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Kenan and Kel star reveals he's been 'suffering in silence' with health diagnosis as symptoms 'piled up'

Home> Entertainment> Celebrity> Celebrity News

Published 11:56 7 Apr 2025 GMT+1

Kenan and Kel star reveals he's been 'suffering in silence' with health diagnosis as symptoms 'piled up'

The Saturday Night Live star recently opened up about the condition

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

Actor and comedian Kenan Thompson has opened up about a recent health diagnosis which has left him 'suffering in silence'.

The 46-year-old, who is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, as well as being a child star on Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan & Kel, revealed that he began to notice something wasn't quite right with his health after experiencing recurring heartburn while working.

His symptoms, which became noticeably worse after eating acidic foods, were frequent enough that it began to impact his work on SNL and left him struggling to get through the day.

"I noticed that I would get hoarse a lot easier when I'm doing the show," Thompson explained in an interview with PEOPLE, adding that he'd begun to experience symptoms two years ago.

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The actor and comedian has opened up about a health condition which left him 'suffering in silence' (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The actor and comedian has opened up about a health condition which left him 'suffering in silence' (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

He continued: "[I was] losing my voice quicker, but also uncomfortable sleepless nights because I'm burping up acid, just kind of hiccuping all night.

"And that can definitely add more stress to an already stressful kind of environment doing a live show like that."

Thompson used various medications and remedies in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms, before eventually being forced to seek professional help.

"It was a suffering-in-silence situation. I don't know if I was necessarily embarrassed to talk to a doctor - I just didn't know if I needed to," he added.

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After a visit to the doctor, Thompson would be diagnosed with a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

What is gastroesophageal reflux disease?

Also referred to as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), the NHS explains that the condition occurs when stomach acid is able to enter into the oesophagus.

Symptoms include: heartburn, bad breath, bloating, nausea and difficulty swallowing.

Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary (Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)
Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary (Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)

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For Thompson, he's been able to get it under control thanks to the help of acid blockers and has now partnered with the campaign 'GERD IS NO JOKE' to raise awareness about the condition.

"I didn't know there was a real medical term for it," he said, adding: "I'm in a much healthier kind of space."

Meanwhile, Thompson, who's currently the longest-serving cast member on SNL, recently revealed that he wouldn't mind being a 'forever cast member' on the sketch show.

"I guess the only other milestone would be just to be the forever cast member. Just never leave the show," he told Entertainment Weekly when asked about his 22 seasons on the show.

"Thirty [seasons] is like, okay, that's just another number kind of thing. Twenty was just such a thing that nobody had ever done."

Featured Image Credit: Jason Mendez/Getty Images

Topics: Saturday Night Live, Health, Celebrity

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

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@_brencoco

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