Harry Hill has revealed he nearly returned to his pre-comedy career as a doctor during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
The comic trained as a neurosurgeon and worked at Doncaster Royal Infirmary prior to finding fame.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Harry – real name Matthew Hall – revealed he had been asked to start work at the NHS Nightingale Hospital, having filled in an application after a few drinks.
He said: “In the early days of the pandemic, it was all melting down radiators to make ventilators, the country pulling together and so on.
“I’d had a few drinks so I filled out the form and got an email back saying someone would contact me about my return to work.
“I broke out in a cold sweat.”
When Harry told the recruiter his last medical specialism had been “respiratory emergencies”, he was asked if he could start as soon as possible at the now-mothballed NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCeL exhibition centre in east London.
However, he claimed he would have had travelling difficulties from the south of the city.
“In the end it came down to them saying I could maybe do ‘track and trace’ calls on the phone,” he said, although that role never materialised.
Harry is best known for his outlandish observational comedy series TV Burp, which ran from 2001 to 2012 on ITV, while he has also narrated home video series You’ve Been Framed! since 2004.
Read Harry’s full interview in Radio Times, on sale now.