Matt Lucas, 52, reveals he has been diagnosed with autism as he bravely opens up on secret battle

Matt Lucas has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism as he bravely opened up about his secret battle. The funnyman, 52, spoke about his diagnosis for the first time last week, revealing he likes to enjoy 'periods of solitude' amid his hectic schedule.Autism was once defined as a serious developmental disorder characterised by intellectual disability and the struggle to learn or understand language.But in recent years experts have loosened the definition. Symptoms include repetitive words or behaviours, struggling to vary routine and difficulties in social situations. Speaking to fellow comedian Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Radio 2, Matt said: 'I've never, ever spoken about this publicly, but I'm autistic. '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: 'Do you find that you need to recharge each battery, like you're kind of flitting between those two things?' Matt Lucas, 52, has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism as he bravely opened up about his secret battle Speaking to fellow comedian Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Radio 2, Matt said: 'I've never, ever spoken about this publicly, but I'm autistic'Matt replied: 'Yeah, and so on my days off, you know you do theatre six days a week, apart from resting and resting my voice and all of that, I like not to see people and give them a break from me, but just to have that recharge time is quite important to me.' Matt looked worlds away from his Little Britain days as he stunned viewers with his new look during an appearance on The One Show on last month. The actor sported a 'bizarre beard' as he revealed he has grown the facial hair ahead of his stint as Fagin in the West End production of Oliver. 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. Matt looked worlds away from his Little Britain days as he stunned viewers with his new look during an appearance on The One Show on last month Matt pictured as Vicky Pollard in Little Britain back in 2006 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.'My baldness has made me distinctive, yet also allowed me to transform myself. Stick a wig on and I’m someone else. Swap the wig and I’m now another person.'Matt has also spoken openly about his weight loss after he dropped from an XXXL to a medium. Back in 2022, Matt revealed how his family's concerning medical history made him change his eating habits and become more conscious about his weight.Matt was just 22 when his father unexpectedly passed away at the age of 52, something he says was a much-needed wake-up call as he got older.Appearing on sports presenter Gabby Logan's podcast at the time, he said: 'I'm 48, my dad died when he was 52 very suddenly, his dad died I think at 56 so I was looking at the law of averages here.'I was very big and I was getting bigger in the pandemic actually.He said: 'I'm growing this bizarre beard.... 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''Sort of not being very active, not really going out, not seeing people, just eating a lot of roast potatoes. I can't tell you how many roast potatoes I ate!'He said this realisation caused him to lose weight but the comic said he felt like he needed to do more exercise and become fitter nonetheless.He added: 'I was so big I couldn't really fit on screen anymore. The thing is if you're big, and by the way I've still got a proper tummy, I'm not skinny, by any means, I've just lost some weight...'I've gone from maybe an XXL, sometimes I was an XXXL, down to a medium now I think. Although medium is sometimes big on me and sometimes it's small on me...'The one thing I need to do is get fitter, I have put on a little bit of weight, that's my next challenge to do a bit more exercise.'I might have to make a game of it when I go out and exercise to stay out of people's way. I don't have a garden so I have to find a way to do that.'THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AUTISMPeople with autism have trouble with social, emotional and communication skills that usually develop before the age of three and last throughout a person’s life. Specific signs of autism include: Reactions to smell, taste, look, feel or sound are unusualDifficulty adapting to changes in routineUnable to repeat or echo what is said to themDifficulty expressing desires using words or motionsUnable to discuss their own feelings or other people’sDifficulty with acts of affection like huggingPrefer to be alone and avoid eye contactDifficulty relating to other peopleUnable to point at objects or look at objects when others point to them