The Inbetweeners star James Buckley has revealed that he has recently been diagnosed with a genetic disease that leaves him at high risk of further major health problems.
The 38-year-old actor is best known for playing Jay in Channel 4’s hit comedy series, and now hosts the popular podcast The Buckleys with his wife Clair.
During Monday’s episode of the show, James, 38, opened up about the results of a recent health check he’d had while Clair was in hospital for severe dehydration.
Explaining that he’d wanted to talk to a doctor about the results of a previous blood test, the White Gold star said: “It turns out I do have, it’s something to do with my Lipoprotein (a). So go and get it checked out. There’s nothing you can do about it, by the way.”
Lipoprotein (a) is a type of lipoprotein made by your liver that is genetically inherited and makes the blood stickier.
It can increase the chance of having a blood clot, as well as cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Clair explained that he’d been told to change his diet and exercise, with James joking: “Can’t I just have some medicine or something?”
He continued: “I’ve got this thing, I’m at a high risk now for a cardiovascular incident. My heart, my arteries. Not my fault.”
“Yeah, but stop clogging them with KFC,” replied Clair, with James saying: “Well, I haven’t been. I’ve turned it around. I’ve been drinking water and things.”
Clair said that the pair hadn’t had “a touch of alcohol” over the last two weeks, and “hardly any takeaways”.
James added: “I’m not a religious man, but sometimes I feel like there is a god that goes, ‘That’ll teach you.’ Because I feel like I’ve been on this podcast slagging people off that ‘don’t drink’ for being boring and stuff. And now I’ve been told to try not drinking.”
The actor clarified that he would have a beer “soon”, but had been “trying to do a little reset”.
The comment comes amid recent reports that all four stars of The Inbetweeners – Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, Buckley and Blake Harrison – have signed on for a comeback film on Netflix.
It comes after production company Banijay announced a new deal last autumn with creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley for the rights to bring back The Inbetweeners, which ran from 2008 to 2010 and spawned two spin-off films, for a new audience.
