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Richard Osman has opened up about living with a rare eye condition that has shaped his approach to both work and daily life.
Richard Osman is known for his role on Pointless (Image: Getty)
Richard Osman has revealed the health struggle that led him to make significant changes in his approach to presenting on TV.
The 53-year-old is a well-known author, presenter of House of Games, and former host of Pointless alongside Alexander Armstrong. However, Osman has been living with nystagmus, a rare eye condition that severely affects his vision, since birth.
Unlike most presenters who rely on an autocue to read their lines, Richard cannot use this technology because of his condition.
Autocues typically display scripts on a small screen just behind the camera, allowing presenters to read while maintaining eye contact with the audience.
Richard has opened up about his condition in a previous interview (Image: BBC/Remarkable TV/Matt Frost)
However, Richard’s vision doesn’t allow him to see the screen, forcing him to memorise his scripts entirely before filming.
“I write my own script and I’ll learn it, then [on screen] my eyes can go wherever I want them to,” Richard explained to Radio Times. “It’s what I’ve always done. When I was at school, I just had to learn everything because I couldn’t see the board. So long as I’m not on autocue, I can relax."
Osman has previously addressed the noticeable flickering of his eyes during broadcasts, reassuring viewers in 2013 that it was a result of his condition. When a fan asked if his eye condition affected his ability to read license plates, Osman admitted that it was "too bad to drive."
Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman hosted Pointless together (Image: Getty)
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On Twitter, he also responded to another user’s comment about his lack of an autocue, saying, “No autocue, so I never have to focus on one point. I hope it wasn't too off-putting.”
Back in 2022, Osman stepped down from Pointless to focus on his writing career and other personal projects, allowing him to explore opportunities outside of his long-running role on the show.
He has become a hugely successful author - with The Thursday Murder Club and its follow-up The Man Who Died Twice both topping the Sunday Times best-seller list for fiction.
The Thursday Murder Club is currently being adapted for Netflix. The film will star Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best, Pierce Brosnan as Ron Ritchie, and Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif, bringing Osman's beloved characters to life in a highly anticipated adaptation.
English (US) ·