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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Susan Knox

Bob Mortimer wows fans with throwback snap of homeless hostel he lived in during crisis

Bob Mortimer has revisited his past by sharing a throwback photo from his time living in a homeless hostel in Peckham back in the eighties.

The comedian, 63, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a snap of himself sitting on a sofa in his flat with his television on in the background while he held a cigarette to his mouth.

At the time of the photograph being captured, Bob was working as a solicitor for the council.

Although he was not actually homeless, the comedian spent four years of his life in the Peckham hostel after a cockroach infestation forced him to evacuate his flat but he loved the hostel so much that he stayed on and made it his home.

Bob Mortimer has revisited his past by sharing a throwback photo from his time living in a homeless hostel (Instagram)

Alongside the throwback snap, Bob appeared to be reminiscing on good times gone by as he penned: "Living in homeless hostel. Peckham 1985. Smoking hard and loving life."

Bob first discovered the hostel after there was a cockroach infestation in the flats in his Peckham borough and the comedian ended up taking the borough to court over it.

Speaking of the life-changing series of events during an appearance on Desert Island discs back in 2019, Bob explained: "I was on the front of the local paper - a picture of me as the cockroach king.

"I had nowhere to stay in London so the Council said that I could stay in their homeless hostel until I found somewhere. I ended up staying there for four years.

Bob has lamented on his youthful past (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Bob's life changed forever while he was staying in the hostel (Steve Meddle/REX/Shutterstock)

"I did a very good job of playing the system. I could more or less guarantee people that could re-house them, which is what they wanted.

"They were living in dumps and I could get them out. It really changed their lives."

While living in the hostel, Bob's life changed forever and lead him down a path of fame and fortune.

Bob met Vic while he was staying in the hostel (Getty Images Europe)

During his time in the Peckham establishment, of his friends old school friends from Middlesbrough came to visit and asked if he wanted to go to Vic Reeves' Big Night Out.

There, he met his comedy partner Vic, whose real name is Jim Moir, and the pair soon became one of the most successful comedy duos to ever come out of the United Kingdom.

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