'Made in Chelsea' star Sam Thompson wanted to know if he's got ADHD before starting a family.
The 30-year-old reality star - who shot to fame alongside his sister Louise Thompson, 33, on the E4 show - recently sparked speculation he's engaged to former 'Love Island' star Zara McDermott, 26, and he's revealed he needed to find out if he has the hyperactivity disorder before considering fatherhood.
He told OK! magazine: “When I first started doing TV I’d have producers say it to me.
“But I was like, ‘I’m in my early twenties, shut up!’ Then I did 'SAS: Who Dares Wins' [in 2019] with [former politician and author] Louise Mensch and she has ADHD and she was like, ‘I’m convinced you’ve got it,’ and she went, ‘I take medication for it and it’s changed my life.’”
The TV star - who is also known for his bromance with 'The Only Way is Essex' star Pete Wicks - has filmed the E4 special 'Sam Thompson: Is This ADHD?'.
He said: “A part of me was growing up and being like, ‘When am I going to be that person that everyone else seems to be? When am I going to sit in an office or sit in my kitchen and just get s*** done? When am I going to be the one who’s got the bag full of passports and tickets for the flights?’”
The main reason Sam was keen to get a diagnosis was to make sure he can be the best father to his future kids.
He explained: “A big thing for me was kids.
“I do want kids and I want to know I can look after a child. I want to know I’m the provider and I’m the carer and that I can be the security that child needs to grow up.”
He admitted: “I was like, ‘I don’t feel like I can even look after myself a lot of the time.’ The older I was getting, the more I was thinking about that.”
Sam came to realise that Zara was doing a lot more for him than she should be and that was "really tough" to hear from her.
He said: “Zara has always been a giver.
“She’s a gift-giver and a date rememberer. She’ll remind me of my family birthdays, she’s such a thoughtful person. She shouldn’t have to book me a train journey. Admin stuff was never my forte whatsoever but it can snowball … You forget that person is doing something to make you happy and you feel like that is the way it should be. It was really tough to sit there and hear Zara say, ‘I don’t want to do it, I just have to do it because it will make your life easier and I love you.’ You’re sitting there going, ‘Oh I’m taking a lot and you’re giving a lot and it’s not balanced at the moment.’”
Sam says a diagnosis means he'll be aware if ever his future children appear to have neurodivergent traits.
He said: “I think it’s a huge thing for me.
“When I’m eventually a parent, I want to be understanding of it.”
'Sam Thompson: Is This ADHD?' is on Monday 8 May, at 9pm on E4 and All 4.
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