H from Steps shared that an unnamed virus ‘knocked him for six’ back in November, and he’s still living with the illness after losing half his vocal range
Steps star Ian ‘H’ Watkins revealed that he’s still battling with an illness after a months-long battle.
H, 48, worryingly shared that he’s lost a huge section of his vocal range due to an unnamed virus that took hold months ago, and that he still hasn’t been able to shake the illness off. The musician added that he had the virus back in November during the run of Steps musical Here & Now, and it’s followed him through to 2025.
“When we launched Steps The Musical in Birmingham, I had this awful virus and I still have not recovered from that. So, if I had been asked to do a show, I would have had to have cancelled. Half of my range has just gone. It knocked me for six,” he told Heat.
While H hasn’t named his current health battle, he previously opened up about another lifelong struggle he’s faced; insomnia. Despite being known for his high-energy stage performances, he told HuffPost UK back in 2020 that he’d battled with the debilitating disorder for decades.
He told the outlet: “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can be wide awake for two hours, then by the time I fall back to sleep, it’s time to get back up again,” adding that he often feels “pretty wrecked” in the mornings.
H added that his global travels with Steps have made the disease worsen, with him flying in and out of different time zones for years.
“It really did screw with my body clock for years and years, and I think that pattern has just settled with me now – it’s not great,” he admitted.
Alongside dealing with his health issues, H’s suffered a major blow to his personal life in 2017 when he split from his partner of a decade, Craig Ryder, barely a year after the duo became parents to twin boys Macsen and Cybi through surrogacy in March 2016. The former couple’s split wasn’t easy, devolving into a very public legal dispute.
H’s split changed his young family, making him a single father early on in the boys’ lives. Speaking with Sky News in 2021, H said: “I have been a single parent virtually from the beginning, I guess, so I know exactly what it’s like to be outnumbered if you are a single parent out there.”
The star admitted that it wasn’t always easy, sharing: “It’s tough… There is no traditional family unit anymore. Families come in all shapes and sizes.”
Detailing the parental balancing act, H continued, “When it comes to single-parent families, I’m outnumbered, completely. So I have to divide my time and I have to devote attention to what’s needed.
“I am a little bit of a, well, 90%, I’d say, I’m bad cop because I have to be, you know, I do rule my children with discipline, but I also put the fun dad hat on as well. So it’s a juggling act, really. And it’s tough.”
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