Melanie Sykes believes she is suffering Tourette’s syndrome.
Melanie Sykes believes she is suffering Tourette’s syndrome
The 52-year-old presenter and model said she “self-identified” as a victim of the condition, which can cause uncontrollable ticks and swearing, after she was diagnosed two years ago with autism.
She told comic Alan Carr, 47, on his ‘Life’s a Beach’ podcast about how she was convinced she had Tourette’s after struggling not to curse: “I used to think, ‘What’s wrong with me?’
“And now I know it’s everything right with me because that’s what makes me me.
“It’s been over a decade (we’ve worked together), for f***’s sake!
“Can you swear on this? Oh good, that’s good but I’ll try not to.
“Because I’ve just discovered I’ve got Tourette’s.”
Mel added she often laughs at “really inappropriate things” and said she was “wired a completely different way” that she is only now “understanding”.
She has said on Twitter she has the condition – which is famously suffered by singer Lewis Capaldi, 26 – but admitted it has not been medically diagnosed.
Mel told her fans: “I self-identify because of my studies and understanding of the pre-existing ‘conditions’ that are hand in hand in some autistic people.”
The mum-of-two, whose younger son Valentino is autistic, added to Alan about her battle with being claustrophobic: “Claustrophobia was a new friend, and that’s been like a mountain to climb. But I’m working on that.
“I’m claustrophobic in areas that are like wide open, like midway up Ben Nevis where I got claustrophobic because you can’t leave without a helicopter or walking, and when you’re walking you’ve got six hours this way or six hours that way and you’re like f– man!”
Tagged in Alan Carr Melanie Sykes Lewis Capaldi