Matt Lucas reveals he is autistic as he speaks out publicly about his diagnosis for the first time and admits he enjoys 'periods of solitude'

Matt Lucas has revealed he is autistic as he spoke publicly about his diagnosis for the first time this week. 

Appearing on Romesh Ranganathan's BBC Radio 2 show last week, the actor, 52, admitted he enjoys 'periods of solitude' as he discussed how he balances his work. 

The star, who is about to begin performing as Fagin in Oliver on the West End this October, told Romesh: 'I've never, ever spoken about this publicly, but I'm autistic.'

Explaining how he adapts his career to manage his neurodivergent needs he continued: '... and so I enjoy periods of being very sociable, like you are in the theatre, and then I also enjoy those periods of solitude where I can just write on my own.'

Romesh asked Matt: 'Do you find that you need to recharge each battery, like you're kind of flitting between those two things?'

Agreeing, Matt replied: 'Yeah and so on my days off, you know you do theatre six days a week, and on my day off apart from resting and resting my voice and all of that, on my day off I like not to see people and give them a break from me.'

He joked: 'I am one of the few people who doesn't mind being ill. 

'You know when you are really ill and you have to cancel everything for a week and you lose your voice, I think "Oh lovely I am ill. I don't have to see anybody.

'But just to have that recharge time is quite important to me.'

Matt's latest interview comes after the star shocked fans when he appeared on The One Show last month looking worlds away from his Little Britain days.

The actor sported a 'bizarre beard' as he revealed he has grown the facial hair ahead of his stint as Fagin. 

Joking about his new look, he told hosts Clara Amfo and JB Gill: 'I'm growing this bizarre beard.' 

Clara replied: 'Well, let's talk about that. I don't think we've ever seen you this way.'

Matt then explained: 'Well, I've never ever tried. I grew a moustache for three weeks in the pandemic, but I mean, you know, I've talked about this before. I have alopecia. 

'I lost my hair when I was six, shortly after that photo [a picture on screen] was taken, actually.

'So seven weeks ago, when I knew I was doing this, I went, "Right, what happens if I don't shave?" And this is what happened.' 

He joked: 'So my aim is to keep growing it down to my ankles and then when I'm at the football and it's freezing in the winter.'

Matt will be playing criminal mastermind antagonist Fagin who leads the pickpocketing group of children in Oliver! on London's West End for six weeks from September 22.

Fans were shocked by his beard debut on The One Show, writing on X: 'Didn’t recognise Matt Lucas, quite a change since I last seen him. Looking good though'; and 'Matt Lucas looks like a different person'. 

Matt has been open about his lifelong battle with alopecia after he began losing his hair aged six in a delayed response to being knocked down in a traumatic car accident.

In a column for The Guardian in 2017, Matt penned that losing his hair 'shaped his childhood' and also his career later on.

'I woke up one morning to find several hairs on my pillow,' he wrote. 'The next day the same thing happened, only this time there were a lot more. By the end of that summer all my hair had fallen out.'

Although the actor said that his childhood was 'tough' and that he was 'mocked and bullied' because of his baldness, he said it has ultimately helped him in his career.

'Would I have had my big break as a baby in Shooting Stars if I had had a full head of hair?' he wrote.