“At the time I was flabbergasted, ” he said in a 2015 interview, external with the Independent.
“But a year later, I was diagnosed as bipolar. I thought back. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have accepted that I was going through a manic phase.”
The audience missed him. Before he left, the show had averaged 3.19 million. After he left, that figure fell to 2.55 million.
Oddie later revealed his condition caused him to try and take his own life.
In 2020, he announced that he had been severely ill as a result of lithium poisoning: a treatment aimed at stabilising his moods.
He later posted on social media that “the past few years have been grim for me.
“Lost enthusiasm, but I am still here.”
His outside interests included music. He once did a spell as a radio DJ playing jazz and his house contained his collection of thousands of CDs.
Oddie was also a passionate supporter of the Green Party and gave his time, and fame, to bolster wildlife charities such as the RSPB.
His 1967 marriage to the musician, Jean Hart, ended in divorce. In 1983, he married Laura Beaumont, who had previously worked with him on a number of projects.
Oddie was a true polymath, a man who seemed to make a success of everything to which he turned his hand.
But it was his conservation work that gave him the most satisfaction. “Wildlife,” he said, “has long been a refuge – probably more than I realise.”
