‘I’ve gone completely deaf’: Vic Reeves reveals he has lost hearing in his left ear after developing a benign brain tumour that can’t be removed
Vic Reeves has revealed he has gone ‘completely deaf’ in his left ear after developing a benign tumour.
The comedian, 62, told how he has developed a vestibular schwannoma, a non-cancerous brain tumour that grows slowly over many years and does not spread to other parts of the body.
Speaking to The Adam Buxton Podcast, he said: ‘I’ve got what’s called a vestibular schwannoma. It’s a tumour in my head. I’ve gone completely deaf, one hundred percent deaf, in my left ear. It will never come back.
Health: Vic Reeves has revealed he has gone ‘completely deaf’ in his left ear after developing a benign tumour (pictured in 2019)
‘It’s the size of a grape. They just have to keep an eye on it. It’s benign. They can’t remove it. They can shrink it or just keep an eye on it, and that’s what they are doing.
‘I’d rather hear than not, but it’s happened so you just get on with it don’t you. I’ve got used to it.’
Describing his hearing loss, Vic, whose real name is James Roderick Moir, said if a car approaches, he can’t tell exactly where it’s coming from.
He explained: ‘I like to go out bird watching and I never know where the birds are. I can hear them but I don’t know what direction they are. If an aeroplane flies over, or a car approaches, I don’t know where it is.
Benign: The comedian, 62, told how he has developed a vestibular schwannoma, a non-cancerous brain tumour that grows slowly over many years and does not spread to other parts of the body
‘I had to throw away all my stereo LPs. It’s absolutely dead. Gone.
‘Between your ear drum and your brain is a nerve. And that takes all the information from your ear to your brain. And the tumour is right in between.
‘So it’s gone ping and snapped. And you can’t re-attach nerves. Not at this stage in medical science anyway. But in the future? Probably the week after I perish there will be great news.’
Vic also said: ‘My dad died of prostate cancer. And about a year later he would have lived. I’m living with deafness. Can you imagine a life without stereo records?
He said: ‘I’ve got what’s called a vestibular schwannoma. It’s a tumour in my head. I’ve gone completely deaf, one hundred percent deaf, in my left ear. It will never come back’
‘No more will I hear Jimi Hendrix doing If Six Was Nine. It goes all over the place. I thought it was great when stereo first happened.
‘Like we had a new toy and put it all over every record. All I’ve got left now is Frank Ifield on mono.’
Vic is best known for his double act Vic and Bob with Bob Mortimer.
The comedian is married to wife Nancy Sorrell and the couple share 14-year-old twin girls Elizabeth and Nell.
She is also stepmother of his two children from his previous marriage to Sarah Vincent.
Family: Vic is married to wife Nancy Sorrell and the couple share 14-year-old twin girls Elizabeth and Nell (pictured together in 2019)
What is vestibular schwannoma?
Vestibular schwannoma is a type of non-cancerous brain tumour and is also known as acoustic neuroma.
It is a growth in the brain that usually develops slowly over a number of years and doesn’t spread to other parts of the body.
According to the NHS, acoustic neuromas grow on the nerve used for hearing and balance and can cause both hearing loss and unsteadiness
They can be serious if they become large but are usually picked up and treated before this stage.
They tend to affect adults between the ages of 30 and 60 and usually have no obvious cause.
Symptoms include hearing loss, hearing sounds coming from inside the body (tinnitus) and vertigo.
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