's interview was shared on Instagram, fans wrote: 'Well said' and 'preach it'.
