The Chase’s Paul Sinha reveals he has Parkinson’s disease but vows to fight with ‘every breath’

Anne Hegarty and Paul Sinha attending the TRIC Awards 2019 in March shortly before his diagnosis. Credit: PA

The Chase's Paul Sinha has revealed he has Parkinson's disease.

The 49-year-old, who is one of the professional quizzers on the ITV show, revealed his illness in an emotional blog post he posted on his Twitter feed this afternoon.

Mr Sinha said he pledged to fight it ''with every breath I have''.

The star said he received his diagnosis on 30 May by an experienced consultant neurologist.

Mr Sinha thanked his fiance Oliver for his support and said he was grateful for the support of family and friends.

The comedian wrote: "I have an amazing family, no strangers to serious medical illness, I’m blessed to have a fiance who is there for me, and I have a multitude of friends and colleagues whom I consider to be exceptional human beings.

"I don’t consider myself unlucky, and whatever the next stage of my life holds for me, many others have it far worse."

Paul Sinha thanked his family, friends and fiance Oliver for all their support. Credit: PA

Mr Sinha said the diagnosis ''was a devastating denouement to a medical odyssey that began in September 2017 with a sudden-onset, frozen right shoulder, and took in an unexpected diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle transformation that enabled me to lose two stone, and a shoulder operation in January this year."

However, his symptoms continued to get worse, with matters coming to a head in May this year.

Mr Sinha admitted behind his comedy facade, he was ''deeply scared'' about facing the truth of his illness.

He wrote: ''I spent May this year in New Zealand simultaneously having the comedy month of my life, and worrying about why a right-sided limp was now getting worse.

"It has been a really, really tough two weeks," he said.

"Cancelling my run at the Edinburgh Fringe, missing the World Quizzing Championships to have brain scans, performing club sets whilst emotionally bewildered, and of course working my way through my loved ones, delivering the bad news.''

What is Parkinson's disease? According to the NHS website, it is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years. The 3 main symptoms of Parkinson's disease are:

  • involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body (tremor)

  • slow movement

  • stiff and inflexible muscles

Paul Sinha at the National Television Awards in 2018 with Anne Hegerty and Jenny Ryan. Credit: PA

Mr Sinha confirmed he has a treatment plan in place and felt more confident about the challenges he faced.

He vowed to carry on appearing on The Chase, writing and performing but said: ''Dancing on Ice is, I suspect, out of the question.''

He concluded: ''A lot of people have asked 'What can I do to help ?'

"The answer is to treat me exactly the same as before. Much love, Paul."