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Wales Online
Lifestyle
Sam Cook

Bob Mortimer: Health scare, net worth and how he burnt down his family home as a child

Comedian and actor Bob Mortimer made his long-awaited return to BBC panel show, Would I Lie To You? on Friday, February 10. Over the years, the 63-year-old has appeared on the show countless times, prompting host Rob Brydon to label him, “the legendary Bob Mortimer”.

During his many guest appearances, Bob has managed to pull the wool over his co-stars on several occasions. Perhaps one of his funniest lies came when he declared that singer Chris Rea cracked an egg in his bath after they recorded Boro’s 1997 FA Cup Final song. When asked what the thinking behind that was, Bob said: "I've never found out. All I know is I woke up the next day and I have never felt so alive."

In September last year, Bob revealed that he was “not very well” after spending some time in hospital. For more on that, Bob’s net worth and how he burnt down his family home as a child, continue reading.

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What was Bob Mortimer’s recent health scare?

In September last year, Bob shared details of a health scare that he’d had. The comedy star, who previously underwent a triple heart bypass, discussed his trip to hospital on Richard Herring’s podcast. Speaking at the time, he said: “I am not very well. I am not very healthy at the moment. I did a show last week, a fishing show and there was only two and a half days filming and I did it Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday and I was in hospital on the Saturday.

“I am sorry I should not have said that should I? It's a real downer.” He added: “I think because I was a smoker and an incredibly fast runner and a very dramatic dancer and I put that all in my younger years."

As mentioned, Bob had a triple bypass in 2015 as his arteries were 95% blocked. In the series, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, it was reported that Bob was at risk of over 20 cancers due to his weight gain.

What is Bob Mortimer’s net worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Bob is worth £4,162,050 ($5,000,000) for his work as a comedian, actor and presenter.

Did Bob Mortimer burn down his family home?

In his autobiography, And Away…, Bob revealed that he was responsible for burning down his family home. He described how he did this after using indoor fireworks.

Bob shared how, at nine years old, he'd let his curiosity get the better of him, and proceeded to take a match from the mantelpiece to light a firework. "Needless to say, it was a big mistake,” he wrote, “A cascade of sparks fell down into the open box of fireworks and the contents started to fizzle and ignite."

Bob added that once the incident was over, he got to work scrubbing burn marks from the kitchen - but then he heard loud bangs coming from the living room."When I walked back in, I was met with a wall of flames," he said. He then described how his mother told him that it was “probably a blessing”. Would I Lie To You? is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.

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