Peep Show star Matt King reveals he secretly split from his wife of 30 years before suffering a rare spinal stroke

Peep Show star Matt King has revealed he has split from his wife after 30 years together, admitting he threw himself into work to escape the painful breakdown of their marriage.The actor, 58, best known for playing drug-addled Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom, later suffered a life-threatening spinal stroke that left him temporarily paralysed from the neck down.Matt said he immersed himself in writing a book about his famous comedy character to avoid confronting the collapse of his relationship.'I wrote it in sort of quite intense bursts,' he told Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. 'When I first started writing, maybe 18 to 20 months ago, I guess, I wrote a lot in one hit.'I was going through a separation, divorce with my missus of 30 years at the time. And so threw myself into this.'He continued: 'I was happy to be going into his world and to be staying in his world. And I was spending as much time as I could writing and not really wanting to go back out into that bit behind me where all the real stuff was happening. Peep Show star Matt King has revealed he has split from his wife after 30 years together, admitting he threw himself into work to escape the painful breakdown of their marriage The actor, 58, best known for playing drug-addled Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom, later suffered a life-threatening spinal stroke that left him temporarily paralysed from the neck down'I think it sort of helped me go into these bubbles where I was able to completely cut myself off from.'But then, you know, you've got to come out of character. You've got two kids.'Matt, who has kept much of his personal life private, including details about his wife during their marriage, did not discuss the circumstances surrounding their separation.He has now revealed how the end of their 30-year relationship affected him while he was working on Moreish, a fictional autobiography of Super Hans.Describing how he became absorbed in the character, he explained: 'Sometimes the lines are quite blurred.'And it's not because the character and I are so similar - because in loads of ways we're nothing like each other - but obviously, there are aspects of both our personas where there is crossover.'The marriage breakdown came before another major upheaval in Matt's life when, in April this year, he suffered a rare stroke of the spinal cord.He was rushed to the Royal Sussex County Hospital after waking up on the floor of his home unable to move his body.Recalling the ordeal, he said: 'When I woke up on the floor at home, I was paralysed from the neck down.'And then that went through until I think I'd been in the hospital about 36 hours when I started to get feeling in my hands back.'He continued: 'I do remember looking at my hands going, "I'm not paralysed".'And then, yeah, then it all came back, but in a very, very limited capacity. I couldn't get out of bed to walk as well without calling a nurse. And my whole body had shut down, basically.' The cast and crew of Peep Show including actors Robert Webb (right), Matt (second right) and David Mitchell (centre) seen in 2006The actor spent two weeks in hospital, undergoing seven MRI scans as doctors investigated the blood clot on his spinal cord.He said the possible consequences of such a stroke included permanent paralysis, loss of bladder and bowel control, and death.Matt, who has since had to relearn how to walk and write, also revealed that he initially struggled to speak.'I had an occupational therapist, I had a speech therapist because I was, for the first few weeks, slurring to the point where I was almost unintelligible,' he said.His stroke also left him struggling with his memory and unable to finish the final section of his book without considerable difficulty.'When I first came out of hospital, I couldn't even text on my phone because the cognitive breakdown between my brain and my hands was such that I just couldn't type,' he explained.'And when I could type, I would do things like, if I was writing the word house, I would look up and read the sentence, and I'd written the word helicopter instead of house.'He has also revealed that his memory problems were so severe that, while recording the audiobook, he could not remember writing some of the passages completed before his stroke.Matt has credited his new partner, whom he did not name, with helping him through his recovery – describing the support she provided while he was unable to look after himself.'You have to have a very patient and understanding partner, which I'm lucky enough to have, who's just been incredible throughout the whole thing,' he said.'Without her, I don't really know how I would have got through this whole thing, because there's so much stuff you can't do for yourself when you come out of hospital.'The actor, whose Peep Show co-stars included David Mitchell and Robert Webb, is still receiving care from the hospital's stroke team.However, his recovery has progressed to the point where he can now walk two to three miles several times a week.He explained: 'Three months ago, I couldn't walk to the corner shop unaided without someone being with me. It was a truly, truly life-changing event.'