Comedian Harry Hill confessed that he once feared he would be assassinated during the peak of his fame on Harry Hill's TV Burp.

The comic, who gave up a medical career to become one of the country's most cherished comedians, disclosed that his sudden rise in popularity ignited an unhealthy paranoia.

The ITV show, which aired for just over a decade from 2001 to 2012, was a colossal hit, but Harry has conceded that there were some repercussions for him due to the hectic schedule and heightened visibility.

He told the Times that the six-day-a-week production timetable had a significant effect on him, as did the enormous wave of attention that accompanied its popularity, something that reportedly led to feelings of paranoia.

When Harry, 61, discovered a hole in his windscreen, he began to wonder if someone was attempting to assassinate him, reports the Mirror.

Discussing the psychological toll of the show during that period, he stated: "The whole red carpet celebrity thing has never been me and, well, I did not respond well to stress.

"Doing TV Burp I was very hard to live with - constantly stressed and anxious - and around that time Magda did a painting called My Life Is Crap, which I worried was because of me. But she is the one who grounds me."

Harry was referring to his wife Magda Archer, whom he wed in 1996. The couple have three children together - Kitty Clover, Winifred Millicent, and Frederica Aster.

Speaking about Magda to Fabulous Magazine a few years ago, Harry described Magda as the "love of [his]life", but also acknowledged there were occasions when he should have been more attentive.

He said: "I went through a phase where I did too much work. Particularly when I was doing TV Burp, I was physically there but very distracted."

Whilst Harry has built his reputation in entertainment, it wasn't initially what he intended to pursue with the comic studying at St George's Medical School and practising as a doctor before transitioning into comedy.

Harry told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that it was a family tragedy that sparked the change, specifically the death of his stepfather from cancer.

Reflecting on what would have happened had he stayed in medicine Harry reflected: "I wasn't a bad doctor. If I'd stuck at it, I probably would have ended up as a GP."