Richard Osman has revealed that he was rushed to hospital with 'the worst pain ever'. 

The presenter, 54, said he has had 'quite the week' after he 'woke up in pain' which he was later told by doctors was kidney stones. 

Richard revealed he had to have surgery at Charing Cross Hospital in London to remove the kidney stones due to the 'unbelievable pain' he was in.  

Speaking to his co-host Marina Hyde on his podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment on Tuesday, Richard said: 'I've had quite the week of it. I woke up the other night in pain and I had a kidney stone.

'It is the single most painful thing that has ever happened to me. The doctors kept saying it's more painful than childbirth but I'm not sure I can buy that.

'It was unbelievably painful but thank you to everyone at Charing Cross Hospital who were so great. I was having liquid morphine and it didn't touch the sides.

'Then I had an operation and they took it out. So I have the absolute joy of not being in pain.'

After the operation, Richard said doctors told him he had to increase his water intake to prevent developing another stone in the future.  He added: 'That I can do, no major lifestyle changes, just drink more water.' 

According to the NHS, kidney stones can develop in one or both kidneys and most often affect people aged 30 to 60.

Kidney stones are usually found either in the kidneys or in the ureter, the tube that connects the kidneys to the bladder.

They can be extremely painful, and can lead to kidney infection or the kidney not working properly if left untreated. 

Richard has previously spoken out on having to make more drastic lifestyle changes due to his battle with food addiction. 

In a 2021 interview broadcast on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs today, the star explained: 'My addictive behaviour has always been food. It has been since I was incredibly young.

'It doesn't have any of the sort of doomed glamour of drugs or alcohol or anything like that…

'There hasn't been a day of my life since the age of nine where I haven't thought about problems with food and how it affects me, and it will be with me for the rest of my life.

'I know that I am either controlling it or not controlling it at any given time. And these days, I control it more often than I don't.'

The star, who is 6ft 7in, added that while alcoholics may struggle to have untouched bottles of booze in the home, he had similar cravings for food, such as chocolate bars or crisps.

'The addiction is identical,' he said. 'The secrecy of consuming these things, the shame behind it.'

However, the father-of-two pointed out some major differences in addressing the problem. 'Food is a tricky one,' he said.

'Because booze and drugs you can just give up – unbelievably difficult – but, you know, a zero-tolerance policy.

'Whereas if you are addicted to food or to love – all these things that are sustaining – you do still have to have them. So it's quite a hard one to work your way out of.

'Because you have to eat, it's actually quite hard and sometimes you do slip. I try my best and I certainly have no shame about it now.'

He also suffers from the condition nystagmus, which causes the eye to make uncontrolled motions. As such, he cannot drive and he compared his sight to being in a permanent fog.

It was television that allowed him to see a bird in a tree or a cricket ball for the first time and, he added, the inability to read an autocue has worked wonders for his career because he has had to learn how to ad-lib.

'I have been able to use it to my advantage,' the BBC stalwart said. 'But I'd rather be able to see well.'

Richard revealed in December the surprising reason why he quit hit show Child Genius with a shock swipe at Channel 4. 

The author quit his presenting role on the programme back in 2019. 

Child Genius premiered in 2013 and ran for six successful series.  

The telly host recently opened up about the programme, explaining that the parents of the children involved were made out to look quite pushy in the edit when, in fact, it was the complete opposite. 

Richard said on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast: 'In the end I stopped doing it. The kids were amazing on that show.

'They were just great and also, by the way, almost all the parents were great as well.'

He added: 'Most of the parents were just sat there thinking what on earth have I got on my hands here. And some of the kids were super-competitive.

'And the parents were also competitive and I liked hanging out with all of them.'

The star then took a swipe at Channel 4.

He said that 'the show was edited in such a way to make the parents look like helicopter parents'. 

He also said on the podcast: 'One pair on set had an incredible bond but the father was portrayed more as a helicopter parent in the edit of the show.'

Helicopter parenting refers to parents who are overly involved and controlling in their children's lives. 

The term refers to the way parents "hover over" their children, overseeing every aspect of their life, similar to a helicopter.