Russell Howard quits TV after 19 years and says why in bombshell statement

After 19 years of lighting up our screens, Russell Howard has decided to call time on his television career. The 44 year old comedian disclosed in a candid moment: "I don't do TV anymore, I just do stand-up and my podcast."

Howard, renowned for fronting his BBC series 'Good News' from 2009 until 2015, also took the helm of 'The Russell Howard Hour' on Sky in 2017, which included six series and a spin-off during the pandemic lockdown. Known for his appearances on 'Mock of the Week', the show has since faced the chop.

However, Russell is now getting ready to pour all his creative energies into two podcasts - 'Five Brilliant Things' and another with a football twist, 'GoalLess'. His final TV endeavour was on Channel 4's 'Big Fat Quiz of Telly' back in August.

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Speaking on the 'Have A Word' podcast, he elaborated on his departure: "I was all over the world and it was just fun. TV is fun but it's not as fun [as stand-up]. Writing a book I couldn't do because I don't want to sit and entertain myself but doing stand-up is what I love doing.

"It's not entertainment for committee, it's your dictatorship. The audience are like this brilliant jury that let you know through laughter whether it works or not.", reports the Mirror.

Previously, besides racking up laughs on stage and screen, Russell Howard had graced Netflix with a special show and an intimate documentary exploring his family life, including touching moments such as sharing his bed with his epileptic brother Daniel following a harrowing seizure. Back in 2021, Russell and his brother opened a window into their lives, sharing the details of a freak accident that sparked Daniel's severe epilepsy.

The comedian heartbreakingly recounted the lengths to which his brother went to feel safe at night following a terrifying fit. He said: "When I was 18, my brother had a really bad epileptic fit. We found him on the floor. He was blue. We were terrified."

Russell remembered. "We thought he was gonna die. We got into the hospital and he was OK. Two days later, he came back full of bravado. But later that night he knocked on the door and said 'is it alright if I sleep with you? It's boring going to bed, innit?

"He put his leg on me. OK, fine. He's had a tough couple of days. I can live with that..." This became a nightly ritual that lasted for a whole year, designed as an ad-hoc alert system.

"This went on for a year, this leg on me. It was only recently that I said to Daniel, 'What was that about?' And he said, 'Y'know, I was afraid to go to sleep in case I woke up dead. Didn't want to burden you with that. So I just slept with my leg there."

"I thought if I started shaking you would wake up and I would be all right'." Through their conversation, Russell also reflected on the bike accident at ten years old—which led to Daniel developing epilepsy—and the agonising episode that made them think they could lose him.

Bristol-born Russell shared: "Daniel has epilepsy and what’s awful about it is that I know when it happened because we were riding our bikes down a hill, and a battery fell out of my light on the back of my bike and sort of flicked up. And I looked around and Daniel went over the battery, smacked his head and was kind of on the floor. This was before the days of helmets and all that kind of stuff."

For a year or so Daniel suffered headaches and then began to have fits, culminating in one aged 14 when the family feared the worst would happen. Russell said: "He's upstairs with [sister] Kerry and she was calling me, and my brother was like, you know, he started fitting. Dad was crying. It was the only time I have seen him cry, it was absolutely horrific."