Supervet Noel loses out in love
TV’S Noel, 50, on ex-girlfriends and dealing with depression
TELLY vet Noel Fitzpatrick has shared his secret heartache admitting his failed relationships are down to his obsession with helping animals.
In his memoir the 50-year-old bachelor reveals countless ex-girlfriends told him he was “selfish” because he made them play second fiddle to his canine and feline patients.
The limb surgery specialist admits in Listening To the Animals he’s had his heart broken on several occasions and he often feels lonely.
He tells how one girlfriend found solace in another man’s arms while he was operating on a cat at 2am, adding: “I gravitate towards animals… I find humans difficult.
“The irony isn’t lost on me that I spend my life looking after one animal after another, who are someone else’s love, and have neglected my own. “But I have chosen my destiny.” Noel grew up on a farm in Ballyfin, Co Laois, and spent much of his childhood dodging school bullies who regularly threw him in a quarry and beat him up.
His best friend was his sheepdog Pirate, who has since been replaced by his beloved border terrier Keira – named after actress Keira Knightley.
Despite being dubbed one of TV’S most eligible bachelors he has his demons and at his lowest ebb contemplated taking his own life.
Noel said: “I have battled with periods of profound depression and feelings of worthlessness. There have been times when I have wanted just to check out.
“When I reunite an animal I have saved with the person who loves that animal, the palpable joy in the room soothes the acute pain of love lost.
“Yet the dull ache remains, and I truly wish I might have balanced the scales of life better. The irony of it all is that I still love love.”
Noel’s former girlfriends include Tracy Hilton, the ex-wife of comedian Jim Davidson, and singer songwriter Cathy Dennis, who he split from in 2003 but still counts as a friend.
The Supervet says rumours of his romantic dalliances are wildly exaggerated and he didn’t lose his virginity until he was in his 20s, though he’s been “far from a saint”.
He’s received some “interesting” gifts from female clients including “a picture of just a very short tennis skirt along with a tennis ball wrapped in a bow, accompanied by a note saying “the ball’s in your court, baby’.”
In his 30s Noel was torn between a career as a vet and his other great passion – drama – and he appeared in several episodes of Casualty and The Bill.
It was shortly after losing a role in Ballykissangel to a young Colin Farrell he decided to throw in the towel as and actor.
As word of his skills as a surgeon specialising in bones and neurological
The ghosts and demons I’ve carried with me came to pay me a visit NOEL FITZPATRICK IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
conditions spread Noel sought to set up his own private practice.
And although he’s now worth an estimated €16million he admits his world-famous “field of dreams” almost fell at the first hurdle. He recalls: “I ran out of money more than once during the Eashing build, on one occasion almost scuppering the entire project. I remember being at rock bottom.
“The builders were going to pull off site and it wasn’t even nearly finished.
“In the end I had to phase the project, converting two of the four derelict buildings first.
“Then when I could borrow more money, a third building was converted, and all three joined together. During this time I changed banks three times.”
In 2005 Fitzpatrick Referrals opened in Eashing, Surrey, where Noel and his team use ground-breaking technology to save the lives of animals.
One former patient was Oscar the cat, who became the first animal to receive two bionic leg implants in 2009, earning the Supervet a Guinness World Record.
Noel, who confesses writing his autobiography was both difficult and cathartic, lays bare his innermost feelings and is not afraid to admit he cries often.
But he finds solace in his 11-yearold canine companion Keira who he describes as “the love of my life”.
In one chapter he writes about stopping on the roadside and bursting into tears.
He said: “A serious relationship had ended, my heart was broken. I had
shared with this girl everything that mattered to me, what the blockages were, how I was going to deal with them and what a life with me might look like.
“However, I continued to work ridiculous hours… she needed someone who could be there for her more than I was.
“The ghosts and demons I’ve carried with me throughout my life came to visit. Keira licked the tears off my face and in that moment she seemed to say she knew I wasn’t perfect… but it wouldn’t feel this bad forever. “Thank you, Keira, for soothing my heart and teaching me about love. Unconditional love.” Listening To The Animals: Becoming the Supervet, by Noel Fitzpatrick, is out now. news@irishmirror.ie
SUPERVET Noel Fitzpatrick admits he’s sacrificed personal happiness for animals.
The 50-year-old remains a bachelor despite his sex symbol pedigree.
We hope he’s not feline too lonely.