Paul Sinha on how his Parkinson’s diagnosis has improved his outlook

Many people might understandably consider being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease as a blow.

But Paul Sinha, who married his partner Olly at the weekend, is counting his blessings – and says that the illness has changed his outlook on life for the better.

The comic has spoken frankly about how he doesn’t feel unlucky about the diagnoses and explains how he’s ‘living the life he wants to live’.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live, he said: ‘We all have in life terrible misfortune, and terribly good fortune and you have got to embrace both.  I don’t consider myself unlucky.’

‘My mental health has been through everything this year, and I’m not saying it’s easy but I don’t feel depressed. I feel energised. 

‘I’ve written a show and it took me six weeks to write. It’s never taken me such a short time to write a show. And it’s really good, it’s far more ambitious than any other full-length show I’ve done. 

‘It’s born from a ferocity of spirit, I want to take chances."  He goes on to say that the illness has changed his outlook on life, for the better.

‘I don’t have a timeline for what’s going to happen. As a result of not having a timeline I’m very much "Do everything’" Just get on with it.  Luckily I’ve got nothing on a bucket list. I would consider my bucket list to have two things on it: Win a major quiz tournament – done.  Sell out a decent size venue [as a stand-up] – done.’

His comments came on Elis James and John Robins’s BBC Sounds podcast How Do You Cope? in which they ask guests about how they have tackled emotional challenges.

Sinha – who trained as a doctor and is now known to millions from the ITV quiz show The Chase – added that things weren’t always rosy for him.

‘I’ve had a tough life,’ he said. ‘I ended up doing a career that I never ever wanted to do, which was medicine, because I was pushed into it by medical parents and the cultural values they represented and I ended up doing a job I was OK at but absolutely hated.

‘I was the most unhappy drunk you could possibly imagine. I was the guy who would be crying in the corner of his own birthday party…  It was a cry for help because being single and being someone who felt excluded by the gay scene I just never got to meet the kind of people I wanted to go out with let alone be in a position where I could ask them out.

‘Now, paradoxically, I’m happy. I’m happy because I am the person I wanted to be – professional comedian and professional quizzer. How could I possibly be having more of a dream life than the one I’m having now?

‘I am really, really, really pleased this has happened to me in a position where I’m living the life I want to live. I’m really grateful for the decisions I’ve made that have made this lifestyle possible.  A lot of it is just based on luck. "

Sinha  also said found that his work a great comfort.

‘When I’m on stage I don’t feel any of the tiredness that I’ve felt during the day because I’m doing what I love doing. I’ve been working hard, and it’s not had an adverse effect. My form in all professional aspects of my life has been really good.

‘I am just driving on .. I don’t see this as a curse.  I just see this as a thing. "

James and Robins are on BBC Radio 5 Live every Friday afternoon from 1pm to 3pm, and you can hear their interview with Sinha here.

Published: 17 Dec 2019