Stephen Fry has disclosed that he attempted suicide last year by overdosing on prescription drugs and vodka, an act he described as 'a close run thing'. The comedian and QI host, who has bipolar disorder, was found unconscious in his hotel room by a producer he was working with overseas.
In an interview with Richard Herring for his Leicester Square Theatre podcast, Fry detailed the incident: 'I took a huge number of pills and a huge [amount] of vodka and the mixture of them made my body convulse so much that I broke four ribs, but I was still unconscious.' He was subsequently flown back to England for medical care.
Fry, who became president of mental health charity Mind in 2011, spoke about the internal struggle he faces even while hosting QI. 'There are times when I’m doing QI and I’m going “ha ha, yeah, yeah”, and inside I’m going “I want to fucking die”,' he said.
He emphasised that his suicidal feelings are not rational, stating, 'There is no 'why', it’s not the right question. There’s no reason. If there were a reason for it, you could reason someone out of it.'
The full podcast interview is available for free download on iTunes from tomorrow.
