Joe Swash has opened up further about the ways in which ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) affects his life as he admitted to having a serious shopping addiction.
The former EastEnders actor, 43, was seen during a recent episode of his and wife Stacey Solomon’s fly-on-the-wall BBC docuseries Stacey & Joe, visiting a psychiatrist for support with the diagnosis.
Swash then sought comfort from his other half as he confided to her how he had been finding it difficult to manage and wanted to start taking medication.
According to the NHS website, ADHD is a condition where the brain works differently to most people. If you have ADHD, you may have trouble with things like concentrating and sitting still.
People with ADHD may also struggle with impulse buying or compulsive buying, something Swash says he can relate to, much to Solomon’s frustration.
“I literally spend my life sorting people’s lives out and then I have to come home and sort my own life out… 'cause the whole of Amazon has turned up at the door…” lamented the former Loose Women panelist on the latest episode of their TV show, which aired on April 22.
Now, Swash has spoken about the issue in-depth to Tom Price on his My Mate Bought a Toaster podcast.
The show sees celebrities willingly hand over the keys to their Amazon and TikTok shop accounts, as Price trawls through their purchase histories – everything they have ever bought is on record, and their online shopping history reveals everything about who the guest truly is.
Price – also diagnosed with ADHD – told him that he believed the condition was very much at play when picking apart Swash’s catalogue of impulse purchases, which included a “watermelon growing mould”.
“There’s a lot of stuff on here… so much stuff, you’re buying stuff everyday Joe! I’ve done 120 episodes of this… no one’s ever bought a watermelon growing mould…!” pointed out Price.
“Oh that was amazing! Have you not seen them?” replied Swash excitedly. “Stacey’s got into gardening, she’s like a young Charlie Dimmock at the minute! She’s growing stuff, vegetables and cucumbers. I saw once that someone had grown a watermelon into the mould of Donald Trump’s face, and I loved it.
“I bought a square one and a heart shaped one, but weirdly Stacey said she thought it would be a bit cruel to the watermelon to have it grow into a shape… so we haven’t used it yet, but it’s there… it’s one of those things where the idea was better than the actual thing.”
He continued: “A lot of these things… I see them coming up on my live feed and it’ll tickle my fancy! I’ll look into it and it’s only £3… I can do £3… that’s the problem! Anything under £10 I can take a punt on… sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
He also gave an update on how he’s getting on with his ADHD medication - in a nutshell, he’s not as he has already lost it.
“[It’s] sort of part of the ADHD I think… swings and roundabouts… so I've had to order some more medication. But yeah, it's a weird one… I sort of always knew there was something, I mean you probably can tell by my impulsive buys.”
Agreeing, Price reassured him: “There's a lot of stuff… definitely, but it's great, you know, it's all good stuff… it's not like problematic stuff, do you know what I mean? It’s not like you’re wasting money, there’s always a reason for getting it.”
The latest episode of My Mate Bought A Toaster is availble to listen to here.
