Mel Sykes opens up on shock discovery she has Tourette’s – and reveals the other conditions she’s battling at same time
TELLY presenter Melanie Sykes has revealed she believes she has Tourette’s syndrome.
The 52-year-old said she “self-identified” that she suffers with the condition after being diagnosed with autism two years ago.
The former Boddingtons beer model spoke out after struggling not to swear, and told how she has begun to embrace it.
She said: “I used to think, ‘What’s wrong with me?’
“And now I know it’s everything right with me because that’s what makes me me.”
She made the revelation as she was chatting with pal Alan Carr and finding it hard not to swear, which can be a symptom.
Recalling their long working relationship, Mel said: “It’s been over a decade, for f***’s sake!
“Can you swear on this?
“Oh good, that’s good but I’ll try not to.
“Because I’ve just discovered I’ve got Tourette’s.”
Mel, diagnosed with autism in 2021, said she would often “laugh at really inappropriate things”, adding: “I am wired a completely different way and I’m only just understanding.
“Because I used to think, ‘What’s wrong with me’?
“And now I know it’s everything right with me because that’s what makes me me and I do all right, I get by and life’s been really interesting.”
Tourette’s is a neurological condition which causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements.
On Twitter, Mel said she believes she has it, though she has not been formally diagnosed.
She explained: “I self-identify because of my studies and understanding of the pre-existing ‘conditions’ that are hand in hand in some autistic people.”
Singers Lewis Capaldi and Billie Eilish are among celebs who opened up about having Tourette’s.
Mel also revealed she was struggling with claustrophobia, which became so bad she got stuck on Ben Nevis.
She told Alan’s Life’s a Beach podcast: “Claustrophobia was a new friend, and that’s been like a mountain to climb. But I’m working on that.”
She went on: “I’m claustrophobic in areas that are like wide open, like midway up Ben Nevis where I got claustrophobic because you can’t leave without a helicopter or walking, and when you’re walking you’ve got six hours this way or six hours that way and you’re like f man!”
She said she is now “dying for a two weeker with bikini and books”.
Mel previously said her autism diagnosis was “life-changing”.
She told her fans: “Finally, so many things made sense.
“I now have a deeper understanding of myself, my life, and the things I have endured.
“There’s a sense of relief and a sense of mourning.
“Not because I don’t want to be who I am, it’s that I wish I’d known sooner.”