Lewis Capaldi: Forget Me singer feared ‘out of control’ health struggles would stop his performances

Lewis Capaldi has revealed that his “out of control” twitches left him in fear that he wouldn’t be able to perform.

The Forget Me singer, 26, who lives in Glasgow, opened up about his struggles in scenes from his documentary, obtained by The Daily Star. In the footage, he confessed that he was “so scared” over his health struggles that he was suffering with severe panic attacks during his 2020 tour.

Lewis said: “The twitches became out of control, it was awful, absolutely horrific. I started to get in my head about it, you know these pressures about things. Rather than just me singing my silly little songs, other people are depending on me.”

The Scottish singer-songwriter went on to explain how his twitches would get worse when he’d sit down to play piano and described it as “physically painful.”

He added: “I get really short of breath and it’s like my back f*****g kills me when I go to do it.”

The artist, who is usually known for cracking jokes and being extremely down to earth, revealed his panic attacks would make him feel “completely disconnected from reality.”

Detailing the attacks, he said: “I can’t breathe. I get dizzy. I’m sweating, my whole body starts convulsing. Either I feel like I’m going to be stuck with it forever or I’m going to die.”

After the stressful tour, Lewis sought professional help from a therapist, who suggested that the anxiety could stem from the loss of his beloved grandmother and the suicide of his aunt.

After further tests, Lewis was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. This gave him the much-needed relief of knowing what was going on and how he can take steps to ease the symptoms.

Lewis’s Netflix documentary, ‘ How I’m Feeling Now’, is available to watch from 5 April. It shows Lewis candidly discussing his Tourettes diagnosis and his mental health struggles, as well as his successful career.

Lewis took to Instagram to discuss the film, writing: “The film is called ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ and it’s named after a song I wrote, which will be released at midnight on the 17th of March.

“It’s the last song I wrote for my upcoming album and is a tune that’s all about something I’ve never really written about in my music before, which is my mental health.”

Lewis recently appeared on ITV’s This Morning and spoke to Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary about the Netflix Documentary.

Alison asked the singer: “So, how are you feeling right now, Lewis?”

He replied: “I’ve got vertigo right now”, before giving a short rendition of Kylie Minogue’s popular song, Spinning Around.

He continued: "I don’t usually have it, it’s because I had bronchitis, I’m just telling you my ailments now.”

Whilst attending a special screening of his Netflix documentary at Glasgow’s Everyman Cinema, he told fans: “I’m alive and living. I’ve not been very well. I’ve got vertigo.”

“So I’m spinning but I’m smiling. I’m not dying so it’s good. I did think I was there for a couple of days but luckily I’m here,” he added.