24 January 2024 , 21:09
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Comedian Bobby Davro is recovering from a minor stroke after collapsing at a comedy show. The former EastEnders star had walked off stage following after receiving a standing ovation from the audience at his sold-out gig.
The former soap star, 65, suffered what he has described as a "funny turn" at the Coulsdon Comedy Club, South London, last Thursday night. It comes after he was forced to cancel appearances after taking ill during a gig. He was said to have been "struggling" in the wake of his late fiancée Vicky Wright's death in May last year. Vicky - the daughter of late footballer Billy Wright - had previously been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
A representative for Bobby confirmed to the Mirror that Bobby – who rose to fame as a comedian before taking on acting roles including as Vinnie Monks in the BBC soap opera – became "unwell" at a gig last week. He has now cancelled upcoming appearances.
A source said: "Bobby was taken unwell during a gig last week in Surrey. Everyone in the crowd were hugely concerned about him. Bobby has now cancelled his upcoming gigs and is taking some time out. He has been struggling since the loss of his fiancée Vicky last year but threw himself into work to try and keep his mind off it."
The former soap star, 65, suffered what he has described as a 'funny turn' (Can Nguyen/REX/Shutterstock)
He was performing at the Coulsdon Comedy Club in South London (Getty Images Europe)Bobby had been due to headline the House of Stand Up's Sutton Comedy event on Thursday. However, it was announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Milton Jones is now the headliner.
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Last year, Bobby paid tribute to his late fiancée, who he was with for 12 years before proposing, following the news of her death. At the time, he said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "It's been just over a week since my beautiful [Vicky] left this world and it's only now I feel strong enough to share my feelings."
He went on to thank people for supporting him. Bobby said: "I want to thank everyone for their support and expressions of love and kindness you have shown me and Vicky's family and loved ones."
Bobby added: "To think we will never hear her voice to hear laughter look into her beautiful eyes see her smile to hold her and to kiss her is devastating and so incredibly painful. She will be in my thoughts and in my heart forever. She was my Schluffe and I loved her and always will."
In September, he shared his pride at how "strong" Vicky – whose father also died from pancreatic cancer – was amid her devastating diagnosis. He also opened up about how Vicky's cancer diagnosis cost him his on-stage acting career.
"It was very difficult, it cost me my pantomime career," he said on TalkTV. "I was late twice and I didn't miss one show and I worked probably better than I had ever worked before because I needed that, that's my medicine - making people laugh, getting out there and working. I need that, when I am not working it upsets me. It was painful for me not to receive the support from my work area, they didn't support me at all.
Vicky's dad died from the same form of cancer in 1994 (Piers Allardyce/REX/Shutterstock)
Bobby admitted he wasn't looking after himself following news of Vicky's diagnosis (Piers Allardyce/REX/Shutterstock)"In fact, I paid a price for it because I had to keep going backwards and forwards and she was in agony. Not one phone call did I get. They criticised me on a couple of things where I was late and got delayed because of this dreadfulness that was going on."
Before Vicky's tragic death, Bobby explained he had been keeping himself busy with work in order to cope with the horrific news. Bobby told the Daily Star: “To see someone as beautiful as her with this illness is horrific. It’s so sad. It’s extremely, extremely, extremely painful. Thank goodness I’ve got my work, because it keeps my mind off this for a bit of time.”
"I don’t want the fact I’m keeping working to sound selfish. Everyone who knows me knows it’s just a distraction for a bit of time from trying to help Vicky. I need to see people laughing, and I like that I can still make people laugh while dealing with this," he added.
The comedian admitted he wasn't "looking after myself" as he watched his fiancée lose her battle with cancer. Speaking on a podcast called Eyes And Teeth, he told host comedy ventriloquist Steve Hewlett that he wasn't coping, which was recorded just days before Vicky's death.
"I'm drinking, I'm smoking, I'm not looking after myself," the former EastEnder star said. "I have a little bit of grief in my life – my lovely fiancée has got cancer unfortunately and it has brought a lot of stress."
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He added: "I haven't done a lot of social networking because obviously I've had a few private issues with my fiancée and it's been difficult. So I haven't really had a chance to do a lot of social networking but I'm going to try and get someone in to help me so I can get it out there."