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Robert Webb has revealed that he suffered at the hands of alcohol addiction for years and that it accelerated a medical condition that led to him having to have life-saving surgery.
The actor, who made his name as unemployed musician Jez in cult comedy Peep Show, was told during a routine medical examination on the set of his sitcom Back that he “would not last two days” if he didn’t undergo immediate surgery.
Diagnosed with a mitral valve prolapse after suffering from a heart murmur, Webb put feeling tired all the time down to treating his body “like a skip,” and a growing dependence on cigarettes and alcohol.
“I didn’t realise how unwell I was. I had no idea,” Webb told The Sunday Times Magazine.
When there was talk of delaying the procedure, the cardiologist who examined Webb told the surgeon: “You can’t send him home for five days, he isn’t going to last two days.”
Webb underwent surgery in November, losing two-thirds of his blood cells in the process, something he describes as “a bit touch and go.”
While not directly caused by his drinking and smoking, it is likely both exacerbated his condition.
Speaking about on dependency of cigarettes and alcohol, Webb admitted that “the drinking crawled up so gradually that I was slow-killing myself.
“It was certainly an addiction at the end, a dependency. I drank a lot of beer, during the day, on my own.”
Webb is now seeing a therapist and has quit smoking and drinking, but admits that alcohol is proving harder to leave behind than tobacco.
Last year it was revealed that hit comedy series Peep Show was set to make a return with a U.S. adaptation, complete with gender reversed lead roles.
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