Sue Perkins has been one of British TV’s most recognisable faces for nearly 30 years. But were you aware of the health challenges she lives with?
Famed for her appearances on the likes of Light Lunch, QI, and The Great British Bake Off – as well as her comedic partnership with Mel Giedroyc – Sue pops up on Blankety Blank this weekend (May 31).
And so, while Bradley Walsh features in her TV near future, here’s what Sue Perkins has had to put up with when it comes to her health.
Sue Perkins health news – brain tumour
According to reports, TV personality Sue, 55, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in her thirties.
She reflected in 2015 that the tumour – a growth on her pituitary gland – was “benign so it’s not in itself a worrying thing”. However, Sue has also described her condition as wreaking “epic destruction” on her life.
Sue found out about her condition when she undertook blood tests as for TV show The Supersizers. And it means she was unable to have children, leading to “the beginning of a very, very dark time”.
She opened up on Desert Island Discs in 2017: “I always like to think that I’m accountable for everything I do, but I’ll never understand how I did some of the things that I did. I walked out of my life. I ended a relationship.”
I’ll never understand how I did some of the things that I did.
Sue has also addressed managing her symptoms with medication. Writing on X in December 2023, she compared her brain to “a shaken snow globe.”
“All flurry and no settle,” Sue explained. “I wish it had some dopamine in it – then I could focus and remember things and not be a scatty [bleep]. I hate pituitary tumours and I’m sending love if you’ve got one in your head. They are infuriating.”
She also told the Mirror in 2015: “Sometimes, it screws up my hormones. I don’t know whether I would have gone on to have children. But as soon as someone says you can’t have something, you want it more than anything.”
ADHD diagnosis
Back in 2022 Sue told X users about how she’d received an ADHD diagnosis – and how it changed her life.
“Once I had the diagnosis, everything made sense – to me and to those who love me,” she said.
However, she refuses to use her condition as an excuse for her behaviour. However, she appreciates the clarity it has brought her.
Sue told the Radio Times in April of this year: “I now understand why some things make me very upset and stressed. I understand why I lose everything, why I can’t prepare for things, why I don’t like repetition.”
However, she maintains a positive approach, even if routine and expectations can prove testing. “I live in a world where those things are expected, so it’s not about going: ‘I can’t and I won’t because I’ve got a certificate,'” she added.
Sue went on: “I don’t weaponise it to make excuses for things that I do that aren’t optimal. I want to be the best version of myself.”
Lasting impact of ‘traumatic’ childhood injury
Sue also endured an incident in childhood that affected her vision.
Speaking in October 2021, Sue told the Mirror she was prone to accidents – and tumbled off some scaffolding.
She hit a steel pole and was subsequently left short-sighted in one eye.
“As a child I tripped and fell into the path of some scaffolding and took a steel bar to the face,” she recalled.
“It was so traumatic and left me very short-sighted in one eye.”
Read more: Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins’ friendship almost ended after Sue’s brain tumour rocked their world
Blankety Blank is next on BBC One on Saturday May 31 at 8pm.
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