Ben Shephard has revealed he had to take painkillers after suffering a back injury caused when he gave a friend an “overly affectionate” hug after a night out.
The star said he stopped taking the strong pills and dealt with the pain naturally because they fogged up his head and he struggled to present Good Morning Britain.
Ben, 43, revealed his co-star Kate Garraway was forced to step in during one show when he started talking without realising.
Read more: GMB’s Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway in hysterics after newsreader falls over
Ben suffered a slipped disc after giving his pal a hug and has since had two operations.
The dad-of-two called his injury “very middle-aged” and “shocking”.
Ben told Mirror: “I am falling apart. I had literally been to the pub with a friend and said goodbye to him and walked away – and my back just went. I think I was overly affectionate with my hug goodbye maybe.”
He added to The Mirror that he was in a “bit of daze” while presenting GMB at the time because of the medication he was taking.
“Kate Garraway had to turn round and tell me to be quiet,” he recalled. “She said, ‘Shush’. And I said, ‘Did I say that out loud?’ and she said, ‘Yeah’. I was taking Tramadol which numbed the pain brilliantly.”
Ben said he came off the pills as he didn’t like the feeling of being in a daze.
Back in March, Ben spoke about his injury on the show revealing he was in “agony”.
He told Susanna Reid and Kate: “I’ve slipped a disc somewhere in the L3-L4 in my spine and it’s pinning my femoral nerve. Agony.
“Sitting is fine, it’s standing and moving around that I struggle with so as long as you keep me in one place I’ll be absolutely fine.”
Read more: Ben Shephard reveals he accidentally tripped up child during race
Kate joked: “The joy of it is seeing you looking like a little old frail person coming into the news room when usually he’s so bouncy.”
Ben replied: “And there I was hoping for a bit of sympathy and this is what I get!”
This isn’t the only injury Ben has suffered in recent years.
He told the Mirror in April: “I had a broken elbow and dislocated it too. I ruptured all the ligaments in my ankle coming off a climbing wall with my kids. Then to slip a disc walking? My ninja days are behind me.”
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