Richard Osman's debilitating health battles including 'addiction' and 'incurable condition'

The Thursday Murder Club author has dealt with several health challenges over the years.

Richard Osman has made quite a name for himself in the literary world after the success of his best-selling debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club in 2020. The book has now been turned into a star-studded on screen adaptation and will hit UK cinemas tomorrow on Friday, August 22.

Soon after Osman released The Thursday Murder Club, which is the first novel in his murder mystery series, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment snatched up the film rights. After filming commenced in June 2024, the film, starring huge names including Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, David Tennant, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie, is set to hit the big screens and will be available to stream on Netflix next week.

The Thursday Murder Club centres around a group of pensioners who meet in their retirement home to solve murders as a hobby. However, things take a turn when they suddenly find themselves embroiled in a real-life murder case. Director Christopher Columbus, hailed the cast as the "finest he has worked with since Harry Potter".

Despite Richard's soaring career as a TV presenter and author, it is not all plain sailing for him.

The 54-year-old has faced numerous health battles across his life including addiction, an "incurable condition", and a health scare he described as the "most painful thing".

Here we take a closer look at his health challenges..

Food Addiction

Osman has been open about his struggle with food addiction in the past. During an appearance on Desert Island Discs, Richard explained that food addiction is a "tricky one" because, unlike alcohol, you can't simply quit it.

He explains that he's either "controlling" his struggle with addiction or "not controlling it" as he said he thinks it emerged during his childhood years, the Mirror reports.

Richard revealed: "My addictive behaviour has always been food since I was incredibly young. [Food addiction] doesn't have any of the doomed glamour of drugs or alcohol but if an alcoholic came to my house they would be shocked to see that there are bottles of gin and bottles of wine completely untouched.

"If I came to your house and there were crisps and chocolate bars untouched in the fridge I'd be like 'What – how are they untouched?' if I'm going through an episode."

Speaking on the Rosebud podcast with former MP Gyles Brandreth, Richard revealed he frequently opens up about his addiction battles during therapy sessions.

He continued: "I talk to Bruce [Richard's therapist] about it all the time and he says, 'Well, you're always going to be an addict. You can't [stop being one] because you started when you were nine. You're not suddenly going to not be one.'".

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Visual impairment

Richard was born with an incurable eye disorder he likens as "being in fog at all times".

The condition, called nystagmus, causes him to experience involuntary eye movements.

Richard described his vision as being in "soft focus" during an appearance on BBC Radio 4, explaining that he has to "constantly move from left to right" and even struggles with reading autocues when appearing on Richard Osman's House of Games.

He said: "I see the world as if I was driving in dense fog, although I can't drive. I can see that there are things there, but everything is blurred.

"Nothing has sharp definition. Lights have huge halos that blind you. I've had it since birth so that's all I know."

Richard also shared that his struggle to read the blackboard at school sharpened his listening skills to an "unbelievably good" level.

He told The i Paper: "I've learnt to maximise what I've got. I can't read an autocue, which means I have to be more reactive to what's going on".

Painful condition

The author revealed a painful condition earlier this year that he described as 'worse than childbirth'.

Richard was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after experiencing 'severe pain' during the night where he discovered he had kidney stones.

Recalling his terrifying ordeal on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Richard said: "I've had quite the week of it. I woke up the other night in pain and I had a kidney stone.

"It is the single most painful thing that has ever happened to me. The doctors kept saying it's more painful than childbirth but I'm not sure I can buy that."

Despite being in excruciating pain, Richard made sure to applaud the medical staff as he said: "It was unbelievably painful but thank you to everyone at Charing Cross Hospital who were so great. I was having liquid morphine and it didn't touch the sides."

Following the operation, he received guidance from medics to increase his water intake to help ward off stones in future, advice he's determined to follow: "That I can do, no major lifestyle changes, just drink more water."

The Thursday Murder Club is released in selected cinemas today ahead of its Netflix release on August 28