Matt Lucas reveals he is autistic and has never spoken about it publicly before
Matt Lucas has shared his autism diagnosis for the first time (Getty Images)
Matt Lucas has publicly shared for the first time that he is autistic, making the disclosure while speaking to Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Radio 2.
On air, Lucas said: “I’ve never, ever spoken about this publicly, but I’m autistic.”
The 52-year-old went on to describe how he balances being around people with needing time alone, particularly while working in theatre. “So I enjoy periods of being very sociable, like you are in the theatre , and then I also enjoy those periods of solitude where I can just write on my own,” he said.
Ranganathan asked: “Do you find that you need to recharge each battery, like you’re kind of flitting between those two things?”
Lucas replied: “Yeah, and so on my days off, you know you do theatre six days a week, and on my day off, apart from resting and resting my voice and all of that, on my day off I like not to see people and give them a break from me, but just to have that recharge time is quite important to me.”
What Matt Lucas said on Radio 2
In the same conversation, Lucas also spoke about his writing plans, saying he is working on a third novel and describing it as “for adults”. He added: “The first two had been for kids, and it’s quite a long haul. I know what I want my fourth novel to be.”
Writing plans and dream theatre role
Lucas is best known as co-creator and star of BBC sketch comedy Little Britain (with David Walliams) and Come Fly With Me, and later became a mainstream Saturday-night TV figure as a former presenter and co-host on The Great British Bake Off. He is also an openly gay public figure in UK entertainment, and recently spoke movingly while paying tribute to his late partner Kevin McGee.
Lucas also said he would like to play Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd, adding: “I’ve never seen it played by a man before. I don’t know if the Sondheim estate would permit it.”
