Lewis Capaldi opens up about dealing with Tourettes on BBC Radio 2

Lewis Capaldi joins Scott Mills on his Radio 2 show today and talks about dealing with Tourettes and panic attacks.

The Scottish singer sat down with Scott to chat about his Netflix documentary and his new single Wish You the Best, but the conversation covered much more.

Scott said that the documentary shows Lewis in a different way, and some was a little bit of a struggle to watch.

“I know 100%, when I watched the first draft of it, I thought do I die at the end of this because it’s so depressing in places,” Lewis responded.

He added that at least the songs are happy! There’s a scene where he plays a new song to his mum and dad and mum says it’s not one of his best. He tells Scott that all of a sudden, they’re like Simon Cowell.

“I don’t tell my dad what halibut to sell, I don’t tell my mother, I don’t know what she does as a job but I wouldn’t come over and tell her how to do it,” he joked.

The pair also talked about how picking songs for the new album was like a lottery for Lewis, the email from Elton John telling him not to have imposter syndrome and the meaning behind his new single and how he’s happy in his relationship.

He explains the new single is about someone moving on and that feeling where you know it’s the best thing for them, you wish them luck, but you’re dying inside. “So just a really happy song for the summer,” he jokes in true Lewis style.

Scott asks if he wants to settle down and Lewis answers: “I have a girlfriend and that’s going really well, I am happy chappy, she’s a lovely lady I feel good about everything.”

As for dealing with Tourettes and panic attacks, Scott said it did break his heart to see struggling in the show with the anxiety and panic attacks and the ticking.

“It is painful, I’m having a good day today I haven’t twitched that much,” Lewis responded. “I still do that I still tick quite a lot but it’s one of these things.

“What’s mad is that there is no real treatment for Tourette’s so I’m in a position where I can cancel a whole day of work if I’m too stressed or my anxiety it too bad. For other people it must be so much worse, they don’t have the luxury I have, being able to take day off.”

Scott revealed he had panic attacks when he was 15 or 16 years old, to the extent he couldn’t finish his GCSEs, and said that you think you’re never going to feel normal.

“Yes, you feel I will never feel normal again,” Lewis agreed. “I’ll never get rid of these, I had multiple panic attacks on Saturday evening, I went out for a few beers on the Friday, I always feel anxious after drinking but I’d really hammered it after a long time of not boozing and my mum had to come down to calm me down, lie in bed with me and I was having panic attack after panic attack and the whole week after I felt off.”

Scott Mills chats to Lewis Capaldi from 2pm today (Friday) on BBC Radio 2 or BBC Sounds.