Latest news with #DoctorMike
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Hollywood star Hugh Laurie's wild insult to his fans leaked by podcast host
A podcast host has leaked a shocking statement from Hugh Laurie that saw the Hollywood star insult his diehard fans. The British actor famously played the belovedly bitter Dr. Gregory House in US TV drama series House from 2004 to 2012. However, it's now emerged that he'd rather do anything other than look back fondly at his time on the smash hit show. During a recent episode of the Doctor Mike podcast, host Dr. Mikhail 'Mike' Varshavski was chatting to The Pitt star Noah Wyle when he revealed he had invited Laurie onto the show for a similar interview. Varshavski told Wyle: 'I love that you're still connected to your characters very much. Most that play a role like John Carter get tired of that association. In fact, we invited Hugh Laurie to our show.' Varshavski continued: 'His staff was like, 'Oh, this is a good fit, we're going to reach out to him and see what he thinks. I'm going to read you quote-unquote what he said: 'He is not interested in opportunities like this, frankly doesn't care about the audience or reliving the show.'' Wyle laughed and said: 'That's so baller.' Varshavski then added: 'It's just such a direct and honest reply. It's not that he doesn't want to do your show, just he doesn't want to be House MD ever again.' In 2013, Laurie opened up about his experience filming the show, telling Radio Times that his experience was 'a bit of a nightmare' overall, despite the hefty pay cheque. He admitted: 'At this distance it all sounds absurd. Ridiculous! After all, what was I doing other than playing about, telling stories with a very nice bunch of people? What could be constricting about that? 'But the repetition of any routine, day after month after year, can turn into a bit of a nightmare. I had some pretty bleak times, dark days when it seemed like there was no escape. And having a very Presbyterian work ethic, I was determined never to be late, not to miss a single day's filming. You wouldn't catch me phoning in to say, 'I think I may be coming down with the flu'.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hugh Laurie's brutal response to podcast host who invited him on as a guest - and the massive disdain he showed for fans of House
A podcast host has shared the brutally honest rejection he received from Hugh Laurie when he asked him to appear on his medically-themed show. Doctor Mike, whose real name is Mikhail Varshavski, is a family medicine physician who launched a podcast named The Check Up With Doctor Mike. The podcast has featured a segment where Doctor Mike reacts to old House episodes and debunks what is medically accurate or not. House saw British actor Hugh, 66, take on the role of the cantankerous Dr Gregory House in the medical drama from 2004 to 2012. During a new episode with Noah Wyle, who played Dr John Carter in ER, Doctor Mike revealed Hugh's shocking reaction when he was asked to come on the podcast. Doctor Mike said: 'We invited Hugh Laurie to our show because a lot of folks like when we do House M.D. reacts. And his staff was like oh this is a good fit. We're going to reach out to him and see what he thinks. 'I'm gonna read you quote-unquote what he said. 'He is not interested in opportunities like this, frankly doesn't care about the audience or reliving the show.' Noah was clearly impressed with Hugh's line, and said: 'That's so baller' While Doctor Mike added: 'It's just such a direct and honest reply. Noah reiterated: 'So baller!' Doctor Mike added: 'Not just that he won't do your show, he just doesn't ever wanna be House M.D. ever again.' Noah insisted he is much more amenable, and said: 'I'm a gemini, middle child pleaser. I'll answer any question you'll ask me.' Referencing his part in The Pitt, Doctor Mike said: 'But you do care about the audience. In fact, it's driven you to do this new show and continue season two and continue crushing it, representing for us. Noah replied: 'I care about certain audiences.' Doctor Mike asked: 'Okay, and that healthcare audience falls into that mix?' He responded: 'This was scripted as a love letter to first responders and front line workers to say, we recognise what you guys have been going through.' Hugh's response doesn't really come as that much of a surprise as he previously told how starring in US medical drama House turned into a 'nightmare' despite him being the best-paid actor on TV. He was paid a reported £250,000 an episode and won two Golden Globes for his long-running role as curmudgeonly Dr Gregory House. But he suggested to the Radio Times in 2013 that his huge success became 'a gilded cage', with the actor even fantasising about having an accident just so that he could take a few days off. While filming the Fox show, Laurie had his car windows tinted to avoid being snapped by phone cameras and stopped buying his own groceries because he 'couldn't stand people photographing the contents of my shopping basket'. He admitted: 'At this distance it all sounds absurd. Ridiculous! After all, what was I doing other than playing about, telling stories with a very nice bunch of people? What could be constricting about that? 'But the repetition of any routine, day after month after year, can turn into a bit of a nightmare. 'I had some pretty bleak times, dark days when it seemed like there was no escape. And having a very Presbyterian work ethic, I was determined never to be late, not to miss a single day's filming. You wouldn't catch me phoning in to say, 'I think I may be coming down with the flu'. 'But there were times when I'd think, 'If I were just to have an accident on the way to the studio and win a couple of days off to recover, how brilliant would that be?'' The actor lived in Los Angeles while his wife and three children stayed in Britain during his time on the show. Asked if readjusting was difficult when he returned home after a near eight-year commitment to House, he replied: 'Yes, but probably more so for the family. 'For me it's been a delight to be back with them, to walk the dog, to listen to music and to read. I'm still appreciating and enjoying it.' Hugh, the former comedy partner of Stephen Fry, said that he might not be physically able to take on such a gruelling role again. At the time, he told the magazine that he would like a job directing, partly because it would allow him to wear his own clothes. 'If the opportunity presented itself, I'm not sure I'd either want or could physically do it. I imagine sportsmen come to a similar crossroads,' he said of taking a lead role in another major, ongoing series. 'Maybe there'll come a day when (footballer) John Terry says, ''I'm not up for the full 90 minutes any more. I can give you 60. Or perhaps I could just come on in the second half?'' The legs start to go and you realise you're feeling the pain a lot more.' He said 'some very good' scripts, 'some not so good and others so weirdly like House that you wonder what they're thinking of' were still pitched to him. He added: 'The big thing is that I'm a decade older than when I got that role. Even then the character was scripted as 10 years younger at 35 - and Fox would have preferred 28, to keep advertisers happy. Now if my name comes up for the lead, there'd be a shaking of heads. 'He could play the dad...'' He said of his future: 'I'd like to do something that involves wearing my own clothes for a while. It's an odd thing to go to work each day and wear someone else's. 'For House I also had a fake wallet with fake money in it, fake keys that didn't open anything and a fake watch that didn't tell the real time. All I can say right now is that there are things of my own I'm developing that I'm pretty excited about.' Hugh, who has spoken previously about suffering from depression, said that he still expects disaster to strike. But he added: 'When you assume that the worst is going to happen, you're freed up from any anxiety about the when and the where of it. Not that I'd ever be foolish enough to think I've finally got the hang of this life business,' The actor, who is gearing up for the release of his second album and set to star in Tomorrowland with George Clooney, said of his Hollywood status: 'One great benefit of not being on TV every week is that people will be a lot less interested in what I have in my supermarket basket. I could even un-tint my car windows - or at least opt for a lighter shade. 'When the ship goes down, the waves very quickly roll over the top of it and attention shifts elsewhere. It's just the natural order of things in TV - in life - and is as it should be.' In March 2020, Hugh briefly revisited the character to tell House fans what his iconic character would have made of the coronavirus pandemic. He tweeted: 'I can't speak for House, obviously – no one's written clever words for me to say – but I'm pretty sure he'd tell you it's not a matter of 'solving' Covid. 'This is an epidemic, not a diagnostic problem. We solve it together by staying apart.' He also praised healthcare workers, saying: 'When this is over, what say we all pitch in and buy health care workers, couriers, hauliers, farmers, millers, grocers, bakers, sewage workers, power workers, teachers, fire fighters and police officers a bottle of something?' he wrote. He later added: 'Thanks to those who've taken the trouble to tell me that decent pay and conditions for essential workers might be preferable to a bottle of something. Bigger thanks to those who knew that's what I meant.' Laurie also said: 'Chin up, everybody. This will work. However irksome it is for us, it's much worse for the virus. Picture the little bugger with its nose against the window, whining.'
Fox News
2 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
YouTube star Doctor Mike has warning for RFK Jr.'s MAHA movement
Social media star Doctor Mike shared his thoughts in a new interview on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and how he believes the movement can be improved. Board-certified physician and YouTuber Dr. Mikhail Varshavski has been outspoken about his criticisms of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. However, he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that he would "without a doubt" be open to sitting with Kennedy if given the opportunity. The Make America Healthy Again commission chaired by Kennedy has been "tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America's escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases," the White House explained to Fox News Digital at the beginning of the second Trump administration. Doctor Mike said of the MAHA movement, "I think the movement has ignited a good conversation in that we're talking about health. So I like it for that." But the physician is skeptical of the movement's methods. Doctor Mike applauded the desire to limit the amount of ultra-processed foods consumed by children, but believes the problems with these foods go beyond the ingredient list. "The reason why ultra-processed food has been so harmful to us as a society is not because there's one specific chemical found in each of these foods. It's because the foods have been engineered in a way where they make you feel hungry very soon upon eating them, so they don't satiate you," he said. "Two, they're usually empty calories, meaning that there are not good micronutrients in them." He believes the overconsumption of these foods is partially responsible for the obesity epidemic facing America today, and therefore argues that the problem is with overconsumption rather than simply what is in these foods. "I want to be as useful and practical as possible," he said. "That's what family medicine does. We find practical solutions for complex problems with our patients. And focusing and nitpicking on specific chemicals won't get us there." A board-certified family medicine physician with 14 million YouTube subscribers, he makes videos focused on providing entertainment, information and answering questions on a variety of health-related topics. Doctor Mike immigrated to the United States from Russia with his family at the age of 6. Doctor Mike doesn't believe focusing on ingredients will result in "drastic changes." "These manufacturers are still trying to get kids to consume ultra-processed foods. That's their fiduciary responsibility. They want to make money for their shareholders. But what we have to do is shift that incentivization away and actually put laws on the books, guidelines on the book, where it's not just a handshake agreement and saying, please phase out these ingredients, but make sure what we're phasing out will actually help," he said. Doctor Mike uses his YouTube channel to provide health information to millions of his subscribers, but also believes government agencies need to take a role in education to help Americans make better dietary decisions. "We need to bring back education surrounding nutrition labels. And this needs to happen on a massive scale. Like I can do it on my social media all day long. But if the government agencies are now participating in this research, if it's not making its way to middle schools, junior high schools, high schools colleges, we're doing a disservice to our children," he said. Doctor Mike wrote a Fox News op-ed in May about his opinions of RFK Jr. and the direction of the HHS, stating "our nation's health system is in shambles, and the leadership of HHS plays a pivotal role in fixing this disaster." Doctor Mike alleges that Kennedy, known for his vaccine skepticism, shares medical "misinformation," and doesn't believe he is the right person to lead the department. "Today, I say that Kennedy is the wrong person to lead HHS. The integrity of our nation's health agencies demands leadership grounded in facts, research, and transparency — not misinformation," Doctor Mike said. However, he is open to talking with him. "I think no matter how much you disagree with someone, the first step is to find common ground," Doctor Mike said. "And if there's truly an appetite for wanting to make people healthier, wanting people to make better decisions for themselves, I'm all for it." The MAHA commission is focusing on four policy directives to reverse chronic disease, including providing Americans transparency on health data to "avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research;" prioritizing "gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick" in all federally-funded health research; working with farmers to ensure food is healthy, as well as affordable; and expanding health coverage and treatment options "for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention." Reached for comment, an HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "Targeting harmful additives isn't 'nitpicking,' it is a necessary first step in confronting a broken food system that's fueling America's chronic disease epidemic. As highlighted in the MAHA report, our nation's children are increasingly neglecting the whole foods essential for their health as the consumption of ultra-processed foods has surged. More than 1 in 5 U.S. children over age 6 are obese—a 270% increase since the 1970s. "Meaningful, systemic change requires more than general advice; it demands bold action and accountability. That is exactly what Secretary Kennedy is delivering."
The Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Hugh Laurie praised for ‘baller' response to Dr House invitation
Hugh Laurie reportedly declined an invitation to revisit his role as Dr Gregory House, stating he "frankly doesn't care about the audience or reliving the show." Dr Mikhail Varshavski said he had received the curt refusal after inviting Laurie onto his podcast, Doctor Mike, to discuss the role. Episode guest Noah Wyle (ER 's Dr John Carter) called the response 'baller,' while Varshavski labelled it a 'direct and honest reply.' Fans online noted the curt response was in character for the misanthropic Dr House, with one sharing a clip captioned: "Hugh Laurie embodied House in that moment." The British actor and comedian, 66, played the cantankerous Dr House on the Fox medical drama series House from 2004 to 2012.
