Sam Thompson: 'I don't think I'd be where I am now if I didn't have ADHD and autism'
Sam Thompson says he doesn’t believe he would be where he is now having the success that he does if it wasn’t for being neurodivergent.
At school, the former Made In Chelsea star, who is now 31, was labelled "lazy" and a "bad student" when in reality, he had undiagnosed neurological conditions, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and autism.
He was finally diagnosed later in life age 30 after undergoing tests for a Channel 4 documentary and said the confirmation allowed him to “understand myself as to why I was the way I was”. He likened it to having a “superpower”.
Since then, Thompson went on to win last year’s series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and sold out venues up and down the UK with his Staying Relevant podcast live show with co-host Pete Wicks.
Next month will see the London-born star realise a longtime dream to take part in celebrity charity football match Soccer Aid.
“A lot of people don’t have the privilege of doing something that they enjoy and they love. I’m aware of that so it is a privilege,” the Hits Radio presenter told the Standard.
“I am actually really proud to have my neurodiversions – like I’m really, really proud of it. I’m not proud of it in spite of ‘oh I’m just proud to have what I have’ it’s not even that. I can only speak for myself and not other people, but I’m happy I have it; I’m grateful, like, I don’t think I’d be where I am now if I didn’t have ADHD and if I wasn’t autistic. I don’t think I would. I function in a different way to other people.
“You know like 70 percent of multi-millionaires have ADHD? I’d be shocked if a huge bunch of those weren’t autistic on some sort of scale if they’d gone and got tested, I’d be shocked. You’re special, you’re different and I see that as an absolute positive and an absolute bonus.”
Thinking a little outside of the box has never been anything new to Thompson, so when Flora Plant approached him about their latest campaign, it seemed like a no-brainer.
It looked into”bizarre” things we do out of habit, with its research finding eating butter from a cow was among the top 10 “bizarre” things we have normalised.
Its research found only ten percent of Gen Z Brits think it’s completely normal to eat dairy butter, whilst just thirty three percent across all age groups thought it sounded normal.
“It’s wild!” the reality TV favourite exclaimed.
Reflecting on his own unusual idiosyncrasies, he said: “I don’t walk over three drains. If I do then I have to spit on the floor. Basically it’s meant to cancel out the bad luck.”
His mum meanwhile has a big no-no when it comes to where she will live.
He explained: “My mum will never live in a place that has a number four on the door. I live at number 45, so I’m like, ‘oh, you’re never allowed round then.”
Sam Thompson has partnered with Flora to create ‘Milking It’, a sketch all about the "little bit weird if you really thought about it" things humans do that we’ve normalised as everyday habits – one of them being eating dairy butter that has passed through a cow’s four-chambered stomach, something that just 10% of Gen Z think is normal. Find Sam’s sketch here, and for more information see Flora’s website.
