Sir Billy has no plans to return to the stage

Sir Billy Connolly has said he is “quite happy taking my medicine and getting along with it” six years after telling the world he had Parkinson’s disease.

The comedian, 76, was diagnosed with the incurable disease in 2013 and announced his retirement from live performance five years later.

He told Chris Evans, on the Virgin Radio Breakfast with Sky, that he now walks “unsteadily” and his “hearing is going”.

Sir Billy, known affectionately as the Big Yin, also rubbished the idea he had plans to return to the stage, saying: “It would affect my performance. I don’t think the way I used to.”

Across a six-decade career, Sir Billy was known for his energetic stage presence.

Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include decreased mobility and difficulty speaking, leaving him unable to perform as he did in his pomp.

He said: “I’ve stopped performing because of my Parkinson’s disease and I’ve stopped touring.

“I may perform at some other point but I have no plans to. And I’m quite happy taking my medicine and getting along with it.

“I’ve started to drool which is a new one on me. This disease, it gives you a new thing every now and again that you have to deal with, and drooling is my latest.

“I walk unsteadily and my hearing is going and it’s bizarre that bits of me are falling off but it’s interesting.

“I don’t really know if the performance bit has gone because I have to get into the performance mode to see that. I’d have to walk on to the stage and I’ve never done that.

“And more symptoms come and it’s incurable. It’s not going to end.”