“They don’t let you out of a psychiatric hospital”: Paul Merton gets real about his experience at a psychiatric hospital, career, retirement, and more
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Paul Merton gets real about his experience at Psychiatric hospital, career, retirement, and moreIn his conversation with Saga Magazine, Paul Merton spoke about the time he spent at a psychiatric hospital in 1989. Then, he moved to discussing happier times, talking about his link to Bruce Forsyth.
He shared how he asked the famous star to host Have I Got News for You in 2003. Forsyth's smooth and nice act was liked by all, and soon after, in 2004, he took on the host role on Strictly Come Dancing.
While Merton won't say he brought it back, he views the time with a soft smile. They were close more than just on TV.
Forsyth even came to Merton's 2009 wedding to Suki Webster as a shock, and he dazzled the dance floor with his well-known flair.
Paul Merton clarifies his 1989 psychiatric hospital stay was due to medication, not mental illness
Reflecting on his time at a psychiatric hospital in 1989, Paul made it clear that his stay wasn't because of depression, as many thought, but came from a bad reaction to an anti-malarial drug.
He accidentally took two doses that were supposed to be a week apart all in one day. He said:
"I was mistakenly given two weekly doses in 24 hours and that was probably the worst day of my life. I had no idea what was happening – I saw a builder working on a house opposite and was convinced he was spying on me."
He continued:
"I ended up walking around the hospital corridors, wondering which person was going to attack me and whether I ought to jump out of the window."
This caused him to feel very paranoid. At that time, he thought a builder across the street was looking at him.
He got so scared that he walked around the hospital hallways, not knowing if someone would hurt him, or if he should jump out of a window to get away. He said:
"Once I stopped taking the drug, I was fine, but they made me stay there for a few weeks. They don’t let you out of a psychiatric hospital just because you tell them you’re cured."
Even though he got better when he stop taking the meds, he still had to stay under watch for a few weeks.
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Paul Merton looks back on standout guests from Have I Got News For You
When asked to look back at 35 years of Have I Got News For You and the top guest hosts, Paul Merton thought back to the early days with much love and happiness.
He enjoyed the odd fun of being on set with comedy stars like Peter Cook and Spike Milligan, people he had looked up to for a long time.
He talked about other guests as being just as hard to forget, but for different things. He called out Tom Baker and Brian Blessed for being wild and odd, while he spoke well of the quick wit and charm of Stephen Mangan, Carol Vorderman, and Alexander Armstrong.
Not all guests, though, fit well with the show's style, Ann Widdecombe, he said, didn't really match the setup. He said:
"We had Peter Cook and Spike Milligan in the early days. That was pretty special, meeting people whose work I’d always admired. Tom Baker and Brian Blessed were suitably ‘out there’; Stephen Mangan, Carol Vorderman, Alexander Armstrong have all been brilliant. Ann Widdecombe didn’t quite fit the bill."
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Why improv isn't for everyone, according to Paul Merton
He also talked about his long term friend Ian Hislop. When asked if his long-time work friend Ian Hislop could deal with being an on-the-spot host, with no set plan, facing random subjects, and no time to get ready, Merton had doubts.
He said that this way of doing things would be too different from Hislop's normal way, making him step far out of his safe space. In his words:
"Out on stage with no desk to sit behind? No idea what topics are going to come up and no chance to think about his answer? It’s too far out of his comfort zone."
Upon being asked if improv gets easy over time, he thought of his first time seeing it in 1985. He felt it was like magic, people just started to talk and right away, it was funny.
Now, after many years, he knows that, just like any skill, it gets better with lots of practice.
He talked about a recent time with David Mitchell, who did some shows this year. Even though he is really funny on Would I Lie to You?, he was a bit scared before hitting the stage. He said:
"I saw my first improv in 1985 and thought it was some kind of comedy magic. People started talking and it was instantly funny. But I suppose it’s like anything: the more you practise, the better you get. David Mitchell was a guest for some of the live shows earlier this year and he was very nervous. I said, ‘Look, you do it all the time on Would I Lie to You? – you listen to other people and say something funny’."
He further said:
He was brilliant. Mind you, he was rather shellshocked when he came off stage. Trying to be consistently funny for two hours is intense."
He told him that the way he naturally notices things and responds with humor is exactly what improv is all about.
He did really well in the show, even though it completely overwhelmed him afterward.
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Paul Merton on love, laughter, and knowing when to be serious
Paul Merton talked about his life with his wife. When asked if life with his wife Suki Webster is always full of laughs, he said that while fun is a big part of their life, it's not all jokes.
He knows when to stop, especially when Suki is sick or dealing with hard times like fighting with builders on the phone.
The thought of always making jokes, he said, would be too much instead of fun. Talking about when he asked her to marry him, he remembered it was at Christmas, right next to a Christmas tree. In his words:
"If Suki's feeling poorly or she's on the phone arguing with the builders, I’ll give it a rest. Doing it every minute of every day would be… insanity."
His mom and dad came from Ireland then, and he thought it was a good time to ask her to marry him so they could tell the news face to face if she said yes.
He made it plain and true, with no shows or dress-up, just letting the time tell its own tale. He emphasized:
"...Yes, it was Christmas and I happened to be standing next to the tree. My parents were over from Ireland, so if she did say ‘Yes’, we’d be able to tell them straightaway. It just felt like a nice time to propose. I wasn’t dressed as Santa Claus or anything like that."
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Paul Merton shares the regret of never meeting Victoria Wood
Reflecting on a missed opportunity, Paul remembered hearing that Victoria Wood had once wanted to meet him for tea.
At that time, the thought of sitting across from someone so well-known made him feel very nervous, almost too scared to move.
Because he was so in awe, he never took the chance. Now, looking back, he often finds himself caught in that quiet moment, left with only questions about what she might have wanted to say.
It's a silent regret, one that stays not just for the missed talk, but for letting his shyness shut a door that never opened again. In his words:
"Years ago, I was told that Victoria Wood wanted to meet up for a cup of tea. I was so overawed by the thought of sitting down with her that I never followed it up. I often wonder what she wanted to talk about and curse myself for being so shy."
At 68, Paul Merton has no plans to retire
At 68, he does not see a need to slow down. As he looks back on his long ride with Just a Minute, a show he first heard in the late 1960s and was part of for nearly 40 years, he thinks of his work not just as a job but as a source of joy.
Had he stayed in the Civil Service, he points out, he would have retired two years back. But leaving is not in his plans; the drive and joy he gets from his work push the thought of retirement far away. He said:
"I'm 68 years old, but I'm in pretty good shape and have had an amazing career. I listened to Just a Minute as a kid in the late 1960s and I'm lucky enough to have been a regular guest for the past 37 years. The funny thing is that if I’d stayed with my job at the Civil Service, I'd have retired two years ago. Why would I want to retire? When you enjoy what you do it doesn't feel like a job."
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TOPICS: Paul Merton