Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi shared that he was recently diagnosed with Tourette syndrome on Monday.
In a transparent video post shared to his Instagram, the “Someone You Loved” singer answered questions from fans, one of whom requested that Capaldi touch on his experience with Tourette syndrome.
“I have Tourettes,” he confirmed in the video. “I’ve always had that, apparently.”
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder defined by the occurrence of tics, or unwanted, sudden, repetitive, rapid movements or vocal sounds. The condition typically first presents itself in children between the ages of 5 and 10.
Capaldi, 25, described his diagnosis as a “new thing,” which he had not “really learned much about it.”
"The worst thing about it is when I’m excited, I get it. When I’m stressed, I get it. When I’m like happy, it happens as a bad f-------," he said. "It happens all the time. Some days it’s more painful than others ... but yeah, it’s not that big a deal. That’s the one thing. It looks a lot worse than it is. Sometimes quite uncomfortable, but I guess that’s it. When they told me, ‘We think you got Tourettes,' I was like, ‘Oh, that makes so much sense.’”
Capaldi noted that he has done other tests for his health and is in overall good shape.
On Wednesday, Capaldi followed up his announcement with a cheeky Instagram story about the praise and support he’s received from fans regarding his decision to open up about his diagnosis.
“I was in the newspaper today because people I told everyone I had Tourettes,” he explained in the video. “And the people run a big story about that. And there were people on Twitter being really nice and being like, what a great thing for someone with his profile to talk about and, you know, be open with and spread awareness can be a great ambassador. Well, gaze upon your ambassador, other people with Tourettes.”
In the series of Instagram clips, Capaldi appeared in only white briefs, which he jokingly bemoaned were oversized and sent to him by his record label. Ahead of the debut of his latest track, “Forget Me,” the singer promoted its release with billboard ads that feature him in near-nude— a decision he wrote on an Instagram post was made “in the name of self-promotion” because “Sex sells.”
Capaldi's latest single “Forget Me” is out this week on Sept. 9.
