Comedy Star's Hidden Health Struggle
Beloved comedian Miranda Hart has opened up about a debilitating health battle that forced her into a five-year career break and left her completely bedbound. The 52-year-old star, famous for her self-titled sitcom Miranda and role as Chummy in Call the Midwife, has revealed she secretly struggled with Lyme disease for decades before receiving a proper diagnosis.
The Long Road to Diagnosis
Hart contracted the bacterial infection during her teenage years when her family lived in Virginia, USA, after being bitten by an infected tick. The illness went undiagnosed for 33 years, during which time she suffered from extreme fatigue, recurrent infections, joint pain, and cognitive difficulties. These debilitating symptoms were repeatedly misdiagnosed as anxiety-related disorders, including agoraphobia, and later as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
The situation reached its worst point when Hart completely collapsed at home, becoming bedbound and feeling "alone in the darkness" of isolation. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, she finally received the correct diagnosis of reactivated Lyme disease, which she describes as coming as a "tremendous relief." She reflects that "being misunderstood and misjudged is one of the hardest things about these kinds of conditions."
A New Perspective on Life and Love
The health crisis forced Hart to completely reassess her priorities. She now embraces a much simpler lifestyle, walking her dog, playing games with her husband, watching television, and doing some writing. "I just wake up and think 'right, what am I going to do today?'" she says. "I find life much 'free-er' and happier because of that. It is a very simple life, which I love."
Hart married building surveyor Richard Fairs, 60, in a secret ceremony last summer at a 1,000-year-old church in the picturesque Hampshire village of Hambledon. The couple met when Richard was called in to help remove mould from her home, and they quickly fell "hopelessly in love with each other." They got engaged during a trip to Kew Gardens in west London and married to the Sound of Music classic Climb Every Mountain, bringing the small congregation to tears.
Reflecting on her marriage, Hart says: "We can't envisage our lives apart can we? I think that is a great relief. I did not expect to get married, everything has been unexpected. The suffering has been unexpected and the good that can come from suffering has been unexpected and finding someone that completely understands me and gets me... he is the most incredibly patient person with me."
Rediscovering Joy After Career Pressures
The illness prompted Hart to recognise that she had lost her sense of play and joy despite playing characters celebrated for their silliness. "I had this full circle moment," she explains. "I realised I had been writing a character whose mission is to play and to tell the adult world to play and be silly, but I was fearful the second series would not do as well as the first and I got looped into the whole success of it. I lost my 'play'. I lost joy by getting serious about my work."
Hart's last major television work was in January 2020 when she marked the 10th anniversary of her BBC sitcom with Miranda: My Such Fun Celebration. The show celebrated both her semi-autobiographical series and her 20-year career in television, which began in 2001 with various sitcoms including Channel 4's Smack The Pony.
Despite her current contentment, Hart maintains her trademark humour when discussing Christmas traditions. "Do I love Christmas? Yes I do, as it is an invitation to play," she says. "But I don't send Christmas cards. I hate Christmas cards. I also dislike this mad cultural pressure like 'I have got to see these people before Christmas.' People will send you these texts saying 'We must catch up.' I am like 'No, we don't. Why can't we meet in February?' Let's just calm down shall we?"
Hart has channeled her creative energy into writing, recently publishing The Christmas Tree That Wanted to Dance, her latest in a string of books. She continues to balance her new domestic life with occasional creative projects, having found peace and happiness after her challenging health journey.
