Lewis Capaldi recalls heartbreaking moment with dad before Tourette’s diagnosis
‘He thought I was having a seizure and stayed with me in the car for the rest of the day,’ singer recalled
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Lewis Capaldi has described an emotional moment in which his undiagnosed Tourette’s left his dad in tears.
Earlier this month, the “Someone You Loved” singer told fans that he has Tourette’s Syndrome, a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements known as tics.
Capaldi explained that he had chosen to speak about his diagnosis as he didn’t want people to misinterpret his shoulder twitches as a sign that he had taken cocaine.
Appearing on The Diary of a CEO podcast on Thursday (15 September), Capaldi told host Steven Bartlett that his mental health was at a low before he was diagnosed, with his family even suggesting that he quit music.
“My mum and dad had raised it to me, my whole family and friends were like, ‘If this is making you feel that bad,’” Capaldi explained. “Especially when my Tourette’s thing was really bad and we never knew what it was.”
Recalling an incident that took place before his diagnosis, he continued: “My dad gave me a lift home from their airport one night after I’d been in London for a week and I was twitching like f***, to the point where he started crying in the car.
“Again, we never knew it was Tourette’s at this point, he thought I was having a seizure and stayed with me in the car for the rest of the day, it was mad.”
After therapy, Capaldi began learning to deal with his condition, as well as his anxiety and panic attacks.
He described his performance at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021, during which he had no problems with “twitching” for the first time.
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“I came off and I was in the toilet and I could have f***ing burst into tears,” Capaldi said. “Like, oh thank f***, I can do this still and not be f***ing twitching and not be terrified and all this s***. So that was a big thing.”
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