Craig Charles feels like a new man as he has put his health scare behind him.
The legendary DJ has had stents fitted since he suffered a heart attack a number of years ago and said this has given him a new lease of life in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. The 59-year-old recalled the moment he fell ill and explained his wife was away visiting her parents in Galway at the time, which meant he delayed seeking medical attention.
He said: "I was really pale and I was sweating but I was freezing. She said 'phone an ambulance'.
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"I said 'you're coming home tomorrow so we'll do it then'. She gets home the next day, takes one look at me and gets on the phone to call an ambulance."
Craig was in stitches as he shared a hilarious misunderstanding while his wife was on the phone to the 999 operator. He added: "The woman on the phone says 'what's wrong with him', she said 'I think he's having a heart attack'. The woman says 'stay with me, stay on the line, what colour is he?'
"And my wife says 'he's brown'. So I'm having a heart attack and laughing my socks off at the same time." Craig explained he suffers with the same heart condition his brother Dean died from in 2014.
He said: "It's the narrowing of the arteries that leads to the heart and they said it was genetic at the time and I should go and get it checked out.
"I just ignored them and got on with my life but then I had the same thing." Craig suffered another health scare earlier this year when he fell ill live on BBC radio – but tests ruled out a heart problem and he has since bounced back in typical fashion as he remains as busy as ever.
He continues to host a daily radio show on 6 music and still tours across the globe with his iconic Funk + Soul show. The party event is returning to Liverpool on Boxing Day with a show at Content – and Craig said why it is always special to perform in front of his home crowd.
He said: "No-one can party like a Scouser. There's a sense of connection there as you feel as though you're playing to your own and I think the audience see me as one of their own."
Craig said he doesn't get the chance to return to Liverpool as often as he likes because of his radio show commitments – but loves how the Funk + Soul events in Merseyside feel like a family party. He said: "A load of my mates are from Liverpool and come to the show. There's probably more people in my green room than there are on the dancefloor."
The Funk + Soul show has become a cultural phenomenon since it launched in 2002 and Craig credited the universal appeal of the music as to why it remains so popular. He said: "It's a genre that crosses all age groups.
"At my gigs, we have 18 year olds and 80 year olds. You could be into death metal, surf or punk but you've still got three favourite soul tunes."
Craig boasts an encyclopaedic knowledge of soul and credits his dad with sparking his passion for the genre. He said: "My dad arrived in England in 1958, he arrived at Liverpool Docks with a pocketful of change and a bag full of records. I was born in 1964 so while Liverpool was swinging to The Beatles, our house was moving to a different groove with things like Harry Belafonte, Johnny Mathis and Ray Charles."
Craig also credited his Merseyside roots for shaping his interests. He said: "Hanging around Granby and going to the Boogaloo, you were listening to people like Earth Wind and Fire and Funkadelic so there were a lot of influences.
"There's so many influences in Liverpool because it's a port city and it's had immigrants there for a very long time. Especially in Liverpool 8 because you thought it was us against the world.
"It was us against the rest of Liverpool a lot of the time. Things become very deep rooted and you become very passionate about things that relate to you."
Although Craig is synonymous with the funk and soul genre, he has enjoyed returning to daily radio as it gives him the chance to indulge his other interests. He said: "I was born in the 60s with the Liverpool Merseybeat and I had all my dad's stuff with the Blues going on.
"While I was at school, punk kicked off. When we started filming Red Dwarf in Manchester in 1988, that was when the whole Madchester kicked off in the Hacienda.
"I have accidentally been in the middle of a lot of these great musical waves and I know quite a bit about it so it's great to show off that knowledge and show off that love and passion with music."
Craig applies this eclectic approach to all walks of life as he also forged a successful career in television as a poet, actor and gameshow host.
A busy schedule is just how Craig likes it, as the infectious enthusiasm that has made him a household name for more than four decades still burns as brightly as ever.
He's set to appear as a zombie hunter named Liverpool Joe in a film named Zombie Apache that will be released next year and could even return to the classic sci fi comedy that sparked his rise to fame. He said: "I haven't given up on acting. We're in talks with the BBC and UKTV to do another series of Red Dwarf. It hasn't been on the BBC for so long but now they're in talks with UKTV to do a co-pro that will go out on Dave and the BBC."
Although many other projects are on Craig's radar, his love for the Funk + Soul show he has become synonymous with remains strong as ever as he can't wait for his festive show in Liverpool on Boxing Day.
He said: "We play party music for party people and everyone has a blast. There'll be confetti cannons, fireworks, ear splitting grooves, banging bass, banging brass and booga-bloomin-loo.
"It's always nice to get home and play to a home crowd." You can find further information on how to get tickets for Craig Charles Funk + Soul Boxing Day House Party here
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