Rob Brydon makes light of Stephen Fry suicide attempt

Rob Brydon poked fun at his fellow QI star Stephen Fry's suicide attempt during a celebrity awards show.

The comic, who hosted the GQ Men of the Year awards, kicked off the show with a song about the guests that described Stephen as 'the nation's favourite dinner guest with charm up to the gills, what a shame he can't be left alone with vodka and some pills'.

Stephen, who laughed off the jibe, was at the central London event alongside stars including Harry Potter star Emma Watson and Justin Timberlake.

He revealed earlier this year that he tried to kill himself while filming a BBC2 documentary which sees him confronting anti-gay campaigners.

Stephen, who has bi-polar disorder and has spoken openly about his mental health problems, was saved when his producer on the film, which sees him travel to Russia, Uganda and America, found him unconscious.

The QI host, who said he broke four ribs and was unconscious after convulsions related to the overdose incident, said: "It was a close-run thing. And, fortunately, the producer I was filming with at the time came into the hotel room and I was found in a sort of unconscious state and taken back to England and looked after."

His decision to speak openly about the issue was praised by Nick Clegg.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the actor was helping to remove the 'shadow of shame' from people who suffer similar problems.

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.