Red Dwarf star Craig Charles rushed to hospital after suffering pain while presenting on radio show | Ents & Arts News

Actor and radio presenter Craig Charles has said he was rushed to hospital after falling ill on his BBC radio show.

Charles, known for his acting roles in Red Dwarf and Coronation Street, told BBC Radio 6 Music listeners he missed a show after spending 24 hours in hospital after contracting a mystery illness while he was on the air.

“When we were doing the show on Wednesday…my hand couldn’t hold the pen properly, and my fingers were tingling, and I had pain in the right side of my shoulder, up my neck and down the back of my head. he says.

Members of his production team told him to stop and go to the hospital, but Charles “was like, ‘No, no, no, we’re gonna get through the show, we’re gonna get through the show’ “.

As soon as his slot ended at 4pm, the 58-year-old was met by his wife Jackie who drove from the BBC headquarters in Salford to Wythenshawe Hospital.

Charles said: ‘Now they gave me an instant ECG to make sure my heart was okay and stuff, and (said) ‘go wait in the waiting room and we’ll call your name’.

“So I’m going to wait in the waiting room, it was half past four, and they called me around quarter to ten at night.

“Now this is no disrespect or criticism of Wythenshawe Hospital, they were brilliant, they were professional, they were caring, they were dedicated.”

He was then told he needed to have a CT scan – “it’s fine, by the way, there’s nothing wrong with the brain” – and also an MRI, which would mean an overnight stay, but the hospital didn’t didn’t have any spare beds.

“So we spent the night in the emergency room of the triage ward, with the blue curtain drawn around us – me and Jackie on this little hospital cart,” Charles said.

“We had about an hour of kip until a guy came in screaming because he had dislocated his shoulder.

“And we woke up like this and have been awake ever since. We got out of the hospital just as Chris (Hawkins) was finishing my show yesterday, so almost 24 hours in the hospital and they still don’t know what’s wrong with me.

“But at least I know I’m not dying yet!”