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Comedian Miranda Hart has revealed her struggle with chronic fatigue after being diagnosed with Lyme disease.
In her new book, I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You, Hart provides a frank account of the past 10 years, including the challenges posed by ill health.
The star’s autobiography also offers a rare insight into Hart’s private life, with the revelation she married at the age of 51.
Hart, who is best known for her eponymous BBC show Miranda, told the BBC it had been a “tough few years” but she was “thrilled” by her marriage, and she was “really keen to get back to some silliness”.
“It’s so nice to be back in the television, I feel very excited to be here,” she told The One Show.
“Because once you’ve been bed and house-bound with a fatigue-based chronic illness that takes a long time to be diagnosed – which sadly I know a lot of people will know – you miss life a lot. So I’m thrilled to be sitting here.”
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection which can spread to humans via a tick bite.
The disease can be easily treated if detected and diagnosed early, but for a long time, the actor didn’t know what was causing her to feel unwell.
It often starts with a circular rash and can lead to flu-like symptoms, nerve pain and sometimes a droop (facial palsy) on one, or both, sides of the face.
For most people, symptoms are short-term and can be alleviated by a course of antibiotics, but a minority go on to suffer more long-term symptoms, including chronic tiredness and unexplained neurological issues.
The star says she found it incredibly hard being confined to her home for such a long period.
“Unless you’ve had fatigue [like that], you don’t understand what literally not getting off the floor is,” Hart told BBC Radio 4’s Today show.
“I was basically bed-bound – and housebound. There’d be times where I’d look at a glass of water, and think ‘I don’t know how to pick that up’.
“All anyone wants is to be heard, accepted, loved and seen… and when you’re not – particularly in a medical situation – it’s the worst.”
Part of why she’s written the book was to share her discovery of what helped her recovery, she said.
“I thought I need to research this whole wellness expertise and dialogue that’s out there, but I was at bed at home alone, the doctors didn’t know what to do with me and I couldn’t have a cold plunge or go on a yoga retreat.
“So I thought what are the universal truths? So I did years of research, when I felt able to, and in the book there are 10 keys, which I call my treasures, to living well.
“And they’ve really genuinely [helped]. I feel like despite the suffering it came from, that I’m living a life of joy and meaning and fulfilment in a way I never have before.
“I feel like I know who I honestly am, in a way that I never knew I needed to, which is just incredible.”
When she finally received her diagnosis, she was able to trace the condition back to her teenage years.
“Probably when I was about 14 or 15, I got a tick-borne illness… and that’s when my symptoms started,” she recalled.
“It was such a relief. I mean, being misunderstood and misjudged is one of the hardest things about these kind of conditions. For sure.”
The actor, who began her career performing at the Edinburgh Fringe in the early 2000s, remains best known for her portrayal of the unlucky-in-love and socially awkward Miranda from her self-titled TV sitcom which ran from 2009 until 2015 .
But, off-screen, Hart’s love life does appear to have a happy ending: at the age of 51, she reveals, she got married to a man she met during the pandemic.
“Getting married in mid-life is a full injection of joy and fun,” she said. “It’s the best!”
“He’s my best friend, we have the best fun… The fact that I could meet somebody – it’s not a rom-com story but it’s hope, and that’s why I think, whatever situation you’re in, there’s always hope that things really do change.”
Having taken time out to rest and recover, and with her new husband by her side, Hart suggested she finally felt well enough to start taking on new projects.
“I’m really keen to get back to some silliness now, I miss the studio floor, I miss laughter.”
After the show, Hart said she found her fans’ delight at her news “really very touching”.
Posting a video on X, she said: “I’ve got my best friend to do life with and it’s wonderful, and I’m also utterly thrilled to be back in telly land and having a book out, so thanks so much for all your support.”
Hart ended the video high-fiving her husband – only his hand was visible in the clip – which she joked was an “exclusive”.
I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You is out on the 10 October.