Paul Sinha has become one of the most popular faces in the game show world and fans of The Chase just can’t seem to get enough of him. The former GP is used to helping people get better, which is funny because he usually makes contestants feel ill on The Chase.
The Sinnerman, 51, is a fully qualified doctor, training at St George's Hospital medical school before becoming a GP in 1995. While there he discovered a new passion for performing on stage as a comedian.
While he was a junior doctor Paul took part in St George's annual revue and used his comedic talents as co-editor of the medical school newsletter known as the 'Slag Mag'. His big breakthrough came with his second solo Edinburgh Fringe festival show 'Saint or Sinha?' which earned him a prestigious if.comedy (formerly the Perrier Comedy Award) nomination.
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Paul has fronted nine different Edinburgh shows from 2004 to 2018, most recently The Two Ages of Man. Paul was spotted by TV bosses and was given appearances on Comedy Central's The Alternative Comedy Experience in 2013 and on BBC Radio 4 in his own show The Sinha Games, as well as his own series, Paul Sinha's History Revision in 2014.
Alongside comedy, the quizzing expert has shown off his brain power on a number of TV gameshows including The Weakest Link, Are You an Egghead?, Brain of Britain and Mastermind. Also known as 'The Smiling Assassin', Paul joined the original line-up of Chasers on The Chase in 2011. He has the joint-highest record on the show alongside The Governess.
In May 2019 Paul revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. The TV star shared the news in a tweet linking to a blog post simply headlined 'diagnosed' - detailing his medical worries over the past couple of years.
He said: "I have Parkinson's disease. I will fight this with every breath I have. In the time since my Parkinson’s started I have been ludicrously busy, and fully intend to keep Chasing, keep writing and performing comedy, keep quizzing and keep being hopeless at Tasks," he said.
"Dancing on Ice is, I suspect, out of the question. A lot of people have asked 'What can I do to help?' The answer is to treat me exactly the same as before."
Paul went on: "I have an amazing family, no strangers to serious medical illness, I’m blessed to have a fiance who is there for me, and I have a multitude of friends and colleagues whom I consider to be exceptional human beings. I don’t consider myself unlucky, and whatever the next stage of my life holds for me, many others have it far worse."
Speaking about his diagnosis on Loose Women in April 2021, Paul said: "I'm fine to be honest with you. I was diagnosed in 2019 which was a bit of shock to the system having spent two years with a troublesome right shoulder.
"But to be perfectly honest with you, covid has been more part of my life than Parkinson's because Parkinson's is quite a slow process compared to a global pandemic.
"So I've had more worries with covid than Parkinson's because I'm not quite where I was two years ago for sure but I'm still fighting fit."
Paul married his partner Olly Levy back in December 2019 after popping the question the January. Their wedding was the "greatest day" of Paul's life and he entertained his 75 guests with a self-written song and dance number at the reception.
"Halfway through the song, I was thinking, "I am having the f***ing time of my life," said Paul. "My clan were meeting his clan, and everything was wonderful in the world."
Paul has spoken about the support he has received from Olly following his Parkinson's diagnosis.
According to The Mirror Paul said: "When we got engaged I don't think he knew how traumatic the year was going to be. But we coped, and it's better being married, there is a more solid bond, and we have needed it, because of what's happened."
In 2021 Paul began hosting his own quiz show for ITV, called Paul Sinha's TV Showdown. The show faetures celebrities who go head to head together in a bid to answer as many questions as they can on TV knowledge.
