Johnny Vegas had to stop production of his new series to deal with his mental health problems.
Johnny Vegas had to take time out of his new show to deal with his mental health issues
The 53-year-old comedian was working on the second series of his Channel 4 show 'Carry On Glamping' and whilst he doesn't want to sound "dramatic", admitted that he is not sure he would "be here discussing it now" if he had not stepped away from the cameras.
Speaking in a clip from the show's first episode - which will air on January 24 - he said: "I don’t want to be dramatic, but I don’t know if I would be here discussing it now. I honestly thought I was dying. It was horrible."
The former 'Benidorm' star - whose real name is Michael Joseph Pennington - had to seek professional help after realising that he was "running on empty" and has no idea what his fate may have been had he not taken time out from filming his fly-on-the-wall series.
In the upcoming episode, he adds: "I can’t see the wood from the trees, everybody wants something from me and I’ve got nothing left to give. I am running on empty.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t put the brakes on."
Johnny also revealed that he is starting to feel "very lucky" after such a tough time but admitted that he is "nervous" for people to see the new batch of episodes because a lot of them feature the real-life version of himself rather than his on-stage alter ego.
He told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz column: "After a rough time of it, I’m starting to feel very lucky for what I’ve got and for the people I’ve got around me. I’m happy.
“I’m nervous about this series because there’s a lot of Michael in it, it’s not just Johnny, and it was really hard having to down tools and admit I wasn’t coping, especially on camera.
“But hopefully people will see it’s all right not to be all right.
“I felt my body was shutting down. A lot of things were building up and with the (glamping) site, there was so much to get done.
“I was coping, I was drinking, getting through stuff, still living it large and my body and mind weren’t up for that. It was like being snow blind."
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