paul whitehouse says his three heart stents fitted in 2015 may outlast him, and he does not want them to be the cause of his demise. The remark came in a conversation with Bob Mortimer on Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, where Whitehouse laid out how long the treatment has remained part of his life.
Three stents in 2015
Whitehouse said, “I think they are going to outlast me.” He added, “Like I bought a sofa recently that's probably going to outlast me, Bob. And I like to think my stents aren't going to be the cause of my demise, you know?” That is a blunt way of describing long-term follow-up: the hardware may stay in place for years, but the patient still has to manage the condition around it.
He had three stents fitted in 2015 after his heart disease was discovered following life-saving bowel surgery. He later said of the devices, “Some sort of very high-tech, futuristic kind of steel sleeve. They put it in, blow it up, leave it. Get on with it. Let this man carry on delighting millions.”
Diet after treatment
Whitehouse said the main change after treatment was diet. “What had to change, obviously, is diet,” he said, before adding, “But it's very difficult to resist a mini chocolate doughnut, for example, isn't it?” That is the practical side of cardiac aftercare: the operation does not end the routine, it changes it.
He also told Saga Magazine, “In many ways I was lucky. When I had the heart stents, the guy who did it said, 'Well I didn't put them in for you to go and sit by the fire, so get up and go out'.” Whitehouse said, “I took him at his word, so I do a lot of exercise to keep myself ticking over.”
Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse
The health discussion appeared in the third episode of the first series of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, the programme that also reflects Bob Mortimer's own heart history. In that episode, Whitehouse introduced Mortimer to fly-fishing for wild rainbow trout in Derbyshire, turning a medical conversation into part of the show’s working rhythm.
The contradiction inside Whitehouse’s comments is the point: he says he was lucky to be alive, does not worry much about physical illness, and yet still speaks as someone living with treatment that may outlast him. In 2015 he told Radio Times, “Well, I should probably die. Although, there is a school of thought that thinks I will live forever,” and, “I worry much more about mental illness than physical illness.”
That is the real takeaway for anyone following Whitehouse’s health story: the stents are not the end of the story, just the part that still sets the pace. His own words suggest the work now is maintenance — exercise, diet, and paying attention — rather than waiting for a dramatic medical milestone.
