Richard Osman has spoken candidly about his lifelong battle with food addiction, a struggle he describes as "shameful" and traces back to his father leaving when he was nine. Despite admitting he feels uncomfortable discussing the issue, the Thursday Murder Club author said opening up has had an unexpected effect.
He told The i Paper: "I don't want to talk about these things, I really don't. It's not comfortable. People… well, no, women come up to me and tell me their husbands heard me talking about it and then opened up about their own issues."
Breaking the 'doom loop of shame'
Osman, who would binge on chocolate bars, explained that speaking honestly about moments when he has "felt awkward and embarrassed and appalled at myself" can "stop the doom loop of shame". He warned that staying silent can make things "so much worse", leading to being "anxious about being anxious" — a spiral he says can also apply to depression.
He illustrated the nature of his addiction with a striking analogy: "If they made heroin gummies, I'd get hooked - but to the sweets and not the heroin."
Therapy and the challenge of 'sustaining' addictions
In 2021, Osman told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he had undergone therapy in his 30s to tackle his food issues. At the time, he noted his addiction lacked the "doomed glamour" of drugs or alcohol, but stressed the parallels.
"But if an alcoholic came to my house, they would be shocked to see bottles of gin and bottles of wine, completely untouched. Because an alcoholic couldn't have that in their house," he said. "And if I came to your house and there were crisps or chocolate bars untouched in the fridge, I'd be like 'What? How are they untouched?' - if I'm going through an episode."
He described his addiction as "identical" to substance abuse, citing the "secrecy of consuming" and the "shame" involved. However, he pointed out a key difference: "Booze and drugs you can just give up. [It is] unbelievably difficult but [with] a zero tolerance policy." Food, by contrast, is a "sustaining" necessity, making it "quite a hard one" to escape.
Managing the addiction today
Osman acknowledged that his relationship with food remains an ongoing effort. "I'm either controlling it or not controlling it at any given time, and these days I control it more often than I don't, but it's actually quite hard and sometimes you do slip, but I try my best and I certainly have no shame about it now," he said.
