Comedian Bob Mortimer has revealed he proposed to his long-term partner Lisa in the kitchen while bleaching the sink, the day before he was due to go into hospital for major heart surgery. He explained he wanted to formalise their relationship because he feared his death would leave Lisa facing financial complications. They married just half an hour before he went to hospital.
Proposal During a Kitchen Chore
In an episode of season one of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Bob arrived late for his angling appointment with Paul Whitehouse and explained he had been attending a wedding anniversary celebration.
"Paul, are you in a strop with me?" Bob enquired as he eventually met his companion by the water. Following their discussion, Paul asked Bob about his marriage proposal to Lisa, with whom he had shared a 22-year relationship before tying the knot.
Bob responded: "I was in the kitchen, I think I was bleaching the sink. I was going into hospital the day after for my heart op, and I said 'If I die, pet, you know, you get nowt'."
Rushed Wedding Before Bypass
Expanding on his thinking, he explained: "I said 'If I die, this is going to be a mess for you, because I ain't got no wills or nothing. So, shall we get married?' And combine that statement with the smell of the bleach...just gave us that romantic nudge, you know?"
Speaking at a press conference in central London to launch the 2016 leg of his tour with comedy partner Vic Reeves, he described how he wed Lisa on the morning of his triple bypass operation. "I found out I needed heart surgery on the Thursday, so I made a will on the Friday," he recalled.
"I found out I couldn't get married to Lisa because you have to give 21 days' notice. My consultant said I was incredibly ill so the registrar in London gave me permission to get married on the Monday. I got married at half nine on the Monday and went to hospital at 10 to have the operation."
Family and Health Details
He later shared a photograph on X of himself and Lisa, writing: "Met 24 years ago. Got married then straight to the hospital. The love of my life, Lisa x". Bob and Lisa first got together in 1993, and they have two children.
When asked at the 2016 press conference whether Vic Reeves served as his best man, Bob replied: "No, there was just me, the wife and our two kids in the registry office, that's it." He also said he had yet to go on a honeymoon, adding: "I haven't had my honeymoon yet, I might go to Barbados."
Mortimer underwent emergency triple heart bypass surgery after medics discovered his arteries were between 95 and 98 per cent blocked. He had initially believed he was battling a chest infection, but his doctor warned him he was perilously close to suffering a heart attack on stage.
He told Big Issue: "When I came home from being told I had to have heart surgery, it feels so dramatic. You think it is over. Heart surgery just sounds... it was weird, the things that would make me cry were my favourite egg cup, my cats. Four days later they were cutting me open. I was 95 per cent blocked. It is amazing when you see the pictures, because it is an incredibly resistant organ – if there is a gap it will f****** push that blood through it."
Repeats of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing air on BBC Two on Mondays at 10pm.
