Melanie Sykes: TV presenter opens up about Tourette's diagnosis on Alan Carr's podcast
TV presenter Melanie Sykes has diagnosed herself with Tourette's, the celebrity has revealed.
The mum-of-two, best known for being on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and for co-presenting The Big Breakfast in the late 90s, has told the world that she was recently self-diagnosed with Tourette's.
Speaking about it with Alan Carr on his podcast, Sykes opened up about how it has previously impacted her life - and the new understanding she now has about the condition. She is now writing a book about her experiences, titled Illuminated: Autism and all the Things I've Left Unsaid.
Tourette's is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements, known as tics, which usually develops during childhood.
After being told by Alan Carr that she was allowed to swear on the podcast, Sykes, 52, said: "Oh good, but I'll try not to, because I've just discovered I have Tourette's.
"I describe in the book how I laugh at really inappropriate things. I am wired a completely different way and I'm only just understanding it.
"Where I used to think "what's wrong with me?" No I know it's everything that's right with me."
Sykes was previously diagnosed with autism in 2021. There is currently no known cure for Tourette's, but behavioural therapy is a common treatment for the syndrome.
The TV presenter is also certainly not alone in the celebrity space with her diagnosis. Singers Lewis Capaldi and Billie Eilish have been transparent about how Tourette's has impacted their lives, particualrly in their respective documentaries.
In his Netflix documentary, How I'm Feeling Now, Capaldi said: "When I’m in traffic it [Tourette's] flares up. When I’m exhausted or after a big thing, it gets very bad."
He added in an Instagram Live last year: "The worst thing about it is when I’m excited I get it, when I’m stressed, I get it, when I’m happy I get it. It happens all the time. Some days it’s more painful than others and some days it’s less painful."