Chris Kamara says singing is a 'form of rehab' as he shares health update
Watch: Chris Kamara discusses opera singing
Chris Kamara has given a update on his apraxia diagnosis explaining how singing has helped his condition.
Earlier this year the sports presenter revealed he was living with apraxia of speech (AOS), a neurological condition, which affects the body's motor function and often creates issues with speech.
His diagnosis forced Kamara to step away from the majority of his broadcasting roles, most notably on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday.
This morning the popular sports presenter appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss a new initiative that sees a group of Bradford City fans learning to perform as a choir for a BBC programme called Bantam of the Opera.
During the interview, the show's host Jon Kay asked Kamara whether singing had positively impacted his condition.
"Chris, you mentioned, as well, about your condition, your apraxia of speech that you've talked about. How has singing helped you?" he asked.
"Well, the good news is, I could never sing before so it's not made any difference," Kamara jokingly responded. "But the truth of the matter is, you get more fluency in your voice when you sing so it's a form of rehab when you're trying to get your voice back. Singing helps me."
Chris went on to explain why he sang with a Scottish accent on The Masked Singer UK in 2023. "The brain works in so many different ways," he shared. "For me to talk in a Scottish accent, I have the fluency.
"But that's not me," he continued. "To get my voice back, I have to keep practising. Singing is a way of enabling that situation to come back."
Bradford City fans, who are known as the Bantams, will be taught to sing by the BBC Singers and Orchestra as part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations.
"The power of music can be enormous, singing is a great way to bring people together, whilst being so positive for mental health," Kamara previously told BBC. "Singing has always been a part of my life, even when times have been tough."
The popular broadcaster previously discussed his condition and revealed his apraxia difficulties after doctors discovered his thyroid was underperforming in an interview on This Morning.
"People were Tweeting me or asking my friends, 'Is he OK? Is something wrong with him? Is he a drunk? He's slurring his words. He sounds slow," he told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.
"My voice was my life so it was hard to accept, that’s why I kept it quiet," Kamara continued. "I thought there’s no way you can tell anyone."
The former footballer has also opened up about coming to terms about how his diagnosis impacted his voice: "It feels like someone has taken over my voice box," he told Steven Bartlettt during an episode of Diary of a CEO podcast.
"The voice that used to come out would come out at 300 miles an hour, you’ve seen me on the results and Soccer Saturday, motormouth, talking and not even waiting for a breath, just keep going and going.
"Now when I hear myself or see myself on TV it’s someone else. It’s really strange."
Read more about apraxia and speech disorders:
How to support children with a stammer and other speech disorders (Yahoo Life UK, 7-min read)
Emily Blunt opens up about childhood stutter (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Chris Kamara on speech apraxia and mental health struggles (Brentford FC, 7-min read)
