Jeremy Paxman always had an enduring quality about him. The raised eyebrow, the barely disguised irritation, the feeling that he knew you were mistaken before you had even finished speaking. He was the most menacing figure on British television for almost twenty years. When politicians entered his studio, they braced themselves. However, since late November of last year, the guy who used to make cabinet ministers wriggle has been virtually nonexistent on the podcast he co founded about the illness that is currently taking his life.
Since November 30 2024, Paxman has not been featured on the Movers and Shakers podcast. That isn’t a short vacation. That is months of silence from someone who was presenting petitions to Downing Street and loudly urging the government to do better for Parkinson’s patients not so long ago. Early in December, his co host Rory Cellan Jones provided an explanation, citing a gammy leg,” but the absences continued, episode after episode, into a new year and season of the program. Eventually, the explanations completely stopped.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Jeremy Dickson Paxman |
| Date of Birth | 11 May 1950 |
| Age | 74 |
| Place of Birth | Leeds, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Journalist, Broadcaster, Author |
| Education | Malvern College; St Catharine’s College, Cambridge |
| Career Start | 1972, BBC Graduate Trainee Programme |
| Notable Roles | Newsnight presenter (1989–2014), University Challenge host (1994–2023) |
| Diagnosis | Parkinson’s disease (announced May 2021) |
| Podcast | Movers and Shakers (co-host since March 2023) |
| Charity Pledge | Donated brain to Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank |
| Reference Website | https://www.parkinsons.org.uk |
In May 2021, Paxman revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in the straightforward, unpretentious way you would expect from him. I can confirm I have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” PA Media said. I am receiving excellent treatment and my symptoms are currently mild.” He also stated that he intended to write and broadcast for as long as they had him. It seemed like a defiant statement at the moment. It reads somewhat differently in light of our current understanding of the disease’s progression.
The remarkable thing about his diagnostic narrative is how commonplace the warning flags appeared to be at the time. He continued to stumble and accuse the dog. Something didn’t seem right until he fell face first onto the concrete with wounds, blood, and black eyes. Parkinson’s wasn’t even on his radar at the time. I thought, ‘Parkinson’s what?'” he subsequently remembered. A doctor who had been following him on University Challenge made the real diagnosis after noticing what is known as a Parkinson’s mask, which is a little flattening of facial expression and a lack of the natural exuberance that had always characterized him on TV. Instead of trembling, the illness made its presence known by being absent.
The longest serving quizmaster in British television history, he left University Challenge in 2023 after presenting it since 1994. Even though it was handled with the typical British subtlety, that departure seemed momentous. After Amol Rajan took over, Paxman focused his efforts on Movers and Shakers, a podcast that accomplishes something truly beneficial: it speaks honestly about what it’s like to live with Parkinson’s disease without using the sanitized language of medical pamphlets.
Paxman’s irritation throughout those discussions was evident and, to be honest, well deserved. He noted that L DOPA, a synthetic dopamine replacement, the main drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease, was developed sixty years ago. 60 years old. Over 150,000 individuals in the UK alone suffer from the fastest growing neurological illness in the world, yet in 60 years, nothing has changed in terms of treatment options. He added, You feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall,” following his April 2023 presentation of a Parky Charter to Downing Street. In that fury, there was no performance. It was the fatigue of living in the real world.
He also made a statement that many people found memorable. “(Parkinson’s) may not kill you but it will make you wish you hadn’t been born.” You are stopped by this type of sentence. Paxman like in his brutality and precision, but he also has a tenderness that you don’t usually associate with him.
The illness doesn’t have a set course. Sometimes you feel awake, sometimes you feel asleep, and how you are today is no guide to how you will be tomorrow,” was Paxman’s blunt description of the unpredictability. For someone whose job was based on preparation and accuracy, that irregularity that incapacity to prepare, to predict what version of yourself will come up seems especially harsh.
In an interview with The Times, Jeremy Vine, who worked with Paxman at Newsnight and whose father passed away from Parkinson’s disease, stated it simply. I see how he’s suffering with that illness and I’m sad for him.” The directness and lack of euphemisms in the statement convey a sense of sincere sorrow for a coworker he obviously respected.
Additionally, Paxman made a commitment to give his brain to the Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank, which reveals something about the man. Following a career in forensic analysis of public institutions’ behavior, he decided to make a contribution to the scientific community in an effort to address the issues those institutions have been underfunding for decades.
His current health status is still unknown. Without him, the program continues, and his co hosts apologize courteously to listeners who are probably observing the trend. No one appears to be publicly speculating about whether he will return to the microphone. It appears that the illness is stealing more from him than it used to, and that must be a very tough reality for a guy who formerly refused to be defeated by anything.
i) https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/symptoms-parkinsons-disease-jeremy-paxman-27012998
ii) https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-vine-jeremy-paxman-pakinsons-health-newsnight-b2732703.html
iii) https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/jeremy-paxman-gives-health-update-28981674
iv) https://www.parkinsonseurope.org/parkinsonslife/jeremy-paxman-i-refuse-to-be-beaten-by-parkinsons-disease/