Jack Whitehall reveals 'big wake-up call' after terrifying medical scare

Jack Whitehall had a "big wake-up call" when he was told he had "pre-gout".

The 36-year-old comedian has transformed his lifestyle and diet since being told by a doctor that he could develop the painful arthritic condition if he didn't change his ways. Jack admits he developed a "dad bod" after welcoming his first child into the world - a daughter named Elsie - with girlfriend Roxy Horner, a year ago, but he threw himself into getting into shape for his upcoming psychological thriller series 'Mallice', and he subsequently avoided gout.

He told Jamie Laing on his 'Great Company' podcast: "The dad bod had set in and I was drinking wine every night. I went to a doctor and he told me I had pre-gout that was a big wake-up call. My dad had gout and I have made jokes about him having gout relentlessly on our shows."

"But now I am post pre-gout, I am proud to say. And I didn't have gout." Jack's admission comes after he shared a "vicious lie" about his dad, Michael Whitehall while on The One Show. He let slip: "We loved working together. But we did have a really good time doing that, but we were desperate to find something else to do and we were getting quite desperate, to be honest. Even, at one point last year Michael unfortunately had to go in for a colonoscopy."

Alex Jones couldn't help reacting with shock: "Oh no, Michael!" while Michael himself quipped: "That is a vicious, vicious lie. I have never had a colonoscopy. I have never had one." Attempting to override his father's denial, Jack interjected: "It was two years ago and at the end- You have! And at the end they give you a DVD and we had that conversation where we said, 'Maybe we could sell that to Netflix and call it Travels Inside My Father'. We did! We had a whole discussion."

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Jack has become one of the UK's richest comedians. The 'Fresh Meat' star is said to have pulled in £2 million last year alone taking his total net worth up to £11.4 million - mostly thanks to his string of Netflix shows he hosts alongside his dad Michael such as 'Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father'.

An industry insider told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz column: "There is no stopping Jack. Even becoming a dad hasn't slowed down his earnings - and the commissions keep coming. He remains hugely likeable, and crucially his comedy appeals to advertisers as it's safe and clean."

"Leaning on the relationship he has with his grouchy dad Michael and fun-loving mum Hilary has helped take him from laddy topics to more relatable ones, too. It's hard to see a time when Jack won't be popular."

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