Adrian “Ade” Edmondson, the comedian known for The Young Ones and Bottom, has opened up about losing weight, grieving close friends and the secret to his long marriage to Jennifer Saunders as he approaches his 70th birthday in January.
Speaking ahead of the return of his birdwatching show Sam & Ade Go Birding on Channel 5, Edmondson revealed he has lost “a couple of stones” after a doctor ordered him to shed weight last year. The excess weight was compressing a nerve in his hip, causing painful pins and needles.
Weight loss and health
Edmondson, who stands five foot 10 and was approaching 15 stone, opted for a weight loss pen injection, nicknamed a “fat jab”, joining celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson. He joked that the results have been so good that “clothes fit now”.
“I’ve lost a couple of stones. I'm still a bit heavy. I'm still heavier than I should be. But I do feel better. I feel lighter. Everything is easier. Your clothes fit!” he said.
Reflecting on turning 70, he said: “I feel very privileged to be here and to be healthy. You know a lot of people by the time they get to my age have found they’ve got something wrong with them. I might have. I just haven't found out yet!”
Grief and family
Edmondson said losing his friend and co-star Rik Mayall, who died of heart failure in 2014, made him take his health more seriously. He now only takes on work projects he enjoys as part of a vow to embrace each day fully.
“You’ve only got now. And you've got to kind of do it [live life] now. I really don't dwell on the past at all. Nor do I think far into the future. I love it [the work jobs I take on] and I don’t ever do things I don't want to do,” he said.
Happily married to Jennifer Saunders for 41 years, Edmondson has three grown-up daughters and five grandchildren. The couple split their time between London and Chagford, Devon. “That’s what life’s about,” he said. “Family and relationships because nobody is going to remember anything [you’ve been on]. I’ve got lovely kids and grandkids and a wider circle of close friends.”
Marriage secret and birding partnership
Asked the secret to his happy marriage, Edmondson chuckled: “No, that would be very goosh, wouldn't it? We don't really think about it – and I think that's the secret of success: to not think about it.”
He revealed that Jennifer has always been the better birdwatcher in the household. “My missus was always a better birder than me. She's always kind of kept an eye out for birds. She sort of knew which ones were which,” he said.
Edmondson has forged a close friendship with All Creatures Great and Small actor Sam West on their avian adventures. They first became friends seven years ago after meeting at an airport on their way to film the BBC’s Death in Paradise in the Caribbean. During lockdown, they grew closer by gathering each week at the “Zoom Arms”.
“We reached a new level during Covid. Quite a lot of people drop off the perch when you hit your 60s, and so whilst I wasn't farming for a friend, there is always space. We started going to the Zoom Arms, as we called it, which was just getting on Zoom with a drink at either end to chat. I think men can find it quite hard to chat and we don't,” he added.
New series and reflections
The new three-part series visits West Wales, the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Coast. Edmondson said his favourite bird of the series is the yellowhammer. “It was clinging to a long reed in a massive wind, swaying backwards and forwards and it was a delightful little thing – much better than the ospreys or the kites, which people would think would be significant birds,” he said.
He has also joined his local birdwatching group since doing the programme. On comparing the show to Mortimer and Whitehouse’s Gone Fishing, he said: “They are brilliant. I do count Paul as a close friend. He's very good at it. But I think we're quite different to Paul and Bob. I think we are more emotional and we are not as obsessed with being funny!”
Edmondson refused to regard himself as a “legend”. “I think posts like national treasure should be one female and one male. They should be the national treasure until they die. I mean, obviously Judi Dench is the female one, and Michael Palin is the male,” he said.
He said he does not view himself as famous, recalling a recent encounter in a make-up trailer on an unnamed new TV show where a song was changed because it contained rude words. “When they said it was because of me, I replied, ‘But I was the first person to swear on Channel Four. I think they were shocked!'”
On retirement, he declared: “I think I work harder now than I ever did when I was younger. I really don't understand the idea of retirement. It sounds ghastly to me!” Asked what bird would sum up his personality, he replied: “A robin. Just because they are so keen to be with humans. They're such lovely, brave, forthright, front-footed birds...”
Sam & Ade Go Birding returns to Channel 5 on October 31 at 7pm and is available to stream afterwards.
