Sam Thompson has voiced his support for Joe Swash following the actor’s recent ADHD diagnosis.
The former Made in Chelsea star — who has publicly spoken about his own experiences with autism and ADHD — appeared on ITV alongside Dr Amir Khan, Craig Doyle and Earl Spencer for a special episode aired during Mental Health Awareness Week.
During the panel discussion, the group touched on how Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash have been attending couples counselling since Swash received his diagnosis.
Thompson said: “I feel a lot of empathy towards Joe… It’s almost the fear because you know what you should be giving, and you’re being told what you should be giving, but it’s the inability to sometimes do that, and you feel like a failure.
“You feel really sort of embarrassed by yourself, and then it can turn into that kind of back and forth where there is not really any winner to be honest with you… You get very insecure and I have been in that very position many times.”
Swash’s diagnosis was explored during a recent episode of his and wife Stacey Solomon’s fly-on-the-wall BBC docuseries Stacey & Joe, where he visited a psychiatrist for support with the diagnosis.
Swash then sought comfort from his other half as he revealed he’d been finding it difficult to manage and wanted to start taking medication.
According to the NHS website, ADHD is a condition where the brain works differently to most people. If you have ADHD, you may have trouble with things like concentrating and sitting still.
Thompson was diagnosed with the condition at age 30 after undergoing tests for a Channel 4 documentary and said the confirmation allowed him to “understand myself as to why I was the way I was”. He likened it to having a “superpower”.
Since then, Thompson went on to win last year’s series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and sold out venues up and down the UK with his Staying Relevant podcast live show with co-host Pete Wicks.
“A lot of people don’t have the privilege of doing something that they enjoy and they love. I’m aware of that so it is a privilege,” the Hits Radio presenter told the Standard.
“I am actually really proud to have my neurodiversions – like I’m really, really proud of it.
“I’m not proud of it in spite of ‘oh I’m just proud to have what I have’ it’s not even that. I can only speak for myself and not other people, but I’m happy I have it; I’m grateful, like, I don’t think I’d be where I am now if I didn’t have ADHD and if I wasn’t autistic. I don’t think I would. I function in a different way to other people.
“You know like 70 percent of multi-millionaires have ADHD? I’d be shocked if a huge bunch of those weren’t autistic on some sort of scale if they’d gone and got tested, I’d be shocked. You’re special, you’re different and I see that as an absolute positive and an absolute bonus.”
