Gail Porter says her “terrible insomnia” leads her to miss whole days.
Gail Porter misses whole days due to 'terrible insomnia'
The former 'Big Breakfast’ presenter has been plagued with sleep issues since she was small child, and she is sometimes so tired she naps for 48 hours.
The 52-year-old television presenter told The Sunday Times Magazine: “I have terrible insomnia - I'm up at 1am, 3am, 5am. I'm a worrier. Will I get work after Edinburgh? Have I messaged my friends enough? Is Ziggy going to like the cat-sitter?
“It has been going on since I was three or four - nothing works. Sometimes I'm so tired I sleep for 48 hours. I wake up when it's dark and realise I've lost a day.”
Gail - who was diagnosed with bipolar in 2011 - also told how she handles any anxiety, admitting she can now “embrace" her past because she has had "great fun".
She added: "But I was quite anxious long before I worked in TV and I'd always had eating problems."
The ex ‘Fully Booked’ host admitted her busy schedule often resulted in her skipping meals, and the issue “spiralled” from there.
Gail said: “I flew from job to job 'forgetting to eat' and it spiralled quickly. Even if someone had tried to intervene, I wouldn't have listened. Or I'd have agreed, then ignored their advice.”
The star has gone from TV presenter to stand-up comedian, and is currently performing at Edinburgh's Assembly George Square Studios from August 15th to 28th.
She said: “I'm super-excited to be coming to Edinburgh. I'll be doing stand-up seven nights a week.
“I don't know if it's a mid-life thing or whatever but I got offered it and I thought, why not?"
The ex ‘Top of the Pops’ presenter recently revealed how she often only got about £500 per episode for the BBC music show.
Gail told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I think £500, and then you’ve got 20 per cent to your agent, then you’ve got to pay your rent.
“All the front covers of magazines, I never got paid for any of them.”
She added that one of her best gigs was doing voice-over work for supermarket Sainsbury's.
Gail said: “It was a few hundred quid a week, and you can’t complain about that. But other than that, I can’t remember well-paid jobs.”
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