The Chase star Paul Sinha has revealed his anguish over being unable to continue a part of his career that he really "loved" due to his battle with Parkinson's disease.
Paul, 51, is known by most as The Sinnerman on the ITV game show The Chase, but you may not have known he also has another job in the entertainment industry.
The quizzer described his stint as Abanazar in the York Opera House’s production of Aladdin as “the most enjoyable month of his life" in a recent podcast appearance.
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However, he also said he won’t be able to do it, or any other pantomime, again because of his battle with Parkinson’s disease which affects his “physical fitness.”
The general knowledge expert emotionally announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in June 2019.
Speaking to Clive Anderson on his My Seven Wonders podcast, The Chaser said being Abanazar in Aladdin in 2016 was “the most intriguing month of my life.”
“So it’s not comedy, and it’s not high art, it’s the experience of being the worst member of the cast,” he said.
Paul was slated by critics for his performance but he didn’t mind one bit because of how much he “loved” his time in the show.
He explained: “It was a very humbling thing to go through.
“The Chasers often get offered panto work because of the sort of villainy of the characters we play on the show.
“And I had no acting experience whatsoever, and whatever a triple threat is, I’m the negative.
“But I thought to myself, it’s alright, bad actors do panto it’s fine, it will be fun!
“And then you start getting the reviews in, and they keep saying, ‘And the weakest member of the cast is…’ and it becomes a familiar theme.”
Paul continued: “So you have to switch to another mode, and the other mode was enjoying every second of doing something that I’d never done before in my life.
“And thanks to my illness, I will never do it again because I won’t have the physical fitness.”
“And I just loved it,” the television personality gushed.
He later told Clive: “You just realise it doesn’t matter that you’ve got bad reviews, you are having the time of your life.
“And that is exactly what I had - it was the most enjoyable month of my life.”
It comes after Paul broke fans of The Chase’s hearts tweeting that he will not be in the latest series of Beat The Chasers due to the illness.
He tweeted back in March: “New episodes of Beat the Chasers are on their way.
“Unfortunately, I wasn't well for the recordings and couldn't join in this time around. I’m feeling much better now. X.”
He previously said he would quit The Chase if he began to struggle answering the questions at speed, due to suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
