Vic Reeves collapsed at a wedding in Poole and was taken to hospital after appearing to have overexerted himself, according to a source at the venue.
The 67-year-old comedian, whose real name is Jim Moir, had been attending the celebration at the Hotel du Vin in the Dorset town last weekend with his wife, Nancy Sorrell.
A source said Reeves had been entertaining guests when the atmosphere suddenly changed and staff were asked to call an ambulance.
“Vic was telling jokes and entertaining people – and obviously everyone was hitting the bar as the party went on just as you’d expect,” they said.
“But suddenly it appeared to take a bit of a turn for the worse – there was a commotion in the middle of the group and staff were being asked to call for an ambulance which turned out to be for Vic who wasn’t looking at all well.”
The source added: “The next thing he was being wheeled out by paramedics. It all seemed to shift from lots of laughter to serious concern pretty fast.”
Reeves and Sorrell, who married in 2003, had also taken a boat trip around Poole Harbour during their stay. The couple share an interest in birdwatching and were pictured on the water with binoculars around their necks.
Reeves’s representative said he had been checked over and “given a clean bill of health”.
The comedian has previously spoken about drinking during the height of his fame with comedy partner Bob Mortimer. In 2020, he said their main vices in the 1990s had been “lager and fags”.
His past drinking has also been the subject of reports. Caroline Steffens, described as Sorrell’s oldest friend, previously alleged that Reeves could drink “six bottles of wine a night” during a binge. The claims were reported by the Sunday People.
In 2005, Reeves was banned from driving for 32 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of community punishment after admitting drink-driving and leaving the scene of an accident. A court heard he was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit when his vintage Jaguar hit a parked car near his home in Kent.
Reeves has since largely moved away from his best-known comic persona and pursued a career as an artist under his birth name.
