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Dr Michael Mosley’s last interview before his death released

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5 months ago

June 14, 2024

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Dr Michael Mosley’s last interview before his death released

Dr Michael Mosley’s last interview before his death in a mountainous area of the Greek island of Symi last week has been released.

The interview was recorded less than two weeks before the TV doctor went missing while on holiday with his wife Clare on 5 June.

His body was found five days later in a rocky area of the island.

Doctor and broadcaster Chris van Tulleken described Dr Mosley as “one of the most important broadcasters of recent decades” as he introduced the last interview conducted by the late TV doctor.

Dr Van Tulleken said he wanted audiences “to reflect on his style, dryly witty, modest, humble”.

In the interview, recorded at Hay Festival in Wales on 25 May, Dr Mosley asked psychology professor Paul Bloom for his top tips to be happy.

Dr Mosley, known for appearing on programmes like This Morning and The One Show, talked about the benefits of doing uncomfortable things such as taking cold showers.

“I cannot say it is a moment of bliss,” the presenter said in the interview, broadcast in “There’s Only One Michael Mosley”, a special episode of his regular BBC Radio 4 programme.

“It’s normally followed by a lot of screaming… actually what I do is I sing really loudly which my wife really hates but it gets me through it and then afterwards I sort of feel good about it.

“But despite the fact that I know I’m going to feel better afterwards, it is still every time a challenge to turn it on to full cold because I know it’s going to hurt.”

Dr Mosley is credited with popularising the 5:2 diet, a form of intermittent fasting, through his book The Fast Diet which he co-authored with journalist Mimi Spencer, and later advocating for The Fast 800 diet, which follows a “moderately low-carb, Mediterranean-style diet”.

In 2002, he was nominated for an Emmy for his executive producer role on BBC science documentary The Human Face, and he also ingested tapeworms for six weeks for a 2014 documentary called Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four.

In the interview, Dr Mosley also discussed with Professor Bloom the benefits of finding “some way where you’re not constantly thinking about the past, present and future”.

Dr Mosley also discussed how he once filled in a personality test which involved both self-reporting and a brain scan.

Once the results of the scan came in, he said he was told he was “a bit of a psychopath. Is that a good insight, is that going to help me in any way to lead a richer and fuller life?,” Dr Mosley asked.

The professor replied quoting author Jon Ronson as saying “if you’re worried that you’re a psychopath, you’re not a psychopath”.

Dr Mosley first trained as a doctor before moving into the world of broadcasting, presenting a host of science programmes and films on the BBC including the series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain.

A second special will look at how he transformed people’s lives and was an executive producer following him working on the shows Pompeii – The Last Day; Krakatoa Revealed; Life Before Birth, and Supervolcano.

It will air on BBC One on Friday at 8pm.

Dr Mosley’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, paid tribute to her husband last week, describing him as a “wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband” and saying it was a comfort to the family he “very nearly made it” to safety.

She said he appeared to have undertaken an “incredible climb, took the wrong route, and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen” by search and rescue teams.