Entertainment
BBC TV chef fears he isn’t going to ‘last much longer’ after heart surgery-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro
He previously said the operation was ‘scary.’
Rick Stein had surgery to replace a valve in his heart (Picture: Getty Images)
TV chef Rick Stein has spoken about his mortality fears after undergoing life-saving open heart surgery.
The 77-year-old, who has presented numerous cooking shows for the BBC, had the operation at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, in 2023 after he started to become breathless.
Rick – who is married to wife Sarah and has three sons with first wife Jill – was told to get his heart operation by his doctor after discovering his aorta wasn’t working properly.
He previously said having his heart valve replaced ‘stops you in your tracks’ and results in you ‘reviewing’ priorities, ultimately realising that he wanted to ‘simplify’ his lifestyles.
Rick has now reflected on the ‘very life-threatening experience’ further in a new interview, insisting he felt ‘optimistic’ about his health despote making a grim prediction about his life span.
The fishmonger turned cook told The Times: ‘Having had the operation and recovered, the improvement in my health has left me tremendously optimistic.
Rick with his second wife Sarah (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Fortnum & Mason )
‘Even though at my age and with the normal realities of life I’m not going to last that much longer.
‘I think as long as you’ve got your health and you’re optimistic generally and enjoying your life, you don’t tend to ponder too much about how little life you’ve got left.’
He previously told the Daily Mail about going under the knife: ‘It was scary before I went into the operation.
Rick said he ‘wasn’t going to last much longer’ (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
‘Afterwards you realise if you had died you wouldn’t have noticed, because you were under the anaesthetic.
‘An operation like that stops you in your tracks and makes you think about who you are.
‘It’s time to review your life. You’ve been through a very life-threatening experience.
‘The surgeon says it’s no more dangerous than the appendix these days, but to have your heart taken out, repaired and put back in, personally I’d say that’s big.’
In a career spanning five decades, Rick has published more than 20 best-selling cookery books and made more than 30 TV shows.
Programmes he has fronted include Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey, Rick Stein’s Spanish Christmas and Rick Stein’s Cornwall.
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